SEE TRAILER FOR 19TH CENTURY SET HISTORICAL SERIES BLACK GOLD WITH MARTON CSOKAS, TOM WLASCHIHA, GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE

   BLACK GOLD SERIES    

REVEALS TRAILER  WITH MARTON CSOKAS

Swiss Studios, the producers of Davos 1917 and Stella, has prepared  BLACK GOLD, a six episode historical series, from Justin Koch and Matthias Greving, which will be set in 1900 in a small village on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany, where the poor farming family Lambert is cheated by the large scale farming family Pape of the oil  deposits discovered under their fields. When the oil rush takes hold of the village and threatens to destroy the farming community forever, the women of  the Lamberts fight for justice and win their independence. This led the hardworking village population being torn between progress, environmental destruction and survival. Gwendoline Christie and Marton Csokas play English prospectors Emma and Tyler Robertson, who come to a quiet village near Lüneburg Heath after oil fields are discovered. Tom Wlaschiha is also in the cast and so are Aaron Hilmer, Harriet Herbig-Matten, Henny Reents and Hans Zimmer, the Oscar winner is scoring the music. It will air on German ARD from December 22nd. Check out the violent trailer below.

 

19TH CENTURY SET HISTORICAL SERIES BLACK GOLD CASTS MARTON CSOKAS, TOM WLASCHIHA, GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE

   BLACK GOLD SERIES    

REVEALS LEAD CAST WITH MARTON CSOKAS

Swiss Studios, the producers of Davos 1917 and Stella, has prepared  BLACK GOLD, a six episode historical series, from Justin Koch and Matthias Greving, which will be set in 1900 in a small village on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany, where the poor farming family Lambert is cheated by the large scale farming family Pape of the oil  deposits discovered under their fields. When the oil rush takes hold of the village and threatens to destroy the farming community forever, the women of  the Lamberts fight for justice and win their independence. This led the hardworking village population being torn between progress, environmental destruction and survival. Gwendoline Christie and Marton Csokas play English prospectors Emma and Tyler Robertson, who come to a quiet village near Lüneburg Heath after oil fields are discovered. Tom Wlaschiha is also in the cast and so are Aaron Hilmer, Harriet Herbig-Matten, Henny Reents and Hans Zimmer, the Oscar winner is scoring the music. It will air on German ARD from December 22nd.

REALITY MIXES WITH HISTORY IN MAN WITH NO PAST THRILLER MOVIE TRAILER WITH ADAM WOODWARD, JON VOIGHT, MARTON CSOKAS

   MAN WITH NO PAST  

A TIME TRANSCENDING BATTLE

Since Hollywood is still sleeping in their New Year's Eve slumber, I shall turn your attention to an interesting trailer that mixes modern day scenes with

The movie will be available on VOD January 14th

historical set ones. MAN WITH NO PAST action thriller will be available for streaming on VOD as of January 14th directed by James Bamford with crazy gorgeous Adam Woodward in the lead role. Academy Award winner Jon Voight, Philip Winchester and Marton Csokas also star in this action packed thriller. Waking in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory of who he is must confront the mysteries of his own identity. But his desperate search to uncover his past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that will seal his fate and reveal his true identity. Aided by allies, he infiltrates powerful gang, engages in time-transcending battle while fate looms.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON CHEVALIER MOVIE DRAMA SET AT THE 18TH CENTURY COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE AND LOUIS XVI!

  CHEVALIER MOVIE DRAMA  

WELCOME TO FRENCH COURT

To our delight, there is a number of upcoming period set movies that will have their stories happening in France. Beside Clicquot, which will follow the rise

After cinemas Chevalier will land on Disney in June

of the famous champagne producing dynasty starring our sweetest boo Leo Suter, and Le Pot Au Feu de Dodin Bouffant, with Juliette Binoche and her baby's daddy Benoit Magimel in the love story set in the world of 1885 French gastronomy, we will first enjoy CHEVALIER movie drama which arrives to cinemas April 21st after successfully screening last September at Toronto Film Festival. After our visit to the lavish court of Catherine the Great yesterday, this one is taking us over to the glitzy court of Marie Antoinette. Her personal composer Chevalier de Saint-Georges also appears briefly in Marie Antoinette series which already aired in Europe, but will arrive to USA on PBS Masterpiece this March. But Stephen Williams directed movie, based on the true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, follows his rise to heights in French society as a composer before an ill-fated love affair.

