I've reported earlier on this, but now British ITV is finally moving on with it: they have found the lead for their ultra lavish television series adaptation of Thackeray's Victorian saga VANITY FAIR! The seven episode epic series will also stream on Amazon. Mammoth Screen who is producing Poldark and Victoria will be doing this one as well!
Olivia Cooke (who recently went Victorian in Limehouse Golem) will take the lead role of Becky Sharp in the series
that follows her stoic and unscrupulous attempts to make her way in
English society in the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and the rule of
King George IV! The shooting starts this September in London and
Budapest, so expect other casting updates this summer!
AIDAN TURNER
IS 'THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT'
You remember Aidan from Hobbit films
Speaking of Poldark, its shining superstar is moving onto the big screens again: Aidan Turner will play the lead role together with Sam Elliott in THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT movie from Robert D. Krzykowski! As 'Deadline' reports today, the film tells the story of American soldier Calvin Barr (Aidan Turner), who leaves his true love behind to infiltrate enemy lines and kill Adolph Hitler in the heart of World War II. Decades later, Barr (now Elliott) is needed again, this time to hunt the legendary Bigfoot — carrier of a deadly plague hidden deep in the Canadian wilderness. The third season of Poldark is currently airing in UK and in USA from October.
'GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH'
UTTERLY GORGEOUS TRAILER WITH HUGH JACKMAN!
The first trailer has been released for this Christmas' THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH in which Hugh Jackman plays P. T. Barnum, the father of Modern Circus, a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. The
The stunning show starts this Christmas in cinemas
cast also includes Zac Efron and Michelle Williams and Rebecca Ferguson and they all sing original songs in it. The real circus has given its final performance earlier this spring after 146 years of work.
We're starting our sf Tuesday with the news coming from ABC where they've set September 29th for the premiere of their new Marvel series INHUMANS with two episodes the same evening after they finish
Trailer is possibly arriving this Thursday?
playing in IMAX cinemas from September 1st! I hear the trailer might come this week.
INHUMANS explores epic adventure of a royal family lead by Black
Bolt (Anson Mount) the enigmatic, commanding King of the Inhumans, with a
voice so powerful that the slightest whisper can destroy a city. After
the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they
barely escape to Hawaii where they are greeted with surprising
interactions with the lush world and humanity around them. Now they must
find a way to reunite with each other and return to their home before
their way of life is destroyed forever.
ASIMOV'S 'FOUNDATION'
TO BECOME DAVID S. GOYER PRODUCED SF TV SERIES
A trilogy that influenced whole sf world
Deadline revealed today that a television series is going to be made out of Isaac Asimov's sf classic FOUNDATION and it will be done by David S. Goyer who gave us Da Vinci's Demons. Skydance Television will produce the complex saga of humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy, all living under the rule of the Galactic Empire. The protagonist is a psycho-historian who has an ability to read the future and foresees the empire’s imminent collapse. He sets out to save the knowledge of mankind from being wiped out. Most of the famous sf films have been heavily influenced by this trilogy.
'TREMORS' SF CLASSIC
TO RETURN WITH KEVIN BACON!
Another sf classic to return again, this time over at SyFy where they ordered a new pilot, is TREMORS, a cult sf flm from the 90's with Kevin Bacon who is returning to the story about the city infested with massive sand worms. As 'Deadline' reports, the killer Graboid worms
The 1990. movie became a cult sf classic!
that nearly destroyed Perfection, NV, 25 years ago are back, and the town’s only hope for survival is Valentine McKee (Bacon), who beat them once. But to do it again he’ll have to overcome age, alcohol and a delusional hero complex.
It's a very slow beginning of the week, so we are going to stay in the middle ages, but after yesterday's Spanish 16th century, today we're heading further down in history all the way to the end of the 12th century when a kingdom was born at the Balkan Peninsula. Serbian national broadcaster has released a trailer for their biggest series ever THE NEMANYICHS: BIRTH OF A KINGDOM which will air in Serbia towards the end of the year marking the 800 years from the coronation of King Stefan the First Crowned that started the Golden Era of Serbian mediaeval state and the Nemanyich dynasty.
