SERIESMANIA 2026 PERIOD SET SERIES: SUMMER OF '36, UNCHAINED AND ALICE FROM THE 19TH CENTURY SLAVERY AND HOTEL RIVIERA TO CINEMA PIONEERS

  SERIESMANIA 2026 OFFER  

SUMMER OF '36 FROM FRANCE

There is a number of new period set shows that will premiere or be offered to the buyers at this year's Seriesmania at the end of this month and your spy is presenting them to you today, starting with French and Belgian six episode drama SUMMER OF '36 a historical thriller set in Nice, summer of 1936. The elite are stunned as the first working-class vacationers arrive on the French Riviera, thanks to newly granted paid leave. In this clash of worlds, four women from different backgrounds find themselves entangled in a murder at the chic Hotel Riviera. A crime that will shatter their families, their romances, and their lives forever. The series is done for national broadcasters of the two countries, but I hear it will also stream on Netflix.

 

UNCHAINED FROM FRANCE

I already presented you with this one before, but French historical series UNCHAINED will also compete at Seriemania this year. This six episode drama has the story set in Bourbon Island, 1806. A devastating cyclone leaves Charles Bellevue’s plantation in ruins. Bankrupt, he is forced to sell his lands, leaving his slaves in terror of being separated. Among them, Isaac refuses to accept his fate. He has just discovered that Charles Bellevue is not only his master: he is his father. The brand new historical series was done for their national broadcaster France Television. 

 

ALICE FROM FRANCE AND CANADA

A co production between France, Belgium and Canada is six part series ALICE with Berenice Bejo. From France to the U.S., the incredible journey of Alice Guy, a pioneer and the first female fiction filmmaker in cinema history. The series explores the extraordinary life of Alice Guy, a woman who was an artist, entrepreneur, wife and mother. It delves into her struggles, her thwarted loves, and her quest for freedom and recognition.

RYAN REYNOLDS TO JOIN REBECCA FERGUSON IN 'LIFE' MARS SET SF MOVIE? PINK TO SING FOR 'ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS'! 1ST BBC'S 'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM' PHOTO WITH MAXINE PEAKE

RYAN REYNOLDS TO JOIN

REBECCA FERGUSON'S 'LIFE' SF FILM

While his DEADPOOL movie  is earning surprisingly big bucks in US cinemas and also around the world (it is well over $250 million now), 'Deadline' reports that Ryan Reynolds is considering joining Rebecca Ferguson in LIFE sf movie that I mentioned last week when she got the lead role. Coming from the scribes who wrote DEADPOOL, the new movie follows the crew of the International Space Station, who, after retrieving a sample from Mars, discover that it displays signs of life, and proves to be more intelligent than expected.

'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM'

FIRST BBC MOVIE PHOTO IS HERE
In TV news, check out the first photo from BBC's upcoming new TV movie A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, the adaptation of famous Shakespeare's play showing Maxine Peake as Queen Titania!  Matt Lucas will appear as Bottom, John Hannah as Theseus, Eleanor Matsuura as Hippolyta and newcomer Hiran Abeysekera as Puck. The CGI rich project is set in the tyrannical court of Athens and the magical forest around the city!

PINK TO SING A SONG FOR 

'ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS' MOVIE

When it comes to clips, check out a video in which Pink talks  about White Rabbit  song that she recorded for ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS which also offers new glimpses into the sequel movie which comes out this May starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Rhys Ifans. There is also a new poster for the movie! 

LUKE EVANS JOINS EMILY BLUNT IN 'GIRL ON THE TRAIN'! 'ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS' TRAILER WITH JOHNNY DEPP, ANNE HATHAWAY! 'TEMPEST', 'DARKOVER', '244 DEGREES OF FREEDOM' SF TV SERIES

'THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN'

 LUKE EVANS JOINS EMILY BLUNT

Now we know why our favourite Welshman in the world Luke Evans has opted out of US Army propaganda SAND CASTLE movie with Henry Cavill: he will take a role in THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN instead! He replaces Jared Leto joining Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramirez and Rebecca Ferguson in the film in which he will play the husband of Haley Bennett's character. In the adaptation of Paula Hawkins novel Emily Blunt plays a divorced woman fascinated by a couple she watches on her commute to work. But events take a sinister turn when the wife (Bennett) disappears and the Girl on the Train starts to suspect she may be witness to a murder.

NEW SF TV SERIES

'TEMPEST' AT CW  
In TV news today, CW will produce utopian series TEMPEST about a young woman living in a utopian spaceship who finds out the ship is secretly powered by slaves and becomes enmeshed romantically and politically in the dangerous rebellion brewing below the decks.
AMAZON'S 'DARKOOVER'
Amazon is also going sf by turning DARKOVER sf novels into series! Marion Zimmer Bradley's saga has 25 books and it has been translated into almost 20 languages as a mix of fantasy and science fiction set on the exotic planet of Darkover.
244 DEGREES OF FREEDOM
Fox has bought sf series 244 DEGREES OF FREEDOM set in a world where robots have evolved in intelligence, influence, and social status, and humans have been relegated to a permanent underclass until one man is driven to lead a rebellion against the machines, risking everything to uncover a conspiracy that could spell the end of the human race.

DISNEY'S FIRST TRAILER FOR

ALICE THROUGH LOOKING GLASS

Disney has revealed the first trailer for their fairy tale movie ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS which is out next May! Alice (Mia Wasikowska) has spent the past few years following in her father's footsteps and sailing the high seas. Upon her return to London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the fantastical realm of Underland and her friends the White Rabbit, Absolem, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), who is not himself. The Hatter has lost his Muchness, so Mirana (Anne Hathaway) sends Alice on a quest to borrow the Chronosphere, a metallic globe inside the chamber of the Grand Clock which powers all time. Returning to the past, she comes across friends - and enemies - at different points in their lives, and embarks on a perilous race to save the Hatter before time runs out.  Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman and Michael Sheen also star.