PERIOD SET THRILLER THE CRITIC ADS IAN MCKELLEN, GEMMA ARTERTON, MARK STRONG, LESLEY MANVILLE, BEN BARNES! THE WITCHES ARE BACK IN HOCUS POCUS SEQUEL MOVIE TEASER!

 PERIOD THRILLER THE CRITIC 

SETS A SUPERSTELLAR CAST

And my, my, superstellar it is: Anand Tucker's period set thriller movie THE CRITIC has cast Ian McKellen, Mark Strong, Gemma Arterton, Lesley Manville, Romola Garai and Ben Barnes! Based on Curtain Call novel, it is set in 1934 London, with McKellen as Jimmy Erskine, the most feared drama critic in town, and Arterton as Nina Land, the actress determined to win his favor. When Jimmy finds himself in the crosshairs of his newspaper’s new owner, David Brooke (Strong), Nina becomes entangled in a dangerous web of blackmail, deceit and murder.

 HOCUS POCUS 2 TRAILER 

BRINGS THE WITCHES BACK

Hocus Pocus is back this September

You have already seen this one since yesterday, but Disney has released a teaser for HOCUS POCUS 2 with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy back as the witchy Sanderson sisters! Out September 30th on Disney + the movie sequel takes place 29 years after the events of the beloved 1993 original, and Winifred, Sarah and Mary — witches that were executed in the 17th century — are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high school students to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before dawn on All Hallow’s Eve! Check out the teaser below:

TEASER AND AIR DATE FOR NETFLIX EPIC MINI SERIES THE EMPRESS ON AUSTRIAN KAISERIN SISI REVEALED!

 NETFLIX' THE EMPRESS SERIES

TEASER AND STREAM DATE

Some of Netflix European channels have released the first teaser for streamer's new six part series THE EMPRESS on famous Austrian empress Sisi, which is one of their new German originals, announcing the streaming date which is September 29th. The series will depict Sisi’s life from her teenage years onwards, when she first met Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria Hungary, and Devrim Lingnau and Philip Froissant will play the imperial couple. When the rebellious Elisabeth meets Franz, the Emperor of Austria, in 1853 the young couple's intoxicating love completely upsets the power structure at the Viennese court. After the wedding, the young empress must assert herself not only against her mother in law, the sovereign, power hungry Sophie, but also against Franz's brother Maxi, who himself longs for the throne (and for Sisi). As enemy troops form up on the borders of the Habsburg Empire, people in Vienna rise up in protest against the emperor. Elisabeth must find out who she can trust and how high the price is to be a true empress and a figure of hope for the people. Melika Foroutan, Johannes Nussbaum, Almila Bagriacik and Wiebke Puls also star. This series is not to be confused with a much more glamorous Sisi saga that aired last December on German RTL and Epic Drama Channels in Europe and that is coming back with a second season this December. Check out the trailer below and tell us are you royally excited?

TEASER & AIR DATE FOR BARBARIANS EPIC TV SERIES SEASON 2 ON NETFLIX! SEE SUSPENSEFUL TRAILER FOR BBC NEW MINI THRILLER SERIES THE CONTROL ROOM WITH IAIN DE CAESTECKER

 BARBARIANS EPIC TV SERIES 

2ND SEASON ARRIVES IN FALL

Netflix has unveiled Autumn return date and teaser for the season two of BARBARIANS epic series which scored amazing success last year. Jeanne Goursaud, Laurence Rupp and David Schütter return as

The first season was viewed by over 50 million people

Arminius, Thusnelda and Folkwin who managed to kick Romans out of Germania. The second season will send them on a new adventure of love, friendship and betrayal. A year after the Varus Battle, the Roman troops have returned to Germania, stronger than ever, and Ari is once again confronted  with his Roman past. His brother has joined the Roman side to punish Ari for his betrayal of Rome. While Thusnelda and Ari try to unite the tribes against Rome, Folkwin makes a sinister challenge to the gods! Joining in new roles are Daniel Donskoy, Robert Maaser, Murathan Muslu as villainous Maroboduus the Marcomanni King, Cynthia Micas, Katharina Heyer, Giovanni Carta and Alessandro Fella!

 

 

 THE CONTROL ROOM TRAILER 

FOR NEW BBC ONE SERIES

During the weekend, BBC One issued a trailer for their new three part drama THE CONTROL ROOM which tells the story of Gabe (Iain De Caestecker), an ordinary man who works as an emergency call handler for Ambulance Service in Glasgow. His world is turned upside down when he receives a desperate life-and-death call from a distressed woman who appears to know him. With Gabe under pressure to work out who she is, he makes a decision that threatens to have devastating consequences. It will stream on iPlayer too and on BBC this July. 