RISE OF A DYNASTY With more than 200 actors, 3000 extras and 300 locations) 12 part epic TV series THE NEMANYICHS: BIRTH OF A KINGDOM
, filled with political drama, family wars, romance and turbulences,
will follow the rise of The Nemanyichs, one of the most powerful
mediaeval royal dynasties
in Europe which ruled the vast Serbian Kingdom from the 12th to the
14th century. The first season will follow King Stefan the First Crowned
(played byVoyin Chetkovich) and will cover 80 years of time. The series will also cover his marriages with Byzantine princess Eudokia
Angelina, the niece of the Byzantine Emperor, and with Anna Dandolo, a
granddaughter of the Venetian doge who gave him his heir King Stefan
Urosh!
DEZZY'S HISTORY LESSON
The royal house which produced 11 Serbian kings, despots and
emperors, from 1166 till 1371, reached its zenith during the legendary
reign of Dushan, Tsar of all Serbs and Greeks, who ruled a massive
empire occupying today's Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece,
Montenegro and Albania. It was the most developed country and culture in Europe of
that time. The mediaeval kingdom of Serbia fell apart with the Ottoman invasion and the lack of strong heirs to the royal crown of Serbia which resulted with Serbia becoming a part of Turkish empire for long, and very bloody, 500 years.
'PRINCE RASTKO OF SERBIA'
ANOTHER PROJECT FROM THE ERA OF THE NEMANYICHS It is interesting that at the same time the production is under way
for another project on this era. This one will be a big screen movie PRINCE RASTKO OF SERBIA, which will
depict the life of his youngest brother Rastko, who after establishing Serbian
Church, became known as Saint Sava. Young Filip Hajdukovich plays the
lead role in the film based on a Milovan Vitezovic book which depicts
his teenage years at Serbian court and his later enlightenment and
religious life. As the youngest prince of the Serbian dynasty he
negotiated with the Pope and won the crown for the Serbian kingdom and
his brother Stefan the First Crowned. He was a man of faith and as such
he became a monk and worked on spreading Christianity and education
throughout his brother's kingdom.
I'm really late with this one, as it was aired last year in Spain, but as they say - better late than never, right? I'm sure you can still download this one from around the web or find it on DVD. Carlos, Rey Emperador or CARLOS, KING EMPEROR is an exquisitely opulent historical saga from Spanish television, which is actually a continuation of Isabel, another of their luxurious period set series which followed the rule of Isabella of Castile, and of the movie La Corona Partida, which you both remember from our reports from years ago. CARLOS, KING EMPEROR follows the reign of Carlos I or Charles I in 17 stunning one hour episodes. With the end of Magnificent Centuryseries next week when Kosem Sultanaends forever after six years of running, those of you who are addicted to costume drama, might find some solace in this one! The sets and the costumes in this one are beyond stunning!
THE KING AND THE EMPEROR The series tells the story of Charles I (Alvaro Cervantes) or Charles
V, Holy Roman Emperor, one of the most powerful men Europe has met, the
ruler of an empire as great in size as in diversity.
As the life of Charles of Hapsburg is told since his arrival to Spain,
it can be seen how the heir to the crowns of Germany, Burgundy, the
Netherlands, the Free County, Artois, Nevers and Rethel, of the
territories of the Crown of Aragon and its related Italian territories,
and of the territories of the Catholic Monarchs in Castile, North Africa
and the Americas, matures as a statesman and gets stronger in face of
menaces around him and good and bad advice from his counsellors. Bianca
Suarez plays Isabella of Portugal, Laia Marull is Joanna of Castile,
Eric Balabas is Ferdinand of Hapsburg dynasty, and dozens and dozens of
other actors play a whole mass of European royals.
DEZZY'S HISTORY LESSON
Charles, who lived in the 16th century, was the ruler both of the Spanish and the Holy Roman Empire! As back in those times they ruled through inheritance (he himself was the heir of Hapsburg, the Valois Burgundy and Trastamara dynasties) and marriage, he had so many territories under his rule in different parts of the world that his domains spanned nearly four million square kilometres and were the first to be described as "the empire on which the sun never sets". Earlier this year I reported on the German epic series on Maximilian I,who was actually his grandfather! Charles was also remembered as the man who sanctioned the conquest by Castillian conquistadors of the Aztec and Inca empires.
