HOLLYWOOD SPY EXCLUSIVE SPOTLIGHT ON UPCOMING NEW "ODYSSEUS" MINI SERIES WITH ALESSIO BONI, CATERINA MURINO, NIELS SCHNEIDER AND AMR WAKED!

In the wonderful sea of new historical shows which are coming to us this or next year, and in which we shall see everything from pirates and medieval painters turned heroes, to Scottish queens and vampires, another lovely addition will be new mini series ODYSSEUS (or ULYSSES, I'm not sure how it will be named in English version since the production is French) coming up from international producers, mainly Italian and German ones. The new take on Homer's "The Odyssey" will recount the events that took place in Ithaca while famous classical hero from ancient Greek myths Odysseus was absent for 20 years!

ODYSSEUS STORY

The situation in Ithaca is critical. Ten years have passed since the Trojan War ended, and all the warriors have returned home, except for one: Odysseus, who is rumoured to have been lost at sea. Ithaca, deprived of its king for far too long, lacks many resources, and its people

are beginning to complain. Penelope maintains her husband's throne as best she can and holds on to what little power she still has. Every day, she faces everyone's doubts about Odysseus' return, as well as the scheming of Leocritus, the head of the warriors with a claim to the throne. She protects her son Telemachus and keeps him at a safe

distance from the games of power. Neither a great strategist nor a warrior, he must nevertheless take action on behalf of Ithaca. Will Telemachus be able to defend his father's throne? And what if Odysseus returns after 20 years' absence?

ODYSSEUS CAST

The co-production of Arte France, GMT, MakingProd,  Movie Heart and with the participation of Rai Uno, Italian national television, the new epic mini series ODYSSEUS will have ten episodes in the first season and will feature a rather interesting

 European cast: Caterina Murino (CASINO ROYALE) plays Penelope, young Niels Schneider is Telemachus), Karina Testa is Clea, Joseph Malerba will play Mentor, Bruno Todeschini is Leocritus, while famous Italian star Alessio Boni (WAR AND PEACE,

CARAVAGGIO) will play the lead role of Odysseus! The cast will also include charming Amr Waked as Eukharistos whom we've seen as the sheik in delightful SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN last year, Eurynome will be played by Vittoria Scognamiglio, Laertes by 

Carlo Brandt, Orion by Salim Kechiouche, Antinous by Augustin Legrand, Thyoscos by Frédéric Quiring and Leodes by Ugo Venel!

ODYSSEUS TIDBITS

The first six episodes are based on the book, which begins 10 years after the end of the Trojan war. ODYSSEUS, king of Ithaca, has still not returned home and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus are struggling to maintain order. The second half of the TV series will take the characters beyond Homer’s story. The channels which already bought the rights on airing the series include Rai Uno (Italy), RTP (Portugal), Ceska TV (Czech Republic), SFTV (Switzerland), TV Novi Sad in your spy's Vojvodina , YLE (Finland), Markiza (Slovakia), Globo TV (Brazil) and international French channel TV5 Monde!

JENNIFER ANISTON, BEN KINGSLEY IN "CONVENTION"! AARON JOHNSON, BRYAN CRANSTON, ELIZABETH OLSEN FOR "GODZILLA"! MATT SMITH, CHRISTINA HENDRICKS IN RYAN GOSLING'S "HOW TO CATCH A MONSTER"! J.J. ABRAMS TO HELM "HALF-LIFE" & "PORTAL" FILMS!

A rather delightful cast awaits us in new comedy CONVENTION. Jennifer Aniston, Ben Kingsley and Mark Duplass star in this story in which mild-mannered Paul (Duplass) and his feisty sister Abby (Aniston) are setting out to change the box storage world with Paul's invention of the 5-sided box. Breaking all the laws of physics with their new product, their fiercest competitors, including maniacal box magnate Bobby Schroedinger (Kingsley) and Mathematical Construct, an atomic guardian of the natural order of universal mathematical balance, try to stop them securing the deal of their lives - oh, and ripping a giant apocalyptic whole in the fabric of the universe. On discovering the damage he's causing, Paul must race against time to put the galaxy back in order and save the girl of his dreams.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Since he obviously thinks he is not busy enough with finishing STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, preparing STAR WARS 7 film and a bunch of TV pilots for 2013 season, J.J Abrams also wants to make movies out of Valve's video games PORTAL and HALF-LIFE. According to "Movie Web"  the HALF-LIFE game was first released in 1998, with the story which follows theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman, who opens a gateway between his New Mexico laboratory and another world known as Xen, which is inhabited by terrifying monsters. PORTAL, which debuted in 2007, is a spin-off of Half-Life, that follows a test subject tasked with

