STARZ ORDERS SPARTACUS EPIC TV SERIES SEQUEL! TRAILER AND AIR DATE FOR MEGA EXPENSIVE HIGH END PANEUROPEAN SF SERIES THE SWARM!

  SPARTACUS SEQUEL  

IN WORKS OVER AT STARZ

After two flops last year with Becoming Elizabeth and Dangerous Liaisons, it seems Starz is returning to their old, already proven hits by ordering a sequel series to their legendary SPARTACUS from Steven S. DeKnight! The next chapter will explore uncharted territory and new journeys of the original series’ iconic characters. In the aftermath of the defeat of Spartacus and his rebel army in the series finale, the new drama will depict a new tale of treachery, deceit, and blood unfolding beneath the foreboding shadow of Rome.  

   THE SWARM TRAILER  

FOR NEW GERMAN SERIES

The Swarm arrives this March in Europe

Last summer I showed you the first trailer for German ZDF high end ambitious sf series THE SWARM which our dear Beta Film is distributing around the world, and now we have a new trailer and March 6th air date. Nordic, Italian, Austrian, Swiss and French broadcasters will also take part in this European coproduction which will also stream on Hulu for American audience and will first premiere at Berlinale. The eight part series is an adaption of Frank Schätzing’s novel that has been translated into 25 languages and has Game of Thrones' Frank Doelger as the

It will premiere at Berlinale later this month

executive producer. 

 

  THE GLOBAL 

 environmental thriller is set in the present day, where anomalies and unnatural behavior in marine animals are causing upheaval all over the world. Mysterious events from the depths of the oceans are piling up all over the world: whales are destroying boats, deep-sea crabs are attacking beaches, and mussels are paralyzing container ships.  A previously unknown ice worm is destabilizing continental slopes in the oceans and triggering tsunamis, and a deadly pathogen is spreading in drinking water from the coasts. More and more people in the world are in mortal danger. THE SWARM follows a global group of scientists who come together to tackle one of the biggest challenges mankind has ever faced and go on a life-threatening mission on their own. The traces lead them with their research ship into the eternal ice. They make the chilling discovery that deep at the bottom of the sea resides a collective intelligence which has suffered the ravages of civilization on its habitat - and decided to fight back.

 WHO IS IN THE TEAM?

Leonie Benesch plays the marine biology student Charlie Wagner, who collects ocean current data for her professor Katherina Lehmann (Barbara Sukowa) on the Shetland Islands. Alexander Karim plays Sigur Johanson, who is asked by a Norwegian oil company for a biological report and discovers the dangerous ice worm alongside Tina Lund (Krista Kosonen). While French molecular biologist Cecile Roche (Cecile de France) struggles with a deadly bacterium in drinking water, Canadian whale researcher Leon Anawak (Joshua Odjick) tries to explain the whales' unusually dangerous behavior. The international research team also has data analyst Alicia Delaware (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers), space researcher Samantha Crowe (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) as well as the student Amir (Eidin Jalali) and the Japanese philanthropist Mifune (Takuya Kimura). Alban (Oliver Masucci), captain of the technically sophisticated research ship Thorvaldson, and the diving robotics expert Roscovitz (Klaas Heufer-Umlauf) embark on a daring mission into the eternal ice with the scientists. Our boy Jack Greenlees also stars. In USA the series will air on CW probably in late 2023.

ANTHONY HOPKINS' THOSE ABOUT TO DIE ANCIENT ROMAN SERIES ADS TOM HUGHES AS HIS IMPERIAL SON! ANTHONY HOPKINS, GLEN POWELL TO LEAD LOCKED ACTION THRILLER! 1ST TRANSATLANTIC NETFLIX WW2 SERIES PHOTOS ARE HERE!

  THOSE ABOUT TO DIE  

EPIC SERIES ADS CAST

After putting Anthony Hopkins on the throne as Roman emperor Vespasian, THOSE ABOUT TO DIE epic series from Peacock and Roland Emmerich, has just added more cast: in the series set in the complex and corrupt world of ancient Rome’s spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition and following an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire.

Tom Hughes and Lorenzo Richelmy

Tom Hughes will play Titus Flavianus, the elder son of Vespasian and apparent heir to the Imperial throne, while Jojo Macari will be younger son Domitian. Lorenzo Richelmy will play ambitious crime boss Tenax. Sara Martins will play ruthless trader Cala, Moe Hashim is her son Kwame, Gabriella Pession is politician and ruthless patrician Antonia, and Dimitri Leonidas will portray Scorpus, the preeminent charioteer of the age. 