THE SPACE SEARCHING FOR TOMMY LEE JONES IN 'AD ASTRA'
The film starts shooting September
Science fiction Saturday, today: as 'Deadline' is reporting, director James Gray is looking to cast Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones in AD ASTRA sf deep space epic movie in which Brad Pitt would play the slightly autistic space engineer Roy McBride. Twenty years after his father left on a one-way mission to Neptune in order to find signs of extra terrestrial intelligence, McBride travels through the solar system to find him and understand why his mission failed. Tommy Lee Jones would play the missing father. Brad Pitt was previously supposed to star in James Gray's movie The Lost City of Z but he ended up just producing it.
'NIGHTFLYERS' SF SERIES
GETS PILOT ORDER AT SYFY
There's also another sf project that I announced earlier but it has now been greenlit by SyFy! They have officially ordered a pilot for sf series NIGHTFLYERS based on a super natural novella by George R.R.
The writer won't be working on the series
Martin! SyFy has also picked up Krypton to series. The writer won't be working on the project as he is tied to HBO.
NIGHTFLYERS has the story set in the future on the eve of Earth’s
destruction. In the hope of making contact with alien life, eight
maverick scientists and a powerful telepath embark on an expedition to
the edge of our solar system aboard the Nightflyer, a ship with a small,
tight-knit crew and a reclusive captain. But when terrifying and
violent events begin to take place, they start to question one another —
and surviving the journey proves harder than anyone thought.
It is a very slow end of the week, people, so I just have one thing to show to you today, one but stunning! A series of mind blowing posters and a trailer for Chinese epic fantasy ONCE UPON A TIME (San Sheng San Shi Shi Li Tao Hua) which should open in motherland China cinemas next month and has also been sold for a US release in August both in theatres and on digital and home video market.
A THOUSAND YEAR LOVE This 3D fantasy romance adventure, co-directed by Anthony Molinara
and House Of Flying Daggers’ cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding, has the
story which spans a thousand years of tangled lives. Bai Qian, a goddess
and monarch from the Heavenly Realms, is sent to the mortal world to
undergo a trial to become a High Goddess. There, she meets Ye Hua, with
whom she falls in love and marries. However, when an old enemy reappears
in her life, everything she holds dear becomes threatened.
10 MILES OF PEACH BLOSSOMS
This breathtaking movie is actually a big screen adaptation of Tang Qi’s popular novel Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, which was also turned into very popular Chinese television fantasy series Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms earlier this year. The movie version itself stars popular Chinese big screen actors and actresses Yang Yang, Yifei Liu, Yikuan Yan, Jin Luo, and Chun Li.
THE SPY'S 6 MILLION VISITS In other news, your Hollywood Spy had its 6 MILLIONTH VISITOR last
night! Thank you for your daily visits, your comments, especially thanks
to all the members of our Twitter and Facebook Angel Flying Squads
which spread the word of our posts each day tirelessly! Thanks to
celebrities who retweet us too! In recent months we've been experiencing
a sort of a Renaissance with often quadrupled daily visits and last
month we had a single day with mindblowing 300.000 visits that left us
dizzy! Thanks for loving us, we're loving you back!
Just a week ago she got one husband and now she's got another one: after Jack Lawden was cast as Lord Darnley in MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, in which Saoirse Ronan plays the title role, British actor Martin Compston has been cast as her third husband Earl of Bothwell! She was first married to king of France, then moved over to Scotland after his death where she had to fight for her throne marrying nobles in the process and also trying to take away the throne of England from Queen Elizabeth who in the end had her royal head chopped off, although Mary did win in the way that her son James I became Elizabeth's heir and managed to unite England and Scotland under his royal rule. Margot Robbie plays the English monarch.
'ASSASSINATION OF VERSACE'
FIRST PHOTOS REVEALED!
Meanwhile, FX and Entertainment Weekly have uncovered the first glamorous photos of the lead stars of the second season of AMERICAN
The series will air early next year
CRIME STORY titled THE ASSASSI- NATION OF GIANNI VERSACE. Exploring the shocking murder of famous fashion designer Gianni Versace by serial killer Andrew Cunanan, its ten episodes will be based on Maureen Orth's book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History! With Edgar Ramirez starring as Gianni Versace, Penelope Cruz will put a platinum wig to portray his sister Donatella, with pop star Ricky
Penelope Cruz as Donatella Versace
Martin as his long time lover Antonio D'Amico and Max Greenfield (as their brother Santo Versace) and Darren Criss also in the cast.
