CW ORDERS 'SEARCHERS' FANTASY ADVENTURE TV SERIES PILOT WITH WILLIAM MILLER! MARK STRONG IN KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS DIRECTORIAL DEBUT 'THE SEA CHANGE'

'SEARCHERS' FANTASY SERIES

WILLIAM MILLER IS THE CAPTAIN

Well, it seems CW won't become a channel of just super hero shows: they're preparing a fantasy adventure pilot for SEARCH- ERS about a group of unlikely heroes who find themselves on the journey of a lifetime. Ten years after the death of their parents, a pragmatic brother and free spirited sister are forced to team up when they learn that their mother’s terrifying and bizarre stories may be a road map to discovering the great legends, myths and unexplainable mysteries of the world. William Miller is the first cast member and will play Bosch, the swashbuckling ship captain of the Prometheus,  a mysterious old soul who’s still haunted by his experiences with the unknown.

'THE SEA CHANGE'

MARK STRONG IN KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS DIRECTED MOVIE
Meanwhile, in the world of the big screen, Mark Strong has joined Kristin Scott Thomas in THE SEA CHANGE, a movie which will serve as her own directorial debut as well!  Based on Elizabeth Jane Howard’s  novel it follows a group of people who reevaluate loss, love and human connection when they find themselves together on a remote Greek island. Emmanuel (Mark Strong) is a successful London playwright married to the complex and witty Lillian (Scott Thomas) for many years, but their marriage is in crisis, a crisis which is overcome by the arrival of a curious and outspoken young girl (Anya Taylor Joy). Their relationship is thrown into perspective when her life is thrown upside down.

'OUT OF AFRICA' TO BECOME TV SERIES! DELIGHTFUL 'TIME OF THEIR LIVES' TRAILER WITH JOAN COLLINS, PAULINE COLLINS, JOELY RICHARDSON, FRANCO NERO

'OUT OF AFRICA'

 TO BE TURNED INTO TV SERIES

Here's another period set new TV series for us: Karen Blixen's famous memoirs OUT OF AFRICA, which were once turned into a classic movie with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, will be turned into a TV series. The Night Manager's Susan Bier is to produce and also direct the small screen adaptation which  recounts the seventeen years that Blixen spent in Africa in the Ngong Hills of Kenya during the last decades of the British Empire as she searched to find her role and voice in a changing world. Heyday Television, known for Harry Potter, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Gravity and Paddington, is producing.

'THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES'

TRAILER WITH PAULINE COLLINS, JOAN COLLINS, FRANCO NERO

Speaking of strong ladies, check out the trailer for lovely comedy drama THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES out next month starring acting legends Joan Collins, Pauline Collins, Franco Nero and Joely Richardson.

Determined to gatecrash her ex-lover's funeral on glamorous French hideaway Ile-de-Re, former Hollywood siren Helen (Joan Collins) escapes her London retirement home with the help of Priscilla (Pauline Collins), a repressed English housewife stuck in a bad marriage. Pooling their limited resources, they hit the road together by coach, ferry, car and foot in a race to get to the funeral on time, becoming entangled in a love triangle with a reclusive Italian millionaire (Franco Nero) along the way. On this unforgettable journey, they find true friendship in one another - and have the time of their lives.

EPIC THURSDAY: OFFICIAL POSTER & TRAILER FOR 'WHITE PRINCESS' EPIC TV SERIES! 'THE BEGUILED' 19TH CENTURY THRILLER TRAILER WITH NICOLE KIDMAN, COLIN FARRELL, KIRSTEN DUNST

'WHITE PRINCESS' GETS

OFFICIAL EPIC TV SERIES TRAILER!

Starz has revealed today the first official poster and trailer for their THE WHITE PRINCESS series scheduled for April 16th! The historical drama is told from the perspective of the women waging the ongoing battle for the English throne: Lizzie (Jodie Comer), Lady Margaret Beaufort (Michelle Fairley) and Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville (Essie Davis).

The story begins as one of England’s most politically turbulent times, The War of the Roses, is coming to an end. An uneasy peace is achieved when former King Richard III is defeated at the Battle of Bosworth, and the victor, Henry Tudor, future King Henry VII (Jacob Collins Levy), is married to Lizzie, a princess from a rival house and Richard III’s former lover.

