HBO MAX ADS NEW CAST TO WARRIOR EPIC TV SERIES SEASON 3! AARON JAKUBENKO, RYAN KWANTEN TO LEAD HEAD COUNT WESTERN THRILLER MOVIE

   WARRIOR SEASON 3  

ADS NEW CAST MEMBERS

Well, it has been more than two years since the second season and during that time the show moved over to HBO Max where they have just announced new cast members for the new season of WARRIOR epic saga  set in the 19th century San Francisco Chinatown: Telly Leung has joined as Marcel, a nomadic Chinese nightclub singer, working on the Barbary Coast; Kevin Otto

Colin Moss, Neels Claasen, Adam Rayner

as Horace Clark, Bill’s (Kieran Bew) condescending brother-in-law and owner of a successful cement factory; Adam Rayner as Douglas Strickland III, a ruthless railroad baron and an old friend of Nellie’s husband; Nick Cordileone as Edmund Mosely, a Secret Service agent who comes to San Francisco to pursue an important case. Dominique Maher as Catherine Archer, a political booster who takes an interest in Mayor Buckley; Neels Claasen as Benjamin Atwood, the newly-appointed Chief of the San

Dominique Maher, Sean Marco, Nick Cordileone

Francisco Police; Sean Marco as Stewart Gumm, Mayor Buckley’s conniving right-hand man; Jazzara Jaslyn as Eliza Pendleton, a wealthy socialite who takes an interest in Mai Ling; Colin Moss as Franklin Thayer, a charismatic candidate for San Francisco Mayor; Sizo Mahlangu as Isaac, the ruthless lieutenant to Happy Jack and a notorious Barbary Coast gangster. Andrew Koji, Olivia Cheng, Tom Weston-Jones lead the returning cast.

   HEAD COUNT WESTERN  

BUCKLES UP RYAN KWANTEN AND AARON JAKUBENKO IN THE CAST

Speaking of hot faces, currently in production is western thriller HEAD COUNT which follows Kat (Aaron Jakubenko), who, after escaping prison, finds his own revolver pointed to his head by an unknown assailant. As

Ryan Kwanten and Aaron Jakubenko lead the cast

the empty rounds click away, Kat tries to remember what happened to each bullet, as impulsive officer Sawyer (Ryan Kwanten) is hot on his tail, and his ex-lover Jo (Melanie Zanetti) reappears in his life. But he must remember, one bullet at a time.

ILYA STEWART PREPARING THE GAMBLER'S WIFE MOVIE ON DOSTOYEVSKIY'S WIFE AND LIMONOV: THE BALLAD OF EDDIE WITH BEN WHISHAW AS DISIDENT POET LIMONOV

  THE GAMBLER'S WIFE MOVIE 

ABOUT DOSTOYEVSKY'S WIFE

After success with 'Tchaikovsky's wife' and 'Petrov's Flu', Russian producer Ilya Stewart has opened a Berlin based production house Hype Studios which will,

The film will be based on Andrew Kaufman's book

according to Variety, produce English language films and series. Among them is THE GAMBLER'S WIFE from award winning director Malgorzata Szumowska, an adaptation of Andrew D. Kaufman’s book about Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s wife Anna Snitkina, a stenographer who helped him write his famous novels Gambler and Idiot in just a few weeks by typing his words. In his new partnership with Kirill Serebrennikov they are also preparing LIMONOV: THE BALLAD OF EDDIE co-produced by Pathé, an adaptation of Emmanuel Carrère’s novel with Ben Whishaw as the radical Russian poet and dissident Eduard Limonov.

VIRGINIE EFIRA, EDUARDO NORIEGA TO LEAD NEW DISNEY + FRENCH ORIGINAL DRAMEDY TV SERIES TOUT VA BIEN

 VIRGINIE EFIRA TO LEAD 

TOUT VA BIEN DISNEY + SERIES

Virginie Efira will lead the new show

Beside The Ballad of Renegade Nell for which the cast was announced last weekend, we have another piece of sweet info from Disney + who have just cast our goddess Virginie Efira in their new French original TV series TOUT VA BIEN (It's Gonna Be OK) to be co-directed and co-produced by ‘The Bureau’ creator and show runner Eric Rochant. As Variety reports, the new dramedy, which will launch on Disney+ around the world in 2023 and starts shooting soon in Paris, revolves around an dysfunctional Parisian family confronted to the tragic illness of one their children. Nicole Garcia, Sara Giraudeau, Aliocha Schneider, Bernard Le Coq, Eduardo Noriega (I am guessing he could be the steamy papucito of the family with Virginie as the hot mamacita), Yannik Landrein, Mehdi Nebbou and Angèle Mièle are also in the cast.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON STARZ' THE SERPENT QUEEN CATHERINE DE MEDICI EPIC TV SERIES STARTING SEPTEMBER WITH SAMANTHA MORTON! CHECK OUT NEW CHARACTER PHOTOS!

