I myself find her films terribly bland, frigid and visionless, but Jane Campion is directing 6 episodes of BBC's new mini series
TOP OF THE LAKE.To be set in the wonderful landscapes of New Zealand the story will center around a detective who tries to solve the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant daughter of a local drug lord. The lead role will be taken by MAD MEN's brilliant Elisabeth Moss, with Peter Mullan playing the drug lord, and Holly Hunter and David Wenham also in the cast. MovieWeb reported today about an interesting film called DREAMT, set in modern day, where two people have a supernatural connection and therefore are actually dreaming in each other's lives. Conflict ensues after the men discover each other's existence, leading one man to try to take over the other's life and stopping at nothing to get it.
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I don't know about you but I've always loved films with interconnected stories, and a new one will come from Neil LaBute who will adapt his book of short stories into SECOND OF PLEASURE film
weaving together several separate but intertwined stories about 6 different couples. The cast so far is interesting: Brendan Fraser, Christina Hendricks, Matt Dilon, Julia Stiles, Kristin Scott Thomas. One of the coolest British sitcoms ever, legendary ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS with the utterly crazy duo of two hilarious snobs played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, is heading to the big screen according to "Deadline" and it will begin with Edina and Patsy waking up, hung over as usually, on a yacht in the middle of the ocean, with no cell phone signal to call for help. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous :) Good news: both Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy have resigned from directing and hosting next year OSCARS :) This is apparently due to Brett making a scandalous and idiotic remark this weekend saying "rehearsal is for fags".
And check out the pictures from the gala premiere of this year's biggest epic IMMORTALS which hits cinemas this weekend. As you know, Tarsem's movie follows the battle between Theseus, Gods and evil king Hyperion. The stars of the premiere were off
course Henry Cavill who plays Theseus and Luke Evans who plays Zeus. Two of them were looking super dashing, but no surprise there since they are two of the most handsome young stars in Hollywood. Freida Pinto, who plays a visionary priestess, looked absolutely stunning in her exotic ivory gown, while young Isabel Lucas, who plays Athena, chose a rather disappointing
dress which didn't show off her beauty. Kellan Lutz who plays Poseidon also looked positively gorgeous in a black suit. To read more about the movie of the year, check out our exclusive spotlight on IMMORTALS.
Another novel is getting a movie adaptation: Mark Halprin's WINTER'S TALE will be made into a film which takes place in both the beginning and the end of the 20th century and centers on
a burglar who robs an Irish heiress and begins to fall for her as she dies in his arms. He comes to learn he has the gift of reincarnation, and is determined to save her. Tom Hiddeston and Russell Crowe are apparently in the run for the male roles, while Elizabeth Olsen is auditioning for the female lead. The producers of DIE HARD 5, which will be titled A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, have asked for a permission to shoot a part of the film in Serbia. The prison in Belgrade will act as a Russian prison from which Bruce Willis tries to escape. As I wrote before, Willis will also have a son in the film, who might take on the franchise later on, and the lead candidate for the son role is Aaron Paul from BREAKING BAD.
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Earlier this week I gave you a new poster for SPARTACUS VENGEANCE, and today I have some great news again: the 3rd season of the worldwide popular show was officially ordered this
weekend, and as soon as the 2nd season starts airing next January, the 3rd season will start shooting in New Zealand! Now these are good news too: "Variety" reports that Rufus Sewell is the latest one to join the cast of Alex Proyas' epic movie adaptation of John Milton's PARADISE LOST. He will play Samael, a partisan of Lucifer (Bradley Cooper) who urges him to start the war in heaven. You already know that Benjamin Walker is archangel Michael, Djimon Hounsou is angel of death, Casey Affleck is Gabriel the angel with six wings who also serves as a messenger to God, Callan McAuliffe is archangel Uriel, Diego Boneta is Adam, Camilla Belle is Eve, and Dominic Purcell is Jeehamel Lucifer's right hand man.
I've mentioned before that I don't like Jessica Chastain for some reason (she strikes me as deeply unappealing and cold) but she really is getting all the roles in Hollywood lately. It's either her,
Anne Hathaway or Olivia Wilde. Beside playing Tom Cruise's wife in sf epic HORIZONS, and starring previously in CORIOLANUS, TAKE SHELTER, THE HELP, THE DEBT, and THE TREE OF LIFE, she has now accepted the lead role in CAUGHT IN FLIGHT, a biopic of Princess Diana. As "Collider" writes, the film will depict her real-life secret affair with heart surgeon, Dr. Hasnat Kahn, who was said to be the love of her life. Their two-year affair began in 1995, and Kahn maintained his silence until he spoke on record to The Telegraph in 2008. The movie is described as a love story between a princess locked in a tower and an ordinary man.
