PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON LUMINARIES EPIC TV SERIES: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NEW SHOW STARRING EVA GREEN, MARTON CSOKAS, CALLAN MULVEY, EVE HEWSON

'THE LUMINARIES'

EPIC SERIES ARRIVES TO BBC

If, for obvious reasons, ITV decides to push Singapore Grip to Autumn, six episode epic drama THE LUMINARIES might very well be the last big historical series we shall enjoy till the new season arrives. The small screen

Luminaries will start on BBC June 21st

adaptation of Eleanor Catton's 2013 Man Booker Prize winning novel has just finished airing over at New Zealand but will hit British BBC next weekend, Sunday June 21st, and, if I'm not mistaken, it will also be available on Starz Play.

1860s Gold Rush
The series tells an epic story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travelled across the world to make their fortunes. It is a 19th century tale of adventure and mystery, set on the Wild West Coast of New Zealand’s

Luminaries is a small screen adaptation of Eleanor Catton's book

South Island in the boom years of the 1860’s gold rush. The story follows defiant young adventurer Anna Wetherell (Eve Hewson), who has sailed from Britain to New Zealand to begin a new life. There she meets the radiant

The Luminaries will air in six hourlong episodes

Emery Staines (Himesh Patel), an encounter that triggers a strange kind of magic that neither can explain. As they fall in love, driven together and apart by fateful coincidence, these star-crossed lovers begin to wonder: do we make our fortunes, or do our fortunes make us?

What To Expect In Episode 1?

The story unfolds in two storylines. The first begins in 1866, with a mystery: a politician, Alastair Lauderback (Benedict Hardie), arrives at a cottage to find a woman, unconscious with opium; a Māori man, also

Eve Hewson leads the cast of the mini series

unconscious; and a corpse. Lauderback brings the woman to town, where she is arrested for public intoxication and held at the jail. The second storyline takes us back nine months earlier to 1865, beginning on the day of Anna

Eva Green plays evil fortune teller and brothel owner Lydia

Wetherell’s (Eve Hewson) arrival in New Zealand. She is fresh-faced and full of promise. After a romantic first encounter, she agrees to meet with fellow

Marton Csokas is a former convict in the new mini series

passenger, Emery Staines (Himesh Patel), but the scheming fortune-teller Lydia Wells (Eva Green) has other designs. Anna is taken under Lydia’s wing, and Emery under the wing of former convict, Francis Carver (Marton

Hamish Patel and Eve Hewson play the lead love couple

Csokas). In 1866 the corpse is brought back from the cottage and identified, and the town jailer, George Shepard (Callan Mulvey), mounts a murder

Erik Thomson, Richard Te Are, Joel Tobeck, Mark Mitchinson, Yoson An also star

investigation. Back in 1865, Emery and Carver are interrupted by a man shouting in Cantonese, who then tries to kill Carver. Lydia’s husband, Crosbie Wells (Ewen Leslie), returns home from the goldfield with a change in fortune.

TRAILER FOR NEW EPIC TV SERIES LUMINARIES WITH EVA GREEN, MARTON CSOKAS, EVE HEWSON IS HERE! CATE BLANCHETT TO PLAY SUPERWOMAN LILITH IN BORDERLANDS SF ADAPTATION?

'BORDERLANDS' ADAPTATION

WANTS CATE BLANCHETT

Cate Blanchett is negotiating around the lead role

After she played charmingly ruthless Hela in Thor, one of world's best ever actresses Cate Blanchett is currently in option over at Lionsgate for the role of Lilith in the possible new movie adaptation of video game BORDER LANDS. As Variety reports, in this sf western adventure, Lilith is a superhuman 'Siren' and one of only six women in the galaxy who have psychic abilities she also has a power to be invisible. The game is set on the frontier of a sci-fi universe — the planet of Pandora where we follow a group of Vault Hunters who are there in search of a mythical alien vault containing coveted alien technology, battling wildlife and raiders of all types along the way. Eli Roth is directing. You can currently watch Blanchett in Hulu's Mrs. America series and in Australian mini series Stateless.

