BBC'S "MERLIN" TO BE MADE INTO FILM TRILOGY! SAM CLAFLIN, KARL URBAN, EMILIA CLARKE IN "OVERDRIVE"! "FINDING NEMO" GETS A SEQUEL! SAM RAIMI LEAVES "WORLD OF WARCRAFT"!

Now, as you might have noticed by now, HOLLYWOOD SPY has its pets among the actors, and young British star Sam Claflin is one of them, especially since we've been one of the first sites to support his early work in THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.

  According to "Variety" Claflin, whom you've seen this summer as prince in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN as well, will join another of our dear pets, Karl Urban, in OVERDRIVE where they will be joined by lovely Emilia Clarke, or the Dragon princess and Khaleese Daenerys from GAME OF THRONES. The film will see Karl Urban and Ben Barnes playing two car thief brothers, who move to the south of France to find more challenging work. Sam Claflin has also signed on to play Finnich Odair in the sequel to that atrocious HUNGER GAMES project that we do not support /spits three times over his shoulder/.

HOLLY WOOD SPY HEAD LINES

Sam Raimi has revealed recently that when he chose to direct OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, he immediately lost the gig in WORLD OF WARCRAFT project since the studio is speeding up the production on the adaptation of the most popular video game and needs another director to take the job right away. We still don't know who will

helm the movie which takes place in the world of Azeroth and centres around the battles between the Horde and Alliance forces. Meanwhile, Andrew Stanton, who had a worldwide blockbuster in JOHN CARTER epic earlier this spring, is moving onto FINDING NEMO 2! Stanton was the helmer of the first part of the film which is still Pixar's highest grossing flick after TOY STORY. He also directed WALL-E. 

MERLIN FILM TRILOGY!

Today you can also see the first poster for the fifth season of BBC's hit show MERLIN which is officially the show aired in the biggest number

 of countries around the world (the number is close to 190)! The cast of the show lead by amazing Colin Morgan has been promoting the series over at Comic Con ahead of the new season which should start later this September. The info shared at the Comic Con is that Uther Pendragon will have an episode guest role in the new season (not sure how, since methinks he died), and that the whole show could potentially turn into a movie trilogy after the series ends on TV. The plan is to reboot the whole series for the films and to go back in time and start the story again and show different parts that we didn't see in the series. The other idea is to do a continuation, but that hasn't been decided yet.

HILARIOUS TRAILER FOR "GRABBERS" WITH RUSSELL TOVEY & RICHARD COYLE! SCARY TRAILER FOR SF ACTION "THE DAY"! ANTHONY MACKIE IS FALCON IN "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER"

I have two brand new trailers for you today, people. The first one is for apocalyptic thriller THE DAY which opens in theatres later this August. A group of five

 survivors, armed with shotguns, axes and machetes, wander the back roads of a ravaged landscape looking for refuge in the film, a terrifying look into a post apocalyptic future. As war ravages humanity, destroying civilization and most of life on earth, the survivors realize they must do whatever it takes to stay alive. Lost, starving, and exhausted, they seek shelter in a seemingly safe abandoned farmhouse. However, while searching for food and resources, they unwittingly set off a trap signalling to their ruthless predators lying in wait to begin their deadly attack. With food and ammunition dwindling, the group must

make a desperate final stand-over a 24 hour period-battling for their ultimate survival. The cast is lead by Shawn Ashmore, Shannyn Sossamon and Dominic Monaghan.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

 More superhero news today as well! I told you yesterday that the official title for the sequel of last year's blockbuster will be CAPTAIN AMERICAN: THE WINTER SOLDIER, and a new update says that rising star Anthony Mackie (you can currently watch him in ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER) will join Chris Evans in

 it. According to "MovieWeb" he will play Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon. He was first introduced in 1969, and is one of the first African American superheroes. His power comes from a suit that gives him super strength and allows him to fly, along with the telepathic ability to communicate with birds. The new title also hints that Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes will be brought back to life as The Winter Soldier.

GRABBERS TRAILER

Your second trailer for today is for a delightful and slightly crazy Irish comedy GRABBERS which hits cinemas over at Ireland this August and has two famous British stars Russell Tovey (from BEING HUMAN) and always brilliant and hilarious Richard Coyle (COUPLING) in the lead roles. This rather unusual, but highly original,

 film is a mix of comedy, action and science fiction. The story is set on an island off the coast of Ireland which, for reasons unknown, gets invaded by horrid bloodsucking aliens, after which the heroes of the story discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive.