Our poll for BEST COMEDY ACTRESS and lovely Amy Adams is the winner with 36% of your votes. She left behind her Sandra Bullock (13%), Melissa McCarthy and Anne Hathaway (12% each) and Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston with 4%.
She is definitely one of the most beloved actresses in Hollywood, taking the throne from Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon. It really didn't take her long to seduce the audience around the world. It must be her warmth and appealing appearance which brings her the love of cinemagoers. We probably first noticed her in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and THE WEDDING DATE, before she took the role in the, now almost classic, romcom ENCHANTED which basically brought her worldwide fame. In a wise step, instead of continuing in the light tone, she took the role in DOUBT after that,
showing her profound dramatic skills next to Meryl Streep, which brought her one of her three Oscar nominations. After proving her serious acting skills, Amy took a number of delightful roles in comedies and romcoms such as JULIE AND JULIA, again next to brilliant Meryl Streep, NIGHT AT THE MUSEM, as Amelia Earhart, and in lovely romantic flick LEAP YEAR in which she positively shined next to Matthew Goode. She then went for another Oscar nomination in THE FIGHTER with Christian
Bale, and later this month you will watch her sing and dance in THE MUPPETS. In 2013 she will be Lois Lane next to Henry Cavill in eagerly awaited MAN OF STEEL and a wife of a sect leader in THE MASTER. It's interesting that she was raised in a Mormon family, that she's a trained dancer, that her best friend is British star Emily Blunt, and that MAN OF STEEL isn't her first Superman project since she appeared in SMALLVILLE too!
AGE DEFYING ACTRESSES
Now, let us move to our new poll. Till the end of November we shall be voting for BEST AGE DEFYING ACTRESS, in which
you will be giving your votes to some 40, 50 and 60 plus actresses who still have youthful spirits and energy. In part one you can vote for these mature ladies: Virginia Madsen (DUNE, RED RIDING HOOD), Anjelica Huston (THE ADAMS FAMILY), Emma Thompson (NANNY MCPHEE), Sharon Stone (BASIC INSTINCTS), Susan Sarandon (THELMA AND LOUISE), Brenda Blethyn (ATONEMENT, SECRETS AND LIES), Marcia Cross (DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) and Meryl Streep (JULIE & JULIA). Vote on! And since the poll will have 2nd part too, please leave me suggestions in the comments!
As you've probably noticed the hottest thing in Hollywood currently is the casting process for David Dobkin's new epic ARTHUR & LANCELOT which will offer a new vision on the famous medieval legend. I've told you that THE KILLING star Joel Kinnaman is close to signing the deal for Lancelot role, but he will have to do screen testing with the candidates for the Arthur role who will have to have chemistry with him. Beside the already mentioned Kit Harington (John Snow from GAME OF THRONES) other fresh
candidates for the role of the king now include Welsh superstar Luke Evans (who fits naturally given all of his Godly roles so far - Zeus in IMMORTALS, Apollo in CLASH OF THE TITANS, and looking swell in period costume in THE THREE MUSKETEERS) and Toby Kebbell (who is nice enough actor, but if you ask me has absolutely no charisma for leading roles. He also starred in CLASH OF THE TITANS). I've informed you last week that Gary Oldman has been offered the role of Merlin.
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A new role for super talented Michael Fassbender could be the lead one in Warner Bros. action drama LONDONGRAD which
will examine the mysterious death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was poised in 2006 with polonium-210. As "Deadline" writes, the studio apparently wants RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES director Rupert Wyatt to helm the picture. As "Variety" reports, British film SONG FOR MARION will hit US cinemas too. With a delightful cast which includes Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton and Vanessa Redgrave this London-set comedic drama follows a grumpy elderly man who is reluctantly inspired by his wife Marion to join an unconventional local choir.
Well if you ask me, it seems the movie adaptation of famous anime AKIRA, which will be set in futuristic Manhattan, is heading in a very wrong direction. Because when Keanu Reeves, Brad
Pitt and Justin Timberlake refuse the lead role in a $100 million film and you give it to Garrett Hedlund, whom most people around the world don't even know and who mostly has flops in his CV, it doesn't sound promising at all, does it? Especially with the latest names who are testing for the second male role being unknown people too: Alden Ehrenreich and Ezra Miller. I've no idea who the second one is, but I remember the first one as one of the actors who lost the Spiderman role to Andrew Garfield. And with Keira Knightley also in the run for one of the roles, I'm definitely losing any interest in this one.
