MARWAN KENZARI TO LEAD PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER TV SERIES THE SILENCE AT NETFLIX

    MARWAN KENZARI   

TO LEAD NEW NETFLIX SERIES THE SILENCE

Marwan Kenzari will lead the new series

Jafar from Disney's Aladdin, super handsome Marwan Kenzari has just been cast as the lead star of new Netflix five episode psychological thriller TV series THE SILENCE which will be a small screen adaptation of the novel The Quiet Girl by S.F. Kosa. The story kicks off when successful writer Sara Post vanishes without a trace. Her husband, Tarik, becomes entangled in a dangerous search that forces him to confront her concealed past. His journey brings him into contact with a closed community where silence is valued above the truth. Dutch model Rianne van Rompaey will play his wife in the series which is being produced as the streamer's Dutch original. 

NEW INTERNATIONAL PERIOD SET TV SERIES: DUTCH GRAND HOTEL BY THE SEA, PORTUGUESE THE MARQUISE AND FRENCH SORORITY

 NEW PERIOD SET SHOWS 

DUTCH GRAND HOTEL BY THE SEA

There are a couple of new period set international TV series currently being prepared for our viewing pleasure, so I thought I could do a spotlight on them today for you, starting from Holland where they have GRAND HOTEL BY THE SEA ready for the international market later this year. This eight part series, done for Dutch NPO broadcaster, is a romantic period drama centered on the future of the prestigious 'Grand Hotel aan Zee' in Noordwijk, spanning the years 1912 - 1919. Hotel owner Sandra is determined totransform the Grand Hotel aan Zee within two years into the premier hotel for Europe’s elite along the Dutch coast. In her pursuit, she is confronted with the challenges of being an ambitious woman at the dawn of the 20th century. The hotel’s transformation not only influences Sandra’s future but also the lives and loves of five women around her. Gradually, space begins to emerge for each of them to make their own choices and shape their own futures. Thekla Reuten, Joes Brauers, Florence Vos Weeda, Mustafa Duygulu star.

 

 THE MARQUISE FROM PORTUGAL

This six part historical series is being done for Portuguese broadcaster RTP following a great poet from the late 18th century. From her beginnings in a Lisbon convent to the wild Viennese court, these are the stories of a fearless Marquise who will rock the ruling elite. Leonor is torn between two loves – a Count and an Emperor – and in an era where literature, music, and cuisine blend, she must choose her destiny. Mediapro Studio has taken the international distribution rights at the recent Berlin Film Festival. It is an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Portugal’s Maria João Lopo de Carvalho about Leonor de Almeida Portugal, Marquise of Alorna – a poet, diplomat and revolutionary thinker, who was considered one of the most captivating women of the 18th century. 

 

SORORITY SERIES FROM FRANCE

Over in France we have this period set thriller done for France TV a tale of three women – a wet-nurse, a midwife and a grieving mother – pitched against a male-dominated world in a Paris of 1889. SORORITY follows Rose who leaves her rural home to become a wet nurse for a bourgeois family in Paris. There, she meets Odette, a midwife, who warns her that she won’t be allowed to keep her own child with her. Rose finds a solution, however risky: passing off her baby as that of Hélène de Gersande, a mother grieving the sudden loss of her infant. Rose, Odette and Hélène, three women from very different backgrounds, will have to join forces to carve out a place for themselves in a male-dominated world, and claim their freedom.

SEE ALFIE ALLEN, MARTIJN LAKEMEIER, CHARLIE MURPHY, JACK GLEESON, COLM MEANEY IN SAFE HARBOR ACTION TV SERIES

  SAFE HARBOR SERIES 

WITH ALFIE ALLEN AND MARTIJN LAKEMEIER

Safe Harbor starts on SBS August 21st

Although it already aired in Holland earlier this year, eight part action thriller series SAFE HARBOUR will hit Australian SBS August 21st and it is also available from April on ITVX in UK. 

 THE SERIES FOLLOWS 

Tobias (Alfie Allen) and Marco (Martijn Lakemeier whom we watched in Maxima and Marie Antoinette), hackers who become involved with organised crime when they cross paths with members of the Irish mob, Sloane (Charlie Murphy) and her brother Farrell (Jack Gleeson). They employ them to hack into the security system of Europe's largest shipping port, in Rotterdam, to enable undetected deliveries of drug shipments. Colm Meaney also stars in the series originally made for Videoland Dutch streamer service. Check out the trailer below and tell us what you think, would you watch it?

