SISI EPIC TV SERIES STARTS SECOND SEASON SHOOT, SEE WHO WILL JOIN THE EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA AT THE COURT!SEE 1ST PICS OF SAM REID, JACOB ANDERSON IN INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE EPIC TV SERIES

  SISI EPIC TV SERIES   

SEASON 2 STARTS SHOOTING

After it scored a huge success in most of the European countries when it aired last Christmas, RTL's costume drama SISI has started shooting a

Dominique Devenport is back as Sisi

second season over at the Baltic with Dominique Devenport and Jannik Schümann back as empress Sisi and emperor Franz.

Although, the birth of their son and heir to the throne should bring them happiness, that happy moment is ruined by power struggles in Europe and it starts numerous private challenges for the couple. Otto von Bismarck threatens to drive Austria into a new war. Sisi tries with all her might to be there for her husband and her people. Although she loves Franz from the bottom of her heart and repeatedly proves her diplomatic flair, the empress does not seem to be granted personal happiness. Sisi's life remains that of a bird in a golden cage. When she has to travel to Hungary on a political mission, she encounters the untamed expanses of the

First look at Count Andrassy, Sisi and Franz in the second season

Panonnian steppe, the simple life of the people and a very handsome man: Count Andrássy. Torn between her husband and the rebel leader, Sisi eventually faces a difficult decision.

WHO IS BACK AT THE COURT? 

The six episodes of the second season will be produced from April to August 2022 in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. In addition to Dominique

Jannik Schumann is back as emperor Franz of Austria and Hungary

Devenport and Janik Schümann, Désirée Nosbusch as Archduchess Sophie, Giovanni Funiati also returns as Count Gyula Andrássy. New

Giovanni Funiati is starring as Hungarian Count Andrassy

additions include Murathan Muslu as Hungarian rebel leader Ödön Körtek, Romy Schroeder as Marie, the daughter of Sisi's maid Fanny, Amanda Da Gloria as Countess Emanuelle Andrássy and Bernd Hölscher as Otto von Bismarck!

 

 INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE 

AMC RELEASES FIRST PHOTOS

AMC Plus has released first official photos from their mini TV series adaptation of Anne Rice's vampire saga INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE showing our dearest boy Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt and Jacob Anderson as Louis. They are joined in the cast by Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy, and Bailey Bass as Claudia. As you know, the story follows an 18th century Lord, Louis, as he recounts his story and tumultuous relationship with his maker – Lestat – to an eager interviewer and biographer. After he was turned into a vampire by Lestat in 1790s in New Orleans, they developed alove-hate relationship over the centuries, eventually turning a young girl named Claudia (Bailey Bass) into a vampire and adding her to their brood. It is expected that the AMC Plus series will have seven episodes in the first season.

GET MESMERIZED BY PREHISTORIC PLANET IN APPLE'S NEW NATURAL HISTORY EVENT TV SERIES WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH! JASON MOMOA TO LEAD HAWAII HISTORICAL SERIES CHIEF OF WAR

  JASON MOMOA TO LEAD  

CHIEF OF WAR HAWAII SET HISTORICAL TV SERIES

Although his current gig in Apple's See epic fantasy series is a rather unwatchable and ghastly boring affair, the streamer will again cooperate with

Jason Momoa is acting, penning, producing

Jason Momoa in a new historical series set on Hawaii. CHIEF OF WAR, created by Momoa himself and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett, will be an eight episode mini series bringing the epic and unprecedented telling of the unification and colonization of Hawaii from an indigenous point of view. Endeavor Content and Chernin Entertainment are producing with the streamer already giving the series a full order. Momoa has never before penned anything else for television and also has the third season of See to be shot. As Deadline writes, Justin Chon is in negotiations to direct the first two episodes. 

 PREHISTORIC PLANET TRAILER 

FOR EPIC NEW NATURAL HISTORY EVENT SERIES FROM APPLE

Prehistoric Planet starts May 23rd on Apple

Speaking of Apple, check out the gorgeous trailer for their epic new natural history event series PREHISTORIC PLANET which will stream May 23rd! The week long event, with new episode being released during five consecutive nights will transport viewers 66 million years in the past to discover our world, including roaming dinosaurs and other inhabitants of ancient earth. The creative team behind the series boasts a list of prestigious names, with Sir David Attenborough as the main narrator and  multiple Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer composing the score! Check out a baby T-Rex in the trailer below:

 