  THE SERPENT QUEEN  

IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BAD 

Serpent Queen bows September 11th

As I already told you before this Autumn will be a season of female rulers when it comes to historical series, and beside the queens from Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power, Netflix The Empress, French Marie Antoinette and queen Truselda of German tribes in the second season of Barbarians  THE SERPENT QUEEN is probably our most anticipated one. Starz has now given us new lavish photos from this new eight part historical series in which Samantha Morton plays one of the most frightening queens of all times - Catherine de Medici of France! The series will launch Sunday September 11th created by Justin Haythe and based on the 2004 non-fiction book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda. After it finishes, Dangerous Liaisons will take up the Sunday evening prime time premiere historical drama slot at Starz.

 

IF YOU DON'T TEACH YOUR ENEMIES THEIR LESSON, THEY WILL NEVER LEARN

Scheming and cunning, Catherine de Medici was one of the most powerful women in the world. After becoming an orphaned teenager from the famous ruling family of Medici and then marrying into the 16th century French court she is expected to bring a hefty dowry and produce many heirs, but Catherine discovers her husband is already in love with another woman and then, her dowry remains unpaid and she learns she is unable to conceive. But with intelligence and determination, she keeps her marriage alive, mastering the bloodsport of the monarchy and ruling France for 50 years. In THE SERPENT QUEEN, Catherine tells her story through flashbacks, defending her actions and imparting lessons she's learned to her new servant, Rahima (Sennia Nanua). When her uncle Pope Clement (Charles Dance) brokers her marriage and a geopolitical alliance with France, but she learns on her wedding night that her husband is in love with Diane de Poitiers (Ludivine Sagnier), a stunningly beautiful lady-in-waiting who is twice the king-to-be's age. Catherine is thrust into a world where she must learn quickly who she can trust and seek to outmaneuver anyone who underestimates her. The rest of the cast includes Liv Hill as the younger version of Catherine, Antonia Clarke as Catherine's daughter in law Mary Queen of Scots, whom Catherine sent back to Scotland after her son Francis (George Jacques) died and she officially became regent in her own right on behalf of her 10-year-old son Charles IX. She then ruled France for three years by herself until Charles reached his maturity. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine also played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He outlived her by just seven months. She was generally despised in history seen as enemy by both Catholics and Hugenots and scary to common folks who were afraid of her love for all things occult - her pet astrologer was famous Nostradamus.

WHO ARE THE COURTIERS?

Raza Jaffrey will appear as Duke Francois Guise,the leader of Catholics. Colm Meaney is Catherine's husband king of France. Enzo Cilenti will play Ruggieri, the magician  and soothsayer! Barry Atsma will be famous Montmorency, who cares about the greater good of the society he serves as its foremost military leader. Nicholas Burns portrays Antoine de Bourbon, the rival of Catherine's Valois family. Danny Kirrane is Louis de Bourbon, his stronger willed and more intelligent brother! Memet Ali Alabora will appear as Sultan Suleiman! Adam Garcia will also have a reoccurring role and I think it was him getting quartered in the trailer below. Lee Ingleby is the middle aged Henry and I've heard Rupert Everett will guest star.

 

BARBARIANS EPIC TV SERIES SEASON TWO DATE ANNOUNCED AT NETFLIX! DISNEY PLUS ANNOUNCES CAST FOR THEIR 18TH CENTURY EPIC TV SERIES BALLAD OF RENEGADE NELL

  BARBARIANS SEASON TWO  

STREAM DATE ANNOUNCED

And it proves that we will have a very rich TV Autumn indeed as BARBARIANS epic series season two arrives to Netflix October 21st! The cast will have Laurence Rupp as Arminius, Jeanne Goursaud as

Season two arrives October 21st!

Thusnelda, David Schutter as Folkwin Wolfspeer, our boy Daniel Donskoy as Flavus with Bernhard Schütz as Segestes, Robert Maaser as Odvulf and Murathan Muslu as the lead villain Maroboduus the Marcomanni King. Andrea Garofalo will play Aulus.

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.