finding a rival company's device that can open portals into space. Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling, who is directing his first film - HOW TO CATCH A MONSTER - has added a new cast member - DOCTOR WHO star Matt Smith will join Christina Hendricks and Eva Mendes in the story which, set against the surreal landscape of a vanishing city, follows a single mother who is swept into a fantasy dream world, while her teenage son discovers a road that leads to an underwater town!

GODZILLA & GAME NIGHT

After the rumours that Henry Cavill is wanted by the studio for the lead role in the remake of GODZILLA, "Variety" reports that the new lead might be

Aaron Johnson, with Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Olsen also in negotiations for other roles. Even though the shooting is supposed to start next month, the screenplay and the casting aren't finished yet.  And the proof that you can always expect a crazy comedy from Jason Bateman (whom you will watch this year in IDENTITY THIEF with Melissa McCarthy) is his latest project - "Deadline" reports that he will star in GAME NIGHT - in which the story centres on group of couples that meet every week to play board games. The couples end up becoming involved in a murder mystery.

JOSEPH FIENNES & MORENA BACCARIN ARE "THE UNHOLY"! MICHAEL KEATON JOINS AARON PAUL IN "NEED FOR SPEED"! SEAN BEAN, CHANNING TATUM, MILA KUNIS, EDDIE REDMAYNE IN "JUPITER RISING"! MARIAH CAREY SINGS FOR "OZ GREAT AND POWERFUL"

 Now I do like when Hollywood throws a film cast which makes me all tingly inside :) Two nom nom stars Morena Baccarin and Joseph Fiennes will play in a new thriller THE UNHOLY! According to "THR" the story is based on actual scientific research that suggests evil lurks within our own DNA, and follows a group of scientists recruited by the Vatican for a worldwide initiative to find new candidates for exorcisms (if you ask me, the Prada clad Pope should be first in the line). They are forced to re-examine their beliefs when faith meets science in a whole new way. And since we love us good movie songs, here's a nice piece of info: Mariah Carey will release her ALMOST HOME feel-good single next week, which will be a part of OZ GREAT AND POWERFUL soundtrack. The fantasy adventure with Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and James Franco hits cinemas March 8th!

NEED FOR SPEED

If you are fan of FAST & FURIOUS, and you saw the trailer a few days ago, another fast cars film you might like is NEED FOR SPEED. The

film already has delightful Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots and Dominic Cooper, but now the new name in the cast is good old Michael Keaton. The story of the film revolves around a street-racer (Aaron Paul), who teams up with a rich and egotistical business partner (Dominic Cooper) that sets him to take a fall for a crime. After being released he joins a cross country race to exact his revenge. He ex-partner finds out about his scheme and places a bounty on his head, sending him through a gauntlet of bounty hunters. According to "THR" Michael Keaton will be portraying the reclusive and eccentric overlord of the race, who recruits the best drivers in the world to partake in his event.

JUPITER RISING

One of our most anticipated of the upcoming science fiction epics, JUPITER RISING, from the Wachowski siblings, has just added Sean Bean to the cast which already has three sinfully sexy creatures - Mila Kunis (who has tones of projects this year), Channing Tatum (who also has loads of projects this year) and Eddie Redmayne (who scored big with his outstanding performance in LES MISERABLES and is now one of the most quickly rising stars in Hollywood). Sean Bean will portray a Han Solo type of character in the film set in a universe where humans are at the bottom of the evolutionary food chain, and one supreme leader rules all. The story will centre on a young Earth woman (Mila Kunis) who is targeted for assassination by the Queen of the Universe, because she bears a striking similarity to the ruler. Channing Tatum plays the bounty hunter who is sent to kill the

woman, but ends up falling for her in the process. Well, as long as Bean isn't playing the intergalactic queen, I'm fine with this...

