Most of you know that some of your spy's favourite movies are marvellous historical dramas Elizabeth and Elizabeth Golden Age (that one especially) and that their helmer Shekhar Kapur is one of my fave directors (at least before he produced that hideous crap of series Will), and now it seems we might get a continuation ELIZABETH THE DARK AGE. Well, sort of. Speaking to Variety he said it will be a futuristic movie about Elizabeth in the future, the state of the monarchy and civilization, based on a dystopian view of what will happen in Europe and what will happen in the U.K. and the western world! It will follow a 19 year prostitute who is put on the throne of the monarchy, which has long since been dead and gone.
'THE KINGKILLER CHRONICLE'
SAM RAIMI TO DIRECT?
KingKiller Chronicles have been sold in millions
Speaking of fantasy, rumour has it that Sam Raimi is negotiating with
Lionsgate to direct their adaptation of sf classic THE KINGKILLER
CHRONICLE based on novels by Pat Rothfuss with Lin Manuel Miranda
serving as creative producer. The project follows an adventurer and
musician Kvothe, who survives a tragic childhood to become a notorious
household name. Working as an innkeeper he tells the story of his life
in a three day narration. The project is planned as a trilogy with
Showtime planning a TV series which would expand the world from the
novel.
'MUTE' SF TRAILER
WITH ALEXANDER SKARSGARD, PAUL RUDD AND JUSTIN THEROUX
Mute airs on Netflix February 23rd!
First trailer has been revealed for Duncan Jones science fiction movie MUTE which is out on Netflix February 23rd! Berlin, the future, but close enough to feel familiar: In this loud, often brutal city, Leo (Alexander Skarsgard), unable to speak from a childhood accident, searches for his missing girlfriend, the love of his life, his salvation, through dark streets, frenzied plazas, and the full spectrum of the cities shadow dwellers. As he seeks answers, Leo finds himself mixed up with Cactus Bill (Paul Rudd) and Duck (Justin Theroux), a pair of irreverent US army surgeons on a mission all their own. The movie imagines a world of strange currencies in which echoes of love and humanity are still worth listening to.
I'm really hoping this one will bring some light into ghastly boring summer of 2018 which hasn't brought us anything fun so far, especially in the deeply unsettling and tragic aftermath of the spring series cancellations and pilot rejections! TNT is ready to start airing their new hip epic series WILL from Monday July 10th (it will be a two hour premiere, but I think the first episode is already available at their app and I also believe TNT will air the show around the world too on its regional cable channels) mixing
Will broke onto Elizabethan theatre scene as a kid from a poor sheep town
the setting of the Elizabethan London with modern punk rock music soundtrack because that is what it was back then: theatre scene with its
Laurie Davidson is the shinning star of the new series
crazy adoring crowds and actors as superstars with tons of sex, booze and parties. The wild, rowdy story of young William Shakespeare
The series was originally meant for HBO before they got their GOT
(played by super lovely and sinfully cute Laurie Davidson) aims to expose all of Shakespeare's recklessness, lustful temptations and tortured brilliance.
BEFORE HE WAS SHAKESPEARE HE WAS KNOWN AS WILL
'Will' starts July 10th on TNT
As Will opens, a young William Shakespeare has just arrived onto the
punk-rock theatre scene in 16th century London. It is in this seductive,
violent world that his raw talent faces rioting audiences, religious
fanatics and raucous sideshows. Attracted to Will's naïve genius is
Alice Burbage (Olivia DeJonge), the talented, beautiful and rebellious daughter of James Burbage (Colm Meaney),
the carpenter whose vision led him to build the first theatre in London
since Roman times. Despite being the daughter of an impresario, Alice
is forbidden by society from pursuing a
Laurie prepared for the role reading Shakespeare's work
career in the theatre. Her
brother Richard Burbage (Mattias Inwood) is innately talented as
well, but too much in love with himself and
Shakespeare was a great rival with Christopher Marlowe
prone to overact. But a
chance encounter at the theatre leads him to team up with Will in what
would soon become the greatest actor-writer partnership the world has
ever seen.
DIRECTED BY SHEKHAR KAPUR!
The very dynamic, roving shooting style in which the ten episode series was shot in order to make the viewer a part of the 16th century
Caroline McCall did the punk rock costumes for the series
theatre audience, is the work of famous director Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, Four Feathers) who is helming this series. The rest of the cast also includes always under performing and weak Jamie Campbell
Olivia DeJonge plays Will's love interest Alice Burbage
Bower as playwright, poet and chief Shakespeare rival Christopher Marlowe and Ewen Bremner as wealthy and notorious law enforcer Richard Topcliffe.