TEASER FOR 2ND SEASON OF "ONCE UPON A TIME"! DWAYNE JOHNSON IS LOBO? DIANA RIGG IS QUEEN OF THORNS IN "GAME OF THRONES"! BEN KINGSLEY IS MANDARIN IN "IRON MAN 3"! "CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER", "THOR: THE DARK WORLD"

New casting updates for the third season of GAME OF THRONES show keep on coming day by day ahead of the shooting in Ireland and Croatia, and new faces in the cast are: famous Diana Rigg who will play Lady Olenna Tyrell, also known as the Queen of Thorns. There is also Mackenzie Crook (Orell), Clive Russell (Bryndon "The Blackfish" Tully), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Kerry Ingram (Shireen), Tara Fitzgerald (Selyse), Paul Kaye (Thoros of Myr), Thomas Sangster (Jojen Reed), Ellie Kendrick (Meera), Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion),

 Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Philip McGinley (Anguy), Tobias Menzies (Edmure Tully) and Anton Lesser (Qyburn).

SUPERHERO HEADLINES

In superhero news today, I first have for you the official titles for two superhero blockbuster sequels: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

and THOR: THE DARK WORLD are the titles for the upcoming sequels with Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. Meanwhile Ben Kingsley has been announced as The Mandarin in IRON MAN 3.  The biggest superhero news is that Dwayne Johnson is in talks to become LOBO in the movie adaptation of DC comic. The character is an interstellar bounty hunter and mercenary who travels the galaxy looking for his next target. The character was created in 1980s but became even more popular in the 1990s, when he was resurrected as a renegade biker. The film will be helmed by Brad Peyton, who worked with Dwayne in spring blockbuster JOURNEY II: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND.

ONCE UPON A TIME 2 TEASER

When it comes to trailer time, straight from this weekend's Comic Con I have for you the first clip announcing the second season of ABC's planetary hit show ONCE UPON A TIME. The extremely intriguing teaser reveals, in a very hidden way, who will be one of the new

characters in the second run of the fantasy show filled with fairy tale characters, and it's nobody else but Captain Hook! I've announced earlier that Sleeping Beauty (Sarah Bolger), Mulan, Aladin and Ariel the Little Mermaid will also all appear in the new season. 

FIRST OFFICIAL AND VERY GORY TRAILERS FOR "SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED" & THIRD SEASON OF "THE WALKING DEAD"! JESSICA BIEL IS VIPER IN "THE WOLVERINE" NEXT TO HUGH JACKMAN?

Check it out, people, straight from the Comic Con this weekend the first official trailer for the third (or fourth) and the final season of SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED! I've recently posted a spotlight on the final season, but in the first trailer you can see how the legend will be forged out of war and how Spartacus will lead his, now huge, army of slaves against Rome. The final season will have some major historical battles and will also see the appearance of young Julius Caesar. Judging from the trailer the season will be again extremely gory and filled with extreme nudity and action. I'm not sure I

like Simon Merrells who plays Marcus Crassus, I don't think he will be able to replace amazing Craig Parker who so flawlessly played Roman legatus Glaber in previous seasons! Are you excited? The season starts next January.

 HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

According to "MovieWeb", Justin Timberlake's fiancee, Jessica Biel has been offered the role of Viper in THE WOLVERINE. To be directed by James Mangold, the sequel will see Jessica as Viper, who has an intriguing past history with the title character in Marvel's comic book series. At one point she was an ally to Logan, and yet she also blackmailed him into marrying her, in another story line. It isn't known if The Viper will be a friend or foe to Hugh Jackman's Logan. Earlier this month, Will Yun Lee and Brian Tee have signed on to play villains The Silver Samurai and Noboru Mori. The story follows Logan's adventures after the events of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", where he travels to Japan to find more information about who he really is.

THE WALKING DEAD 3 TRAILER

Fight the dead, fear the living, that's the promo line for the third season of THE WALKING DEAD which starts airing at AMC October 14th and then in more than 120 countries around the world within the same week. Straight from Comic Con this weekend, comes the first official full length trailer for the third season which will obviously be very dynamic after Rick and the survivors of the zombie outbreak find a deserted jail to hide in, but they also come upon

a new survival settlement lead by tyrannical and evil Governor.  The show will have 16 episodes, with first eight being aired from October, and the final eight from February 2013.