THE FINAL MURDER VICTIM To air sometime early next year, with parts of it shot in Versace's
former villa, THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE will chronicle the
1997 murder of Versace which shook the world. Serial killer Andrew
Cunanan shot Versace dead on the steps of his luxurious
Edgar Ramirez is shockingly similar to Versace
Miami Beach home
after committing several other murders. He committed suicide eight days
later. A violent psychopath, Cunanan’s lifestyle was promiscuous and
drug fueled, and he became notorious for
Ricky Martin as Antonio D'Amico, Versace's lover
picking up rich men in bars by
making claims about a lifestyle he never lived. He claimed Versace as
his fifth and final murder victim.
While you are watching her for the third time as Poldark's trusted Demelza in BBC's popular period set drama on Sunday evenings, fear not, lovely Eleanor Tomlinson, who before that starred in White Queen as well, will now appear on the big screens too!
As 'Deadline' reports today, she has joined the cast of COLETTE, a
period set movie which follows Gabrielle Sidonie Colette (sadly, played
by Keira Knightley), whose husband, the charismatic ego maniacal writer
Willy (Dominic West), permits Colette to write her novels using his
name. The phenomenal success of her Claudine novel series makes
Willy a famous writer and the lack of recognition for her work begins to
gnaw on Colette and their marriage starts to fall apart.
DID YOU KNOW?
Once nominated for a Nobel prize for literature, French novelist Colette (1873-1954) was also known as actress and a journalist. Her most famous work is probably Gigi which was made into the famous movie classic. Although many considered her a limited if talented novelist, she was a member of Belgian Royal Academy, and was ordained with French Legion of Honour.
IN 'THE HUSBAND'S SECRET' AND 'A SIMPLE FAVOUR' MYSTERIES
It seems it is all about hidden secrets in Blake Lively's new movie projects. She's already signed up to star in THE HUSBAND'S SECRET, the big screen adaptation of a Liane Moriarty novel, about a busy wife, mother and chronic perfectionist who inadvertently discovers that her husband has been keeping a secret from her for years... A secret that leads her to realize that her life is built on a foundation of lies and murder! Now, as 'Variety' reports, she is also to star in A SIMPLE FAVOUR, based on a Darcey Bell novel, as a perfect mother with a dazzling career working for a famous fashion designer in Manhattan, who asks her friend Stephanie (to be played by Anna Kendrick), a widow with a son in kindergarten, lonely in their Connecticut suburb, and a mom blogger, to pick her son up from school, but Stephanie then suddenly discovers that her friend has disappeared without a trace, leaving her son and husband with no warning.
'THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK' MOVIE TRAILER
WITH CALLUM TURNER, PIERCE BROSNANAND KATE BECKINSALE
The first trailer has been released for a rather star studded drama THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK in which Callum Turner stars next to Jeff Bridges, Kate Beckinsale, Pierce Brosnan, Debi
Callum will play Eddie Redmayne's brother in new Fantastic Beasts
Mazar and Cynthia Nixon. The Marc Webb directed movie is out in cinemas around you this August.
DADDY'S GOT A NEW MISTRESS Always lovely War and Peace star Callum Turner stars as Thomas, a
recent college graduate adrift in the big city. When an eccentric new
neighbour (Jeff Bridges) moves into his building, the kid seeks his
The title of the movie is taken from a Paul Simon song
guidance on girl problems and more as his life is upended by the
mistress (Kate Beckinsale) of his father (Pierce Brosnan).
GETS FIRST POSTER WITH KATE WINSLET AND IDRIS ELBA
The movie hits cinemas this October
Just two new posters for you today, beginning with the first one for THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US which crashes into cinemas this November starring Kate Winslet, Idris Elba and Dermot Mulroney in the adaptation of a Charles Martin book.
The two of them play two strangers who, stranded after a tragic plane
crash, must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a
remote snow covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they
embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness,
pushing one another to endure and discovering strength they never knew
possible.
'HAMPSTEAD' POSTER
WITH DIANE KEATON, BRENDAN GLEESON AND JAMES NORTON
There's also the first poster for new comedy drama which is out this summer in European cinemas (currently playing in UK) HAMPSTEAD starring Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson with
Hampstead will be playing in European cinemas this summer
James Norton as her son. She plays an American widow who finds unexpected love with a man living wild on Hampstead Heath when they take on the developers who want to destroy his home.