'THE LUMINARIES' TRAILER

19TH CENTURY NEW ZEALAND

Luminaries will start May 17th in New Zealand

Although we still don't know when it will be launched at BBC, the six episode epic mini series adaptation of Eleanor Catton's 2013 Man Booker Prize-winning novel THE LUMINARI- ES will air first over at New Zealand where the story is set. May 17th is when the series will start airing at their TVNZ 1 starring Eve Hewson, Marton Csokas, Eva Green, Ewen Leslie, Callan Mulvey, Matt Whelan and Himesh Patel. The production of the series wasn't affected by the corona outbreak as the filming wrapped in March 2019.

The Luminaries Epic Series
 tells an epic story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travelled across the world to make their fortunes. It is a 19th century tale of adventure and mystery, set on the Wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island in the

Himesh Patel and Marton Csokas lead the male cast

boom years of the 1860’s gold rush. The story follows defiant young adventurer Anna Wetherell (Eve Hewson), who has sailed from Britain to New Zealand to begin a new life. There she meets the radiant Emery Staines

Eva Green plays the manipulative brothel owner in the new series

(Himesh Patel), an encounter that triggers a strange kind of magic that neither can explain. As they fall in love, driven together and apart by fateful coincidence, these star-crossed lovers begin to wonder: do we make our

The series is based on the Eleanor Catton bestselling novel

fortunes, or do our fortunes make us? Eva Green plays the role of Lydia Wells, the calculating brothel madam. Marton Csokas plays her love interest Francis Carver!

MATTHEW MACFADYEN, MICHAEL SHEEN TO LEAD ITV/AMC QUIZ SERIES ON WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE SCANDAL! 1ST PHOTOS FROM PERIOD SET FILMS HIGH GROUND WITH SIMON BAKER, RYAN CORR, CALLAN MULVEY, JUDY AND PUNCH WITH MIA WASIKOWSKA

     FIRST 'QUIZ' PHOTO

MATTHEW MACFADYEN IS THE INFAMOUS COUGHING MAJOR

ITV and AMC have released first photo from new Who Wants to be a Millionaire? scandal TV series QUIZ they are doing together. It follows Charles Ingram (Matthew MacFadyen), a former British army major, who caused a major scandal in the early 2000s after being caught cheating his way

Sian Clifford and Matthew MacFadyen play the Ingrams in the movie

to winning £1 million on the game show! It tells how Ingram, his wife Diana and an accomplice, Tecwen Whittock, who was sitting in the audience, initially pulled off the on-screen heist before being caught and standing trial. Michael Sheen plays the quiz host.

     'HIGH GROUND' PHOTO 

SIMON BAKER IS BOUNTY HUNTER

First photo is also out for a new period set Australian movie HIGH GROUND starring Down Under's best boys Simon Baker, Ryan Corr and Callan Mulvey. In a remote corner of a wild country a bloody war rages in

Simon Baker plays bounty hunter Travis in the new movie

the 1930s. Travis is a bounty hunter with one last hope of redemption. Djumbatj is a young Indigenous man trying to save the last of his family. Together they embark on a manhunt, which unravels a secret that ultimately pits them against each other.

     JUDY AND PUNCH PHOTO WITH

REVENGEFUL MIA WASIKOWSKA

Speaking of Australia, check out the first photo of Mia Wasikowska in JUDY AND PUNCH, a period set crime drama set in Seaside (nowhere near

Mia Wasikowska is avenging her dead baby in the movie

the sea), where puppeteers Judy (Wasikowska) and Punch (Damon Herriman) are trying to resurrect their marionette show in an an anarchic town on the brink of mob rule.

AUSTRALIAN MONDAY: HUGO WEAVING, RYAN KWANTEN TO LEAD LOVELAND SF MOVIE! IN LIKE FLYNN NEW TRAILER WITH CLIVE STANDEN, WILLIAM MOSELEY, CALLAN MULVEY! BRENTON THWAITES TO LEAD I MET A GIRL ROMCOM

BRENTON THWAITES

TO LEAD I MET A GIRL ROMCOM

Brenton Thwaites will lead the cast

We are having ourselves a lovely Australian Monday, spylings, and I am sure you wont complain as movies coming from Down Under are always the best! Right? First up, Australian youngster Brenton Thwaites (who got famous after starring in Gods of Egypt, Pirates of the Caribbean and Titans) will lead new Oz romantic movie I MET A GIRL together with Lily Sullivan. He will play an impulsive musician struggling with schizophrenia who falls for a mysterious woman (Sullivan) who may be all in his head. When she suddenly vanishes, he takes off on a cross country journey across Australia to find her, forcing his long suffering brother (Joel Jackson) to try to rescue him. Zahra Newman and Peter Rowsthorn also star.