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS PERIOD SET MOVIE COMEDY WITH LESLEY MANVILLE, LAMBERT WILSON, JASON ISAACS, ISABELLE HUPPERT

 MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS 

FOLLOW YOUR DREAM

For more than a half a century now, Paul Gallico's popular novel MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS has been entertaining readers around the world and now

Mrs Harris goes to Paris this July

it is finally getting a big screen movie adaptation (it had two small screen ones before) which is ready to strut its way into cinemas July 15th in United States and September 30th in the United Kingdom and Spain. Most of Europe, Australia and South America will see it as soon as July 14th! Directed by Anthony Fabian the film stars Lesley Manville, Lambert Wilson, Jason Isaacs, Anna Chancellor, Isabelle Huppert, Lucas Bravo, Freddie Fox, Christian McKay and Rose Williams. The film was shot in Hungarian capital Budapest instead of Paris during the Covid outbreak.

 

  MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS 

 in partnership with the House of Dior, tells the story of a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London who falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress, and

Lesley Manville leads the cast

decides that she must have one of her own. After she works, starves and gambles to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an adventure to Paris which will change not only her own outlook, but the very future of the House of Dior.

WHOM WILL WE MEET AT THE HOUSE OF DIOR?

As WhatToWatch writes, Lesley Manville takes the leading role of Mrs Ada Harris as the down-to-earth cleaner embarks on a life changing journey to Paris. Jason Isaacs plays Archie, while French actress Isabelle Huppert plays Claudine Colbert, a senior employee of the House of Dior who after initially being a little frosty helps Mrs Harris achieve her designer dress dream. Anna Chancellor is Lady Dant,

Anthony Fabian directed the movie

Ada's upper class employer in London where she first spots a Dior dress. Lambert Wilson is Marquis de Chassagne who helps Ada at the House of Dior after she arrives and is almost thrown out. Lucas Bravo plays André Fauvel the accountant at The House of Dior in love with model Natasha (Alba Baptista). André invites Mrs Harris to stay with him while she has the numerous dress fittings required for her Dior dress, and she, in turn, helps André to woo the woman of his dreams, Natasha, who at the beginning of the film sees him as nothing more than a boring accountant. Check out the delightful trailer below and tell us what you think, are you excited to go to Paris with Mrs. Harris?

DISNEY'S STAR PLUS STREAMER FOR LATIN AMERICA PREPARING PANCHO VILLA AND THE CRY OF THE BUTTERFLIES PERIOD SET SERIES! SEE FIRST PHOTOS!

 NEW STAR PLUS EPIC SHOWS 

PANCHO VILLA

Beside Santa Evita which I already wrote about, there are two other period set shows that Disney's Star Plus South American streamer has presented at Conecta Fiction and Entertainment festival in Toledo this week. While Santa Evita will bow on Star Plus in South America, Hulu in United States and Disney's Star around the the world from July 26th, another historical series that has already been shot for Star Plus is PANCHO VILLA: THE CENTAUR OF THE NORTH (Pancho Villa. El Centauro del Norte)! As Variety reports, the series about legendary Mexican revolutionary leader Doroteo Arango, aka Pancho Villa, was filmed on location in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The story of the new series traces his evolution, from his time as a bandit to his transformation into the leader of the Mexican Revolution. The cast is led by Jorge A. Jiménez (Pancho Villa), Juan Luis Medina (Carlos Jáuregui) and Armando Hernández (Tomás Urbina).

  THE CRY OF THE BUTTERFLIES

Another of the upcoming period set series produced for Star Plus is THE CRY OF THE BUTTERFLIES (El Grito de las Mariposas)! As the official synopsis says, it will be a period drama based on the true story of theDominican Republic’s Mirabal sisters and one of the most shocking cases of gender violence in Latin American history. As Variety states, you can expect a plush period drama, laced by current gender sensibilities.

FISHERMAN'S FRIENDS: ONE AND ALL SEQUEL MOVIE TRAILER IS HERE WITH JAMES PUREFOY! APPLE TV TURNING EDITH WHARTON'S THE BUCCANNEERS INTO A 19TH CENTURY COSTUME DRAMA

 THE BUCCANEERS PERIOD 

SET SERIES AT APPLE TV+

If you asked me what is the one thing I'd never ever in million years want it is probably a bunch of silly American girls thrown into a posh European costume drama, but it seems Apple TV + is set to give us just that turning the

The Buccaneers is Wharton's unfinished novel

nightmare into reality: they've given an order for an eight episode series based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel THE BUCCANEERS and they've gone as far as to cast Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe,  the godawful Josie Totah, Aubri Ibrag, Imogen Waterhouse and Mia Threapleton in the title roles.

