SPOTLIGHT ON UPCOMING RUSSIAN FILMS: PERIOD SET HITROVKA: THE SIGN OF FOUR, MASTER AND MARGARITA, WW2 MOVIE AIR, AND ADVENTURE MOVIE LORD OF THE WIND

 UPCOMING RUSSIAN FILMS 

HITROVKA: THE SIGN OF FOUR

I have a number of upcoming Russian films to present to you, so I thought I'd put them all in a nice little spotlight, beginning with HITROVKA: THE SIGN OF

Hitrovka is out in cinemas May 18th

FOUR (Хитровка. Знак четырёх) which should be out May 18th. Moscow, 1902. The famous director Konstantin Stanislavsky (Konstantin Kryukov), in search of inspiration for staging a new play, decides to get acquainted with the life of the city "bottom". He turns to Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a recognized expert on the Moscow slums, for help. Together they go to the legendary bandit Hitrovka and find themselves embroiled in the investigation of the murder of a mysterious local resident - an Indian Sikh with a dark past. You can check out a rather beautiful trailer below:

 

 

MASTER AND MARGARITA

The adaptation of Bulgakov's famous novel switched its title from Voland to MASTER AND MARGARITA  (Мастер и Маргарита) and should arrive

Master and Margarita will arrive soon

sometime this year. Moscow, 1930s. A famous writer (August Dil) on the rise of his career suddenly finds himself at the center of a literary scandal. The performance based on his play is removed from the repertoire, colleagues defiantly avoid meeting, in a matter of days he turns into an outcast. Shortly thereafter, he meets Margarita (Yuliya Snigir), who becomes his lover and muse. Inspired by her love and support, the writer takes on a new novel in which the characters are people from his environment, and the main character is the mysterious Voland, the prototype of which is a recent acquaintance of a foreigner. The writer plunges headlong into the world of his novel and gradually ceases to notice how fiction and reality are intertwined into one.

 

 

WORLD WAR II MOVIE AIR

The Second World War movie AIR (Воздух) is currently in post production. Heavy fighting is going on in the USSR, the German army is advancing. A unit

Air movie is in post production currently

of female pilots arrives in a mixed aviation regiment. All of them are young and do not quite understand what war is. Many are not yet accustomed to them, just as they are not accustomed to war in general. Girls have a hard time in the male world, but they prove day by day that they are no worse than men. Zhenya (Anastasiya Talizina) is a talented pilot with a difficult fate, who has experienced a lot, learned not to become attached to people, so that later she would not suffer from the pain of loss. She is afraid of her feelings and tries to restrain them. The only thing Zhenya wants is to fly well and defeat the enemy. She would like to merge with the air, with the wind, with the plane into one. In a series of air battles, the girls are fighting better and better. But many in the regiment are dying. Friendship and love are difficult for Zhenya; in the sky, in battle, she feels more in her place. Soon she becomes the regiment's best pilot, although there are fewer and fewer survivors around her. Zhenya grows up and prepares to enter her last battle. Anton Shagin, Sergei Bezrukov also star.

 

LORD OF THE WIND

The story of Fyodor Konyukhov's round-the-world balloon flight. He completed it in 2016 in 11 days and set a world record. LORD OF THE WIND (Повелитель ветра), out October, follows famous Russian traveler

Lord of the Air arrives this October

Konyukhov (Fedor Bondarchuk), who has conquered the earth's poles, oceans and the highest peaks, and now sets off on a new, most dangerous journey. He will have to circumnavigate the Earth in a balloon all alone. The flight is prepared by a whole team, but it is impossible to foresee all the dangers that await the traveler in extreme conditions. Konyukhov falls into a hurricane - without communication, without sleep, almost without air, he has to go only forward in order to return to those he loves. And the whole world, with bated breath, is watching the man who challenged the elements.

 

BEANTOWN 18TH CENTURY BOSTON TEA PARTY COMEDY SITCOM SET AT CBS! WARRIOR EPIC SAGA GETS THIRD SEASON AIR DATE & TEASER FROM HBO!

  CBS SETS BEANTOWN  

PERIOD SET MULTICAM SITCOM

Well, that is a first, I don't remember we ever had a multicam sitcom with historical setting!  Written by Dan Kopelman based on an idea by Aaron Kaplan, BEANTOWN is a workplace comedy set in a Boston coffeehouse, where employees and patrons share their lives and experiences while also discussing the events of the day. And that day happens to be in 1773. Naturally, the story will be set against the backdrop of the Boston Tea Party and the events surrounding it!