It's interesting that the end of the year will bring us quite a lot of ensemble films, movies which will hit cinemas in December with lots of big names playing together in their casts. Check out some of them:
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Probably the strongest ensemble cast will be seen November 23rd in one of the biggest Oscar contenders for next year MY WEEK WITH MARILYN. It is set in the early summer of 1956, when
young Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of "The Prince and the Showgirl", the film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account "The Prince, the Showgirl and Me" was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – this is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce
Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life in an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work. The magnificent cast also includes Judi Dench, Toby Jones, Dominic Cooper, Julia Ormond as Vivien Leigh, Derek Jacobi... Check out a fresh new clip in which Michelle Williams performs Marilyn's song Heatwave on stage.
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY
Premiering December 9th, is new British dramatic thriller TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY directed by Tomas Alfredson from LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, who is also supposed to helm the epic fantasy LARKLIGHT in 2013. The film is set in in the bleak aftermath of the Cold War, where espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons. The film is an adaptation of John Le Carre's seminal cold war best-seller and it was made into a TV show back in the 1970's with Alec Guinnes. This
time the stellar, rather masculine cast includes Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy (who replaced Michael Fassbender in the cast), John Hurt, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch...
ROMAN DRAMA IN CORIOLANUS
Another, rather manly stellar cast will be seen in one of possible Oscar contenders CORIOLANUS, the modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's famous play. In the modern version, Shakespeare's drama on Roman hero Coriolanus and his enemy Tullus Aufidius, commander of the Volscian army, is turned into a contemporary Rome-set political and family drama about a banished hero of Rome who allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city. Beside Ralph Fiennes who is also directing the movie, beside taking the lead role (this is his debut behind the helm), the cast also includes Gerard Butler as Tullus,
Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain and a bunch of talented Serbian actors since the film was shot last year in Serbian, including a number of scenes shot in the grandiose building of the Serbian Parliament in Belgrade. The film hits cinemas at the end of the year.
FAMILY DRAMA IN CARNAGE
Four big acting names playing together in the same film will be seen in Roman Polanski's CARNAGE, which premieres December 16th. This drama with a strong cast and stage atmosphere, mostly based on strong dialogues, starts with a showdown between two kids: about eleven, in a local playground. Swollen lips, broken teeth… Now the parents of the “victim” have invited the parents of the “bully” to their apartment to sort if out. Cordial banter gradually develops a razor-sharp edge as all four parents reveal their laughable contradictions and grotesque prejudices. None
of them will escape the ensuing carnage. The ensemble cast is lead by Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz who play one couple and Jodi Foster and John C. Reilly who play the second one.
One of the most popular of the younger actresses, Emma Stone, who had a great role this summer in THE HELP, is in talks to take
the lead in a new romantic comedy HE'S FUCKING PERFECT (wonder if they will change the title) which tells the story of one woman, pessimistic in love, who regularly uses the Internet to research the men her friends are dating, acting as a vetting device for them to weed out losers. Things take a turn when she gets a friend to dump her new guy in order for the woman to steal the man for herself, using her social media savvy to turn herself into his perfect match. Fox has apparently bought the script for $ 1 million!
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After Joel Kinnamantook the role of the first knight in the upcoming epic ARTHUR & LANCELOT last week, Warner Bros. now apparently wants Gary Oldman to take the role of Merlin.
But that's not Gary's only possible future gig, since according to "Deadline" he was also offered the role of the Colonel in sf epicAKIRA which could also have Garrett Hedlund and Helena Bonham Carter in the cast. Speaking of Bonham Carter, check out the first crazy picture from the new version of GREAT EXPECTATIONS in which she stars as Miss Havisham. To be released next Fall, the new movie adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous novel also has Jeremy Irvine as Pip, Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, Jason Flemyng and Holliday Grainger from THE BORGIAS as Estella in the cast.And according to latest news Tarsem's SNOW WHITE project with Lilly Collins and Julia Roberts has been now officially titled MIRROR, MIRROR!
I'm not sure if this plot is weird or not, but "Variety" reports that young Caleb Landry Jones, Banshee from X-MEN FIRST CLASS, will take the lead in sf flick ANTIVIRAL as a salesman for a clinic that replicates celebrity diseases for public consumption.