OTTO BATHURST TURNING BERNARD CORNWELL'S THE WINTER KING INTO ARTHURIAN EPIC TV SERIES. DEADLINE THRILLER SERIES STARTS TONIGHT WITH JAMES D'ARCY, CHARLIE MURPHY. SEA OF TRANQUILITY SF SERIES AT HBO

 WARLORD CHRONICLES 

TO BECOME EPIC TV SERIES

If you are wondering what on Earth will we watch after The Last Kingdom, don't worry as new medieval fun is coming up soon. As Variety reports,

The series is done by Sony Television

WARLORD CHRONICLES from Bernard Cornwell will be adapted by Bad Wolf into a ten episode THE WINTER KING series. The series, which will begin shooting this year in UK, presents a revisionist take on the Arthurian legends, circling around Arthur Pendragon as he evolves from outcast son to legendary warrior and leader. The books are set in the 5th century, long before Britain was united, in a land of warring factions and tribes when the world was brutal and lives were often fleeting. Halo's Otto Bathurst is coproducing and directing as well. The series, originally announced at Epix, is envisioned as having more seasons. 

  SEA OF TRANQUILITY  

TO GET TV ADAPTATION 

Television adaptation also awaits Emily St. John Mandel's novel SEA OF TRANQUILITY, whose Station Eleven you are currently

The book is out on your spy's birthday

watching on HBO, also for HBO Max. Out April 12th, it is a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon three hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space. When Gaspery Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

 

  DEADLINE TV SERIES  

READY TO START TONIGHT

Starting from tonight, Tuesday April 5th, British Channel 5 will air their new thriller mini series DEADLINE in four consecutive nights. It follows elusive widow Natalie Varga (Charlie Murphy) who stands accused of murdering her husband in cold blood and the court of public opinion has already decided she’s guilty as charged. But Natalie is a difficult woman to get a handle on as she’s perfected the art of adapting to her surroundings. After surviving a traumatic childhood, Natalie studied at Cambridge University and having escaped her roots she’s become adept at switching from warm to aloof and from relatable to untouchable. James Aiden (James D’Arcy) is an investigative journalist with one serious black mark on his career copybook already. He’s now looking for redemption and decides to interview Natalie for his documentary. However he soon falls for the very femme fatale he’s supposed to be profiling and loses his grip on reality. Can James unravel fact from fiction or will his own feelings prove to be the barrier to the truth?

SEE STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS SF SERIES TRAILER WITH ANSON MOUNT, REBECCA ROMIJN! BBC SAS ROGUE HEROES TV SERIES TEASER IS HERE! VIKINGS: VALHALLA, HOTEL PORTOFINO, THE WITCHER UPDATES!

 STRANGE NEW WORLDS 

STAR TREK GETS A TRAILER

The series arrives May 5th to Paramount +

New STAR TREK series STRANGE NEW WORLDS has got a launch date of May 5th over at Paramount + and the first ultra spectacular trailer as well after that gorgeous teaser that I shown you a few weeks ago! It is interesting that the series has already been renewed for a second season. It will follow episodic adventures of the Enterprise’s original crew long before James T. Kirk was captain. Anson Mount, Rebecca Romjin, and Ethan Peck will be returning as Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock Celia Rose Gooding will play Uhura, Babs Olasanmokun will play Dr. M’Benga, and Jess Bush will play Christine Chapel; new characters on the bridge include Christina Chong as La'an

Anson Mount takes the lead role of captain Pike

Noonien-Singh, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas, and Bruce Horak as Hemmer. With other series in the franchise, Discovery and Picard proving a disappointment with the fans, the audience is having high hopes

New series will be episodic in nature

 for this one which will have episodic stories rather than having a seasonal plot. That is something that we haven't seen in 17 years ever since Enterprise finished.

 

 

  SHORT NEWS BULLETIN

In other short news today, VIKINGS: VALHALLA will start shooting season 3 in May with season 2 already shot before with the first one. HOTEL

Hotel Portofino has been sold to more than 55 countries so far

PORTOFINO series got a second season order after becoming a huge hit for Britbox, PBS and Foxtel. And the work on THE WITCHER season 3 has

First look at the Witcher season 3 snowy set

been announced with the first set photo. It will see Geralt and Yeneffer taking Ciri to Aretuza, where they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery.