   WARRIOR SEASON 3  

FINALLY GETS AIRING DATE

It seems like we waited forever after it was transferred from Cinemax to HBO Max, but we finally have an air date for the third season of fan favourite WARRIOR series: new season will premiere June 29th and you can check out the teaser below. In the wake of the race riots that upended Chinatown in season two, Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) uses her government connections to consolidate power, while Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) and the Hop Wei must find new ways to survive. Tom Weston Jones, Kieran Bew, Joe Taslim, Dean Jagger all return to the 19th century set martial arts saga.

JOSEPH QUINN IS EMPEROR CARACALLA IN GLADIATOR SEQUEL! TRAILER AND AIR DATE FOR NEW BBC PERIOD SET SERIES TEN POUND POMS! SEE AN ENCHANTING TRAILER FOR DISNEY'S NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURE WISH WITH CHRIS PINE

  GLADIATOR SEQUEL  

TO AD JOSEPH QUINN WITH CONNIE NIELSEN RETURNING

Joseph Quinn will be emperor Caracalla

After adding Paul Mescal in the lead role, the sequel to Ridley Scott's GLADIATOR has now also added Joseph Quinn as emperor Caracalla with Connie Nielsen in negotiations to return to her original role of Lucilla who is the mother of Lucius, now the protagonist of the movie and portrayed by Mescal. The film is currently set for a November 22nd, 2024 release in cinemas. Fans' favourite Joseph Quinn is no stranger to historical drama and if you follow our blog for more than a decade you know that he first shone in period set series Dickensian, Les Miserables, Howard's End and Catherine the Great. 

 TEN POUND POMS TRAILER 

AND AIR FOR BBC SERIES

BBC One has announced a launch date and also the first trailer for their new six part period set series TEN POUND POMS which will officially launch on Sunday May 14th and will air weekly, but all episodes will be immediately available on iPlayer. The major new drama series starring Michelle Keegan, Faye Marsay and Warren Brown follows a group of Brits as they leave post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world! In Australia it will stream on Stan.

 

 DISNEY'S WISH TRAILER 

A NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURE

I forgot to show you this one last night, but here it is now: Disney has released first trailer for their new enchanting animated adventure movie WISH which will debut in theatres around you November 22nd  set in the fantastical kingdom of Rosas, which is ruled over by a king voiced by Chris Pine. A number of Disney's recent animated movies, including Encanto and Strange World, has flopped at the box office, so it will be interesting to see if this one will score success. 

 

THE STORY OF WISH  

Written and directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, WISH is set in Rosas, a fantastical land located off the Iberian Peninsula. Our heroine, Asha, lives in Rosas, known as the kingdom of wishes. People come from everywhere to give their wishes to a magical king who promises to grant their deepest desires — someday. Only he can decide which wishes will come true and when. Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force — a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe — the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico — to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

1ST PIC OF ALICIA VIKANDER AS QUEEN KATHERINE PARR IN HENRY VIII FILM FIREBRAND! NETFLIX TEASER FOR THE LEOPARD 19TH CENTURY SICILY SET HISTORICAL TV SERIES! NEIL MORRISSEY TO UNCOVER THE HOARD OF SAXON TREASURE IN NEW MINI SERIES!

 1ST ALICIA VIKANDER IMAGE 

AS QUEEN KATHERINE PARR IN FIREBRAND MOVIE

First image of Alicia Vikander as Katherine Parr in new historical movie FIREBRAND is here. Jude Law stars as Henry VIII in the psychological thriller that explores how Katherine, the last of Henry’s six wives, endured her union with the monstrous monarch and kept her head in the 16th Century. Patsy Ferran portrays princess Mary and Junia Rees portrays Elizabeth. The movie will be screened at Cannes when we can expect first look at Law too.

