OCTAVIA SPENCER TO LEAD 'ON HER OWN GROUND' PERIOD SET MINI SERIES ON C.J. WALKER! AIRING DATES REVEALED FOR TOM HARDY'S EPIC 19TH CENTURY TV SERIES 'TABOO'!

OCTAVIA SPENCER TO LEAD

'ON HER OWN GROUND' PERIOD SET TELEVISION MINI SERIES

Period set projects news today, starting with our lovely and ultra talented Oscar winning actress Octavia Spencer who will lead new mini TV series ON HER OWN GROUND based on a best selling C.J. Walker biography! She was a famous entrepreneur and philanthropist!

The daughter of slaves, Walker was orphaned at seven, married at 14 and widowed at 20. She spent the better part of the next two decades labouring as a washerwoman for $1.50 a week. Then, with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women, everything changed. By her death in 1919, Walker managed to overcome astonishing odds, building a storied beauty empire from the ground up, amassing wealth unprecedented among black women and devoting her life to philanthropy and social activism. Along the way, she formed friendships with great early 20th century political figures!

TOM HARDY'S 'TABOO'

EPIC DRAMA GETS AIRING DATES

Speaking of period set series, BBC and FX have set premiere dates for TABOO Tom Hardy's epic show! The eight part series will start airing at BBC on January 7th and January 10th over at FX in USA! In the story set in 1814, Hardy is James Keziah Delaney, a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father’s shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But his father’s legacy is a poisoned chalice. And with enemies lurking in every dark corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Encircled by conspiracy, murder and betrayal, a dark family mystery unfolds in a combustible tale of love and treachery.

BRITISH THURSDAY: TOM HIDDLESTON JOINS EDDIE REDMAYNE IN 'EARLY MAN' PREHISTORIC ANIMATED MOVIE! TOM HARDY TO EXPLORE ANTARCTIC AS 'SHACKLETON'! COLIN FIRTH JOINS EMILY BLUNT IN 'MARY POPPINS RETURNS'

'MARY POPPINS RETURNS' 

COLIN FIRTH JOINS EMILY BLUNT

Well, if you weren't already looking forward to Disney's sequel to their celebrated classic MARY POPPINS RETURNS now you might because the latest British star to join the cast lead by Emily Blunt in the title role of the magical nanny is Colin Firth! In the movie set for Christmas 2018 release, he will be playing William Weatherall Wilkins, president of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank.

The story is set 25 years after the events of the first Mary Poppins movie.following the now grown children from the 1964 original, Michael and Jane Banks, who experience a personal loss that results in the arrival of the magical Mary Poppins, who teams up with her lamplighter friend Jack (Lin Manuel Miranda) to help the family. Directed by Rob Marshall it will have Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer playing the grown up kids.

TOM HARDY TO PLAY 

LEGENDARY ANTARCTIC EXPLORER SHACKLETON

He did quite a lot of epic movies so far, but according to 'Deadline' Tom Hardy is set to do a new one, and a cold one as well. He will play famous explorer Ernest SHACKLETON in a Studiocanal movie about the legendary adventurer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, although the polar explorer is best remembered in how he handled adversity. His ship Endurance was crushed by ice floes and he managed to keep everyone alive in a harrowing journey to safety in sub zero temperatures.

'EARLY MAN' ANIMATED FILM 

TOM HIDDLESTON AND EDDIE REDMAYNE LEND VOICES

What a combo indeed: as 'The Hollywood Reporter' writes today our fave Hiddles in the world Tom Hiddleston will join another of our faves Eddie Redmayne in lending voices to Aardman's new animated movie EARLY MAN! It will  be Oscar winner Nick Park's (Wallace and Gromit) first animated feature in more than a decade. In this prehistoric comedy adventure Hiddles will voice the ridiculously pompous Lord Nooth, governor of the Bronze Age town, a money loving tyrant and rival to the film’s Stone Age hero, Dug (Redmayne)!

EARLY MAN, set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth,  tells the story of plucky caveman Dug, along with sidekick Hognob, who unites his tribe against the mighty Bronze Age in the first ever game of soccer. The movie, which is currently shooting in Bristol and looking for a USA distributor, will be released around Europe in 2018!