 SAS: ROGUE HEROES 

BBC RELEASES FIRST TEASER

The series will arrive this Autumn, but BBC has already released a teaser for their new six part series SAS: ROGUE HEROES set in  Cairo, 1941. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) - an eccentric young officer, hospitalised after a training exercise went wrong - is bored. Convinced that traditional commando units don’t work, he creates a radical plan that flies in the face of all accepted rules of modern warfare. He fights for permission to recruit the toughest, boldest and brightest soldiers for a small undercover unit that will create mayhem behind enemy lines. More rebels than soldiers, Stirling’s team are every bit as complicated, flawed and reckless as they are astonishingly brave and heroic. Jack O'Connell, Alfie Allen, and Dominic West also star.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON THE NORTHMAN EPIC HISTORICAL REVENGE MOVIE WITH ALEXANDER SKARSGARD, NICOLE KIDMAN, ETHAN HAWKE, ANYA TAYLOR JOY, WILLEM DAFOE

 THE NORTHMAN EPIC MOVIE 

CONQUER YOUR FATE

If flawlessly shirtles Alexander God of Asgard, I mean, Skarsgard, in Tarzan a few years ago was not enough to sate your appetites, maybe him deliciously

The Northman arrives April 22nd

shirtless as a Viking will do the required task? His epic historical adventure THE NORTH MAN, directed and written by Robert Eggers (he did Willem Dafoe's Lighthouse before), will arrive into cinemas April 22nd bringing to us an action filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father's murder. I hear the movie is extremely brutal and gory, which probably shouldn't surprise us given it is about the bloodthirsty and violent Vikings. So it is not for the faint hearted, both for the

The movie cost about $60 million to make

violence and Alexander's abs. He even said that he probably wouldn't do another movie so bloody and that he does not know where to go next with his career after this brutal experience. Poet and writer Sjon from Iceland helped Eggers pen the script for this historical movie, and beside Alexander Skarsgard, the cast of the film also includes painfully bad Nicole Kidman as Queen Gudrun , Ethan Hawke as King Aurvandil, Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool, Anya Taylor Joy as Olga of the Birch Forest, Claes Bang as Fjölnir and Iceland's own weird singer Björk as the Slav Witch Seeress.

Alexander Skargard plays the lead role

 

THE NORTH MAN 

Set at the turn of the 10th century, in year 914 to be more precise,  in the cold country of Iceland, has the story which centres on a Viking named Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård), who witnesses the murder of his father, King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke), at the hands of his uncle, Fjolnir the Brotherless (Claes Bang). With his mother, Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) now captured, Amleth flees his native land, but not before declaring his revenge on those who have wronged him.

DID YOU KNOW?

The film, which cost about $60 million to make, was supposed to start production in the tragic month of March 2020 when Covid outbreak started. It is interesting that Skargard originally became famous for his role in True Blood series in which he played Eric Northman, a 10th century Viking who was turned into a Vampire. Meanwhile, Anya Taylor Joy already played in a Viking film before, in 2015's Viking Quest. Nicole Kidman who is just nine years older than Alexander in reality, plays his mother, she previously played in Big Little Lies his wife whom he abuses, to make things even more chaotic, she was raped in Dogville by his father Stellan Skarsgard! The film takes place in what constitutes modern Scotland, Ukraine and Iceland. 

HULU ORDERS A PERIOD SET TV SERIES ADAPTATION OF HISTORY OF A PLEASURE SEEKER! RUSS AND DAUGHTERS HISTORIC CULINARY SHOP TO GET ITS OWN PERIOD SET TV SAGA

 NEW HULU PERIOD SET SHOW 

HISTORY OF A PLEASURE SEEKER

Hulu has ordered a pilot for a TV series adaptation of Richard Mason's novel HISTORY OF A PLEASURE SEEKER. To be produced by Bridgerton's Julie

Mason will pen the scripts himself

Anne Robinson, it will be a musical drama set in Amsterdam in 1907 — a tale of a charismatic young man’s explosive adventures through all the temptations of the Belle Époque. Fremantle is among the producers of the story that follows Piet Barol, who has an instinctive appreciation for pleasure and a gift for finding it. When his mother dies, Piet applies for a job as tutor to the troubled son of Europe’s leading hotelier – a child who refuses to leave his family’s mansion on one of Amsterdam’s grandest canals. As Piet enters this glittering world, he learns its secrets and finds his life transformed. Super dashing Richard Mason will write the show himself.

 RUSS AND DAUGHTERS SERIES 

ON THE HISTORIC NY SHOP

Another period set saga will come to us from Time Studios who are developing a family saga on the famous RUSS AND DAUGHTERS culinary shop in New York examining its history and the family behind it. Russ &

The whole series will be a scripted family saga

Daughters is a historic shop opened by Joel Russ on New York’s Lower East Side in 1914. Today, it remains a culinary icon, famous for providing the highest quality, when it comes to smoked fish, caviar, bagels, bialys, babka and other Jewish delicacies. The original shop on East Houston Street is enshrined as a New York treasure and reflects four generations of the Russ family’s dedication to excellence, history and tradition. It is also the first known American business with “& Daughters” in its name. Spanning over a century, it all started as an immigrant story about pursuing a new life in America and grew into generations of family members with their trials and tribulations set against the backdrop of dozens of critical moments in the society.