  Girls with money, men with power. New money, old secrets. A group of fun loving young American girls explode into the tightly corseted London season of the 1870s, kicking off an Anglo-American culture clash as the land of the stiff upper lip is infiltrated by a refreshing disregard for centuries of tradition. Sent to secure husbands and titles, the buccaneers’ hearts are set on much more

Alisha Boe, Aubri Ibrag and Kristine Froseth will star

than that, and saying ‘I do’ is just the beginning. Created by Katherine Jakeways, the series is already shooting over in Scotland. The book was already turned into a series back in 2006 starring Carla Gugino, Cherie Lunghi and Mira Sorvino.

 FISHERMAN'S FRIENDS 

ONE AND ALL SEQUEL TRAILER

Singing Fishermen are back this August

Although the first one wasn't anything to write home about, warm comedy drama FISHERMAN'S FRIENDS has got a ONE AND ALL sequel which is ready to sing its way into cinemas August 19th with James Purefoy again taking the lead role from the 2019 unexpected cinematic hit about a music loving band of fishermen who suddenly score a UK charts hit with their sailor tunes. We rejoin the world's oldest 'buoy band' a year later struggling to navigate the pressures, pitfalls and temptations of their newfound fame. The sequel follows the celebrated shanty singers through the highs and lows as life-long friendships are put to the test and they battle the dreaded 'curse of the second album'. Follow the true story of the band's next real-life adventure, performing at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival alongside the likes of Beyoncé. 

NETFLIX PREPARING EAST OF EDEN PERIOD SET MINI SERIES ADAPTATION WITH FLORENCE PUGH! SEE DRAGON & PRINCESS TARGARYEN ON HOUSE OF THE DRAGON EPIC SERIES POSTER

  EAST OF EDEN SERIES  

EYEING FLORENCE PUGH

Florence Pugh is attached to star in one of the roles

It is still in very early stages of production, but rumour has it that Netflix is turning EAST OF EDEN novel from John Steinbeck into a mini series to be directedby Zoe Kazan whose grandad Elia directed the original movie adaptation. Florence Pugh is apparently attached to star in the story set in California’s Salinas Valley over a period that stretches from the Civil War to the end of World War I. As Variety reports, the epic novel tells the interconnected stories of the Hamilton family, an Irish immigrant family with nine children, and the Trask family, lead by the wealthy Adam Trask. The story eventually narrows its focus to center around the Trask family and the drama surrounding Adam, his wife Cathy and their sons Cal and Aron. Back in the 80s there was also a TV adaptation with Jane Seymour while the four time Oscar nominated movie version had James Dean as the lead. 

 HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 

GETS A BRAND NEW POSTER

New series arrives this August

While we are waiting for the August 21st premiere over at HBO Max, HOUSE OF THE DRAGON epic series has just got a brand new poster. Promoting the series based on George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones books, the new poster features Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. The story of the series itself is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and chronicles the early days of House Targaryen. The cast also features Paddy Consi- dine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Ryan Corr, Graham McTavish, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Check out the trailer below released last month!

 

SEE SHAWN MENDES AS LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE IN DELIGHTFUL LIVE ACTION ADAPTATION TRAILER! PBS MASTERPIECE MAKING MINI TV SERIES MISS AUSTEN ON JANE AUSTEN AND HER SISTER CASSANDRA

 PBS TO MAKE MISS AUSTEN 

SERIES ON JANE AUSTEN'S LIFE

It will be a four episode mini series

PBS Masterpiece has announced that they will turn Gill Hornby's novel MISS AUSTEN into a four part mini series to be penned by Andrea Gibb. The book is Hornby’s third novel and centres on the lives and loves of Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra. It delves into why Cassandra burned a treasure trove of letters written by her sister, Jane – an act of destruction that has troubled academics and Austen fans for centuries. It will be a moving, revealing and often hilarious story of love, loss and sisterhood! Hornby's latest Regency novel Godmersham Park is, meanwhile, out tomorrow, and it is about a governess who meets Jane Austen and becomes friends with her while working for her family. 

  LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE  

TRAILER WITH SHAWN MENDES

And it is the cutest thing you will see today: the first trailer for LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE live action movie adaptation which arrives October 7th with Shawn Mendes lending the voice to the main hero. When the Primm family moves to New York City, their young son Josh struggles to adapt to his new school and new friends. All of that changes when he discovers Lyle, a singing crocodile who loves baths, caviar, and great music, living in the attic of his new home. The two become fast friends, but when Lyle’s existence is threatened by evil neighbor Mr. Grumps, the Primm’s must band together with Lyle’s charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem), to show the world that family can come from the most unexpected places, and there’s nothing wrong with a big singing crocodile with an even bigger personality! The amazing The Greatest Showman team has written songs for this one as well.