 

THE STORY FOLLOWS 

 The rise and resurgence of Chevalier de Saint-Georges (played by Kelvin Harrison Jr), an 18th century French-Caribbean violinist and composer who rose to fame through his musical prodigy. But a complicated love life and the racism of the ancien régime leads to a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton), whose entourage he was a member of at the French court, and Saint-Georges realizes that things must change. Beside being a composer, virtuoso violinist and an amazing swordsman who fought many duels, he also founded schools for children in Africa.

 WHO ELSE IS AT THE COURT?

The cast of the new movie also includes gorgeous Samara Weaving who stars as Marie-Josephine de Montalembert, Marton Csokas as Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, Alex Fitzalan as Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and godawful Minnie Driver as Marie-Madeleine Guimard! Sian Clifford is Madame de Genlis with Joseph Proven playing famous Mozart (he lived at the time of Mozart, Haydn and Liszt) and Sam Barlien portraying the king himself Louis XVI of France! The film boasts resplendent costumes and sets which were shot in Czech capital Prague. 

THOMAS KRETSCHMANN IS WAGNER, MARTON CSOKAS LISZT IN WAGNER IN VENICE PERIOD SET BIOPIC! SHADOW AND BONE EPIC FANTASY SERIES SEASON 2 TRAILER! MARWAN KENZARI JOINS RALPH FIENNES, JULIETTE BINOCHE IN ODYSSEUS EPIC MOVIE THE RETURN!

  WAGNER IN VENICE  

CASTS THOMAS KRETSCHMANN AND MARTON CSOKAS

A new English language period set biopic has just seen Thomas Kretschmann cast as the lead in WAGNER IN VENICE with Marton Csokas cast as his fellow composer Liszt! To shoot this spring under the helm of Daniel Graham, it will chart the journey of German composer Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima as they arrive in Venice following the prèmiere of Parsifal in 1882. The plot will turn on an alternative history, as it will see Wagner’s father-in-law, Franz Liszt, follow the couple soon after as news of a comet headed towards earth launches Wagner into composing one final piece of music.   

  MARWAN KENZARI JOINS  

ODYSSEUS EPIC THE RETURN

Earlier this week I confirmed that Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche Odysseus epic movie THE RETURN has found a US distributor, and now we

Marwan Kenzari will play a suitor

have news that Marwan Kenzari will again walk a royal court since after playing the grand vizier Jaffar in Aladdin he will now play Antinous, the lead suitor for the hand of Penelope, the mythological queen of Ithacca.

  Fiennes plays Odysseus who, 20 years after being washed up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable, finally returns home. But much has changed for this King’s kingdom since he left to fight in the Trojan War. His beloved wife Penelope (Binoche) is now a prisoner in her own home, hounded by her many ambitious suitors to choose a new husband, a new king. Their son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer), who has grown up fatherless, is facing death at the hands of the suitors who see him as an obstacle in their relentless pursuit of Penelope and the kingdom. Odysseus has changed too. Scarred by his experience of war, he is no longer the mighty warrior his people remember. But he is forced to face his past in order to rediscover the strength needed to save his family and win back the love he has lost.

 SHADOW & BONE 2ND SEASON 

DYNAMIC FANTASY TRAILER!

Second season will stream this March

With the return date looming ahead of us, Netflix has released a trailer for the second season of their epic fantasy adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's book saga SHADOW AND BONE which arrives March 16th! The weakest link in the cast Jessie Mei Li sadly returns as Alina Starkov, alognside Archie Renaux (Malyen Oretsev), Freddy Carter (Kaz Brekker), Kit Young (Jesper Fahey), Danielle Galligan (Nina Zenik), Daisy Head (Genya Safin), Calahan Skogman (Matthias Helvar) and Ben Barnes (General Kirigan). New additions to the cast are Lewis Tan (Tolya Yul-Bataar), Anna Leong Brophy (Tamar Kir-Bataar), Jack Wolfe (Wylan Hendriks) and Patrick Gibson (Nikolai Lantsov).