'THE BEGUILED' TRAILER

 NICOLE KIDMAN & COLIN FARRELL

Another costume delight for you today is exquisitely atmospheric first trailer and photos from Sofia Coppola's new period set drama THE BEGUILED,  an unusual 19th century set thriller with the ensemble cast lead by Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell. To arrive into cinemas at the end of June, the movie is the big screen adaptation of Thomas Cullinan’s novel of the same name which already had its adaptations.

THE STORY OF THE BEGUILED
is set at a Virginia girls’ school in 1864 during the Civil War, The Miss Martha (Nicole Kidman) Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies, which has been sheltered from the outside world... that is until the day they discover a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) and take it upon themselves to show him some real southern hospitality!  While imprisoned in the Confederate girls' boarding school, the injured Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts, causing them to turn on each other, and eventually, on him.

POST APOCALYPTIC SF TRAILER 'BOKEH' WITH MAIKA MONROE, MATT O'LEARY! CBS ORDERS 'DISTEFANO' AND 'LIVING BIBLICALLY' TV COMEDY PILOTS

CBS ORDERS SITCOM PILOTS

'DISTEFANO' & 'LIVING BIBLICALLY'

Yet another two multi camera TV comedy pilot orders today: CBS has set Chris Distefano as the lead of DISTEFANO in which he will play a part of the couple of two 20 somethings raising their newborn daughter and merging their loud families – one Puerto Rican, one Italian. CBS is also doing a pilot of LIVING BIBLICALLY coming from Johnny Galecki about a modern day man at a crossroads in his life who decides to live according to the Bible. Both comedies are multi camera projects. They join 9J, 9K AND 9L and BROTHERED UP that I announced yesterday.

'BOKEH' SF TRAILER

IT'S ONLY THE APOCALYPSE!

The only trailer I have for you on this very slow Wednesday, is a science fiction post apocalyptic genre one for BOKEH a co production between Iceland and United States of America, which should hit American theatres at the end of March!

Young actors Maika Monroe and Matt O'Leary play a young American couple on a romantic getaway to Iceland, who wake up one morning to discover every person on earth has disappeared. Their struggle to survive and to reconcile the mysterious event lead them to reconsider everything they know about themselves and the world. The title BOKEH is a photography term for the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image.

ENCHANTING 'THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC' TRAILER AND POSTER WITH JESSICA BROWN FINDLAY, TOM WILKINSON, JEREMY IRVINE! ABC & CBS 2017 MULTI CAMERA SITCOM PILOT ORDERS!

'THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC' 

LIFE CAN BLOOM INTO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL 

We're all light and fun today, spylings, beginning with the new trailer and poster for THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC cheerful drama starring Jessica Brown Findlay as a young woman who dreams of being a children's author and makes an unlikely friendship with a cantankerous, rich old widower played by British acting legend Tom Wilkinson. Dashing British lad Jeremy Irvine plays her love interest in this enchanting big screen tale ready to delight you this spring in cinemas after already playing in Russia and parts of Europe. 

2017 PILOT ORDERS FOR

CBS MULTI CAMERA SITCOMS

It is that time of the year when networks are ordering comedy pilots, so here are the latest multi camera sitcom picks: CBS has set David Walton and Matt Murray to lead 9J, 9K AND 9L, about a man who lives in apartment 9K in the building he grew up in, sandwiched between his parents’ apartment, 9J, and his brother, sister in law and their baby’s apartment, 9L, and his attempts to set boundaries with his intrusive but well meaning family. CBS also has BROTHERED UP pilot about an emotionally guarded black cop who is partnered with an emotionally available Pakistani cop and they are forced to find a way to connect as they patrol a Detroit neighbour hood.

ABC SITCOMS
ABC has, meanwhile, ordered an untitled comedy about an intellectual but emotionally challenged single dad who moves to Queens with his two young daughters and forms an unlikely family with the other residents in their apartment building. They've also ordered a pilot for Carol Burnett's HOUSEHOLD NAME about a family who gets a chance to buy the house of their dreams but under extremely abnormal circumstances: They must live with the current owner, an eccentric, larger than life actress (Burnett), until she dies.

'VERSAILLES' EPIC TV SERIES SEASON 2 TEASER WITH GEORGE BLAGDEN, ALEXANDER VLAHOS! BBC'S 'SS GB' ALTERNATIVE HISTORY MINI SERIES TRAILER WITH SAM RILEY, KATE BOSWORTH

'VERSAILLES' EPIC TV SERIES

SECOND SEASON TEASER!