COLIN MORGAN JOINS RUPERT EVERETT, COLIN FIRTH, EMILY WATSON IN 'THE HAPPY PRINCE' OSCAR WILDE BIOPIC! NEW 'TABOO' TEASER FOR TOM HARDY PERIOD SET EPIC TV SERIES

COLIN MORGAN JOINS 

 RUPERT EVERETT'S 'THE HAPPY PRINCE' OSCAR WILDE BIOPIC

Our beloved British TV star Colin Morgan, whom we just watched this year in The Living And the Dead period set series and Humans sf series, has joined Rupert Everett's Oscar Wilde biopic THE HAPPY PRINCE which stars not only Everett as well, who is also writing and directing, but Colin Firth as well!

THE HAPPY PRINCE, which has the story set in the last days of legendary writer Wilde as he lies on his death bed and the past floods back to him, transporting him to other times and places, will also have other acting legends in the cast including Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson and Miranda Richardson!

NEW 'TABOO' TEASER 

 FOR TOM HARDY EPIC TV SERIES

Speaking of period set projects, you can also check out the new teaser for Tom Hardy epic series TABOO which will air at BBC and FX soon. Written by Hardy himself, it follows a traveller long thought dead who returns to 1814 London after ten years in Africa, burdened with his father's mysterious legacy. His obscure family history comes to the fore when he clashes with the all-powerful East India Company over control of his family's shipping business. The 8 episode series also stars Jonathan Pryce and Jessie Buckley! 

'MOTHER'S DAY' POSTER WITH JENNIFER ANISTON, KATE HUDSON, JASON SUDEIKIS, JULIA ROBERTS! FRANKA POTENTE IS MADAM IN TOM HARDY'S 'TABOO' EPIC SERIES! GREGG SULKIN GETS 'STATUS UPDATE'

 FRANKA POTENTE JOINS

TOM HARDY'S 'TABOO' EPIC TV SERIES

I haven't seen her in quite a long time, but 90's German movie star Franka Potente (RUN, LOLA, RUN) has just joined Tom Hardy's Victorian series TABOO which, set in 1814,  follows James Keziah Delaney (Tom Hardy), a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father’s shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But his father’s legacy is a poisoned chalice, and with enemies lurking in every dark corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Franka Potente will play Helga, a business minded madam who shares a history with James.

 GREGG SULKIN

TO GET 'STATUS UPDATE'
Meanwhile, something for the ladies, ex Disney star and now a sex symbol Gregg Sulkin will lead comedy movie STATUS UPDATE  in which he will play Josh, a five star high school quarterback who wants to be a journalist. When he writes an article about his social experiment of changing his Facebook status from “single” to “interested in men,” a fellow male student with a crush on him creates a tribute video to “Josh the Gay Quarterback” that goes viral. The media picks it up, and Josh becomes a hero to gay teens. As his relationships get tested, can he keep the secret that he’s straight?

  'MOTHER'S DAY' POSTER

WITH JENNIFER ANISTON, JASON SUDEIKIS AND KATE HUDSON

You can also check out a new poster for  Garry Marshall's MOTHER'S DAY which is out April 29th! Starring Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts (looking worse than ever) and Jason Sudeikis the film tells intertwining stories about the lives of several mothers (and Mr. Mom) as the title holiday approaches.

JACK LOWDEN, ANEURIN BARNARD IN 'DUNKIRK' WW2 EPIC WITH KENNETH BRANAGH, TOM HARDY, MARK RYLANCE? 'SLEEPING BEAUTY' FOLLOW UP 'AFTER' AS TV SERIES! JORDIN SPARKS IN 'TIME AFTER TIME' FANTASY SERIES

JACK LOWDEN IN 'DUNKIRK'

WW2 EPIC FILM WITH KENNETH BRANAGH AND TOM HARDY?

It seems Christopher Nolan is planning a WAR AND PEACE reunion for our dearest Jack Lowden and his colleague from the Russian saga Aneurin Barnard since they're both in talks for WW2 epic movie DUNKIRK! 'Deadline' reports that Lowden is up for one of two lead roles together with newcomer Fionn White head. This massive action adventure project will deal with the World War II evacuation of Dunkirk which took place from May till June 1940, a British military operation that saved some 330,000 Allied soldiers trapped in the harbour and surrounded by the German army. While most other roles will be cast among unknowns, the cast will also include three major names Oscar winners Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy!