 

THE MANY LIVES OF MISS K PERIOD SET TV SERIES ON DUTCH MODEL AND SECRET AGENT FROM WW2 ANNOUNCED

  THE MANY LIVES OF MISS K  

TO BECOME PERIOD SET TV SERIES

Dutch model and secret agent Toto Koopman is getting a TV series based on Jean-Noël Liaut’s THE MANY LIVES OF MISS K. As Deadline reports, it will depict Koopman’s compelling professional and personal life. Born to a Dutch cavalry officer father and half Indonesian mother 

Finite Films and TV is producing the series

in 1908, Koopman’s mixed heritage exposed her to discrimination that shaped her worldview. Twenty years later, Koopman arrived in Paris in the 1930s and made history as the first model of mixed race to be featured on French Vogue. When World War II engulfed Europe, she leveraged her social connections and multilingual abilities to gather intelligence for the Allied forces in Italy, using her glamorous personal to cover for clandestine work. But this dangerous double life led to her capture by the fascists in 1941. She was held in various detention camps and was set to be deported to Germany but escaped and rejoined the Resistance. In 1944, she was caught spying on high-ranking German officers and sent by the Nazis to the notorious women’s concentration camp at Ravensbrück, where she was one of the few who survived.

SEE FIRST POSTER FOR PERIOD SET CASANOVA MOVIE A BEAUTIFUL IMPERFECTION WITH JONAH HAUER KING, DAR ZUZOVSKY, ANEURIN BARNARD

 A BEAUTIFUL IMPERFECTION 

SEE FIRST CASANOVA MOVIE POSTER

Dar Zuzovsky takes the lead role in the film

Two  years ago I told you first about this one and then I showed you first photos from Dutch director Michiel Van Erp costume movie drama A BEAUTIFUL IMPER- FECTION about Casanova and one of the women he loved. Now we have the first poster for the movie that does not have a release date nor a trailer yet.  With Jonah Hauer King and Dar Zuzovsky in the lead roles, the cast will also have Aneurin Barnard and Sam Hazeldine.  I am hoping we will get a trailer or at least a teaser soon, but until then you can enjoy the poster and the first images from this costume drama.

 

 WHAT IS THE STORY?

Based on the novel In Lucia’s Eyes by Arthur Japin, which has been sold in millions of copies around the world, it follows the love affair between notorious adventurer and womanizer Casanova and a girl who becomes disfigured by smallpox and flees Italy for Amsterdam. Sixteen years later, they meet again when she has reinvented herself as a mysterious veiled courtesan now known by the name of Galathée. Without revealing her true identity or showing her face, Lucia and Giacomo become lovers once again. Will Lucia dare to reveal herself and turn her weakness into her strength so that she can be truly free in the eyes of her great love?

 

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON ROYAL TV SERIES MAXIMA ON THE LIFE OF QUEEN OF HOLLAND WHICH STARTS THIS MONTH

    MAXIMA TV SERIES   

READY TO START LATER THIS MONTH

I was excited to see this one before, but after seeing the trailer I was seriously shocked by how atrociously miscast the female lead is, she looks nothing like the real queen and what is with that ugly pout? Who can watch her pouting so hideously for six episodes which is how long MAXIMA series about the Argentinian-born Dutch Queen Máxima lasts. How did Delfina Chaves seriously get cast in this one? Were they trying to humiliate real Maxima by casting such talentless actress? Just look at that horrible unroyal posture and stewardess dress in the first poster. Atrocious. Martijn Lakemeier plays her husband, Dutch king Willem in the series that hits Videoland streamer
April 20th with Beta Film distributing it around the world. Sebastian Koch stars as Claus von Amsberg, the father of Willem-Alexander, and Elsie de Brauw as Queen Beatrix. The series will probably air on RTL channels as well around Europe.