We continue with epic treats, people, after the teaser for The Last Kingdom two days ago! Canal + has released the first teaser for the second season of their smash hit historical series VERSAILLES charting the life of the famous Sun King which should, as far as we've heard, air this spring and will again be broadcast later this year for US audience by Ovation, after the first season became their best watched programme ever. BBC Two will again air the English language series over in Great Britain. The first season was sold in 135 countries around the world.

THE SUN KING  
Our beloved George Blagden will put on the lace, silk and royal frills as the Sun King again! The biggest budgeted French series ever has been greenlit for second season even before the airing of the opening one in Winter 2015! Season two looks at the dark underbelly of power as Louis sees the dream of his grand palace crumbling before his eyes. With phase one complete, most of France’s eminent lords and ladies now live under the Sun King’s roof. Drugs, gambling and alcohol are rampant, as nobles begin to poison each other in order to get closer to him. Blinded by passion for his mistress, Louis refuses to listen to the advice of the church and his closest advisors and leaves for war against arch enemy William of Orange, but he must discover the path back to light and redemption to save his vision of Versailles. Alexander Vlahos will return in the role of his royal brother Monsieur Philippe Duke of Orleans and as you can see from the photos he will be, or shall I say BI, naughtier than ever before.

'SS GB MINI TV SERIES

FIRST TRAILER IS HERE!

Meanwhile, BBC has released the trailer for their new alternative history series SS GB which will air later this month in five episodes! Sam Riley plays a British homicide detective who investigates a murder in a German occupied England in a parallel universe where the Nazis won World War II. Kate Bosworth, Aneurin Barnard, Jason Flemyng round up the cast.

SMALL MOVIES SUNDAY: NEW POSTERS FOR STEPHEN FRY'S 'HIPPOPOTAMUS' WITH RUSSELL TOVEY, MATTHEW MODINE, 'ALONE IN BERLIN' WITH BRENDAN GLEESON, EMMA THOMPSON. 'FAIR HAVEN' GAY MOVIE DRAMA TRAILER

'HIPPOPOTAMUS' POSTER 

FOR STEPHEN FRY MOVIE

Smaller movies today for you starting with the first poster and trailer for a movie based on a novel written by British thespian Stephen Fry HIPPOPOTAMUS which still doesn't have a release date!

With a stellar cast including Matthew Modine, Russell Tovey, Fiona Shaw, it follows a disgraced poet Ted Wallace who is summoned to his friend's country manor to investigate a series of unexplained miracles. Ageing, lecherous, one-time hell raising poet, reduced by diminishing poetic talent to working as a theatre critic he IS the Hippo.

NEW 'ALONE IN BERLIN' POSTER 

FOR BRENDAN GLEESON AND EMMA THOMPSON WW2 DRAMA

A new poster has also arrived for Vincent Peres directed WW2 drama ALONE IN BERLIN, out this March, in which Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson play a  working class couple from 1940 Berlin, who receive the news that their only son has lost his life in the battlefield and decide to resist the Nazi regime in their very own way. Soon the Gestapo is hunting "the threat".

'FAIR HAVEN' TRAILER 

 EVERYONE DESERVES A CHANCE AT FINDING HAPPINESS

You can also check out the trailer and poster for gay drama movie FAIR HAVEN out this March in which Michael Grant plays a young man who returns to his family farm, after a long stay in ex-gay conversion therapy (I swear I'm not kidding), and is torn between the expectations of his emotionally distant father, and the memories of a past, loving relationship he has tried to bury.

'THE LAST KINGDOM' EPIC TV SERIES SECOND SEASON TEASER WITH ALEXANDER DREYMON! GERARD BUTLER TO JOIN 'SNOW PONIES' ACTION ADVENTURE

GERARD BUTLER 

IS ONE OF THE 'SNOW PONIES'!

After he sunned his gorgeous Scottish self as Ancient deity Set in Gods of Egypt, Gerard Butler will now freeze his royal Spartan bum, if you excuse my French: as 'Deadline' reports today, he will star in SNOW PONIES snowy action adventure.

SNOW PONIES follows a crew of seven hardened men who travel across a vicious landscape to deliver a mysterious package. Met by murderous bandits and brutal obstacles at every turn, they are forced to choose between survival and honor, loyalty and deceit — all the while wondering what secrets their precious cargo might contain.