 

 NEIL MORRISSEY TO LEAD 

Neil Morrissey will lead The Hoard

CHANNEL 5'S NEW THE HOARD MINI TV SERIES

Channel 5 has announced a new four part drama and they already have a cast set for it: Neil Morrissey will lead THE HOARD mini series. It will be the story of keen detectorist Martin (Morrissey) and his wheeler dealer soon to be son-in-law Ashley (James Buckley) who, while on a boys bonding trip in the idyllic fields of rural Somerset, discover a hoard of buried Saxon treasure worth millions. Legally, they should declare it, but Ashley spots an opportunity to look after number one, and as pressures are building at home with his wife Anne (Fay Ripley), straight arrow Martin can’t help but have his head turned. It’s tempting. If they sell it on the black market, they could be set for life and Ashley has the connections to make it happen. But with a hoard this good, could it really be that easy? After all, they might not be the only ones out for its spoils. The series will air towards the end of the year on the British channel.

  THE LEOPARD SERIES  

NETFLIX STARTS PRODUCTION!

Netflix Italia has released a very teasing teaser celebrating the start of the production on THE LEOPARD historical series which will shoot till September as the adaptation of  Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's famous classic novel Il Gattopardo. Tom Shankland is directing the six episode saga! While Sicily is struggling in the turmoil of the Risorgimento in 1860, the Prince of Salina Fabrizio Corbera (Kim Rossi Stuart) reigns over his family and his possessions, convinced that even these disorders are destined to pass. He hasn’t come to terms with the idealism of young people like his nephew Tancredi (Saul Nanni), who joins the rebels risking his own life, or the ambitions of men like Sedara, a vulgar man who rides change by pandering to the nascent power of mafia criminal organizations and intends to use his beautiful daughter Angelica (Deva Cassel) to get what he wants. At Don Fabrizio’s side remains Concetta (Benedetta Porcaroli), his favourite daughter, who shares his intelligence and foresight. Her happiness will eventually be sacrificed in an attempt to ensure the survival of the power and of the name of the lineage.

SEE KENNETH BRANAGH, JAMIE DORNAN, MICHELLE YEOH IN HAUNTING IN VENICE AGATHA CHRISTIE MOVIE TEASER! STEPHEN CAMPBELL MOORE TO LEAD NEW SHAKESPEARE TV SERIES THE ROSY CROSS: THE REBELS WHO WROTE SHAKESPEARE! 1ST BBC'S GALLOWS POLE HISTORICAL SERIES IMAGES

  STEPHEN CAMPBELL MOORE  

TO LEAD SHAKESPEARE SERIES THE ROSY CROSS 

And it is not to be mixed up with the Shakespeare's life series from Stephen Knight and Sarah Lancashire that I announced a few days ago. THEROSY CROSS: THE REBELS WHO WROTE SHAKESPEARE will be a separate series from Lasse Hallberg who has already set a cast with

Stephen Campbell Moore will probably be Bacon

Stephen Campbell Moore, Romario Simpson, Samuel Barnett, Jonny Weldon and Ed Hughes who is also a co-producer!

THE ROSY CROSS 

 is based on research claiming to identify the real and diverse underground writing group of men and women who secretly crafted the plays under the pseudonym of William Shakespeare, led by the great English philosopher Francis Bacon. It follows a shadowy order of diverse freedom fighters from all walks of life who wage a covert war to protect freedom of speech and civil rights, by using plays

Samuel Barnett and Ed Hughes are also in the cast

to spread knowledge, bury secrets and empower the masses. It promises to take a deep dramatic dive into the heady melting pot of the 16th Century underground, where freedom fighters literally were writing for their lives, all to help people learn about the ever-changing world they lived in.

   THE GALLOWS POLE  

1ST LOOK FROM BBC SERIES

BBC Two has, meanwhile, sent us the first images from their new historical series THE GALLOWS POLE which, based on the book by Benjamin Myers, fictionalises the remarkable true story of the rise of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners. Set in the moorland hills of 18th Century Yorkshire, the drama follows the enigmatic David Hartley (played by Michael Socha), as he assembles a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a revolutionary criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become the biggest fraud in British history. Also starring are Sophie McShera who plays Grace, with Thomas Turgoose as William Hartley, Yusra Warsama as Bethsheba, Anthony Welsh as Abe Oldfield, Samuel Edward-Cook as Isaac Hartley, Joe Sproulle as Joe, and Adam Fogerty as James Broadbent, Nicole Barber-Lane as Susie, Fine Time Fontayne as Joseph Broadbent, with Ralph Ineson as The Clothier. The three part series will come to BBC Two and iPlayer May 31st.