SAM CLAFLIN & LILY COLLINS IN "LOVE, ROSIE"! COLIN FARRELL & ANTHONY HOPKINS IN "SOLACE"! GEOFFREY RUSH, EMILY WATSON IN "THE BOOK THIEF" WW2 FILM! ABC "LUCKY 7" LOTTERY DRAMA & "BIG THUNDER" 19TH CENTURY PILOT

 THR reports that two delightful creatures Lily Collins and Sam Claflin will star in LOVE, ROSIE, which is based on Cecelia Ahern's novel "Where Rainbows End" and details the story of a young Irish girl who discovers she's pregnant after one night with the most popular boy at school. She tells her best friend, who is not the father of her child, to get on with life without her - and over the next 12 years, lives change, but the two remain connected. Sam Claflin, whom you've seen in PILLARS OF THE EARTH, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, will also be seen in THE QUIET ONES about a University physics professor who assembles a team to help create a poltergeis, in THE HUNGER GAMES CATCHING FIRE as Finnick Odair, in the 1920's set THE LAUREATE as famous poet Robert Graves, and next year in OVERDRIVE where he and Karl Urban play a pair of handsome and adventurous brothers, known for being high-profile car thieves, who travel to the South of France looking for new challenges and come across a tough local crime boss.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Deadline reports that Irish star Colin Farrell has joined Anthony Hopkins in SOLACE. The story of the crime thriller centres on an FBI

agent who seeks out a doctor (Anthony Hopkins) with psychic powers to help solve a string of grisly murders. Colin Farrell will portray the serial killer who goes toe-to-toe with the good doctor. We are waiting to see who will play the FBI agent in the movie. Some time ago HOLLYWOOD SPY informed you that Markus Zusak's book THE BOOK THIEF is getting a movie adaptation, and now we have the casting news: Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson will star next to little Sophie Nelisse. The WW2 drama centres on Liesel (Nelisse), a spirited young girl who witnesses the horrors of Nazi Germany while in the care of foster parents (Rush and Watson). The girl arrives with a stolen book and begins collecting other tomes, learning to read while her step parents harbour a Jewish refugee under the stairs. Rush’s character first takes on the young girl for money but soon comes to love her. Watson’s character is described as being very tough on Liesel, but her kindness occasionally shows through.

TELEVISION HEADLINES

This Sunday you read HOLLYWOOD SPY's extensive guide through 2013 pilot shows, but we already have new pilot projects: THR reports

 that ABC has ordered BIG THUNDER pilot which revolves around a brilliant, late 19th century New York doctor and his family, who are given a once in a lifetime opportunity to relocate to a frontier mining town run by a powerful but mysterious tycoon. They quickly realize that not everything in Big Thunder is as it seems. ABC has also added a lottery drama pilot to their list: titled LUCKY 7, the story will revolve around seven employees of a service station in Queens whose lives are changed in many unexpected ways when they win a lottery jackpot! And after a long search, a strange choice has been made for the role of Star-lord in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY sf epic. For reasons unknown Chris Pratt has beaten Lee Pace, Zachary Levi, Eddie Redmayne, Jim Sturgess and many other actors, and will take the role. It's possible Marvel chose him because he buffed himself extremely recently!

SCARY TRAILER FOR "BYZANTIUM" WITH GEMMA ARTERTON AND SAOIRSE RONAN! RENNY HARLIN "HERCULES" EPIC! VICTORIA SMURFIT JOINS JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS IN "DRACULA" EPIC SERIES

 Earlier this week, "Variety" reported that Nick Cassavetes (THE NOTEBOOK) will direct THE OTHER WOMAN, a film about a woman who finds out that her boyfriend is married, and unites with his wife to plot

the revenge against the adulterer. Cameron Diaz was previously mentioned for the lead role! And a new name in NBC's DRACULA epic series is Victoria Smurfit. Now I've no idea who she is, but such a smurfilicious surname needs public support :) She will join Jonathan Rhys Meyers who plays Dracula, posing as an American businessman Alan Grayson in 19th century London, whose true aim is to seek revenge on those who ruined his life centuries earlier. He is prevented from following through his plans when he falls in love with Mina Murray (Jessica De Gouw), who looks similar to his deceased wife. MERLIN's Katie McGrath will play Mina's friend, while Victoria Smurfit will play the lithe and beautiful Lady Jayne who is instantly attracted to Grayson and pursues him!