  LOCKED ACTION THRILLER  

GLEN POWELL TO STAR NEXT TO ANTHONY HOPKINS!

Well, that is a nice cast: the blond hunkgod we bow to, Glen Powell will star together with Anthony Hopkins in action thriller LOCKED. A remake of an Argentinian movie, it is an intense, character-driven thriller about a thief who breaks into a luxury SUV, only to realize that he’s stumbled into a complex and deadly trap set by a mysterious figure!

 FIRST TRANSATLANTIC PHOTOS 

FROM NETFLIX WW2 SERIES

I have first photo from Netflix World War 2 series which will be presented next month at SeriesMania! TRANSATLANTIC is set in 1940! Varian Fry traveled to Marseille carrying three thousand dollars and a list of imperiled artists and writers he hoped to help escape within a few weeks. Instead, he stayed more than a year, working to procure false documents, amass emergency funds, and arrange journeys across Spain and Portugal, where the refugees would embark for safer ports. The race against time to save them is a tale of forbidden love, high-stakes adventure, and unimaginable courage. Cory Michael Smith and Corey Stoll lead the cast of the series which should start streaming April 7th at Netflix.

1ST IMAGES FROM IMPERIAL VACCINATION 18TH CENTURY CATHERINE THE GREAT HISTORICAL TV SERIES! SEE HALEY BENNETT AS THE GRANDE DAME OF CHAMPAGNE IN CLICQUOT 19TH CENTURY DRAMA

  FIRST HALEY BENNETT  

PHOTO FROM CLICQUOT MOVIE

First image of Haley Bennett from historical 19th century movie CLICQUOT has been released. She plays Barbe Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, also known as the Grande Dame of Champagne. This real-life historic figure defied convention to take over her late husband’s fledgling wine business in Reims in 1805 after being widowed at the age of 27.  Leo Suter, Tom Sturridge, Anson Boon and Sam Riley also star.

  IMPERIAL VACCINATION 

NEW HISTORICAL SERIES

In our spotlight on all the epic shows we can expect this year, your trusted spy has mentioned new Russian drama IMPERIAL VACCINATION (Царская прививка) and since they have officially finished shooting it over in mother Russian last month, I thought I could give you the first lavish images from it. Helmed by Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes director Yegor Anashkin, the series will air probably at the end of the year on Russia 1 national broadcaster and on their media platform Smotrim. The role of Empress Catherine II has been given to Irina Pegova, with Philip Yankovsky, Sergey Marin, Svetlana Smirnova-Katsagadzhieva, Yuri Kuznetsov, Marco Dinelli, Polina Rezaeva, Anton Denisenko, Maria Paley, Alexei Vedernikov also in the cast.

  IMPERIAL VACCINATION
is a fascinating story about how, for the first time in the history of Russia, mass vaccination was carried out, saving tens of thousands of lives. In 1768, at the height of the most severe smallpox epidemic that killed every tenth inhabitant of the country, Empress Catherine II decides to set a personal example for her subjects: together with her heir, Tsarevich Pavel, she is the first to be vaccinated against a terrible disease and declares vaccination mandatory for everyone - despite the court orders. intrigue, peasant riots and the impending war with Turkey, this decree must be carried out at all costs, otherwise the deadly virus will claim even more lives. Stay tuned as I will try to give you other fresh images from the series and the first trailer as soon as they arrive!

ALL THE NEW MULTICAMERA SITCOMS TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE WITH PATRICIA HEATON, DAMON WAYANS, JON CRYER, DONALD FAISON AND OTHERS! SEE VINCENT CASSEL, EVA GREEN IN LIAISON SERIES TRAILER

  NEW MULTICAM SITCOMS  

TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE

Multicamera sitcoms are kinda experiencing a revival of the genre with the success of Night Court at NBC which already has second season ordered, and beside the revival of Frasier at Paramount, there are some