MICHELLE KEEGAN, WARREN BROWN TO LEAD BBC'S PERIOD SET MINI TV SERIES TEN POUND POMS!

 BBC'S TEN POUND POMS 

CAST SET FOR PERIOD DRAMA

BBC One has set primary cast for their new period set six part series TEN POUND POMS the six-part series which follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world. For only a tenner, they have been

Warren Brown will take the male lead

promised a better house, better job prospects and a better quality of life by the sea in sun-soaked Australia. But life down under isn’t exactly the idyllic dream the new arrivals have been promised. Struggling with their new identity as immigrants, we follow their triumphs and pitfalls as they adapt to a new life in a new country, far from Britain and familiarity. At the heart of the drama are Annie (Faye Marsay) and Terry Roberts (Warren Brown). They try to make the best of the situation for their family, but the poor living conditions at the migrant hostel and local attitudes towards immigrants test them in ways they couldn’t have imagined. They aren’t the only people at the hostel avoiding the truth. Kate (Michelle Keegan) is a young nurse who arrives without her

Michelle Keegan, Leon Ford, Faye Marsay will also star

fiancé and will do whatever it takes to try and rewrite her devastating past. Bill (Leon Ford) has lost his family business back home and is so desperate to prove he’s living the Australian dream that he’ll stop at nothing in order to get a lifestyle he can’t sustain. Teenager Stevie (Declan Coyle) comes from a troubled background and hopes to use this new adventure to escape his oppressive father. Meanwhile, Ron (Rob Collins), an Indigenous Australian war veteran, struggles with feeling like an outsider in his own country. Australian Stan will also stream the series shooting Down Under.

1ST LOOK AT GUILLAUME MUSSO'S TV SERIES ADAPTATION THE REUNION WITH IOAN GRUFFUDD! CHILE TURNING ISABEL ALLENDE'S DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE INTO A 19TH CENTURY TV SAGA

   HIJA DE LA FORTUNA  

CHILE TO TURN ALLENDE'S EPIC NOVEL INTO TV SERIES

The series will be shot in English language

And it will be shot in English language! Beside other projects that will arrive to Spanish Conecta Fiction and Entertainment festival in Toledo, we have Invercine production house from Chile who is planning a TV series adaptation of Isabel Allende’s epic romance adventure HIJA DE LA TORTUNA aka DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE. Set during the gold rush of 1849, the series will take place in Chile and California. The series will have an international cast and an English show runner and writer. 

  1ST THE REUNION PHOTO  

FROM IOAN GRUFFUDD SERIES

Variety has published the first photo from MGM's mini series adaptation of Guillaume Musso’s bestselling novel “La Jeune fille et la nuit.” Starring Ioan Gruffudd and Rupert Graves,THE REUNION opens in the present day, at a reunion at an international school in the south of France where three former friends reconnect. They grew apart and lost touch, but they are still bound by a tragic secret tied to the disappearance of a fellow student 25 years ago.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON PUSS IN BOOTS SEQUEL THE LAST WISH WITH ANTONIO BANDERAS, SALMA HAYEK, RAY WINSTONE, FLORENCE PUGH

  PUSS IN BOOTS II  

THE LAST WISH SEQUEL

Although this one was originally supposed to be released in 2018 and then this summer, PUSS IN BOOTS sequel THE LAST WISH will now paw

Puss returns December 21st!

its way into the cinemas around holidays, in the Christmas week to be more precise. It has been eleven years since Antonio Banderas first landed his voice to the smooth talking sword wielding feline bandit and now he is back in the voice cast together with Salma Hayek and Joel Crawford as the director. 