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Well, we could've expected something like this: two new rival projects

in crazy old Tinsel- town! Just after MGM and Paramount have announced the work on their epic film HERCULES with Dwayne Johnson in the lead role and Brett Ratner behind the helm, Millennium had decided to make their own version of the famous legend. Unlike Dwayne Johnson's project in which he will fight in Thracian wars, the other project will be a revisionist project. To be directed by Renny Harlin (DIE HARD, LONG KISS GOODNIGHT) it will be closer to GLADIATOR and more realistic and it will get released before the Ratner's film which is set for August 2014!

BYZANTIUM TRAILER

Your trailer for today is the first one from the upcoming horror drama BYZANTIUM. Coming from THE BORGIAS and CRYING GAME director Neil

Jordan, this unusual film, which awaits its release sometime later this year,  follows two young women who arrive in a nameless British town and claim to be 200-year-old vampires, local teachers and parents try to counsel the girls to get to the bottom of their delusions. However, when people start disappearing, people in town must confront the possibility that the two women are, in fact, what they say they are.The cast is lead by Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan who play a mother and her daughter, and Caleb Landry Jones, Jonny Lee Miller and Sam Riley are also playing roles in the movie.

LOVELY PICTURES FROM DISNEY'S "FROZEN"! BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH JOINS "THE IMITATION GAME"! "FAST & FURIOUS 6" TRAILER WITH LUKE EVANS, VIN DIESEL, DWAYNE JOHNSON, PAUL WALKER

I have a delightful treat for you today: earlier this winter I have introduced you to Disney's new animated movie FROZEN which will open up in cinemas this November showing you the first pictures from the film, and now you can see first two adorable character posters showing Anna, a young adventurer who, in the hopes that she will bring an end to the perpetual winter climate, travels to find her sister, Elsa the Snow Queen whom you can also see in the second poster! Idina Menzel lends her voice to Snow Queen while Kristen Bell lends her voice to Anna, the hero of the story. The

 story of the delightful Disney animated adventure revolves around  a mountain climber and a young girl named Anna who journeys through snowy peaks and dangerous cliffs to find the legendary Snow Queen and end the perpetual winter prophecy that has fallen over their kingdom. The movie is directed by Chris Buck, whom you know as the helmer of TARZAN and SURF'S UP, and Jennifer Lee, whom you know as the screenplay writer for WRECK-IT RALPH!

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

One of Britain's most popular television actors Benedict Cumberbatch, the star of SHERLOCK, whom you will watch later this summer in the long awaited sequel to the legendary science fiction franchise STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, is negotiating to star in a rather shocking THE IMITATION GAME! According to "Deadline" if he takes the gig, Benedict will portray British mathematician Alan Turing, who helped the Allies defeat the Germans in World War II by cracking the complex "Enigma Code" used by the Germans. In the 1950s, he was prosecuted by the British government for being a homosexual. He made the extreme decision to undergo chemical castration instead of going to prison, which demoralized him so much that he committed suicide by eating an apple dosed with cyanide.

FAST&FURIOUS 6 TRAILER

Now, you know that I have never seen a film from this franchise but with such a hunkfest in the cast, including Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson, with HOLLYWOOD SPY's  beloved Luke Evans as the new villain, it would be a sin not to check

FAST & FURIOUS 6! out The first trailer has just been released at the Super Bowl. Since Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian's (Paul Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin's empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Luke Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty

(Michelle Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.

EMILY VANCAMP JOINS CHRIS EVANS IN "CAPTAIN AMERICA THE WINTER SOLDIER"! KENNETH BRANAGH FOR CATE BLANCHETT'S "CINDERELLA"! PAUL W.S. ANDERSON'S "POMPEII" EPIC! TRAILER FOR "SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK"

 In our news from the epic front today, a long awaited historical project POMPEII from Paul W.S. Anderson is finally moving on as a German and Canadian coproduction set in the days leading up to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The production will involve significant construction builds of ancient Roman architecture and considerable visual effects and computer generated imagery.  Kit Harrington and Luke Evans were previously mentioned for the cast of the film. Meanwhile, sequel CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER has found female lead to join Chris Evans. REVENGE's Emily VanCamp might play Sharon Carter, the niece of Peggy Carter played by Hayley Atwell in the first film. In the comics she and Captain America fall in love at some point.  The cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Anthony Mackie as Falcon, Frank Grillo as Crossbones, Cobie Smulders as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill with Toby Jones playing Arnim Zola. The story will follow Steve Rogers who continues his affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D and struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, and is reunited with James 'Bucky' Barnes, who is now brainwashed Russian assassin known as the 'Winter Soldier'.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Good news are coming from Disney. After they fired Mark Romanek,