'LOVELAND' SF MOVIE

HUGO WEAVING AND RYAN KWANTEN TO HEADLINE THE CAST

Meanwhile, Australian superstars Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten will star in science fiction adventure LOVELAND together with young Jillian Nguyen. Set in the neon twilight of a futuristic Chinese influenced

Australian superhunk Ryan Kwanten will play one of the lead roles

mega-city, it follows two lonely souls; Jack, a hardened assassin, and April, a nightclub singer. Together, they search for what it once was to be human, until it confronts them, revealing the true mystery of their existence.

'IN LIKE FLYNN' TRAILER

SENDS ERROL INTO JUNGLE!

New trailer has been released for Australian action adventure IN LIKE FLYNN, an unusual biopic on famous actor Errol Flynn which played in Oz

In Like Flynn played last Autumn in Oz

cinemas last October and is now out in USA.

Starring gorgeous Thomas Cocquerel in the lead role, IN LIKE FLYNN is set in 1930, before Errol Flynn became a legendary matinee idol of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Whilst serving as a guide for a Hollywood producer in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, young Flynn discovers a trail that will lead to a fortune in gold. Back in Depression era Sydney, he recruits a motley group of fellow opportunists with whom he sets sail in a yacht stolen from Chinese opium smugglers. What follows is a mythical and satirical coming-of-age story about four men on a journey to find hope, adventure and fortune at a time when the world was spiralling into despair. Callan Mulvey, William Moseley, Isabel Lucas, David Wenham, Dan Fogler and Clive Standen also star.

CHRIS PINE POSTER FROM 'OUTLAW KING' EPIC ADVENTURE WITH AARON TAYLOR JOHNSON, MATT STOKOE, CALLAN MULVEY, BILLY HOWLE! CHRISTIAN CAMARGO, HERA HILMAR JOIN 'SEE' JASON MOMOA'S EPIC FANTASY SERIES

'SEE' EPIC FANTASY SERIES

 HERA HILMAR, CHRISTIAN CAMARGO JOIN JASON MOMOA

You will also watch Hera Hilmar in Mortal Engines

Just epic genre news for you today, spylings! Apple keeps casting stars for their ten part epic fantasy series SEE with the story set in a future when the human race has lost the sense of sight, and society has had to find new ways to interact, to build, to hunt, to survive. All of that is challenged when a set of twins with sight is born. Christian Camargo and Hera Hilmar are the latest ones to join the cast which already includes Jason Momoa (as Baba Voss, a fearless warrior, leader and guardian)! Christian Camargo will be Tamacti Jun, the head of Queen Kane’s (Sylvia Hoeks) army while

Christian Camargo will play the general of the Queen's army!

Da Vinci's Demons' Hera Hilmar is Maghra, a determined mother. Alfre Woodard will play Paris, an advisor and priestess.

'OUTLAW KING' POSTER

AND CHRIS PINE'S NEKKID WILLY!

Outlaw King starts streaming November 9th

And are you excited to see some mediaeval action over at Netflix who are releasing their OUTLAW KING November 9th? The movie will also be released in selected cinemas starring Chris Pine in a true David v Goliath story of how the great 14th Century Scottish OUTLAW KING Robert The Bruce used cunning and bravery to defeat and repel the much larger and better equipped occupying English army. Aaron Taylor Johnson is another Scottish hero James Douglas, Florence Pugh is Robert's wife Elizabeth de Burgh, with James Cosmo, Matt Stokoe, Callan Mulvey, Tony Curran and Billy Howle as Prince of Wales also in the cast. Charming info: you will see Chris Pine's rebellious willy in one of the scenes in which the Scottish king is bathing in a cold loch!

FIRST TRAILER AND POSTER FOR 1930'S ERROL FLYNN ADVENTURE BIOPIC 'IN LIKE FLYNN' WITH THOMAS COCQUEREL, WILLIAM MOSELEY, DAVID WENHAM, CLIVE STANDEN

    'IN LIKE FLYNN' TRAILER

SENDS ERROL INTO JUNGLE!