 BALLAD OF RENEGADE NELL 

DISNEY'S EPIC TV SERIES LEAD CAST ANNOUNCED

Disney Plus has announced leading cast for their new British epic TV series THE BALLAD OF RENEGADE NELL, eight-part adventure and fantasy series about an 18th century young woman who finds herself unwittingly becoming the most famous highway woman in the country. Louisa Harland will play the quick-witted and courageous Nell, who ends

Joely Richardson, Craig Parkinson, Louisa Harland

up on an extraordinary adventure after she is framed for murder – a twist of fate that has far bigger consequences than Nell could ever dream of. Nick Mohammed is Billy Blind, a plucky but prickly spirit while Joely Richardson is eccentric newspaper magnate Lady Eularia Moggerhanger. Adrian Lester stars as Nell’s nemesis and political schemer the Earl of Poynton. Alice Kremelberg is young widow Sofia Wilmot, who teams up

Alice Kremelberg, Jake Dunn, Pip Torrens are a family

with master manipulator Poynton in a quest for her own independence, Frank Dillane is charming rogue Charles Devereux and Craig Parkinson is Nell’s kind-hearted father Sam. Pip Torrens is Sofia’s father, Lord Blancheford, while Jake Dunn is Thomas, her bullying brother. Enyi Okoronkwo is stable boy Rasselas and newcomers Bo Bragason and Florence Keen are Nell’s younger sisters Roxy and George.

SEE KEELEY HAWES IN CROSSFIRE TV SERIES TRAILER! CHARLES BABALOLA IS KING SHAKA IN NEW EPIC TV SERIES! CATHERINE TATE IS QUEEN OF OZ IN NEW BBC COMEDY, MARTIN COMPSTON, TONY CURRAN TO LEAD MAYFLIES MINI TV SERIES

 CHARLES BABALOLA TO LEAD 

KING SHAKA EPIC SERIES

As you remember, Showtime and Antoine Fuqua are preparing KING SHAKA epic TV series which is ready to shoot next month in Africa with Charles Babalola cast in the the title role in the series that follows one

Charles Babalola takes the Zulu throne

man’s personal journey from stigmatized childhood to warrior king! Aïssa Maïga is Nandi, Shaka’s devoted mother who will sacrifice everything to fulfill her son’s destiny, Thando Dlomo is Pampatha, a herder who finds her fate forever entwined with Shaka’s. Thapelo Mokoena is Gendeyana, a Qwabe leader who grows close to Shaka and Nandi, and Warren Masemola is Magazwa, who provides safe haven to Shaka and Nandi but at a cost. 

  KING SHAKA

tells the story of the Zulu Empire founder Shaka and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of southern Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures. The outcast son of a Zulu Chief, Shaka is a visionary who is prophesied to become a king like none before him. In ferocious battles that test the body and soul, in alliances that test the bonds of love and friendship, a complex sociological system plays out that renders the human cost front and center, for the victors as well as the vanquished, all in an effort to carve out a semblance of identity, fulfillment and ultimately, survival.

 BBC'S BRAND NEW SERIES 

QUEEN OF OZ COMEDY

BBC has announced a number of new series among them is six part QUEEN OF OZ comedy in which Catherine Tate will play

Catherine Tate is writing, producing, starring

Princess Georgiana who is the black sheep of a fictional British Royal Family. A PR disaster, she’s spent her spoilt, party-girl life plastered over the tabloids. On the back of her latest scandal her father, the King, makes the unprecedented move of abdicating his Australian throne in favour of his daughter. It is hoped that giving her some real responsibility will finally be the making of her - and if it isn’t, at least shipping her off keeps her 10,000 miles away from London. Accompanied by a useless entourage, Queen Georgiana of Australia goes kicking and screaming to a country she has zero interest in beyond the Hemsworth Brothers.

 

  MAYFLIES MINI TV SERIES

BBC has also ordered two part mini series MAYFLIES: Everyone has a Tully Dawson (Tony Curran) - the friend who defines your life. In the summer of 1986, in a small Scottish town, Jimmy (Martin Compston) and Tully ignite a brilliant friendship based on music, films and the rebel spirit. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them, they rush towards the climax of their youth - a magical weekend in Manchester, the epicentre of everything that inspires them in working-class Britain. There, against the greatest soundtrack ever recorded, a vow is made: to go at life differently. Thirty years on, half a life away, the phone rings. Tully has the worst kind of news, and a request that will test their friendship, love, and loyalty to the limit

 

 CROSSFIRE TRAILER 

FOR KEELEY HAWES SERIES

BBC has released a trailer for new Keeley Hawes series CROSSFIRE which is coming up this Autumn. Sunbathing on her hotel room balcony while on a dream holiday with her family and friends, Jo’s world is turned upside down when shots ring out across the complex. Gunmen, out for revenge, have, in an instant, turned a slice of paradise into a terrifying heart-breaking hell. A story of survival and resilience, CROSSFIRE is an edge-of-your-seat nail-biting thriller yet also emotional, intimate and relatable. With the unsuspecting holidaymakers and hotel staff forced to make monumental split-second life or death decisions, the consequences will linger long after the final shots are fired.