'AFTER' TV SERIES

A SLEEPING BEAUTY FOLLOW UP!
It was only yesterday that I announced the cast for Romeo and Juliet follow up series STILL STAR CROSSED at ABC and now we have a SLEEPING BEAUTY follow up series too but at Freeform! Based on Rhiannon Thomas' book A Wicked Thing AFTER re-imagines what happens after happily ever. Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince one hundred years after falling asleep to find her family long dead and her kingdom taken from her. She must transform into a warrior to regain it. Tom Lynch is producing.

'TIME AFTER TIME' SERIES

JORDIN SPARKS JOINS THE CAST!

Speaking of new TV projects at ABC, as you know they're also preparing a pilot episode for fantasy adventure series TIME AFTER TIME  which will chronicle the epic adventures of young H.G. Wells (Freddie Stroma) who travels through time chasing Jack the Ripper (Josh Bowman) who, in our day, is a brilliant and charismatic surgeon. Upon arriving in modern New York, he is captivated by museum curator Jane Walker (Genesis Rodriguez). Now, the new addition to the cast is rnb star Jordin Sparks who has been cast as a New York stylist Jesse Givens who is also Jane Walker’s roommate and good friend. Regina Taylor will play a billionaire who owns and protects the Time Machine.

UNSETTLING 1ST BBC 'TABOO' EPIC TV SERIES TRAILER WITH TOM HARDY! TYLER SHERIDAN IS STEVEN SPIELBERG'S 'READY PLAYER ONE'! CW'S MARS SF SERIES CASTS CARL BEUKES

'READY PLAYER ONE' 

SPIELBERG CASTS TYLER SHERIDAN FOR THE LEAD ROLE

And it seems Steven Spielberg has found his lead youngster for the movie adaptation of Ernest Cline's cult sf novel READY PLAYER ONE: young Cyclops from X MEN movies Tyler Sheridan will apparently play Wade Owen Watts, a poor orphan who spends most of his time in a massive online game and virtual society whose currency is the most stable in the very troubled world. Like other players, Wade wants to solve a puzzle hidden in the game by its creator, as doing so supposedly unlocks access to a mind-blowing fortune. Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn have been cast already.

CW'S MARS SET SERIES

CASTS CARL BEUKES AND OTHERS
In TV news, I've recently announced that CW is preparing a Mars set sf series and now they are gathering cast:  Mouzam Makkar, DOMINION's Archangel Gabriel Carl Beukes and Tongayi Chirisa will play the team of explorers sent to Mars to join the first human colony on the planet, only to discover that their predecessors have vanished. Led by a woman whose husband is among the missing, the colonists are forced to change their mission from exploration and settlement to investigation and survival, while navigating the hostile planet and their own personal demons.

'TABOO' EPIC TV SERIES

TRAILER WITH TOM HARDY IS HERE

The first trailer has been released for Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott's historical series TABOO, BBC and FX eight part drama to air next year. Set in 1814, it sees Hardy playing James Keziah Delaney, a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father’s shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But his father’s legacy is a poisoned chalice, and with enemies lurking in every dark corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Encircled by conspiracy, murder, and betrayal, a dark family mystery unfolds in a combustible tale of love and treachery.

TOM HARDY'S TABOO' 19TH CENTURY SERIES ADS CAST! VIN DIESEL'S 'RIDDICK' SF SAGA TO GET 'MERC CITY' SPINOFF TV SERIES! NETFLIX REBOOTS 'LOST IN SPACE' TV SERIES

TOM HARDY'S 'TABOO'

EPIC SERIES GETS ITS CAST

TV updates for you today, people, starting with the news on BBC One's and FX's epic series TABOO starring Tom Hardy which has just revealed its cast! In the story created by himself, Tom Hardy plays James Keziah Delaney who returns to 1814 London after 10 years in Africa to discover that he has been left a mysterious legacy by his father. Driven to wage war on those who have wronged him, Delaney finds himself in a face-off against the East India Company, whilst playing a dangerous game between two warring nations – Britain and America. Michael Kelly will be American doctor Dumbarton, Jonathan Pryce is Sir Stuart Strange, the head of the East India Company and Delaney’s nemesis, Oona Chaplin is Delaney’s half-sister while David Hayman will be his trusted man-servant.