He becomes obsessed with a celebrity and injects himself with her disease, then must figure out how to cure it before time runs out. The film will also have Malcolm McDowell in the cast. As I reported earlier this year, young Caleb will also join Neil Jordan's BYZANTIUM, which also has more than weird story with Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan playing a mother and a daughter, both vampires who hunt for their victims together, until Caleb as a teenager dying from leukemia appears in their lives and his struggle with mortality affects the daughter, who, trapped forever in the body of a teenager, begins to question her own immortality.
As you know Hollywood Spy is a huge fan of Henry Cavill and has been supporting his career from the very beginning. After shining in THE TUDORS, he is finally getting huge roles he
deserves in IMMORTALS this year and then in MAN OF STEEL. But there's another film he already finished. I wrote about THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY many times before, but now we have the first poster. This interesting action thriller shot in Spain, follows a young Wall Street trader (Henry Cavill) whose family is kidnapped on a vacation to Spain. He's left with only hours to find them, uncover a government conspiracy and the connection between their disappearance and his father's secrets. The cast also includes Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver. It's released next April and I hope we shall see a trailer soon.
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Although the sequel to the recent blockbuster WRATH OF THE TITANS is yet to be released, with the premiere scheduled for March 2012 (and we still haven't seen a single photo, poster or a
trailer), Warner Bros. has already hired writers to pen the third part of CLASH OF THE TITANS epic. Meanwhile, the 2nd part WRATH OF THE TITANS has Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Rosamund Pike in the cast. As "MovieWeb" reports the official title for James Bond 23 is SKYFALL. The film which will star Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ben Whishaw, and is being directed by Sam Mandes, will see Bond's loyalty to M being tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
I totally didn't find this trailer funny, thought it was really bad and having nothing hilarious in it at all, but maybe some of you might like it? It's the first one for the remake of 21 JUMP STREET in which Channing Tatum and some guy called Jonah Hill play two ordinary street policemen who get assigned to an elite squad
of young undercover cops in order to infiltrate some high school and fight crime in it. As you remember, back in the late 1980's this was a relatively popular show with now famous Johnny Depp. Check out the trailer and tell me if you like it or not? The film is out next March.
Well, it seems that we have a new casting pet project in Hollywood: since the production of 300: BATTLE OF ARTEMISIA is moving close, the first rumors on who might get
the lead role in the prequel to the legendary epic blockbuster have starting circling. "Vulture" reports that the first name mentioned for the role of the Greek general Themosticles who lead his army to victory over the Persians in 480 B.C., is Australian actor Joel Edgerton who got critical praise for his role in WARRIOR this year beside Tom Hardy. The prequel fill describe events ten years before the original film following the rise to the power of the famous Persian king Xerxes and the glorious battle at Marathon. I'm not sure I like Edgerton for this role. You?
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Deadline reports that gorgeous young people Leslie Bibb (currently stars in ABC's GOOD CHRISTIAN BELLES), Ryan Kwanten (TRUE BLOOD) and Amy Smart (THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT) have joined 7500, a film in which the story centers
on the passengers of Vista Pacific Flight 7500, who come to realize that an evil force is with them on the flight across the Pacific Ocean. Bibb will star as a stewardess, while Kwanten and Smart play a married couple on the flight. Another interesting plot will be seen in THE SILVER LINING PLAYBOOK in which Bradley Cooper plays a man released from a mental institution in which he spent four years, but he thinks it's been only a few months, so he feverishly tries to get back with his estranged wife and to become the man she had always desired. The cast also includes Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro.
It's been quite a dry period when it comes to new trailers lately, but today a second trailer for UNDERWORLD AWAKENING has been released around the net. To premiere this January, the new
movie in the vampire saga will see Kate Beckinsale return to the role of vampire warrior Selena, who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of
both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species. The film comes to cinemas in 3D and will not be directed by Cate's husband Len Wiseman
but by Danish filmmakers Mans Marlind & Bjorn Stein. The cast also includes Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy.