who had an overly dark vision behind the helm of their movie adaptation of famous CINDERELLA, the fairy tale might find its new director in glorious Brit Kenneth Branagh! The director of numerous  Shakespeare movie adaptations and THOR, is currently negotiating to take the job. The new big screen version of CINDERELLA still has Cate Blanchett in the role of the evil stepmother but the title role still hasn't been cast. Saoirse Ronan and Gabriella Wilde were mentioned for the role before. As HOLLYWOOD SPY has reported before Branagh is also preparing the adaptation of THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEP PIE SOCIETY with Kate Winslet and ITALIAN SHOES with Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench, and this December's JACK RYAN with Chris Pine and Kevin Costner.

SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK

And look what I have got for you in the trailer department today: a lovely and exciting teaser for the English language remake of sf adventure SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK based on popular

Japanese anime series from the 1970s! Coming into theatres later this year this stunning animated movie follows renegade space pirate Captain Harlock and his who crew from the space battleship Arcadia

must stop the sinister alien plant women, the Mazone, from conquering Earth ruled by inept leaders! The film opens up in Japanese cinemas sometime this Autumn, and probably around the world too after that.

HOLLYWOOD SPY EXTENSIVE GUIDE THROUGH 2013 TV PILOTS: HISTORY, FANTASY, SCIENCE FICTION, POST APOCALYPTIC ACTION, SITCOMS AND DRAMA

OK, my people, it is time to do a recap of all the pilots ordered this year by major networks. For those uninformed - pilots are opening episodes of possible new shows which serve as an introduction to the whole series to see if the project gets picked up and if the audience and the producers will love it.

SPACESHIPS, GALACTIC PRINCESSES & A SCOTTISH QUEEN AT CW

Over at CW, they're focusing on drama pilots beginning with THE HUNDRED. Based on the upcoming novel saga by Kass Morgan, it is set 97 years after a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, when a spaceship housing the lone human survivors sends 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth to investigate the possibility of re-colonizing the planet. There's also the VAMPIRES DIARIES spinoff THE ORIGINALS in which vampire Klaus (Joseph Morgan) returns to the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans, a town he helped build centuries ago, and is reunited with his diabolical former protégé Marcel. Another sf TV adaptation will be seen in THE SELECTION. Set 300 years in the future, the drama is an epic romance centring on a working-class young woman chosen by lottery to participate in a competition with 25 other women for the Royal Prince's hand to become the nation's next queen. Balancing her loyalty to family, true love and 

the kingdom, she must attempt to remain true to herself as she navigates the cutthroat competition and palace intrigue, all while a budding rebellion threatens to topple the crown. But if you prefer history, there's REIGN, the previously unknown and untold story of Mary Queen of Scots' rise to power when she arrives in France as a 15-year-old, betrothed to Prince Francis, and with her three best friends as ladies-in-waiting. The secret history of survival at French Court amid fierce foes, dark forces and a world of sexual intrigue. CW has also ordered a pilot of sf series TOMORROW PEOPLE which will tell the story of young people around the world who represent the next stage in human evolution and possess special powers, including the ability to teleport and communicate with one another telepathically. Together, they work to defeat the forces of evil.

DEAD COME BACK AT ABC

Over at ABC, they will have Rebel Wilson leading the pilot for new sitcom SUPER FUN NIGHT about three nerdy female friends who are on a "funcomfortable" quest to have "super fun" every Friday night. They will also have two film stars Malin Akerman and Marcia Gay Harden in

TROPHY WIFE, following a reformed party girl who finds herself with an instant family when she falls in love with a man who has three manipulative children and two judgemental ex-wives.
 When it comes to drama, there's Brad Pitt produced THE RETURNED which will examine what happens when the people you have mourned and buried suddenly appear on your doorstep as if not a day's gone by? The lives of the people of Aurora Arcadia are forever changed when their deceased loved ones return. They will also have the announced pilot for Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. or Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistic Directorate which follows a team of super agents starring Ming-Na, Clark Gregg, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Ian De Caestecker, Chloe Bennet!