SEE NEW PHOTOS OF LESLEY MANVILLE & PALOMA FAITH IN STARZ NEW DANGEROUS LIAISONS COSTUME TV DRAMA! HAGEN EPIC TV SERIES AND FILM BASED ON THE NIBELUNG SAGA! SEE CONNOR SWINDELLS, DOMINIC WEST, JACK O'CONNELL, ALFIE ALLEN IN ROGUE HEROES TV SERIES TEASER

 ROGUE HEROES TRAILER 

HAS ARRIVED FROM EPIX

It will arrive to Epix and BBC sometime this fall but before they announced the exact date, we have the first teaser for Jack O'Connell, Connor Swindells, Dominic West, Sofia Boutella, Alfie Allen series ROGUE HEROES. The six-part drama is based on Ben Macintyre's SAS: Rogue Heroes book, which charts the creation of the famed Special Forces unit.

 

HAGEN EPIC SERIES 

AND MOVIE COMING UP

A couple of years ago I informed you about this one and now the shooting is finally starting this September: production company Constantin and

The project will shoot in Germany and Prague

TV broadcaster RTL are planning an elaborate film and six part series adaptation of HAGEN von Tronje novel by Wolfgang Hohlbein which combines the Nibelung saga with elements from other myths following Hagen von Tronje, the dark warrior of the Nibelung saga, now a lonely hero, and the radiant Siegfried, now an unscrupulous upstart, a representative of an authoritarian form of government, supported by a new religion, Christianity. Martin Moszkowicz and Oliver Berben are the executive producers.

  STARZ' DANGEROUS LIAISONS 

SEE THE BRAND NEW IMAGES

After the first, not overly promising trailer last week, Starz has unveiled today new images via Radio Times from their eight part TV series version of

The series arrives this November

DANGEROUS LIAISONS which willarrive November 6th starring Alice Englert, Nicholas Denton, Lesley Manville, and Tom Wlaschiha. New images reveal more of Lesley Manville and British singer Paloma Faith, who plays Florence de Regnier!

 

  THE NEW SERIES  

is a bold prelude of Laclos’ classic 18th century novel focusing on the origin story of how his iconic characters, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, met as passionate young lovers in Paris on the eve of the revolution. This modern take on a classic story takes audiences through wonder and terror, beauty and degradation, seduction and deception in pre-revolutionary Paris. Driven to right the wrongs of their past, the young couple’s survival depends on their skills of seduction and manipulation of not only the French nobility but of each other. Alice Englert and Nicholas Denton portray the notorious lovers: Camille who is taken in by the current Marquise de Merteuil (Lesley Manville) navigates her own path in a world of men, using the power of secrets to take back control, and Valmont who will stop at nothing to regain his title that was recently taken from him. Their on- again off-again love story is the heart of the series. It’s not love… it’s war. I must admit those two youngsters look terribly dull and miscast to me, no passion nor talent in them.

ED SKREIN GETS A SECOND CHANCE AT FAME AS A FALLEN POPSTAR IN I USED TO BE FAMOUS NETFLIX HEARTWARMING MOVIE TRAILER

 I USED TO BE FAMOUS  

NETFLIX MOVIE TRAILER

Well, from time to time Netflix forgets about their nasty horrors and Korean crap and gives us something truly heartwarming like the British

The movie is out September 16th

musical comedy I am presenting you today: I USED TO BE FAMOUS will stream from September 16th with Ed Skrein as Vince who used to be in the hottest boy band around. Now the troubled former popstar is alone and desperate. He dreams of making a comeback and starts performing in the streets of Peckham, in the hope that someone, anyone, will listen. An impromptu jam with Stevie (Leo Long), an autistic young drummer with an incredible gift for rhythm, sparks an unexpected friendship between the two misunderstood musicians. Together they form a unique bond through the power of music. Our boy Eoin Macken also stars.

SEE THE FINAL TRAILER FOR LORD OF THE RINGS PREQUEL EPIC TV SERIES THE RINGS OF POWER! PLUS MAGNIFICENT NEW CHARACTER PHOTOS!

  THE RINGS OF POWER  

BEHOLD THE NEW TRAILER!