NEW SF SERIES ANNOUNCED

'MERC CITY' FROM VIN DIESEL'S 'RIDDICK' EPIC SAGA    
Meanwhile, besides announcing the fourth movie in famous sf epic saga RIDDICK, Vin Diesel has revealed that it will be turned into TV series as well titled MERC CITY! It will follow the Mercs and Bounty Hunters of the Riddick Universe. The fourth movie in the saga, will be called CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: FURIA!
'LOST IN SPACE' REBOOT  
At the same time, Netflix is planning to reboot LOST IN SPACE TV series, this time a more grounded sf saga about a young family of space explorers who get lost in the galaxy and encounter strange alien lifeforms while trying to overcome insurmountable odds. Dracula Untold writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless are penning it!

CHRIS PRATT & CHANNING TATUM FOR MALE 'GHOSTBUSTERS' SPIN-OFF MOVIE? KRISTOFFER NYHOLM TO DIRECT TOM HARDY'S 'TABOO' 19TH CENTURY EPIC SERIES

ALL MALE 'GHOSTBUSTERS' 

SPIN-OFF TO BE LEAD BY CHRIS PRATT AND CHANNING TATUM  ?

The movie news of the day is that MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION writer Drew Pearce has finished the script for a male version of GHOST- BUSTERS spin-off movie which would exist in the same universe as the female centric one with Melissa McCarthy, but this one would have Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum in the lead roles! Unlike the female one which is being directed by Paul Feig, the male GHOST- BUSTERS would be helmed and produced by the Russo brothers (CAPTAIN AMERICA WINTER SOLDIER) and by Ivan Reitman, who did the original 1980's movie. Chris Pratt has JURASIC WORLD and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY sequels to shoot, while Channing Tatum has left X MEN GAMBIT spin-off movie earlier this week.

TOM HARDY'S 'TABOO' EPIC

 SERIES FINDS A DIRECTOR
And in case you almost forgot that Tom Hardy is supposed to star in new historical series TABOO, they are reminding us of it with the news that Kristoffer Nyholm  (THE KILLING) is to direct the first four of the eight episodes of the epic series. BBC and FX are producing TABOO in which Hardy plays James Keziah Delaney, who returns to London in 1813 after 10 years in Africa to discover that he has been left a mysterious legacy by his father. Driven to right the wrongs of the past, Delaney finds himself in a face-off against the East India Company, while playing a dangerous game between two warring nations — Britain and the newborn U.S. Hardy has actually written the story with his father.

SEE DOUBLE TOM HARDY IN 'LEGEND' TRAILER WITH EMILY BROWNING! JOSEPH FIENNES TO TAKE 'THE LAST RACE' IN 'CHARIOTS OF FIRE' FOLLOW UP MOVIE

  JOSEPH FIENNES TO LEAD

'THE LAST RACE' CHARIOTS OF FIRE FOLLOW UP MOVIE

As 'Deadline' reports Joseph Fiennes will lead the cast in CHARIOTS OF FIRE follow up movie THE LAST RACE which will follow Scottish runner Eric Liddell after his win at the 1924 Paris Olympics,  looking at his life in China, where he worked as a missionary and died in 1945 in a Japanese internment camp.

  He was originally born in China in 1902 to Christian missionaries. His faith was of profound importance to him. He won gold in the 400m race in the 1924 Olympics but refused to take part in the 100m as it took place on the Sabbath. After returning to China, he was eventually sent to a Japanese internment camp in 1943 following Japan’s invasion of China six years earlier. He would die there of a brain tumour.

  SEE DOUBLE TOM HARDY 

IN 'LEGEND' ACTION PACKED TRAILER WITH EMILY BROWNING

The only trailer I have for you today is for Tom Hardy's and Emily Browning's new movie LEGEND!  From Oscar winner Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River) comes the true story of the rise and fall of London’s most notorious gangsters, Reggie and Ron Kray, both portrayed by Tom Hardy in a double performance. It's a classic crime thriller taking us into the secret history of the 1960s and the extraordinary events that secured the infamy of the Kray twins.