The only thing I have for you today comes from Down Under: the first trailer and poster for their action adventure IN LIKE FLYNN, an unusual biopic on

The movie hits Australian cinemas October 11th

famous actor Errol Flynn which hits Oz cinemas this October.

Starring gorgeous Thomas Cocquerel in the lead role, IN LIKE FLYNN is set in 1930, before Errol Flynn became a legendary matinee idol of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Whilst serving as a guide for a Hollywood producer in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, young Flynn discovers a trail that will lead to a fortune in gold. Back in Depression era Sydney, he recruits a motley group of fellow opportunists with whom he sets sail in a yacht stolen from Chinese

Thomas Cocquerel plays the lead role in the film

opium smugglers. What follows is a mythical and satirical coming-of-age story about four men on a journey to find hope, adventure and fortune at a time

Some of Australia's most  famous hunks star in the movie

when the world was spiralling into despair. Callan Mulvey, William Mosely, Isabel Lucas, David Wenham, Dan Fogler and Clive Standen also star.

EXPLOSIVE SATURDAY: TRAILERS & POSTERS FOR '12TH MAN' WW2 ADVENTURE WITH JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS, 'A-X-L' FANTASY ADVENTURE WITH ALEX NEUSTAEDTER, JACKIE CHAN'S 'BLEEDING STEEL'

 'THE 12TH MAN' WW2 MOVIE

WITH JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS

Three new trailers and posters for you this lazy Saturday people, before we hit some lavish Shakespeare tomorrow (do stay tuned). First up today, a stunning

The movie is based on a true story!

poster for historical adventure THE 12TH MAN a World War II thriller coming from Norway which is currently out in North America and some parts of Europe starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

The story is set in Norway, 1943: after a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his eleven comrades dead, Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud (Thomas Gullestad) finds himself on the run from the Gestapo through the snowbound Arctic reaches of Scandinavia. It's a harrowing journey across unforgiving, frozen wilderness that will stretch on for months and force Jan to take extreme action in order to survive. They were 12 saboteurs. The Nazis killed 11 of them. This is the true story of the one who got away...

 'A-X-L' FANTASY MOVIE

WITH A CYBORG DOGGO!

Then there is also something much brighter: a beautiful trailer for lovely family adventure A-X-L which arrives to cinemas August 24th!  It is a

The movie was directed by Oliver Daly

new adventure about a down-on-his luck teenage bike rider, Miles (Alex Neustaedter), who stumbles upon an advanced, robotic, military dog named A.X.L. Endowed with next generation artificial intelligence but with the heart of a dog, A.X.L. forms an emotional bond with Miles, much to the chagrin of the rogue military scientists who created A.X.L. and would do anything to retrieve him. Knowing what is at stake if A.X.L. gets captured, Miles teams up with his smart, resourceful crush, Sara (Becky G), to protect his new best friend. Thomas Jane also stars in this thrilling adventure.

 'BLEEDING STEEL' TRAILER

 WITH JACKIE CHAN AGAINST THE BORG... OR SOMETHING LIKE IT

Bleeding Steel arrives to USA this July!

Some strange and imaginative cyborg technology can be seen in Jackie Chan's BLEEDING STEEL as well! He plays a special force agent and police officer who is assigned to protect a young woman involved in a science experiment of longevity, from a gangster with an army of advanced technology who desires to obtain her power, while also having connections with him. Australian superstar Callan Mulvey also stars in the expensive $65 million worth action adventure arriving from Chinese Honk Kong. After playing last winter in parts of Europe and this spring in Asia, this delightfully trashy flick hits Northern America this July!

PHOTO WEEKEND: 1ST PHOTOS FROM HISTORICAL DRAMA 'OUTLAW KING' WITH CHRIS PINE, AARON TAYLOR JOHNSON, 'MARY SHELLEY' WITH ELLE FANNING, DOUGLAS BOOTH, TOM STURRIDGE, 'JOURNEY'S END' WITH SAM CLAFLIN, PAUL BETTANY, ASA BUTTERFIELD

  'OUTLAW KING'

 FIRST CHRIS PINE PHOTOS

Continuing our Photo Weekend, first up today, photos (from Daily Mail) from the British sets of Netflix' historical movie OUTLAW KING featuring the first look of Chris Pine as Scottish legend Robert the

Chris Pine rocks a strange new hairdo

Bruce! If you expected some handsome hero, you might be disappointed since he has the weirdest haircut in the role!