JENNIFER CONNELLY AND DAVEED DIGGS BOARD THE ICE TRAIN
You've seen Daveed Diggs in Blackish
Earlier last winter I announced that Chris Evan's sf movie SNOWPIERCER is getting turned into a TV series at TNT and now they have first cast member in Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly! Directed by Doctor Strange's Scott Derrickson, it explores class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival set seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, and the remnants of humanity inhabit a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. Daveed Diggs will be Layton Well, a prisoner who becomes a reluctant participant in a
Jennifer Connelly will also star in Alita:Battle Angel sf epic movie
struggle that could upend life on the train. Jennifer Connelly will be Melanie Cavill, a First Class passenger who works as the Voice of the Train – responsible for making the daily announcements over its PA system.
'BERLIN, I LOVE YOU' CASTS
ORLANDO BLOOM, RENEE ZELLWEGER, DIEGO LUNA, PATRICK DEMPSEY, JACK HUSTON Meanwhile, an anthology movie has just got a rather stellar cast: as
'The Hollywood Reporter' writes, Orlando Bloom, Diego Luna,
Orlando leads one of the movie segments
Patrick Dempsey, Jack Huston, Renee Zellweger, Sophie Turner and Gemma Arterton
will star in BERLIN, I LOVE YOU with Dempsey and Zellweger also
directing some of the segments of the movie which will be helmed by
different directors including Shekhar Kapur and Til Schweiger. It is the
third instalment in the Cities of Love franchise following Paris je t'aime from 2006 and New York, I Love You
from 2008. This time, the story is set on the streets of Berlin, and
explores how romance is expressed through love won, lost and everything
in between. Shooting starts this summer covering all of Berlin's famous
landmarks.
Period set projects today to end the week! TNT has finally revealed the airing date for their fun new series WILL which mixes historical setting and story with modern music. The ten episode series, starring Laurie Davidson as young William Shakespeare, will start airing July 10! Shekhar Kapur directs with the cast also including Olivia DeJonge, Ewen Bremner, Colm Meaney, Mattias Inwood, William Houston, Lukas Rolfe, Max Bennett!
WILL tells the wild story of young William Shakespeare's arrival onto
the punk rock theatre scene in 16th century London, the seductive,
violent world where his raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious
fanatics and raucous side shows. It's a contemporary version of
Shakespeare's life, played to a modern soundtrack that exposes all his
recklessness, lustful temptations and brilliance.
'PILGRIMAGE' TRAILER
WITH TOM HOLLAND, STANLEY WEBER, AND RICHARD ARMITAGE
Speaking of mediaeval shenanigans, first trailer has finally been released for historical adventure movie PILGRIMAGE which plays this weekend at Tribeca Film Festival starring Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Richard Armitage and Stanley Weber!
ON A PERILOUS JOURNEY Coming to theatres in August, it is set on the Irish coast in A.D.
1209, where a group of monks and knights set out on a quest to bring a
legendary artefact with biblical origins to Rome, where they believe it
will be safe from those who seek to wield its power. Their journey
quickly turns into a perilous one, with all manner of military men and
scoundrels attempting to snatch their cargo.
Earlier last year I've shown you the first trailer for TNT's witty new costume series WILL and we've been waiting for a really long time for something new, and now it is here: new teaser and some new pics from the series that will portray the frolics of the famous bard to the punk rock music sound track as you can see from the way they're dressed like rock stars. And it isn't even that weird when you come to think of it: actors and play- wrights really were treated like rock stars in Elizabethan London, they had fun, they had wild nights out, they had sex, they had love of the mad crowds, they even had groupies. Deadly adorable Laurie Davidson, who seems more than ready to disarm you with his delightful charms, plays the quill wielding hot stuff in the ten episode series directed by our most beloved Shekhar Kapur who brought us Elizabeth movies and Four Feathers and the fun starts airing this summer as if the season isn't hot enough by itself.
PUNK ROCK WILL It will be a wild story, told to a modern soundtrack, of young William Shakespeare’s (Laurie Davidson)
arrival onto the punk-rock 16th century London theatre scene where his
raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous
side-shows!Attracted to Will’s naïve genius is Alice Burbage (Olivia DeJonge), the daughter of James Burbage (Colm Meaney),
the carpenter with a vision to build the first theatre in London since
Roman times. Despite being the daughter of an impresario, Alice is
forbidden by society from pursuing a career in the theatre. Her brother
Richard Burbage (Mattias Inwood), is innately talented, but too
much in love with himself and prone to overact. A chance encounter at
the theatre leads him to team up with Will in what would soon become the
greatest actor-writer partnership the world has ever seen. Rounding out
Will’s cast of characters are playwright, poet and chief Shakespeare
rival Christopher Marlowe (Jamie Campbell Bower) and wealthy and notorious law enforcer Richard Topcliffe (Ewen Bremner). Max Bennett will
play Robert Southwell, Will’s cousin and the most wanted man in
England. Father Southwell’s words are more dangerous than the Spanish
Armada. A messianic, charismatic leader bent on fomenting Catholic
rebellion, Southwell tries to draw Will into his heady world of
espionage and religious fundamentalism.