 

FROM THE MOMENT

Máxima Zorreguieta appears at the Dutch crown prince’s side, she finds herself in the spotlight. When Willem-Alexander asks her to marry him, the past catches up with her. Heated discussion erupts about her father’s political career in the Videla regime, a discussion she never faced in her own circles. What allows this Argentine to finally thrive at an old European court? And how can Máxima stay true to herself without giving up her family, or do these things not go together? The series will kick off with a present-day storyline starting in 1999 in Seville, when Máxima and Willem-Alexander meet for the first time. It  will then transition into a second storyline set in the past, where we see how Máxima was prepared for this step her entire life. When the press catches wind of her relationship with the crown prince, the pair find themselves on a roller coaster, that only slows down with the announcement of their engagement in 2001.

 

ALFIE ALLEN, MARTIJN LAKEMEIER, CHARLIE MURPHY, JACK GLEESON TO LEAD NEW HIGH PROFILE EUROPEAN SERIES SAFE HARBOR

 NEW SAFE HARBOR SERIES 

ALFIE ALLEN, MARTIJN LAKEMEIER AND CHARLIE MURPHY TO LEAD

In a co production between Dutch streamer Videoland and Belgian Streamz, next year will bring us new eight part series SAFE HARBOR with gorgeous Dutch star Martijn Lakemeier (who is also playing the king of Holland in Videoland's Maxima series) in the lead alongside Alfie Allen, Charlie Murhpy and Jack Gleeson. The series follows gifted hacker Tobias (Allen) and his ambitious best friend Marco (Lakemeier), who are intent on cracking into the tech billionaires club. They are plucked from quiet obscurity and plunged headfirst into the chaos of organised crime when they cross paths with the Irish mob. Leading the family’s operations in Holland are Sloane (Murphy) and her brother Farrell (Gleeson), who enlist their services to hack into the security system of Rotterdam harbour, Europe’s largest shipping port, to secure the undetected deliveries of drug shipments. A big-name star is being sought for a patriarch role, father to Sloane and Farrell, in the Irish mob, as Deadline reports.

SEE NEW IMAGES FROM LAVISH ROYAL TV SERIES MAXIMA ON THE LIFE OF QUEEN OF HOLLAND

    MAXIMA TV SERIES   

NEW IMAGES FROM DUTCH COURT

I have already told you that over in Holland RTL is preparing MAXIMA six episode drama about the Argentinian-born Dutch Queen Máxima known for her exquisite fashion and elegant outfits. Delfina Chaves and gorgeous Martijn Lakemeier, whom we watched as the queen's platonic lover in Marie Antoinette, are leading the cast and today you can check out some new images from the sets. Sebastian Koch stars as Claus von Amsberg, the father of Willem-Alexander, and Elsie de Brauw as Queen Beatrix.

 

FROM THE MOMENT

Máxima Zorreguieta appears at the Dutch crown prince’s side, she finds herself in the spotlight. When Willem-Alexander asks her to marry him, the past catches up with her. Heated discussion erupts about her father’s political career in the Videla regime, a discussion she never faced in her own circles. What allows this Argentine to finally thrive at an old European court? And how can Máxima stay true to herself without giving up her family, or do these things not go together? The series will kick off with a present-day storyline starting in 1999 in Seville, when Máxima and Willem-Alexander meet for the first time. It  will then transition into a second storyline set in the past, where we see how Máxima was prepared for this step her entire life. When the press catches wind of her relationship with the crown prince, the pair find themselves on a roller coaster, that only slows down with the announcement of their engagement in 2001.

WHEEL OF TIME EPIC SERIES SEASON 2 AIR DATE ANNOUNCED! 1ST IMAGE FROM DUTCH COLONIAL ERA COSTUME MOVIE DRAMA SWEET DREAMS SET IN INDONESIA!

  THE WHEEL OF TIME  

SEASON TWO AIR DATE REVEALED

Amazon Prime Video has a surprise for you today in the form of first images from season two of their epic fantasy series WHEEL OF TIME announcing September 1st as the return date! Two years have almost passed from the first season which did not really get love from the audience, so it will be interesting to see how will this one go. Adapted from Robert Jordan novels it follows a farm boy, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) who learns he is The Dragon Reborn, a dangerous figure destined to save the world. Desperate to protect him from the Dark One, an army of powerful sorceresses must reckon with Rand’s burgeoning power and encroaching madness.