After Luke Evans and John Cusack with THE RAVEN project, Ralph Fiennes and Gerard Butler with CORIOLANUS, Guy Pearce in Luc Besson's LOCKOUT, Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody in BROTHERS BLOOM, and Chris Noth
and Neve Campbell for TITANIC BLOOD & STEEL series, a new bunch of stars has invaded Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The creators of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, FRIDAY THE 13TH and FINAL DESTINATION have started filming an untitled horror film in Serbia with the story which follows a group of friends who become stranded in an eerie and desolate city. Abandoned years before in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster, nature has begun to reclaim everything. As the sun sets on this radioactive ghost town, inhuman cries cut through the night air. It seems they are not alone. The lead star of the film, young actor and pop star Jesse McCartney was seen enjoying the famous Belgrade nightlife this weekend.
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One of the films which will start shooting next year is sf thriller THE LAST DAYS ON MARS. As "MovieWeb" reports it will follow an astronaut crew which finds microscopic evidence of life
in their last day on Mars. In their last hours on the planet, two astronauts go back to a cavernous valley on the surface of Mars, to collect further evidence of their discovery. But a routine excavation turns deadly when one of them falls to his death and his body taken host and re-animated by the very life form they sought to discover. One of our favourite young stars Eddie Redmayne (PILLARS OF THE EARTH, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN) has got the role of Marius in LES MISERABLES beside Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway. As you know the adaptation of Victor Hugo's famous novel is helmed by Tom Hooper from THE KING'S SPEECH.
While his latest film IN TIME is currently in cinemas, brilliant sf director Andrew Niccol (GATTACA) is preparing himself for his next project - movie adaptation of Stephenie Meyers novel THE HOST. As "Variety" writes, Saoirse Ronan is already attached to
star as a girl whose body is invaded by an alien named Wanderer, but now the race for the lead male role is on, and it seems that names which will appear at the screen testing include Liam Hemsworth (THE HUNGER GAMES), Kit Harington (GAME OF THRONES), Jai Courtney (SPARTACUS) and Max Irons (RED RIDING HOOD).
It seems that Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom will work together again after ELIZABETHTOWN. According to "MovieWeb"
they will join Clive Owen in CITIES. The international thriller, to be shoot in New York, Mumbai and London, is a cautionary tale about greed and ambition that takes place in the exuberant months leading up to the Dow Jones all-time stock market high. Fortunes, both big and small are put at risk as people around the globe gamble that the financial market’s meteoric rise will continue. In New York, a hedge fund manager (Owen) has everything he wants – money, sex and power, but he wants more. In London, a young couple just want to buy their first home, but it seems impossibly out of reach. In Mumbai, a cop fights against corruption between property speculators and his villainous colleague.
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As "Deadline" reports, Paramount will make a science fiction thriller ABDUCTION in which the story centers around an alien abduction of a group of average Americans who decide to take on
the aliens and battle their way off the extrarerrestrial craft. The story will be written by the screenwriter of CLASH OF THE TITANS and EAGLE EYE. And in TV news, FX has decided to order the 2nd season of their brand new hit show AMERICAN HORROR STORY with Dylan McDermott which quickly became the highest-rated first season of any series ever on FX, and the same thing might happen soon to ABC's new fantasy show ONCE UPON A TIME, which also has amazing ratings and has become the breakout broadcast drama hit this fall. Speaking of ABC they have just picked up a new untitled sitcom which will follow a normal family who moves into a condominium complex to find out that everyone else living there are aliens.
I wrote about this one almost two years ago, but it seems the things are moving on now finally: according to "Deadline" James Mangold will direct the movie adaptation of super popular and
widely beloved novel JULIET by Anne Fortier. After he directs WOLVERINE 2, Mangold will shoot this one for Paramount with a story about a twenty something woman who learns she is a descendant of one of the feuding families made infamous in "Romeo and Juliet". She travels to Italy and discovers that the 600-year-old curse is still in effect and her fate is tied to literature’s greatest lovers. The book has had a huge number of readers so far, and I can confirm that my previous (very beautiful) post on this project is still one of the most visited ones (it is also one of the top items in Google's image search).
weaving together several separate but intertwined stories about 6 different couples. The cast so far is interesting: Brendan Fraser, Christina Hendricks, Matt Dilon, Julia Stiles, Kristin Scott Thomas. One of the coolest British sitcoms ever, legendary ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS with the utterly crazy duo of two hilarious snobs played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, is heading to the big screen according to "Deadline" and it will begin with Edina and Patsy waking up, hung over as usually, on a yacht in the middle of the ocean, with no cell phone signal to call for help. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous :) Good news: both Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy have resigned from directing and hosting next year OSCARS :) This is apparently due to Brett making a scandalous and idiotic remark this weekend saying "rehearsal is for fags". 