 INTERVIEWS WITH DEZZ

Over the years, many of you wanted to learn more about your HOLLYWOOD SPY and now you will get an exclusive chance to do that :) My dear friend Anne O'Leary, a renowned Irish neuroscientist and an owner of a very big heart, will do a series of interviews with me next week over at her site and I expect your comments there. You will be able to learn more about me, but we will also talk about some extremely serious world issues. A very gratifying post announcing this series has been posted over at Anne's today! Be there :) 

SPOTLIGHT ON BBC'S EPIC SERIES "THE HOLLOW CROWN" IN FOUR PARTS - "RICHARD II", "HENRY IV" & "HENRY V" WITH JEREMY IRONS, TOM HIDDLESTON, JAMES PUREFOY, PATRICK STEWART, BEN WHISHAW!, HARRY LLOYD

Hollywood Spy wrote about this project before, but it is such a magnificent treat that I just had to make a spotlight for it: BBC's THE HOLLOW CROWN

series which just started airing over in UK with the premiere of the first film in the saga - RICHARD II  followed by other three filmed adaptations of Shakespeare's History Plays - HENRY IV parts 1 and 2, and HENRY V. Starting in the year 1399, this continuous story of monarchy follows events during sixteen years of dynastic and political power play. Kings, with their families and followers, are threatened by rebellion and conflict. The story takes us from the Royal Court at Westminster to battlefields in England and France. These rich films are woven with the finest of Shakespeare's poetry and are filmed in the architecture and landscape of the period.

 RICHARD II 

The first part of THE HOLLOW CROWN saga has been aired recently in UK and should hit USA TV later on this year. In the story King Richard (Ben Whishaw) is called upon to settle a dispute between his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Rory Kinnear) and Thomas Mowbray (James Purefoy). Richard calls for a duel but then halts it just before swords clash. Both men are banished from the realm. Richard visits John of Gaunt (Patrick Stewart), Bolingbroke's father, who, in the throes of death, reprimands the king.

After seizing Gaunt's money and land, Richard leaves for wars against the rebels in Ireland. Bolingbroke returns to claim back his inheritance. Supported by his allies, Northumberland (David Morrissey) and the

Duke of York (David Suchet), Bolingbroke takes Richard prisoner and lays claim to the throne. The cast also includes Clemency Poesy as Queen Isabella and GAME OF THRONES' Harry Lloyd.

HENRY IV

The second part of the saga was aired last weekend in UK following the heir to the throne, Prince Hal (Tom Hiddleston), who defies his father, King Henry (Jeremy Irons), by spending his time at Mistress

  Quickly's (Julie Walters) tavern in the company of the dissolute Falstaff and his companions. The King is threatened by a rebellion led by Hal's rival, Hotspur, his father Northumberland and his uncle

 Worcester. In the face of this danger to the state, Prince Hal joins his father to defeat the rebels at the Battle of Shrewsbury and kill Hotspur in single combat.

HENRY IV PART TWO 

Aired last night at BBC, the story of the third part of the saga was set in the aftermath of the Battle of Shrewsbury, where Northumberland learns of the death of his son. The Lord Chief Justice attempts on behalf

of the increasingly frail King to separate Falstaff from Prince Hal. The rebels continue to plot insurrection. Falstaff is sent to recruit soldiers and takes his leave of his mistress, Doll Tearsheet. The rebel forces are

overcome. This brings comfort to the dying king, who is finally reconciled to his son. Falstaff rushes to Hal's coronation with expectations of high office!

 HENRY V 

The final part of the saga will be aired on BBC next weekend and will see the conclusion to the story seen in the previous two films on Henry

IV.  After being crowned the new king Henry V (always deeply magnificent Tom Hiddleston) takes England to war and the English confront French in the famous epic battle at Agincourt against the French King (Lamber Wilson).

HOLLOW CROWN TIDBITS

This is BBC's most ambitious and most lavish production on Shakespeare in more than twenty years and is overseen by James Bond director Oscar winning Sam Mendes.  You can read more about all of

these film over at BBC official site! HENRY IV was directed by famous Richard Eyre! It is interesting that the production teams of all of these films include people who worked on classics such as THE PIANO,

 THE KING'S SPEECH,CRANFORD, DOWTON ABBEY, THE QUEEN... The whole project is done to mark London 2012 Festival and The Cultural Olympiad on the BBC which coincides with the summer Olympics.

MINDBLOWING TRAILER FOR "OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL" WITH MICHELLE WILLIAMS, RACHEL WEISZ, MILA KUNIS, JAMES FRANCO! REESE WITHERSPOON IS "GONE GIRL"!

We've already concluded recently that Reese Witherspoon has decided to take on some more serious, and even grim, projects in the future, and one of those will be a film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's

bestsellerGONE GIRL. Reese will produce, and possibly star in, this story about a woman who goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, and all signs point to her husband being the killer.

OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRAILER

Your main treat for today is the long awaited trailer for fantasy adventure OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL which comes to us straight from today's Comic Con! Disney's fantastical adventure, directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum's beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot - fame and fortune are his for the taking - that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda

(Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use

through illusion, ingenuity, and even a bit of wizardry, Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.I must admit I was stunned by the visuals in the

trailer, but mostly by how mindblowing Michelle Williams looks as Glinda! Are you excited about this one? It's out next March!

OZ TIDBITS

The budget of the film is estimated at around stunning $200 million! Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr. were the first choices for the main role. Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Blake Lively (who made a

less intelligent choice of starring in SAVAGES instead of being Glinda) and Kate Beckinsale were all in the run for the roles of the witches. Sam Raimi wanted Hilary Swank for the role of Evanora, but

the studio wouldn't  hear about such horrid choice and demanded for the role to be given to brilliant Rachel Weisz.

RICHARD ARMITAGE IN "CATEGORY SIX" TORNADO FILM! WILL "THE WALKING DEAD" LORI DIE IN THE 3RD SEASON? "JOE GOLEM AND THE DROWNING CITY" ADVENTURE FILM! MAGIC MIKE SEQUEL!

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

According to "Entertainment Weekly", THE HOBBIT and ROBIN HOOD star Richard Armitage has been cast in tornado thriller CATEGORY SIX which centres on the worst tornado in American history, as captured by a group of local high school students through their cell phones and other devices. Richard Armitage is playing a widowed father, who enlists the help of storm chasers to find his missing son. The most irritating actress from THE WALKING DEAD Sarah Wayne Callies has also been cast in the film, which might be a good news, since the shooting of the film is parallel to the shooting of the AMC show meaning that her character horrid Lori might not survive the end of the third season :)

THE DROWNING CITY

And straight from Comic Con comes the news that graphic novel JOE GOLEM AND

 THE DROWNING CITY will be adapted into a film by Constantin film. The Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden novel to be adapted by Alex Proyas is set in 1970's Manhattan, where earthquakes and rising sea levels left the city under water fifty years earlier. It follows a fourteen year old girl, who is forced to go on the run after her magician friend, Felix Orlov, gets kidnapped by a group of strange men wearing gas masks and rubber suits. She escapes only to find herself in the company of Joe Golem, a mysterious man who does not remember his past.

CHANNING TATUM IS "EVEL KNIEVEL"! RUSSELL CROWE'S DRACULA FILM "HARKER" TO BE HELMED BY ELI ROTH? LOVELY TRAILER FOR "HELLO I MUST BE GOING" WITH MELANIE LYNSKEY & BLYTHE DANNER

Definitely the breakthrough star of the year, Channing Tatum, who scored huge success this year with amazing cinematic hits THE VOW, MAGIC MIKE and 21 JUMP STREET, will both star and produce in the film about the famous daredevil EVEL KNIEVEL. Based on the book by Stuart Baker, according to "The Hollywood Reporter", the film will follow the man who was born in the town of Butte, Montana in 1938. He became a household name in the 1970s for his death-defying jumps in front of national TV audiences. He holds several world records, including the Guinness Book of World Records mark for the most broken bones in a lifetime, with 433. The showman died of pulmonary disease in 2007.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

If you're one of the two or three people in the world who aren't a bit sick

by now of vampire movies, you might like HARKER, a reboot of famous DRACULA film which, as "Deadline" reports today, might be directed by HOSTEL helmer Eli Roth. Russell  Crowe (who is hoping for a resurrection of his own career with LES MISERABLES, NOAH and this one, after a few years of flops) is playing the lead role of Dracula himself and the story will revolve around a Scotland Yard detective Jonathan Harker as he investigates and tracks down the famous vampire.The role of the detective hasn't been cast yet. 

HELLO I MUST BE GOING!

The trailer I have for you today is for charming drama HELLO I MUST BE GOING which features actress Melanie Lynskey (TWO AND A HALF MEN) in her breakout role as Amy, a recent divorcee

who seeks refuge in the suburban Connecticut home of her parents (Blythe Danner and John Rubinstein). Demoralized and uncertain of her future, Amy begins an affair with a 19-year-old actor (Christopher Abbott) that jumpstarts her passion for life and helps her discover an independence and sense of purpose that she has missed for years. Coupling Danner's subtly riveting performance as a frustrated empty nester with Lynskey's endearing and nuanced depiction of both the comic and tragic avenues of an existential crossroads, HELLO I MUST BE GOING is a modern, unconventional love story infused with sex, humor, and emotional honesty - everything Amy will need to get on in life.