IN THE SECOND SEASON

 the Wheel of Time turns and the Last Battle approaches. Because though Rand thought he destroyed the Dark One, evil is not gone from the world. Threats new and very old will seek out the young friends from the Two Rivers, who are now scattered over the world. And Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), the woman who found and guided them, is now powerless to help, so they must find other sources of strength — in each other, or themselves. In the Light, or the Dark. The Wheel of Time also stars Daniel Henney as Lan Mandragoran! Our dear Arnas Fedaravicius from The Last Kingdom will also join the cast in this season.

 

 1ST SWEET DREAMS IMAGE 

FROM NEW COSTUME DRAMA

First image today from new colonial era Dutch drama movie SWEET DREAMS from director Ena Sendijarevic. To arrive this year, it is set  on a remote Indonesian island, during the waning days of the colonial era, where Dutch sugar factory owner Jan and his wife, Agathe are at the top of the food chain. That is, until Jan upon returning from his nightly visit to his native

Famous director Paul Verhoeven stars in the cast of the film

concubine Siti, suddenly drops dead in front of his wife. Desperate to keep the privileges of her status quo, Agathe forces her estranged son Cornelis and his heavily pregnant wife Josefien, to travel from Europe and take over the family business. In the midst of a worker’s uprising, Cornelis displays his plans for progressive change, but when Jan’s will puts Siti at the forefront of the family estate, ideals prove to be idle and blood thicker than water.

CAST SET FOR MAXIMA TV SERIES ON THE DUTCH QUEEN! RICHARD ARMITAGE IS THE WORST DADDY IN THE WORLD IN OBSESSION NETFLIX EROTIC THRILLER SERIES! LIES WE SING TO THE SEA MOVIE ADAPTATION

    MAXIMA TV SERIES   

ON THE DUTCH QUEEN

Since it is very much trendy these days unveiling secrets about royal families, the next one in line is Holland as RTL is preparing MAXIMA six episode drama about the Argentinian-born Dutch Queen Máxima known for her exquisite fashion and elegant outfits. Delfina Chaves and gorgeous

Delfina Chaves will play queen Maxima

Martijn Lakemeier, whom we watched as the queen's platonic lover in Marie Antoinette, have already been set as the leads.The series will start shooting this June in Argentina, New York, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands!

From the moment Máxima Zorreguieta appears at the Dutch crown prince’s side, she finds herself in the spotlight. When Willem-Alexander asks her to marry him, the past catches up with her. Heated discussion erupts about her father’s political career in the Videla regime, a discussion she never faced in her own circles. What allows this Argentine to finally thrive at an old European court? And how can Máxima stay true to herself without giving up her family, or do these things not go together? The series will kick off with a present-day storyline starting in 1999 in Seville, when Máxima and Willem-Alexander meet for the first time. It will then transition into a second storyline set in the past, where we see how Máxima was prepared for this step her entire life. When the press catches wind of her relationship with the crown prince, the pair find themselves on a roller coaster, that only slows down with the announcement of their engagement in 2001.

  NEW MOVIE ADAPTATION  

LIES WE SING TO THE SEA

It is Underwood's debut novel

Archery Pictures has acquired movie rights to Sarah Underwood's best selling novel LIES WE SING TO THE SEA. Ripley Parker has been set to adapt it. This magical coming-of-age novel is set in Ancient Greece and is inspired by the myth of Penelope’s hanged maids. In the cursed kingdom of Ithaca, each spring brings the hanging of twelve young women, a tithe to the vengeful Poseidon. But when Leto awakens from her death on the shore of a magical island, its enigmatic keeper Melantho tells her that she has been chosen by the Gods to break Ithaca’s curse. Leto must return home and kill the prince.

  OBSESSION NETFLIX SERIES  

STARRING RICHARD ARMITAGE

Netflix has revealed first images from their new steamy series OBSESSION which will air its three episodes this April with Richard Armitage playing a respected London surgeon whose affair with his son’s fiancée turns into an erotic infatuation that threatens to change their lives forever! Armitage is William, a doctor who embarks on a passionate affair with his soon-to-be daughter in law, Anna (Charlie Murphy). Anna is already engaged to William’s son Martyn. She fights to keep both relationships alive, one with Martyn and one with William, but it is inevitable that the truth will emerge and someone is going to get hurt. In the meantime, William finds himself drawn into an obsessive spiral, unbeknown to his wife Ingrid. Indira Varma also stars in the April 13th series.