Now this is certainly an amazing international cast! As 'Deadline' reports today, our lovely Lily Collins has joined Anthony Lucero's THE CLOWN movie which also has Pål Sverre Hagen, British stars Holliday Grainger, Harry Treadaway and Stacy Martin, Hungarian actor János Derzsi, Serbian star Nikola Djuricko, and French legend Jean-Marc Barr, in the cast.
Set against the backdrop of a small travelling circus, THE CLOWN
centres on a European clown and his 5-year-old daughter as they lead
each other through the everyday mysteries of love, magic and loss.
MAX BENNETT JOINS 'WILL'
SHAKESPEARE TV SERIES While we await for TNT to announce the airing date of their new
historical series WILL, they've just added Max Bennett to the cast!
Shekhar Kapur directed series tells the wild story of young
Shakespeare’s (Laurie Davidson) arrival onto the punk rock
theatre scene in 16th century London – the seductive, violent world
where his raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious fanatics and
raucous sideshows. It’s described as a contemporary version of
Shakespeare’s life, played to a modern soundtrack that exposes all his
recklessness, lustful temptations and brilliance. Max Bennett will
play Robert Southwell, Will’s cousin and the most wanted man in
England. Father Southwell’s words are more dangerous than the Spanish
Armada. A messianic, charismatic leader bent on fomenting Catholic
rebellion, Southwell tries to draw Will into his heady world of
espionage and religious fundamentalism.
'UNDERWORLD: BLOOD WARS'
TRAILER WITH KATE BECKINSALE, THEO JAMES, BRADLEY JAMES
Meanwhile, the first trailer has been released today for Kate Beckinsale's UNDERWORLD 5: BLOOD WARS which will suck its way into cinemas next January. She reprises her role of Vampire warrior Selene who with her ally David (Theo James) faces a new threat as the war between vampires and werewolves rages on. British stars Charles Dance, Tobias Menzies and Bradley James also star!
Well, ITV has really given us a lot of great new shows this year, and we're still expecting some others to air till the end of the year, but it seems they're trying to repeat the success of BBC's WAR AND PEACE by adapting another massive, albeit not at all that deep, classic. Rumour has it that they're preparing 10 million pounds worth six episode epic series on Thackeray's VANITY FAIR. The same production house that did POLDARK is preparing the 19th century story of a girl of lowly origins who climbs up the social ladder by using her charms and wit to manipulate and seduce and gain financial and social security. Opulent sets and lavish costumes are to be expected! The studio, as Mirror reports, apparently wants stars like EmiliaClarke and Natalie Dormer for the role.
'WILL' TRAILER
FOR NEW EPIC TV SERIES
And here's a new series freshly ordered for a 10 episode season by TNT we're looking forward too: Shekhar Kapur directed WILL, the wild story (with a modern soundtrack) of young William Shakespeare’s (Laurie Davidson) arrival onto the punk-rock 16th century London theatre scene where his raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous side-shows!
PUNK ROCK WILL Attracted to Will’s naïve genius is Alice Burbage (Olivia DeJonge), the daughter of James Burbage (Colm Meaney),
the carpenter with a vision to build the first theatre in London since
Roman times. Despite being the daughter of an impresario, Alice is
forbidden by society from pursuing a career in the theatre. Her brother
Richard Burbage (Mattias Inwood), is innately talented, but too
much in love with himself and prone to overact. A chance encounter at
the theatre leads him to team up with Will in what would soon become the
greatest actor-writer partnership the world has ever seen. Rounding out
Will’s cast of characters are playwright, poet and chief Shakespeare
rival Christopher Marlowe (Jamie Campbell Bower) and wealthy and notorious law enforcer Richard Topcliffe (Ewen Bremner).
While she is waiting to see whether she will win Best Actress Oscar tomorrow for her role in BROOKLYN, Saoirse Ronan has booked another new role for her: she has boarded period set movie ON CHESIL BEACH. Adaptation of Ian McEwan book and set in England in 1962 it follows Florence (Ronan), one half of two young lovers, in the touching story of how their unexpressed misunderstandings and fears shape the rest of their lives. It is a tender story that shows how the entire course of a life can be changed – by a gesture not made or a word not spoken. Epic mini series' THE HOLLOW CROWN's Dominic Cooke is having his directorial movie debut.