UPDATES ON UPCOMING NEW EUROPEAN PERIOD SET SHOWS: 19TH CENTURY SET LIDIA POET AND BRIGANTI FROM ITALY, AND MOUNTAIN WILL BLOOM FROM FRANCE

  LIDIA POET TV SERIES  

1ST MATILDA DE ANGELIS PHOTO

I'm bringing you a very special treat today: updates on some of the European costume drama that we can expect in the future, beginning with the first

First look at Matilda de Angelis as Lidia Poet

photo of Leonardo's Matilda de Angelis in her new Netflix series LIDIA POET. It is from the set, so not of best quality but it gives you an idea of the costumes she will be wearing in it. Matilda, whom you remember from HBO's The Undoing series and Aidan Turner's Leonardo, leads this new Italian Netflix procedural series which reconstructs the true story of the Italian woman who in late 19th century Turin fought a legal battle to be allowed to practice as a lawyer after she was forbidden to do so by a court order. Then in 1883, after the legal battle, she became Italy’s first female lawyer. Romulus helmer Matteo Rovere is directing. Stay tuned for more info on the series as we get new updates.

  BRIGANTI TV SERIES  

SETS LEAD CAST AT NETFLIX

Another of the Italian period set series coming soon to Netflix, BRIGANTI, has set main cast. This action packed six episode series started shooting last month in Italy. It will follow the adventurous transformation of Filomena (Michela de Rossi), from an obedient wife to a ruthless

Michella de Rossi and Matilda Lutz take female leads

brigandess in mid 19th century: hunted and on the run, she seeks shelter in the woods where she meets a band of brigands ready for anything. Her determination and her cunning will save her life and she, joining them, decides to to give back to the south what had been stolen from them: Garibaldi’s gold. On this path she will meet two women, Michelina (Matilda

Marlon Joubert, Giulio Beranek and Gianmarco Vettori also star

Lutz) and Ciccilla (Ivana Lotito), sometimes allies, sometimes enemies, equally determined and unpredictable. Inspired by real characters, a modern, epic tale will also star  Marlon Joubert, Orlando Cinque, Gianmarco Vettori, Federico Ielapi, Giulio Beranek and Adriano Chiaramida. The series will stream on Netflix next year.

 AND MOUNTAIN WILL BLOOM 

1ST PICS FROM FRENCH SERIES

Up in France, we have first photos from France television's new mini series AND MOUNTAIN WILL BLOOM (Et la montagne fleurira), a six part saga based on Françoise Bourdon’s novel “Le Mas des Tilleuls,”! Set in 1837 in

Guillaume Arnault leads the cast of the new series

Provence, it follows a man, Jean Baptiste (Guillaume Arnault), who was banned from this childhood home by his father after being wrongfully accused of having abused his step mother, Seraphine (Hélène de Fougerolles).

The six part series will air on France Television

Jean Baptiste runs away to live with his aunt and eventually become a merchant of rare flowers and finds love with Lila. But his happiness is crushed when a revolt spreads across Provence, forcing him to reclaim rights over his family property and confronts wounds from his childhood.

SAIL INTO A MARITIME ADVENTURE WITH THE SEA BEAST NETFLIX ANIMATED MOVIE TRAILER WITH KARL URBAN, DAN STEVENS, JARED HARRIS!

  THE SEA BEAST TRAILER  

FOR NETFLIX ANIMATED MOVIE

Well, it certainly is gorgeous and it will sail onto Netflix July 8th, but before that you can check out the first trailer for THE SEA BEAST animated adventure movie. Karl Urban, Dan Stevens and Jared Harris feature in the voice cast. Lovely Academy Award winner Chris Williams is directing this beautiful feature movie.

THE SEA BEAST IS SET

 in an era when terrifying beasts roamed the seas, and monster hunters were celebrated heroes, with none being more beloved than the great Jacob Holland. But when young Maisie Brumble stows away on his fabled ship, he’s saddled with an unexpected ally. Together, they embark on an epic journey into uncharted waters and make history. THE SEA BEAST takes us to where the map ends, and the true adventure begins. If I remember well, the movie was originally supposed to be just about Karl Urban's Jacob, but then the character of little black girl was forced into the story for the sake of wokeness. 