  A HAUNTING IN VENICE 

AGATHA CHRISTIE FILM TEASER

Kenneth Branagh has released the first teaser for his new Agatha Christie movie adaptation A HAUNTING IN VENICE which arrives to cinemas this September starring Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Reilly, Kyle Allen. Set in a post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, the film follows another mystery featuring the celebrated sleuth Poirot as he reluctantly attends a séance at a haunted palazzo. After one of the guests is murdered, the former detective must once again find out who did it. The movie looks more like a cheap horror than a Christie movie to me, but you can check it out yourself, his first two adaptations were atrocious. 

TRAILER & AIR DATES FOR HENRY CAVILL'S THE WITCHER EPIC SERIES SEASON 3 REVEALED! 1ST IMAGES FROM POLISH SPRAWLING HISTORICAL EPIC SCARBORN ABOUT THEIR NATIONAL HERO TADEUSZ KOSCIUSZKO

  THE WITCHER SEASON 3  

TRAILER AND AIR DATES

Why dates in plural? Because for the first time ever Netflix has decided to split THE WITCHER into two parts, so the first batch of season three's

The Witcher is back this June

eight episodes will stream from June 29th and then the other part from July 27th! And, yes, this is the last season with Henry Cavill in the lead role of Geralt the Witcher, after that season four will have Liam Hemsworth in the lead role. In the upcoming season three, Geralt takes Ciri into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where they hope to uncover more about the girl’s untapped powers! Instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. This season is also loosely based on Andrzej Sapkowski's books although fans have been angry with the producers for changing too much and rumour has it that Cavill has left the project for the same reason and for the bad writing which really has been godawful so far. Cavill now has a Warhammer series to lead and he has also been announced as the new Highlander. 

 

 FIRST SCARBORN IMAGES  

FROM NEW POLISH EPIC FILM

We are back again in the international waters with the first images from Polish historical epic movie SCARBORN (Kos) scheduled for October release. Movie begins in the spring of 1794. General Tadeusz 'Kos' Kosciuszko (Jacek Braciak) returns to Poland, which plans to start an uprising against the Russians, mobilizing the Polish nobility and peasants to do so. He is accompanied by a faithful friend and former slave, Domingo (Jason Mitchell). Russian captain, Dunin (Robert Wieckiewicz) wants to capture the general at all costs before he causes a national rebellion. At the same time, a young peasant, Ignac (Bartosz Bielenia), a noble bastard, dreams of being given his coat of arms and property by his illegitimate parent, Duchnowski (Andrzej Seweryn), who includes him in his will just before his death. When the father dies, the boy has to run away from his half-brother, Stanislaw (Piotr Pacek), who does not want to let his father's will be realized. Ignac steals the will and has only two days to appear in court with it and prove his knighthood. During the escape, Ignac meets Domingo on his way, and a strong bond of understanding is formed between the men, even though they both do not know each other's language. Together, they go to the Colonel's Wife manor (Agnieszka Grochowska), where Kosciuszko is hiding, waiting for negotiations with the magnates. Kos is distrustful of Ignac and keeps him under arrest, but at the decisive moment it is in the hands of an inconspicuous noble bastard who will lay the fate of the uprising. When the moment of trial comes, Ignac will have to choose - whether to continue following his coat of arms dream and his father's legacy, or to join Kosciuszko's "Kos" and fight with him for the highest stakes. Given that Viaplay is a co-producer, the film might stream on it in Nordic countries.

JOE COLE TO LEAD BBC'S NEW SUSPENSE REAL-TIME THRILLER SERIES NIGHTSLEEPER SET ON A SLEEPER TRAIN! 1ST VIRGINIE EFIRA IMAGES FROM ALL TO PLAY FOR MOVIE

   JOE COLE TO LEAD  

NIGHTSLEEPER BBC SERIES

Joe Cole will try to save the train

And the plot is really interesting: BBC has announced that Joe Cole has been cast in their new suspense series NIGHTSLEEPER  a real-time thriller set on a sleeper train travelling from Glasgow to London, while a government agency desperately tries to intervene in the rapidly-escalating events onboard. Can two people who’ve never met, one on the train and one not, work together to save the lives of its disparate group of passengers as the Heart of Britain service hurtles towards what might quite literally be its final destination? Alexandra Roach, James Cosmo, David Threlfall, Daniel Cahill, Ruth Madeley, also star in the six part series which is already shooting over in Scotland.