BAD TEACHERS, BAD COPS AND GOOD SURGEONS AT CBS

Over at CBS they are preparing BAD TEACHER pilot which will be a television adaptation of the Cameron Diaz movie about  a foul

mouthed divorcee who becomes a teacher to find her next husband. EX-MEN is also a sitcom, with Chris Smith, Kal Penn, Jerry O'Connell, Tony Shalhoub and Rebecca Brooks, revolving around a young guy who finds camaraderie living among the more experienced guys he meets in a short-term rental complex. Meanwhile Anna Faris will try her luck in MOM, as a newly sober single mom who tries to pull her life together in Napa Valley.
In the drama department CBS will put Brandon T. Jackson and Eddie Murphy in a TV version of BEVERLY HILLS COP centring around Axel Foley’s police officer son, who takes down the criminal elements of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. Toni Collette will star in Jerry Bruckheimer's HOSTAGES as a surgeon who is thrown into a political conspiracy after being chosen to operate on the president of the United States. Her family is taken hostage, and it's her responsibility to save their lives.

WORLD WITHOUT LOVE & BAD ROBOTS AT FOX

Over at FOX they will fall in DELIRIUM with a pilot based on best-selling trilogy about a world where love is deemed illegal and is able to be eradicated with a special procedure. With 95 days to go until her scheduled treatment, Lena Holoway does the unthinkable: she falls in love! They will also have SLEEPY HOLLOW, an Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci modern day supernatural thriller based on the legend of Sleepy Hollow. More sf will be seen in J.J. Abrams' BAD ROBOT as well, an action packed buddy cop drama, set in the near future, when all LAPD officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids.

SF GUNS, HOT DOCTORS & UNDATABLES AT NBC

Focusing on sitcom pilots at NBC, there's ABOUT A BOY adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel which follows the relationship between a

bachelor man-child and the young boy who moves in next door with his crazy, single mother. Humour will be in abundance in UNDATABLES too, with a young ensemble centring on a group of friends dubbed the "Undateables" whose lives are altered when a more confident character enters their world. NBC will also have sitcoms based on the lives of Michael J. Fox and Jessica Simpson. And WILL AND GRACE's Sean Hayes will return in a pilot about a guy who must figure out how to parent his 14-year-old daughter, who just moved in, while juggling a temperamental new boss at work.
When it comes to dramas, AFTER HOURS will see MERLIN's Eoin Macken in the ensemble medical show following doctors working the late shift at a San Antonio Hospital. Alfonso Cuaron's BELIEVE will depict an unlikely relationship which develops between a young girl with a gift and a man sprung from prison who has been tasked with protecting her from the evil elements that hunt her power! NBC will also go sf in THE SIXTH GUN: based on the best-selling Oni Press graphic novel, this supernatural

western follows the story of six mythical guns, each with its own other-worldly powers. Trying to rival ABC with their own take on fairy tales, NBC will show us a pilot for WONDER- LAND, which will be set in the world of Lewis Carrol's ALICE IN WONDERLAND. The hourlong entry will explore Clara's life, which took an unexplained turn for the worse seven years earlier. A mysterious stranger tells her there may be an explanation after all... an explanation that lies in the fantastical world of Wonderland. Determined to revive her dreams and get her life back on track, Clara agrees to wage war against the reigning but malevolent Queen, the woman we once knew as Alice.

BRADLEY COOPER IS "CHEF"! ZAC EFRON IN "THE FALLING"! SAM WORTHINGTON IN "FOR THE DOGS"! JAMIE DORNAN RETURNS TO "ONCE UPON A TIME" WITH "DOWNTON ABBEY", "HEROES", "CHARMED", "SMALLVILLE" STARS IN CAST TOO!

Currently one of the most present celebrity faces, Bradley Cooper has just joined a new film. According to "Variety" he will star in CHEF,  a

comedy in which the story revolves around a disgraced chef  who loses his prestigious restaurant in Paris. He decides to bring his old crew back together in an attempt to create the world's greatest restaurant in London. This will not be Bradley's first outing into the world of master chefs, since he started his career in charming and delightful, but shortlived, television show KITCHEN CONFID- ENTIAL. Bradley has revealed recently that he loves cooking in his own life too! Beside the third part of the HANGOVER comedy series later this year, you shall watch Bradley next year alongside Jennifer Lawrence in SERENA, a film set in the 19030s in which they play the ruthless and ambitious owners of a timber empire.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Variety also reports that Australian star Sam Worthington has joined FOR THE DOGS, Phillip Noyce's action thriller  based on a novel written by author Kevin Wignall which revolves around an assassin, who helps a