WW2 SUNDAY: SEE TRAILERS FOR DUTCH WAR EPIC FORGOTTEN BATTLE, STEFAN ZWEIG ADAPTATION ROYAL GAME! COURAGE ON DEMAND MINI SERIES ON MAN WHO SAVED THOUSANDS OF NAZI VICTIMS

  COURAGE ON DEMAND  

WW2 MINI TV SERIES

I know Sunday is not the best day for war, but I have three war projects for you today. As Deadline reports, The Amazing Film Company will shoot

A picture of real life Varian Fry

COURAGE ON DEMAND eight part series about Varian Fry, the American journalist who ran a daring rescue network in France that helped Jewish people escape persecution in Nazi controlled France. Set in 1940s war torn Marseille, it will follow young American Varian Fry who was dispatched to France by Eleanor Roosevelt to save a selected list of artists, scientists and opposing politicians from Nazi concentration camps. When Fry realizes there is no legal way of getting these endangered refugees out of France, he builds his own underground railroad of spies, thieves, forgers and adventurers to bring more than 2200 people to safety.

  THE FORGOTTEN BATTLE 

SEE TOM FELTON IN WAR

As of this Friday, this Dutch war movie is already streaming on Netflix: THE FORGOTTEN BATTLE, second most expensive film ever coming from Holland, has the story told through the perspective of three different

The Forgotten Battle is airing on Netflix as of October 15th

participators of the Battle of the Scheldt, a Dutch axis pilot, a British air pilot, and a female resistance fighter from Zeeland. It was one of the bloodiest battles with over 12,000 casualties among Allies. Gijs Blom and Tom Felton lead the cast.

 

    THE ROYAL GAME   

STEFAN ZWEIG ADAPTATION

Currently playing in Germany and Russia is their WW2 thriller based on Stefan Zweig's novel THE ROYAL GAME (Schachnovelle)! Vienna, 1938:

It comes from our dearest Studiocanal!

Austria is occupied by the Nazi regime. Shortly before the lawyer Bartok (Oliver Masucci) can flee to the USA with his wife Anna, he is arrested and taken to the Hotel Metropol, headquarters of the Gestapo. As the asset manager of the nobility, he is supposed to give the Gestapo leader Böhm access to accounts. Since Bartok refuses to cooperate, he is placed in solitary confinement. Bartok remained steadfast for weeks and months, but became increasingly desperate - until he happened upon a chess book. Check out the super exciting trailer below:

THE KIDS OF VAMPIRE CLANS ARE HEIRS OF THE NIGHT IN EPIC FANTASY TV SERIES AT AMAZON PRIME!

 'HEIRS OF THE NIGHT'

NEW FANTASY TV SERIES 

The series has been sold around Europe

Here's something interesting that has been airing in many European countries since last year (I think you can also stream it over at Amazon Prime). HEIRS OF THE NIGHT is a two season (each has 13 half hour long episodes) epic TV series based on the book series Die Erben der Nacht by Ulrike Schweikert!

In 1898, a prophecy warns the five remaining vampire clans in Europe that they need to unite or else they will become extinct. Joining forces is easier said than done. The last decades the clans have been fighting each other in the clan-wars. Now the Elders will have to set aside their hostile feelings so their young Heirs can attend the vampire school that is

The clans include vampires from Italy, Switzerland, Greece, England, Russia, Austria, Holland, Spain, Romania, Ireland, France and Norway

created on the ship The Elisabetha. The Heirs will learn each other's powers to become stronger than ever. They have to learn to trust each other and work together if they are to beat Dracula, who has awoken after a long sleep. The

The series was shot in Norway, Croatia and Norway

Heirs face challenges they have never met before like attacks from the feared Redmasks; vampires controlled by Dracula; steering through storms and facing vampire hunter Van Helsing. They need to survive all challenges, because they're on a quest and it's up to them to save their kind.