 1ST VIRGINIE EFIRA PICS 

FROM ALL TO PLAY FOR

We also have for you first images of our queen Virginie Efira in her new drama movie ALL TO PLAY FOR (Rien à perdre)! This French film is in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. Directed by Delphine Deloget, it follows single-mother Sylvie, who works at night to support her two children, Sofiane and Jean-Jacques. But one night, Sofiane has an accident at home. Accused of negligence by child services, Sylvie has her son taken away from her. One thing leads to another, and next thing she knows, she goes from being considered an innocent mother to a potential criminal. But Sylvie is determined to do whatever it takes to retrieve her son and put her family back together again.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON SPANISH CIVIL WAR SET HISTORICAL SERIES THE PATIENTS OF DOCTOR GARCIA WHICH STARTS THIS MONTH ON NETFLIX

 PATIENTS OF DOCTOR GARCIA 

NEW SPANISH NETFLIX SERIES

The series streams from April 28th on Netflix

Here is a totally unexpected surprise for you: Netflix has, out of a sudden, scheduled a brand new historical series for next week! From April 28th, ten episodes of THE PATIENT OF DOCTOR GARCIA will be available for streaming on the streamer. You probably remember that a few years ago I announced work on Los Pacientes del doctor Garcia, Spanish period drama series about Doctor Guillermo Garcia and Manuel Arroyo, a Republican diplomat who infiltrates a clandestine network that helps Nazis settle in Spain and Latin America. Javier Rey stars as the titular character Doctor Garcia, with Tamar Novas as Arroyo. The female lead went to the godawful Veronica Echegui. The series, based on the novel written by Almudena Grandes set in the Civil War and the Spanish post-war years, was produced by Spanish national broadcaster RTVE and Netflix Espana. The series already started in Spain on April 19th.

 

  THE STORY OF THE SERIES
After Franco's victory, Dr. Guillermo García Medina (Javier Rey) continues to live in Madrid under a false identity. The documentation that freed him from the firing squad was a gift from his best friend, Manuel Arroyo Benítez (Tamar Novas), a Republican diplomat whose life he saved in 1937. Doctor García believes that he will never see him again but, in September 1946, Manuel returns from exile with a secret and dangerous mission. The republican diplomat intends to infiltrate a clandestine organization, the evasion network of war criminals and fugitives from the Third Reich led from the Argüelles quarter by a German and Spanish, Nazi and Falangist woman named Clara Stauffer.

SARAH LANCASHIRE, STEVEN KNIGHT WORKING ON SHAKESPEARE DRAMA SERIES! SEE TRAILER FOR DANISH 19TH CENTURY SATIRE MOVIE EMPIRE (VIFTEN) SET IN COLONIAL WEST INDIES!

 NEW SHAKESPEARE SERIES 

FROM SARAH LANCASHIRE AND STEVEN KNIGHT

Julia star Sarah Lancashire and Steven Knight are teaming up on making a drama series on WILLIAM SHAKE SPEARE, which will tell the

Lancashire will produce via her production company

complete story of the glove-maker’s son who became the greatest storyteller in history and how his genius survived and thrived in an age of turmoil and terror, danger and disease. As Variety reports, it aims to be the first full account of the passion, people and politics that made William Shakespeare the world’s most famous dramatist and the men and women around him who loved and labored, schemed and plotted, killed and connived in one of the most dangerous periods in history. Sarah Lancashire, who came up with the idea for the series, will produce through her production company.

 EMPIRE MOVIE TRAILER 

FROM COLONIAL DENMARK

Available for viewing to the Danish cinemagoers as of this weekend is their sprawling historical movie drama EMPIRE (Viften) which already had its

Empire is out as of April 20th in Denmark

world premiere earlier this January at Goteborg Film Festival in the neighbouring Sweden.  Coming from Meta Film studio, the movie was directed by Frederikke Aspock and delves deeply into Denmark’s colonial past in the Danish West Indies in 1848.

  EMPIRE FOLLOWS  

Anna Heegaard and Petrine (Sara Fanta Traore) who are close friends. Both women are colored, but their living conditions are very different – ​​Anna is free and owns the enslaved Petrine. Anna lives with Governor-General Peter von Scholten (Claus Riis Østergaard) at his country house, where she manages the home, the fortune and her beloved and trusted housekeeper Petrine. Everything seems to be as it should be, until rumors of a rebellion begin to swirl. Which side are Anna and Petrine really on – and is it the same? This absurdist satire drama was written by Anna Neye who also plays the lead role.