Patricia Heaton has a new sitcom

others currently in preparation. After Carol's Second Act Patricia Heaton is currently working on a new sitcom at Fox in which she will play the host of an upscale lifestyle show, sent to prison for embezzlement and tax evasion. She gets out after two years, forgotten and broke, and moves to Tennessee to live with her estranged sister. Netflix has renewed That 90s Show for a second season. CBS has a Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. comedy about a talk radio host and happily divorced “Poppa”, who has to drag his grown son, who has all his charm and none of his drive, kicking and screaming into adulthood before he turns 40. That one is from Tim Allen's Last Man Standing executive producer, and, speaking of Allen, as Deadline reports, he is apparently looking for a new family sitcom after he finishes Santa Clauses at Disney. CBS also has in works THEY'RE WITH ME, about two soulmates whose souls come with so much baggage — each has a messed-up 20-something kid and a dependent parent. They also have THE HILSONS black multicam about mother who suddenly has to live again with her two grown up sons. ABC has a sitcom with Ty Burrell,

Donald Faison, Abigail Spencer, Jon Cryer in a new sitcom

FORGIVE AND FORGET, about a man whose life-of-the-party father is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he is forced to take in the one man he’s worked his whole life not to become. I've told you before that NBC has a sitcom with Jon Cryer, whose ex wife Abigail Spencer starts a relationship with Donald Faison as the owner of his favourite sports team!

 LIAISON SERIES TRAILER 

STARRING VINCENT CASSEL

The series streams February 24th

Apple TV Plus has released a trailer for their new six part series LIAISON which arrives February 24th starring Vincent Cassel and Eva Green as two agents and former lovers who must work together to combat international cyber attacks threatening Britain while also confronting the buried secrets of their destructive relationship. It is a contemporary thriller that explores how the mistakes of our past have the potential to destroy our future. It combines high-octane action with an unpredictable plot full of espionage and political intrigue, with a passionate and enduring love story playing out alongside it.

SEE WONDERFULLY HEARTWARMING TRAILER FOR MY HAPPY ENDING DRAMA WITH ANDIE MACDOWELL, TOM CULLEN, MIRIAM MARGOLYES, DAVID WALLIAMS!

  MY HAPPY ENDING TRAILER  

MAKE EVERY MOMENT COUNT

Our first trailer of the week comes from new February 24th drama movie MY HAPPY ENDING which features a rather strong cast led by Andie MacDowell,

The movie arrives end of February

our queen Miriam Margolyes, Tom Cullen, David Walliams, Tamsin Greig! 

 

  Julia Roth (MacDowell), a somewhat forgotten Hollywood star, discovers she has cancer the day the West End play that was supposed to be her comeback is cancelled - Not fully understanding the magnitude of this discovery, she decides to go to a chemo clinic in Kent, seeking obscurity and privacy, and get it "taken care of" before returning to the US with her tail between her legs. To her horror, having mistaken what the doctor meant by 'private' she finds herself stuck within a general ward with members of the public, three very different women (an aging rocker, a 28-year-old Muslim mother of four, and a forever single retired schoolteacher who doesn't even have a cat), undergoing their usual round of treatment. She calls her manager Nancy to come in and "Fix it", which she promptly does. But as the group let her in on some of the realities she has to look forward to, she realises these strangers are the only ones who can really help her deal with the most difficult role she has ever played - herself.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON THE GOLD MINI SERIES WHICH STARTS NEXT WEEK ON BBC WITH HUGH BONNEVILLE, JACK LOWDEN, TOM CULLEN, DOMINIC COOPER

 THE GOLD BBC DRAMA 

WITH JACK LOWDEN, HUGH BONEVILLE, DOMINIC COOPER 

BBC has released trailer from their upcoming new drama series THE GOLD starring Hugh Bonneville, Jack Lowden, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Spencer, Tom Cullen, Emun Elliott, and Stefanie Martini! The series will start February 12th on BBC One and will later air on Paramount Plus too for viewers in North America!

 

ON THE 26th NOVEMBER 1983

six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport, and inadvertently stumbled across gold bullion worth £26m. What started as 'a typical Old Kent Road armed robbery' according to detectives at the time, became a seminal event in British criminal history, remarkable not only for the scale of the theft - at the time the biggest in global history - but for its wider legacy. The disposal of the bullion caused the birth of large-scale international money laundering, provided the dirty money that helped fuel the London Docklands property boom, united blue and white collar criminals and left controversy and murder in its wake.

WHO IS IN FOR SOME GOLD?

Jack Lowden plays south London/Kent criminal Kenneth Noye who was involved in helping the robbers with the disposal of the gold bullion. Hugh Bonneville is Brian Boyce the top Met detective who heads up the investigation by speical request of his superiors. Dominic Cooper is dodgy solicitor/businessman also caught up in schemes to hide and invest the money raised by the stolen bullion. Charlotte Spencer is eager young detective Nicki Jennings who helps on the investigating team. Tom Cullen plays criminal John Palmer while Emun Elliott stars as Met detective Tony Brightwell. Daniel Ings, Adam Nagaitis, Sam Spruell, are also in the cast!