 

STORY OF PUSS IN BOOTS SEQUEL 

This winter, everyone's favorite leche-loving, swashbuckling, fear-defying feline returns. For the first time in more than a decade, Dream Works Animation presents a new adventure in the Shrek universe as daring outlaw Puss in Boots

The original film was released in 2011

discovers that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. Puss has burned through eight of his nine lives, though he lost count along the way. Getting those lives back will send Puss in Boots on his grandest quest yet. Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of the notorious Puss as he embarks on an epic journey into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. But with only one life left, Puss will have to humble himself and ask for help from his former partner and nemesis: the captivating Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek). In their quest, Puss and Kitty will be aided, against their better judgment, by a ratty, chatty, relentlessly cheerful mutt, Perro (Harvey Guillén). Together, our trio of  heroes will have to stay one step ahead of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family led by Papa Bear (Ray Winstone), "Big" Jack  Horner (John Mulaney) and terrifying bounty hunter, The Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura). The producers wanted to make it more unique as a storybook than a comic. Using new technology, the team at DreamWorks focused more on a painterly style design, to make it feel like you’re in a fairy-tale world! The first half hour of the movie was shown earlier this week at Annecy International Animation Film Festival where the critics deemed it much darker than the original. It is interesting that Dream Works hasn't released an animated movie in December for more than twenty years!

SEE PERIOD SET BIOPIC ON FAMOUS ITALIAN FASHION DESIGNER AND CHOCOLATE MAKER LUISA SPAGNOLI QUEEN OF FASHION ON PBS MASTERPIECE THIS JUNE!

 LUISA SPAGNOLI BIOPIC  

QUEEN OF FASHION

Now this one was shot back in 2016 but the reason I am mentioning it for you now is that it started streaming on PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel as

The biopic is streaming on PBS from June 17th

of yesterday, June 17th for the viewers around the world so you now have a chance to see period set costume movie LUISA SPANGOLI: QUEEN OF FASHION from director Lodovico Gasparini.

 

Set in the early 1920's, this is a true story of Luisa Spagnoli who was an Italian businesswoman, famous for creating a women's fashion store and the chocolate brand. It traces the history of the Italian entrepreneur famous for the creation of the Bacio Perugina and the fashion house that bears her name. Perugia, early twentieth century. The young Luisa Spagnoli (Luisa Ranieri),

The movie originally aired on RAI in 2016

a girl of humble origins, but moved by a great practical sense, decides to acquire a small pastry shop on the verge of failure in an attempt to escape from the simple destiny of a housewife and guarantee a better future for the three children and her husband Annibale (Vinicio Marchioni). Despite the hard work, however, the business shows no signs of taking off, also thanks to the negative opinion of the society of the time that does not look favorably on a woman placed at the head of a company. But Luisa does not give up and, armed with courage and determination, comes up with an idea capable of reviving the fortunes of her company: proposing an alliance to the well-known Buitoni (Matteo Martari) industrialists. From that agreement a different company will be born, totally renewed in the way of producing, selling, advertising and consuming sweets: the Perugina. His talent in designing culminates in the creation of the famous Baci, which in a short time obtain extraordinary success becoming the flagship product of the business. When the company finally established itself by exporting its products to New York and the rest of the world, Luisa threw herself into another venture: to create a clothing brand that adapts to the needs of modern women!

JON CRYER, DONALD FAISON TO LEAD NEW NBC MULTICAM SITCOM! NICK JONAS, GLEN POWELL TO LEAD BUDDY COMEDY FOREIGN RELATIONS! TAYLOR FREY, KYLE DEAN MASSEY IN CHRISTMAS TREASURE GAY HOLIDAY ROMANCE

 UNTITLED JON CRYER SITCOM 

ADS DONALD FAISON TO THE CAST

One of the very few new multicam sitcoms we can expect next season, an untitled NBC comedy from Jon Cryer has just added Donald Faison to the cast.  It follows Jim (Cryer) and Julia (Abigail Spencer) who, after an amicable divorce, decide to continue to raise their two young kids at the family home while taking turns on who gets to stay with them. Navigating the waters of divorce and child-sharing gets hilariously more complicated for Jim when the owner of his favorite sports team (Faison) enters the picture and wins Julia’s heart.

 FOREIGN RELATIONS COMEDY 

NICK JONAS & GLEN POWELL

Speaking of comedy genre, Deadline reports that a bidding war is currently going on around new comedy movie FOREIGN RELATIONS in which ultimate pop star Nick Jonas and Top Gun's hunkster Glen Powell would lead a buddy comedy story (plot is currently unknown). Kat Coiro is set to take over the helm of the film that could easily end up on one of the major streamers. 

 

  CHRISTMAS TREASURE  

TAYLOR FREY & KYLE DEAN MASSEY IN FESTIVE ROMANCE

Speaking of hot hunks, upcoming indie festive movie CHRISTMAS TREASURE will see Taylor Frey and Kyle Dean Massey (who are together in private life) playing Austin and Everett as they reunite at Christmas time in the town they grew up and fell in love in. Summoned home as adults to fulfill one last wish after the passing of a friend, the two men start to rekindle the romance they never got to have decades earlier. Mary-Margaret Humes and Cort McCown are also on board to play Austin’s parents.