 

  IN THE SECOND SEASON

Alina Starkov is on the run. A beacon of hope to some and a suspected traitor to others, she’s determined to bring down the Shadow Fold and save Ravka from ruin. But General Kirigan has returned to finish what he started. Backed by a terrifying new army of seemingly indestructible shadow monsters and fearsome new Grisha recruits, Kirigan is more dangerous than ever. To stand a fighting chance against him, Alina and Mal rally their own powerful new allies and begin a continent-spanning journey to find two mythical creatures that will amplify her powers. Back in Ketterdam, the Crows must forge new alliances as they contend with old rivals and even older grudges that threaten not only their place in the Barrel, but their very lives. When a chance at a deadly heist comes their way, the Crows will once again find themselves on a collision course with the legendary Sun Summoner.

1ST PHOTOS FROM PERIOD SET VICTORIAN BOXING DRAMA PRIZEFIGHTER: THE LIFE OF JEM BELCHER WITH MATT HOOKINGS, RAY WINSTONE, MARTON CSOKAS, JODHI MAY

  PRIZEFIGHTER MOVIE  

THE LIFE OF JEM BELCHER

Matt Hookings stars and produces

This one is currently in post production but we have first photos from period set drama movie PRIZEFIGHTER: THE LIFE OF JEM BELCHER from director Daniel Graham. The English language Victorian costume drama, shot at Malta and in Lithuania, depicts the birth of boxing as a sport.

  This is the little known true story of a boxer who became the youngest ever world champion at the age of nineteen in 1800. Jem Belcher transformed primitive pugilism into the sport of boxing as we know it today. Growing up in poverty and surrounded by brutal violence and addiction, Jem is saved by a benevolent mentor and the discipline of boxing, becoming the most exciting sportsman in all of England. Rivals, back stabbing and the newly established boxing hierarchy did everything they could to thwart him but Jem is on path to cement his place in history - as a pioneer of the sport.  At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.

WHO STARS IN THE MOVIE?

Matt Hookings, a Welsh star who also serves as the producer, plays the lead role of Jem Belcher with Ray Winstone as his trainer, Marton Csokas and Jodhi May also in the cast. It is interesting that in real life, Matt is a son of David 'Bomber' Pearce, former British Heavyweight boxing champion dubbed the 'Newport Rocky'.

ITS BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR A MAFIA BOSS IN THE TRAILER WITH EWAN MCGREGOR, VAL KILMER, PENN BADGLEY, SHILOH FERNANDEZ! CHARLOTTE RAMPLING IS DRUNKARD GRANDMA IN JUNIPER TRAILER WITH MARTON CSOKAS

 THE BIRTHDAY CAKE TRAILER 

WITH EWAN MCGREGOR

It is a very slow weekend in news business, so I will entertain you with posters and trailers for two new dramas, beginning with THE BIRTHDAY

Birthday Cake is currently available

CAKE which has Ewan McGregor, Val Kilmer, Penn Badgley and Shiloh Fernandez in the cast. The film, which is currently out in USA, UK and Russia, begins with the 10th anniversary of Giovanni's (Shiloh Fernandez) father's death, Giovanni reluctantly accepts the task of carrying on the family tradition of bringing a cake to the home of his Uncle Angelo, Brooklyn's last Mafia boss, for a celebration. Just two hours into the night, Giovanni's life is forever changed and he's forced to grow up after witnessing murder, violence, chaos and the truth about what happened to his father. Check out the trailer below:

 

  JUNIPER TRAILER & POSTER  

WITH CHARLOTTE RAMPLING

Meanwhile, a new poster has been released for Charlotte Rampling's drama JUNIPER for which the spy has shown you a trailer

Juniper does not have a release date yet

a few months ago. The film, both written and directed by Matthew Saville (he previously directed fantasy shows Spartacus and Legend of the Seeker Down Under), only has a New Zealand release date in late August, but it did visit a number of movie festivals. Here is the plot of the film which also stars Marton Csokas, George Ferrier and Carlos Muller: When a self destructive teenager is suspended from school and asked to look after his feisty alcoholic grandmother as a punishment, the crazy time they spend together turns his life around. Check out the first trailer below:

1ST PHOTOS OF EWAN MCGREGOR IN HALSTON MINI SERIES, CALLUM TURNER, FELICITY JONES IN LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER, CHARLOTTE RAMPLING IN JUNIPER

 LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER

1ST PHOTOS WITH CALLUM TURNER AND FELICITY JONES

Two first looks for you today,  beginning with first photos from THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER movie adaptation of Jojo Moyes' popular novel in which Shailene Woodley plays a woman called Jennifer Stirling who loses her memory after a car accident, but later discovers letters

Shailene Woodley and Callum Turner in the movie

about a love affair she had with a journalist called Anthony O'Hare (Callum Turner)! Jennifer is married to wealthy and powerful husband Laurence (Joe Alwyn), and the letters are discovered decades later by journalist Ellie

Felicity Jones and Nabhaan Rizwan

Haworth (Felicity Jones). She pieces them together with the help of archivist Rory (Nabhaan Rizwan), leading to a journey that will entangle the two women's lives forever.

1ST JUNIPER DRAMA PHOTO

WITH CHARLOTTE RAMPLING

Who will star together with Marton Csokas in drama movie directed by Matthew Saville, JUNIPER. When a self-destructive teenager is suspended

Matthew Saville is both writing and directing Juniper

from school and asked to look after his feisty alcoholic grandmother as a punishment, the crazy time they spend together turns his life around. 

1ST EWAN MCGREGOR PHOTO

FROM HALSTON TV SERIES

There is also the first, rather glamorous look of  Ewan McGregor in mini TV series HALSTON in which he plays the famous fashion designer. It tracks Halston as he leverages his single, invented name into a worldwide

The series will air next year in five hourlong episodes

fashion empire that's synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame, literally defining the era. The series arrives sometime next year.

Ewan McGregor will be wearing glamorous costumes in the series

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!

1ST TRAILER FOR 'MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT' 15TH CENTURY EPIC TV SERIES SEASON 2 IS HERE WITH DANIEL SHARMAN, BRADLEY JAMES, SEAN BEAN! MARTON CSOKAS, EVE HEWSON TO LEAD BBC'S EPIC 19TH CENTURY NEW ZEALAND SET TV SERIES 'LUMINARIES'

  'MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT'

2ND SEASON TRAILER REVEALED!

The second season starts October 23rd in Italy

You probably remember that your spy's favourite epic series last year was Medici: Masters of Florence! The first season was absolutely magnificent and it seems the second one could be, at least its name says so, the same: MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT is ready to start airing on Italian national broadcaster RAI October 23rd and we can hope it will air its English language version sometime this winter on Netflix Unlike the first season which followed Cosimo Medici in the amazing performance of Richard Madden, this one will focus on his grandsons Lorenzo, played by Daniel Sharman, and his brother Giuliano, played by

Sarah Parish, Daniel Sharman and Bradley James are the Medicis

Bradley James. The cast will also include Sarah Parish as their mother Lucrezia, Sean Bean as their enemy Jacopo de' Pazzi, Raoul Bova as Pope Sixtus IV, Sebastian de Souza as Sandro Botticelli and Alessandra Mastronardi as Lucrezia Donati!

 

MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT
has the story set in 1470. Medici's family power has been consolidated over time. Lorenzo is called to take his father's place after an attempt on his life which reveals years of poor bank management from them. As new head of

Netflix will air the English version probably this winter!

Medici's family he has to take care of his brother Giuliano and his sister Bianca. He marries Clarice Orsini, a noble woman from Rome, and his friendship with Botticelli gives life to Renaissance. His contrast with Pope Sixtus brings Florence to the most bloody moment of its History, the Pazzi conspiracy.

  BBC'S 'THE LUMINARIES'

EPIC TV SERIES SETS MARTON CSOKAS, EVE HEWSON AS LEADS

Marton Csokas returns to New Zealand after Lord of the Rings

Speaking of epic series, BBC Two has announced the cast for their historical series THE LUMINA- RIES  the six part TV adaptation of the popular Man Booker Prize winning novel by Eleanor Catton! Into the Badlands star Marton Csokas and Robin Hood star Eve Hewson will lead the cast as Francis Carver and Anna Wetherell! Eva Green will play Lydia Wells.

Eve Hewson is Susan Sarandon's daughter

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