 

HEARTWARMING TRAILER FOR THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY WITH JIM BROADBENT, PENELOPE WILTON! TONI COLLETTE TO LEAD REVENGE THRILLER THE PRIMA DONNA

   TONI COLLETTE  

IS THE PRIMA DONNA 

One of the new projects that will be shopped at European Film Market this year is THE PRIMA DONNA with Toni Collette in the lead role. Nathan

Toni Collette will take the lead role

Silver's revenge thriller revolves around dysfunctional family dynamics, the dangers of ambition, and the lengths we will go to make our mark on the world. Set in contemporary Rome, Collette will play a legendary opera diva who is about to step into the role of a lifetime just as her estranged daughter (Odessa Young) shows up at her doorstep, right out of rehab. An aspiring opera singer herself, the daughter summons up the courage to ask to be her mother’s understudy. When her mother callously dismisses the suggestion, she snaps and starts mulling the ultimate revenge, igniting a cut-throat battle of wills.

  JIM BROADBENT TRAILER  

FOR THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY MOVIE

And here is a rather exclusive first trailer for THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY in which Jim Broadbent is an ordinary man who has passed through life, living on the side lines, until he goes to post a letter one day… and just keeps walking. Fry embarks on a 450-mile walk across the UK in the simple belief that his journey will save the life

The movie should hit the cinemas late this April

of his old friend who is dying in a hospice. Step by step, a spark is ignited in Harold’s hibernating soul as he rediscovers the majesty of the world, reflects on his mistakes, and finally gains the strength to face the unspoken grief that has driven him and his wife, Maureen (Penelope Wilton), apart. The walk becomes a pilgrimage that inspires people far and wide but, more importantly, transforms Harold into a man who embraces the value of friendship, humility, self-forgiveness, and kindness.

 

DEREK JACOBI, JASON ISAACS, RUPERT EVERETT, RUPERT GRAVES CAST IN VERONA, ROMEO & JULIET POP MUSICAL! NIKOLAJ COSTER WALDAU, ROMOLA GARAI TO LEAD 14TH CENTURY SET THRILLER MOVIE VIRTUE! 1ST KATE WINSLET PHOTO FROM HBO'S THE PALACE MINI SERIES

  ROMEO AND JULIET MUSICAL 

ADS DEREK JACOBI, JASON ISAACS, RUPERT EVERETT

Well, it is certainly quite a cast: as Deadline reports, Derek Jacobi, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Everett, Rupert Graves, have joined Clara Rugaard, Jamie Ward, Rebel Wilson, in VERONA, Timothy Scott Bogart’s pop Romeo & Juliet musical, the the first film in an original pop musical trilogy based around the real-life 1301 story that inspired Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A wide theatrical releaser this Christmas is being planned. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Dan Fogler are also starring in the film shooting in multiple castles across Italy.

 VIRTUE GOTHIC THRILLER 

CASTS ROMOLA GARAI AND NIKOLAJ COSTER WALDAU

Joanna Coates has found leads for her new Gothic thriller movie VIRTUE in Nikolaj Coster Waldau and Romola Garai. Set in England in 1350, it will see him play heroic knight St. Peter who returns from war with his son to discover a plague-ravaged homeland riven by social unrest, superstition and fear. After preventing a woman from being burned to death on the superstition of being a witch, he attempts to re-establish his reputation by embarking on a quest to find a female villager who has vanished into the local forest, believed to be haunted by locals. But when he and his men track down the woman and her “possessed” daughters, events take an unexpected turn, and it becomes clear they do not want to be rescued. 

 FIRST KATE WINSLET PHOTO 

FROM THE PALACE TV SERIES

HBO has given us a first look at Kate Winslet in their new mini series THE PALACE which tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. Shooting currently in Europe, it has a cast that also includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, controversial Oscar cheat Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton and Hugh Grant.

HENRY GOLDING, ALEX PETTYFER, CARY ELWES, TIL SCHWEIGER JOIN HENRY CAVILL'S MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE! SEE A MAGICAL WORLD IN TRAILER FOR MOVIE ADAPTATION OF MOZART'S MAGIC FLUTE! SEE MUNCH MOVIE TRAILER ON THE SCREAM PAINTER!