'WILL' EPIC TV SERIES
OLIVIA DEJONGE FEMALE LEAD In TV waters, young Olivia Dejonge will play the female lead in
Shekhar Kapur's and TNT's hip historical musical series WILL, the wild
story of young William Shakespeare (LaurieDavidson) and his arrival
onto the punk rock theater scene that was 16th century London – the
seductive, violent world where his raw talent faced rioting audiences,
religious fanatics and raucous side-shows. It’s described as the hot,
contemporary, dangerous version of Shakespeare’s life, played to a
modern soundtrack, exposing all his recklessness, lustful temptations
and brilliance. Dejonge will play WILL's love interest.
'MAGGIE'S PLAN' TRAILER
ETHAN HAWKE,JULIANNE MOORE
The only trailer I have for you today is for unusual comedy movie MAGGIE'S PLAN starring Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Maya Rudolph and Travis Fimmel.
Maggie 's plan to have a baby on her own is derailed when she falls in love with John, a married man, destroying his volatile marriage to the brilliant and impossible Georgette. But one daughter and three years later, Maggie is out of love and in a quandary: what do you do when you suspect your man and his ex wife are actually perfect for each other?
SHAKESPEARE SERIES CASTS MATTIAS INWOOD,COLM MEANEY
In today's TV news (beside the info that Bryan Fuller will be the showrunner for CBS's new STAR TREK series set for next January) TNT has just added Colm Meaney and MattiasInwood to Shekhar Kapur's WILL epic series about young William Shakespeare’s (LaurieDavidson) arrival onto the punk rock theatre scene that was 16th century London – the seductive, violent world where his raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous side-shows. It’s described as the hot, contemporary, dangerous version of Shakespeare’s life, played to a modern soundtrack, exposing all his recklessness, lustful temptations and brilliance. Meaney will play the carpenter who built the first theatre in London after Roman Times. Dashing Mattias Inwood (whom you are watching in SHANNARA CHRONICLES) will play his son who together with WILL forms the greatest actor-writer partnership the world has ever seen.
'DUMB PRINCE' COMEDY SERIES
NICO EVERS SWINDELL AND TIM BALTZ TO LEAD THE CAST Over at NBC they are casting the lead roles for their upcoming new
comedy series DUMBPRINCE coming from Amy Poehler. GRIMM's Nico Evers
Swindell will lead it! As 'Deadline' reports the comedy is set in the
country of Modaria, known for the manufacture of mopeds and tiny cars,
where the Faber family has ruled for generations. Evers Swindell will
play Prince Karl (known as THE DUMB PRINCE –not affectionately) who
returns home from a year’s exile in America after having passed out at
the coronation of his seemingly hapless father, King Adrian. Tim Baltz
will play Prince Marco, the second son of Modaria’s ruling family, and
Jessie Ennis will play Princess Jana, the youngest child of the royal
family.
Tell me, people, what are the odds that two of our fave directors move onto the small screens in the same year? With Tarsem directing EMERALD CITY epic series for NBC, another of our dearest film makers, Shekhar Kapur (ELIZA BETH saga) will helm WILL epic series for TNT, which I've already told you about, but now they have the sweetest of leads! Charming young Laurie David son will lead the wild story of young WILLiam Shakespeare's arrival onto the punk rock theatre scene that was 16th century London – the seductive world where his raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous side-shows. It’s the hot, contemporary, dangerous version of Shakespeare’s life, played to a modern soundtrack, exposing all his recklessness, lustful temptations and brilliance.
'OUTLANDER' 2ND SEASON
TRAILER RELEASED! Speaking of epic series, check out the first teaser for the second
season of OUTLANDER which should arrive to Starz in April! The new
season will see pregnant Claire (CaitrionaBalfe) and Jamie (Sam
Heughan) arrive to France, intent on infiltrating the Jacobite rebellion
led by Prince Charles Stuart and stopping the battle of Culloden.
'ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME' MOVIE TRAILER
WITH SARAH JESSICA PARKER
There's also another trailer for you today, the first clip for Sarah Jessica Parker's new romantic movie ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME which is out this February! She plays Maggie, a slightly neurotic woman excited for an Italian vacation with her less-enthused daughter, Summer (Rosie Day). While the rebellious teen is eager to get back to her boyfriend in New York, Maggie’s romance is right in front of her, as she reconnects with an old flame named Luca (Raoul Bova). While they’re distracted by the sparkle of youth in each other’s eyes, Luca’s mother (Claudia Cardinale) gives the keys to his Alfa Romero convertible to Summer with the understanding that she drive the elderly woman to Rome for her own romantic adventure.