After rival House of the Dragon has received a very mild reception among the audiences this weekend the whole world in now waiting with a bated breath to see what will happen over at Amazon Prime who has now released a new magnificent trailer for the $500 million worth, and thus the most expensive ever in history, epic TV series THE RINGS OFPOWER a prequel to famous Lord of the Rings saga from Tolkien. The first eight episode season arrives September 2nd with the second one already shooting in UK. The premiere will consist of two episodes with the rest then streaming weekly

The series starts September 2nd!

and the opening two episodes will also air in over 200 cinemas in a number of major cities around the world two days ahead of the TV premiere.

 

THE STORY OF THIS EPIC DRAMA

is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the

First season will have eight episodes

map,these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone!

 

HEROES OLD AND NEW

Beside younger versions of the characters we already grew to love or hate in Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, such as Elven queen Galadriel, Elrond and Sauron, the new series will also have some new heroes in the principal ensemble cast which includes 22 actors. Morfydd Clark stars in the role of Galadriel, previously portrayed by Cate Blanchett, she is the commander of the Northern Armies,  Ismael Cruz Córdova as new character Arondir, a Silvanelf. His forbidden love Bronwyn, a healer, is played by Nazanin Boniadi! Robert Aramayo plays Galadriel's love Elrond, a politically ambitions young Elven leader, while Charlie Vickers stars in the new original role of Halbrand who is running from the past. Sophia Nomvete is dwarven princess, Disa! Owain Arthur stars as Durin IV, prince of the bustling subterranean realm of Khazad-dûm. Elven smith Celebrimbor whose skill with metals and magic lead to the forging of the rings is portrayed by Charles Edwards. Maxim Baldry is a sailor named Isildur who will appear years before he becomes a warrior and cuts the soul-corrupting ring off Sauron’shand, then falls victim to its powers himself. Hobbits will not appear in the show, but their ancestor species called the harfoots will. Lenny Henry plays a harfoot elder in the series, while Megan Richards and Markella Kavenagh star as two harfoots who encounter a mysterious lost man. Benjamin Walker as Elven high king Gil Galad, Augustus Prew, Simon Merrells, Kip Chapman, Joseph Mawle, Peter Mullan, Daniel Weyman also star. 

SEE SIGOURNEY WEAVER HOOK UP WITH KEVIN KLINE IN THE GOOD HOUSE ROMANTIC MOVIE DRAMA TRAILER

  THE GOOD HOUSE TRAILER  

PAIRS UP KEVIN KLINE WITH SIGOURNEY WEAVER

Coming to cinemas September 30th from directors Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky is new melodrama THE GOOD HOUSE based

The Good House is out September 30th

on Ann Leary's book. The story follows Hildy Good (Sigourney Weaver), a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches, who loves her wine and her secrets. Her compartmentalized life begins to unravel as she rekindles a romance with her old high-school flame, Frank Getchell (Kevin Kline), and becomes dangerously entwined in one person’s reckless behavior. Igniting long-buried emotions and family secrets, Hildy is propelled toward a reckoning with the one person she’s been avoiding for decades: herself. Morena Baccarin and Beverly D'Angelo also star. Check out the trailer and tell us what you think.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON AND THE MOUNTAIN WILL BLOOM PERIOD SET 19TH CENTURY MINI TV SERIES COMING FROM FRANCE

 

AND THE MOUNTAIN WILL BLOOM

NEW PERIOD SET FRENCH SERIES

While we are waiting for new period set French series Diane de Poitiers to arrive to the small screens, another one which I announced to you previously is ready for airing. AND THE MOUNTAIN WILL BLOOM (original title Et la montagne fleurira) is a six part series produced by Storia Television in a collaboration with French public broadcaster France Television where it will start airing from August 29th announcing the start of the new season and if I got it right it is also streaming on French streamer Salto where it is already available since August 9th for advance viewing. Eleonore Faucher has directed the series that she also wrote and that will star Guillaume Arnault, Claire Duburcq, Philippe Torreton, Constance Dollé, Hélène de Fougerolles, Ophelia Kolb, Julien Boisselier, Chloé Astor, Anne Brochet, Catherine Allégret, Rio Vega, Eva Danino, David Kammenos and Michel Jonasz. 

 

THE STORY OF THE NEW SERIES

Based on Françoise Bourdon’s novel “Le Mas des Tilleuls” by Francoise Bourdon, the series is a six episode family saga set in 1837 in Provence and follows a man, Jean Baptiste (Guillaume Arnault), who was banned from this childhood homeby his father after being wrongfully accused of having abused his step mother, Seraphine (Hélène de Fougerolles). Jean Baptiste runs away to live with his aunt and eventually become a merchant of rare flowers and finds love with Lila. But his happiness is crushed when a revolt spreads across Provence, forcing him to reclaim rights over his family property and confronts wounds from his childhood.