  HENRY CAVILL'S NEW FILM 

ADS HENRY GOLDING, ALEX PETTYFER, TIL SCHWEIGER

As if having Henry Cavill in the lead role wasn't enough of a hunk factor for Guy Richie's THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE, they have now added a bunch of new major hunks: Alex Pettyfer, Til Schweiger, Cary Elwes, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Alan Ritchson and Henry Zaga. The true story covers Winston Churchill’s and Ian Fleming’s secret WWII combat organization. The clandestine squad’s unconventional and ‘ungentlemanly’ fighting techniques against the Nazis helped change the course of the war and gave birth to the modern Black Ops unit. 

 THE MAGIC FLUTE TRAILER 

NEW MOZART ADAPTATION

The movie should arrive this March

I've announced this one years ago, but it seems that this European production, executive produced by Roland Emmerich is finally arriving to cinemas near you this year and we have a rather fun first trailer to prove it: the movie adaptation of Mozart's famous opera THE MAGIC FLUTE should play its way into theatres this March directed by Florian Sigl. 

 

  This captivating film follows a teen on two journeys: one into a prestigious boarding school to fulfill his aspirations as a singer, and another into a parallel world filled with fantasy and adventure. Tim (Jack Wolfe) has

Roland Emmerich produces

been dreaming his whole life about attending Mozart All Boys Music School, but already his first days there confront him with a hostile headmaster (F. Murray Abraham), the stresses of a first love, and serious doubts about the authenticity of his singing voice. When he discovers a mystical gateway in the school's library, he is pulled into the fantastic cosmos of Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute, where imagination has no limits and the Queen of the Night (Sabine Devieilhe) reigns. Iwan Rheon plays famous Papageno, with Jeanne Goursaud from Barbarians epic TV series also in the cast. Check out the lovely new trailer below and tell us what you think:

 VIAPLAY'S MUNCH MOVIE 

ON THE SCREAM PAINTER

Nordic streamer Viaplay which is now available in UK as well, has released MUNCH movie on the famous painter Edvard Munch and his The

Munch is out in European cinemas

Scream painting. Out from January 27th in cinemas and two months later on the streamer, the film sees him depicted across four stages in his life by a quartet of Norwegian actors Alfred Ekker Strande, Mattis Herman Nyquist, Ola G. Furuseth and Anne Krigsvoll. The film opens with the story of Munch’s first love, before showing the controversy around one of his early exhibitions. Munch’s admission to a psychiatric clinic will also be covered, where he is forced to make the biggest decision of his life, before the film relates the artist’s battle to save his works from the Nazis during World War II as death draws near. 

SEE PAUL GIBSON, SAM NEILL, MIRANDA OTTO, CHRISTOPH WALTZ IN PORTABLE DOOR MAGICAL MOVIE TRAILER! SEE RUFUS SEWELL, OLIVIA WILLIAMS IN TROUBLE WITH JESSICA BLACK COMEDY TRAILER

   SEE RUFUS SEWELL IN  

THE TROUBLE WITH JESSICA FIRST MOVIE TRAILER

Two trailers for you today, starting with black comedy movie THE TROUBLE WITH JESSICA which will be offered to buyers at Berlin. Successful professional London couple Sarah (Shirley Henderson) and Tom are in deep financial trouble. Their situation takes a terrifying nosedive with the shocking behavior of uninvited dinner guest, Jessica (Indira Varma). Faced with the moral dilemma of their lives - and dragging their best friends Richard (Rufus Sewell) and Beth (Olivia Williams) with them - they make a series of choices that could either be their salvation or destruction. In short: the two couples find themselves having to move a dead body to ensure their imminent house sale doesn’t collapse.

 

 THE PORTABLE DOOR TRAILER 

FOR NEW SKY ORIGINAL MOVIE

Coming freshly from Sky today is first trailer for their fantasy movie THE PORTABLE DOOR which is out in cinemas in March and on Sky Cinema April 7th!  It follows Paul Carpenter (Patrick Gibson) and Sophie Pettingel (Sophie Wilde), the lowly, put-upon interns who begin working at the mysterious London firm J.W. Wells & Co. They become steadily aware that their employers are anything but conventional. Charismatic villains Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz), the CEO of the company, and middle manager Dennis Tanner (Sam Neill) are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices, and Paul and Sophie discover the true agenda of the vast corporation where they work. Miranda Otto also stars.