Now this is probably the best news of the week: not only that Slingshot Global Media has announced their work on CLEOPATRA epic TV series, but it has also been revealed today that our absolute favourite director Shekhar Kapur (ELIZABETH, ELIZABETH GOLDEN AGE, FOUR FEATHERS) will helm it and write it! Instead of focusing on the arch seductress made famous by her affairs with men like Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, the show will highlight the opposite – that these men were famous because of her. It will follow the narrative of an 18-year-old girl who came to be a Pharaoh and a queen – a woman who was brighter, more intelligent, richer and a better ruler than the men of her time. The series will reinvent her as the modern woman, a woman that understood the power of myth and turned herself into a myth, constantly reinventing herself. It will highlight her great loves and her survival in the face of repeated assassination attempts, which made her one of the most dangerous, yet most powerful, thrones of all time.
'THE DURRELLS' PERIOD SERIES
CASTS KEELEY HAWES, LESLIE CARON AND ALEXIS GEORGOULIS Earlier this year I announced that British ITV is making a television
series out of MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS memoir by Gerald Durrelland
THE DURRELLS now have the cast! Our beloved Keeley Hawes will lead it
alongside legendary Leslie Caron and Greek star Alexis Georgoulis. The
1930's six part series focuses on Louisa Durrell (KeeleyHawes), whose
husband died years before and his money has almost run out. Her four
children Larry (Josh O'Connor), Leslie (Callum Woodhouse), Margo (Daisy
Waterstone) and Gerry (Milo Parker) are running riot and making life
very difficult.
Louisa decides to escape from Britain for a new adventure in Corfu,
taking her family with her. Alexis Georgoulis will play the dependable
Spiro Halkiopoulos, while Leslie Caron will be shrewd Countess
Mavrodaki, who hires Margo as her companion.
VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN TRAILER
AND POSTER WITH JAMES MCAVOY & DANIEL RADCLIFFE
20th Century Fox has released the first trailer and poster for this November's horror drama VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN following radical scientist Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) and his equally brilliant protégé Igor Strausman (Daniel Radcliffe) who share a noble vision. They want to aid humanity through their ground breaking research into immortality. But Victor's experiments go too far, and his obsession has horrifying consequences. Only Igor can bring his friend back from the brink of madness and save him from his monstrous creation. Paul McGuigan from BBC's SHERLOCK is directing!
In her career she really played the most various roles, but this one will be very unique for Cate Blanchett: she might become an action heroine in 20th Century Fox thriller CASCADE in which she might play the lead role of a ship's captain! This Ridley Scott produced movie would have the story set in the aftermath of an oil tanker's collision in the Persian Gulf, which escalates into an international crisis. Cate Blanchett will play the ship's captain, who tries to find a way to prove that she did not commit a terrorist act. You will watch Cate as her Elven highness queen Galadriel in THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES this month and then next spring as the charmingly wicked stepmother in Kenneth Bragnah's fantasy extravaganza CINDERELLA!
BRADLEY JAMES
TO LEAD 'DAMIEN' TV SERIES And here is someone we've truly missed a lot in TV news today:
dashing Bradley James, who became popular playing King Arthur in BBC's
beloved fantasy saga MERLIN, will come back to the small screens, albeit
in a project I personally wouldn't choose for him - he will take the
lead role in Lifetime's DAMIEN series which will be a TV sequel to THE
OMEN classic horror movie! The good news is also that our beloved
Shekhar Kapur (ELIZABETH THE GOLDEN AGE) will direct the first of the
six episodes which will delve into the life of Damien Thorn as an adult,
years after the 1976 film which told the story of his childhood as an
Antichrist. DAMIEN will be forced to come to terms with his true
identity in the face of the satanic forces around him.
LOVELY 'ESIO TROT' TRAILER
JUDI DENCH & DUSTIN HOFFMAN
Your bit of utter delight today is the first trailer for enchanting ESIO TROT small screen adaptation of the Roald Dahl story which will air on New Year's Day at BBC One! Directed by Richard Curtis (LOVE ACTUALLY) this lovely TV movie will see Dustin Hoffman portraying Mr Hoppy, a retired bachelor, who harbours a secret passion for his neighbour, Mrs Silver (Judi Dench). Unfortunately, she lavishes all her affection on Alfie… her pet tortoise. He devises a plot to win her affections, after he learns of her wish for Alfie to be bigger. James Corden and Ricky Gervais also star in the film.