STUNNING 'CINDERELLA' TRAILER WITH CATE BLANCHETT, RICHARD MADDEN, HELENA BONHAM CARTER! FX ORDERS TOM HARDY'S 'TABOO' EPIC TV SERIES! CHRIS PRATT IS 'COWBOY, NINJA, VIKING'

FX ORDERS TOM HARDY'S

 'TABOO' HISTORICAL ADVENTURE DRAMA INTO SERIES

I have announced this project a year or so ago, but now the info is that FX has officially ordered TABOO historical series! Actor Tom Hardy has written the drama with his father Chips Hardy and he will also take the lead role of a 19th century adventurer in Africa! To be executive produced by Ridley Scott, the eight episode first season should air sometime in 2016 and it will follow James Keziah Delaney (Tom Hardy), a rogue adventurer who returns from Africa with 14 ill-gotten diamonds to seek vengeance after the death of his father. Refusing to sell the family business to the East India Company, he sets out to build his own trade and shipping empire and finds himself playing a very dangerous game!

CHRIS PRATT IS

'COWBOY, NINJA, VIKING'
While his fans are, for some reason, raising havoc around the net because he wasn't voted the Sexiest Man Alive this year (People magazine gave that title deservedly to Chris Hemsworth), Chris Pratt is pondering on future projects. According to 'Collider' he will lead the cast in COWBOY NINJA VIKING as an assassin with Multiple Personality Disorder who possesses the skills of a cowboy, a ninja, and a viking! Pratt will be Duncan, a counter-intelligence agent known as a 'triplet' because of his three distinct personalities. Duncan escapes his handlers, hunting down the millionaire who masterminded the 'Triplet' program. As you know, Chris also has JURASSIC WORLD ahead of him!

STUNNING 'CINDERELLA' TRAILER

WITH CATE BLANCHETT, RICHARD MADDEN, LILY JAMES AND HELENA BONHAM CARTER

Something we've waited for a really long time is finally here: the first deeply enchanting trailer for Disney's and Kenneth Branagh's CINDERELLA which will dance its way into cinemas next March! You can also check out the first poster shot exclusively by Annie Leibovitz! 

ELLA IN A BLUE GOWN
The story of Cinderella follows the fortunes of young Ella (Lily James) whose merchant father remarries following the death of her mother. Eager to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother Lady Tremaine (marvellous Cate Blanchett) and her daughters Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera) into the family home. But, when Ella's father unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. It appears her fortunes may be about to change when the Palace sends out an open invitation for all maidens to attend a ball, raising Ella's hopes of once again encountering the charming Kit (Richard Madden). Alas, her stepmother forbids her to attend and callously rips apart her dress. But, as in all good fairy tales, help is at hand, and a kindly beggar woman (Helena Bonham Carter) steps forward and, armed with a pumpkin and a few mice, changes Cinderella's life forever. Hayley Atwell plays CINDERELLA's mother, Derek Jacobi plays the King, and Stellan Skarsgård is the King's scheming adviser.

TOM HARDY, WILL SMITH AND MARGOT ROBBIE FOR LEAD ROLES IN DC COMIC'S 'SUICIDE SQUAD' SUPERVILLAINS MOVIE! 'ALLIES' WW2 EPIC MOVIE TRAILER AND POSTER

'SUICIDE SQUAD'

WILL SMITH, TOM HARDY, MARGOT ROBBIE FOR THE LEAD ROLES?

One of the hottest movie news items today and yesterday is Warner Bros.' announcement that they will turn DC Comic's SUICIDE SQUAD comic book into a movie which will appear in cinemas in 2016! To be directed by David Ayer (whose FURY with Brad Pitt is currently in cinemas), the superhero movie would revolve around a group of super villains who are brought together to tackle high-risk black ops missions for the government.

SEVEN VILLAINS  
According to rumours from Hollywood Tom Hardy and Will Smith are close to signing and will play some of the villains, while Margot Robbie is the lead contender for a female role! The story will focus on seven villains: Blockbuster, Multiplex, Jaculi, Mindboggler, Captain Boomerang, Vixen and Deadshot.

'ALLIES' POSTER & TRAILER

 UNITED THEY STAND!

And you can also check out the poster and trailer for British action war drama ALLIES which hits DVD market next month! August 1944. A team of British soldiers led by a US Captain are dropped behind enemy. lines in France on a mission that could shorten the war! As nothing goes according to plan, commando Sergeant Harry McBain (Chris Reilly) and Captain Gabriel Jackson (Julian Ovenden) know they must put aside personal animosity if the mission is to succeed. Inspired by true events, Allies tells the story of friendship and survival.