ALADIN & ARIEL IN "ONCE UPON A TIME"! MACKENZIE CROOK, TARA FITZGERALD JOIN "GAME OF THRONES"! DOMINIC COOPER, DAN STEVENS, EMILY BROWNING IN "SUMMER IN FEBRUARY"! TRAILER FOR "COMES A BRIGHT DAY" WITH KEVIN MCKIDD!

If you like British films, you might like SUMMER IN FEBRUARY, which will be released later this year with a rather nice young cast including Dominic

 Cooper, Emily Browning and Dan Stevens. The Newlyn School of artists flourished at the beginning of the 20th Century and the film focuses on the wild and bohemian Lamorna Group, which included Alfred Munnings and Laura and Harold Knight. The incendiary anti-Modernist Munnings, now regarded as one of Britain's most sought-after artists, is at the centre of the complex love triangle, involving aspiring artist Florence Carter-Wood and Gilbert Evans, the land agent in charge of the Lamorna Valley estate. True - and deeply moving - the story is played out against the timeless beauty of the Cornish coast, in the approaching shadow of The Great War.

TELEVISION HEADLINES

In TV news today, you might get excited about LOST co-creator Damon Lindelof's new project: titled THE LEFTOVERS, and based on a novel by Tom Perrotta, the HBO show will follow a group of

people who are left behind after the Rapture occurs, with millions vanishing from Earth. Lindelof recently worked on huge sf projects PROMETHEUS, STAR TREK 2 and WORLD WAR Z. Meanwhile, GAME OF THRONES season three has apparently added two new names into the cast: Mackenzie Crook will play a sadistic mercenary Vargo Hoat, nicknamed "The Goat", while Tara Fitzgerald will play Selyse Florent, the wife of Stannis Baratheon. And it has been officially revealed that the second season of super popular fantasy show ONCE UPON A TIME will feature Aladin, his enemy Jafar and Little Mermaid Ariel! 

COMES A BRIGHT DAY

Speaking of British films, today you can check out the trailer for romantic thriller COMES A BRIGHT DAY an interesting film set during the armed robbery of one of London's most exclusive jewellers.

Sometimes funny, often dark, always captivating and never what you expect. The cast includes gorgeous Imogen Poots, whom you remember as Michael Fassbender's love interest in CENTURION and

 from 28 DAYS LATER, Scottish hunk Kevin McKidd, from ROME and GREY'S ANATOMY, one of Hollywood Spy's dear Twitting friends Josef Altin from GAME OF THRONES, and Craig Roberts.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER IN "ASSASSIN'S CREED" FILM! ANTHONY HOPKINS IS METHUSELAH IN RUSSELL CROWE'S "NOAH" EPIC! CLIP & BANNER FROM "THE WALKING DEAD" SEASON 3!

These are some OMG OMG news for sure: our beloved Michael Fassbender will, according to "Variety", both star and co-produce the film adaptation of famous video game ASSASSINS CREED! Super popular Ubisoft game is a sci-fi action adventure revolving around a bartender who learns that his ancestors were trained assassins. He is kidnapped by a group tied to the secret society Knights Templar, and is forced to travel through time collecting various historical artefacts to be used for a higher purpose.The game has been sold in over 30 million copies so far with the first part taking place in the Crusades, the second during Renaissance and the third, upcoming, one in American revolution. With Fass My Benders in the lead role, the film is planned for 2014!

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

One of the epic projects I've mentioned a lot is Darren Aronofsky directed dark sf adventure NOAH, which will be based on the comic

 book and will follow the famous Biblical character but in an adventure much darker and more futuristic than in the Bible. The latest addition in the cast is Anthony Hopkins who will play Methuselah the world's oldest living man, who dies seven days before the great flood that Noah survives with his ark full of animals. Russell Crowe is Noah, Douglas Booth and Logan Lerman are his sons, Jennifer Connelly is Noah's wife, and Ray Winstone is also in the cast. 

THE WALKING DEAD 3

I will continue to present you with Fall TV season 2012 updates, after the very successful epic updates weekend, with brand new promo banner for the third season of THE WALKING DEAD! Popular zombie show, aired in the biggest number of countries simultaneously,

will see beloved sheriff Rick (Andrew Lincoln) hang around two new characters whom you can see in the banner: crazy woman Michonne (Danai Gurira), who wields a sword and leads her ex-boyfriends, now zombies, on a long chain behind her, and equally crazy Governor (David Morrisey) who is a tyrannical leader of the new survivor establishment that Rick's pack comes upon! Below you can also check out a clip from season three showing more of Michonne! It's scary, so proceed with caution!