young college girl get revenge on the people that murdered her parents and younger brother. Meanwhile, if you missed Irish hunk Jamie Dornan after his character was prematurely killed off in fantasy show ONCE UPON A TIME, you can breathe easily - ABC has officially confirmed that the character of the sheriff will come back in one of the upcoming episodes of the ultrapopular series. A bunch of other TV stars have joined the show too - HEROES' actress Rena Sofer will play Snow White's mother, SMALLVILLE star Cassidy Freeman will appear in the episode with giants, DOWNTON ABBEY's cook Lesley Nicol will appear as a member of Snow White's family, Rose McGowan from CHARMED will play younger version of Cora, while LAST RESORT's Chad Michael Collins will play Frankenstein's brother.

ZAC EFRON IN "THE FALLING"

Another popular hunk who's been on the rise recently, Zac Efron will join Akiva Goldsman's science fiction project THE FALLING. Not much is known about the plot, but the supernatural film will revolve around some otherworldly beings. Zac has more than five films released this year, including ART OF STEAL, in which he plays a master thief, ARE WE OFFICIALLY DATING, in which he plays a confirmed bachelor who tries to avoid getting caught in a relationship, AT ANY PRICE, where he plays the son of Dennis Quaid who wants his son to take over his modern agriculture empire. Zac will also join Malin Akerman, Jason Sudeikis, Goldie Hawn in THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU, a story about a Jewish family that isn't used to observing their faith's traditions and is forced to fulfil their father's final wish and sit Shivah together for an entire week and confront their problems.

"MERLIN'S" KATIE MCGRATH JOINS JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS IN "DRACULA"! NEW "THE MUPPETS AGAIN!" PICTURES, "JACK THE GIANT SLAYER" & "ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH" POSTERS!

Oooh! Exciting news for NBC's upcoming new historical show DRACULA in which Jonathan Rhys Meyers will take off the crown he wore in THE TUDORS and put on some nasty fangs in order to portray the title role. MERLIN's star Katie McGrath, who played Morgana in the BBC epic show, has joined the cast and will play Lucy Westenra, a London socialite who is friends with Mina Murray - to be played by Arrow's Jessica De Gouw! Nonso Anozie from GAME OF THRONES is another addition to the cast and will appear as Renfield, the loyal accomplice of Dracula. The ten part series will be set in the 1890s London, where Dracula acts as an American businessman whose true aim is to seek revenge on those who ruined his life. However, his plans are thwarted when he falls in love with Mina, who resembles his deceased wife. Mina, who is described as forward-thinking, clever and independent, is the only female studying medicine at London's University College.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Now, you already know that after the recent success, our favourite Muppets are coming back. The official new title of the sequel is THE MUPPETS... AGAIN! The film is currently shooting in Britain for a 2014 release. The first pictures have been released showing

Miss Piggy, Kermit and the rest of the gang at London subway, and with Ricky Gervais who joins the cast along with Tina Fey! The sequel takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theatres in some of Europe's most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas,

as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine - the World's Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit - and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two (Gervais)! The film will have tones of celebrity cameos!

You can also check out two lovely new posters for JACK THE GIANT SLAYER, epic adventure starring Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy and Ian McShane, which hits theatres March 1st and follows a farmer's son Jack who unwittingly opens a gateway between the giants' world and ours, and must step up and fight for what he believes in, and for the love of a fair princess!

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH CHARACTER POSTERS

And freshly released from The Weinstein Company are new character posters for animated adventure ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH which opens up in cinemas February 14th right on Valentines Day! The 3D animated family comedy catapults moviegoers to planet Baab where admired astronaut Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser) is a national hero to the blue alien population. A master of daring rescues, Scorch pulls off astonishing feats with the quiet aid of his nerdy, by-the-rules brother, Gary (Rob Corddry), head of mission control at BASA. When BASA no-nonsense 

chief Lena (Jessica Alba) informs the brothers of an SOS from a notoriously dangerous planet, Scorch rejects Gary’s warnings and bounds off for yet another exciting mission. But when Scorch finds

himself caught in a fiendish trap set by the evil Shanker (William Shatner) it’s up to scrawny, risk-adverse Gary to do the real rescuing.

As the interplanetary stakes rise to new heights, Gary is left to save his brother, his planet, his beloved wife Kira (Sarah Jessica Parker) and their adventure hungry son Kip!