'THE LAST KINGDOM' 

SECOND SEASON EPIC TEASER

Well, here's a juicy mediaeval weekend treat for you: the first trailer, or better to say teasing teaser, for the long awaited second season of THE LAST KINGDOM epic TV series which is returning to BBC 2 and Netflix (instead of BBC America) this spring in ten new episodes. As you can see our young hero Uhtred (played by Alexander Dreymon) is very angry, hot as usual, and ready to avenge his family and those who did him wrong.

ON THE ROAD OF VENGEANCE
If you remember in the first season he helped King Alfred (magnificent David Dawson) to secure his throne only to ride off into sunset in order to find and save his missing and captured sister somewhere in the north regions of old Anglia and to reclaim his native land. Based on Bernard Cornwell's historical novels and set in the 9th century England, divided into warring kingdoms, the second season will see Uhtred continue on his road of vengeance, justice and redemption! Season two's cast will be enriched by Richard Rankin, Millie Brady as Princess Aethelflaed, Reign's Toby Regbo as Aethelred,

ROBBIE SHEEHAN, RONAN RAFTERY IN PETER JACKSON'S 'MORTAL ENGINES' EPIC ADAPTATION! 'LOST CITY OF Z' NEW TRAILER WITH CHARLIE HUNNAM. 'TRANSFORMERS: LAST KNIGHT' SUPERBOWL TEASER WITH ANTHONY HOPKINS, LAURA HADDOCK

'MORTAL ENGINES' 

PETER JACKSON FINDS HIS LEAD

His Hobbits, Kongs and other movies outside Lord of the Rings weren't exactly great, but Peter Jackson is returning to fantasy world again, as I reported before, with MORTAL ENGINES adaptation and now he has found his lead too in Robbie Sheehan and a supporting actor in Ronan Raftery.

MORTAL ENGINES, to be released in December next year, are set in a world many thousands of years in the future. Earth's cities now roam the globe on huge wheels, devouring each other in a struggle for ever diminishing resources. On one of these massive Traction Cities, Tom Natsworthy has an unexpected encounter with a mysterious young woman from the Outlands who will change the course of his life forever.

'TRANSFORMERS: LAST KNIGHT' 

SUPERBOWL TEASER IS HERE!

Speaking of fantasy, check out new Super Bowl teaser for TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT, which is coming to cinemas this June starring Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins and Laura Haddock!  Humans and Transformers are at war, Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving our future lies buried in the secrets of the past, in the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Saving our world falls upon the shoulders of an unlikely alliance: Cade Yeager, Bumblebee, an English Lord (Anthony Hopkins) and an Oxford Professor (Laura Haddock).

'THE LOST CITY OF Z' 

NEW TRAILER AND POSTER!

New trailer and poster have been released for big screen adaptation of THE LOST CITY OF Z which, out this April, tells the true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment who regard indigenous populations as "savages," the determined Fawcett, supported by his devoted wife (Sienna Miller), son (Tom Holland) and aide de camp (Robert Pattinson), returns time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925.

HISTORY TO AIR 'KNIGHTFALL' EPIC TV SERIES WITH TOM CULLEN, ED STOPPARD, SIMON MERRELLS, JIM CARTER IN AUTUMN - NEW TRAILER AND POSTERS

'KNIGHTFALL' EPIC SERIES

TO LAUNCH THIS AUTUMN!

While we can expect second seasons of The Last Kingdom and White Princess this spring, there will be something mediaeval in Autumn for us as well since History Channel has just announced the launch of their new ten episode epic TV series KNIGHTFALL for this Autumn produced by Jeremy Renner who will guest star as well. Robin Hood's Dominic Minghella will be the showrunner.

 THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
Knights Templar were the most powerful, wealthy and mysterious military order of the Middle Ages, entrusted with protecting the Holy Grail and harbouring secrets capable of destroying the Church itself. KNIGHTFALL goes deep into the inner sanctum of the clandestine world of this legendary brotherhood of warrior monks. From their battles in the Holy Land, to their clashes with both the King of France and Pope Boniface VIII, to the betrayal that would ultimately lead to their tragic dissolution on Friday the 13th (a date which became synonymous with bad luck) the story of the Knights Templar has never been fully told until now. KNIGHTFALL takes you inside the world to find out who these knights were, how they lived, and what they died believing. The series focuses on Templar leader Sir Landry, a brave warrior discouraged by the Templars' failures in the Holy Land who is reinvigorated by news that the Holy Grail has resurfaced. Tom Cullen, Julian Ovenden, Simon Merrells, Ed Stoppard and Jim Carter lead the cast.