DID COLIN FIRTH THROW TONI COLLETTE OFF THE STAIRCASE IN NEW HBO SERIES TRAILER? HBO SETS HOUSE OF THE DRAGON EPIC TV SERIES FOR LATE AUGUST!

 HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 

ARRIVES END OF AUGUST

In case you were wondering what shall we watch when the new season starts, it seems we will watch the clash of elves and dragons as HBO has just

The series will also air on Sky and Foxtel

announced that they have set August 21st as the starting date for their Game of Thrones prequel HOUSE OF THE DRAGON which is just ten days ahead of Amazon's launch of their Rings of Power epic series. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, which is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen. Paddy Considine leads the cast as King Viserys Targaryen Viserys, who was chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but as we’ve learned from Game of Thrones, good men do not necessarily make for great kings. Matt Smith is Prince Daemon Targaryen, the younger brother to King

Olivia Cooke is Alicent Hightower

Viserys and heir to the throne. A peerless warrior and a dragonrider, Daemon possesses the true blood of the dragon. But it is said that whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air… Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) is the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the

Fabien Frankel is Ser Crinston Cole

most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms. She was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace and a keen political acumen. Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is the king’s first-born child. She is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a

Rhys Ifans is Otto Hightower

dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man. Lord Corlys Velaryon, “The Sea Snake” (Steve Toussaint) is the lord of House Velaryon, a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. As “The Sea Snake,” the most famed nautical adventurer in

Steve Toussaint and Eve Best as Corlys and Rhaenys

the history of Westeros, Lord Corlys built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world. Princess Rhaenys Velaryon (Eve Best) is a dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, "The Queen Who Never Was" was passed over as heir to the

Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans as the Hightowers

throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male. Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), of Dornish descent, is the common-born son of the steward to the Lord of Blackhaven. He has no claim to land or titles; all he has to his name is his honor and his

Matt Smith is prince Daemon Targaryen

preternatural skill with a sword. Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) came to Westeros with nothing, sold more times than she can recall, and she could have wilted... but instead she rose to become the most trusted - and most unlikely - ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne. Otto

Emma Darcy is Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen

Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is the Hand of the King, who loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king's brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne.

 

   THE STAIRCASE TRAILER  

AIR DATE SET FOR MAY

HBO has released a trailer for their eight episode series THE STAIRCASE starting May 5th with three opening episodes! Starring Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche, Dane

Michael was convicted in 2003 and served till 2017 when his sentence was reduced

DeHaan, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tim Guinee, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Parker Posey, it is  based on a true story and explores the life of Michael Peterson (Firth), his sprawling North Carolina family, and the very suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson (Collette). 

CHECK OUT THE TRAILER AND POSTERS FOR NOTRE DAME ON FIRE FRENCH TRUE STORY MOVIE ON THE 2019 INFAMOUS NIGHT WHEN THE CATHEDRAL WAS BURNING

  NOTRE DAME ON FIRE  

TRAILER & POSTERS ARE HERE

Still appalled by the latest despicable happenings in Hollywood and the lack of very strict condemnation of the said events, we are staying away from that vomit

The movie was out in France this March

inducing mess and moving over to France, where earlier this month they had the premiere of NOTRE DAME ON FIRE (Notre Dame brûle) true life drama coming from one of our favourite French directors ever Jean Jacques Annaud (Enemy at the Gates, The Name of the Rose, Wolf Totem, Seven Years in Tibet, Day of the Falcon ) who usually shoots a film only every four or five years so this was his latest offer to the cinema goers. The film, starring Samuel Labarthe, Jean Paul Bordes and others, brings to us the story from the inside the Notre-Dame de Paris infamous fire of April 2019.

 

  NOTRE DAME ON FIRE

 is an immersive narrative with firefighters at the heart of the action. It offers a blow-by-blow recreation of the gripping events that took place on April 15,

Jean Jacques Annaud directed the movie

2019, when the cathedral suffered the biggest blaze in its history. The film retraces how heroic men and women put their lives on the line to accomplish an awe inspiring rescue. It puts you in the center of the action for a cinematic experience never seen before. It recreates the April 15 fire using archive footage taken that fateful night together with images no one was able to film as the tragedy unfolded, shot in huge sets rebuilt in replica.The narrative focuses on the 24 hours ending at sunrise on April 16. It retraces the challenge emergency services faced due to a delay in sounding the alert, as well as the struggle to get personnel and equipment through Paris rush hour traffic and the throngs of onlookers. It continues with the firefighters’ perilous combat against a monster fire, over which, by the end of the night, expertise and bravery won out.