14TH CENTURY REBELS 
Set in the 14th century, the movie will follow Chris Pine's Robert The Bruce, the king who led his country to freedom from the oppressive rule

Robert and his faithful steed!

of England and their king Edward II in Scotland! Aaron Taylor Johnson is, meanwhile, set to portray his right hand man, another

Chris Pine and James Cosmo

14th century Scottish legend James Douglas! Robert and Douglas learned guerilla fighting tactics that led to years of surprise attacks,

Australian superstar Callan Mulvey

sacked castles and, finally, independence! Florence Pugh will play the female lead (probably  Robert's queen Elizabeth the Burgh), and as you

Alastair Mackenzie riding in the centre

can see from the photos the cast also includes James Cosmo, Billy Howle as the Prince of Wales, Alastair Mackenzie and Callan Mulvey as Lord John Comyn!

   'MARY SHELLEY'

NEW STELLAR CAST PHOTOS

Some new photos have also been revealed for a movie previously known as A Storm in the Stars and now just simply MARY SHELLEY! The first English language movie to be directed by a female Arabian

Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth and Tom Sturridge

director, has been pushed to summer 2018 release. It portrays the famous love affair between poet Percy Shelley (played by Douglas

Elle Fanning plays Shelley's wife Mary

Booth) and 18 year old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (played by Elle Fanning), which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein. Tom

Boothe and Fanning play the legendary writing couple

Sturridge is Lord Byron, with Ben Hardy, Maisie Williams, Jack Hickey and Joanne Froggatt also in the cast which includes Hugh O'Connor as Coleridge!

  NEW 'JOURNEY'S END'

 PHOTOS FROM WWI TRENCHES

I've already shown you some of the first photos from the sets of World War I epic drama JOURNEY'S END but now we have three more! To

Always marvellous Sam Claflin leads the stellar cast

be out next February with a stellar cast lead by Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Tom Sturridge, Toby Jones and Asa Butterfield,  this

Asa Buttefield plays one of the youngest soldiers

historical drama is a big screen adaptation of RC Sherriff's JOURNEY'S END, the seminal British play about First World War. Set in a dugout

Saul Dibb is directing the WWI drama

in Aisne in 1918, it is the story of a group of British officers, led by the mentally disintegrating young officer Stanhope (Sam Claflin), variously awaiting their fate.

FIRST SET PHOTOS FROM 'IN LIKE FLYNN' ERROL FLYNN PERIOD SET BIOPIC WITH THOMAS COCQUEREL, CLIVE STANDEN, WILLIAM MOSELEY, CALLAN MULEY

  FIRST 'IN LIKE FLYNN' PICS

FROM ERROL FLYNN BIOPIC

It's been a very slow week so far, people, so the only thing I have for you today are the first pictures from the sets of the period set biopic movie IN LIKE FLYNN which shows a rather unknown and yet very interesting and adventurous side of famous movie star Errol Flynn

Thomas Cocquerel plays the lead role in the movie

played in the movie by Thomas Cocquerel! Out next year it will also star Clive Standen, William Moseley, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham and Costas Mandylor!

 FROM AN ADVENTURER TO A HOLLYWOOD STAR
The biopic depicts Flynn's roust-about early life in Australia, before he became an internationally famed celebrity. In those days he was an adventurer, opium smuggler, gambler, street fighter, womanizer, and gold prospector. The film, based on Flynn's early autobiography "Beam

Right to left: Mulvey, Moseley, Cocquerel and Standen

Ends" was written for the screen by Large and Luke Flynn, who found the inspiration as a result of their travels through Australia in the footsteps of Luke's iconic grandfather. The beginning takes Flynn into the jungles of Papua New Guinea in 1930, where he discovers a map on

Clive Standen is almost unrecognisable in his new role

a dead prospector that he believes will lead to a fortune in gold. He then returns to the  Depression-era Sydney, rounds up a ragtag crew, steals a yacht from Chinese Opium smugglers and sets sail for Guinea, encountering drunken cowboys, corrupt cops, local thugs and Chinese pirates along the way.