SF FRIDAY: 1ST QUEEN MERA PHOTOS FROM 'AQUAMAN'! NETFLIX TO TURN 'THE WITCHER' INTO SERIES, TO PRODUCE 'DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE' SERIES, 'HELLO AMERICA' SF MOVIE WITH RIDLEY SCOTT

'AQUAMAN' PHOTOS OF

 AMBER HEARD AS QUEEN MERA

Tons of sf and fantasy news today, starting with the ones coming from DC who have revealed new photos of Amber Heard as the female lead in AQUAMAN movie in which she plays the royal wife of Jason Momoa's title character, Mera the Queen of Atlantis! She is the exiled queen of Xebel who made a union with the water ruling superhero. Dolph Lundgren plays the king of Xebel, with Patrick Wilson asAQUAMAN's evil brother Ocean Master Orm and Nicole Kidman as their mother Atlanna, the queen mother of Atlantis. The movie does not arrive until December 2018!

NETFLIX NEW SF PROJECTS

'WITCHER' SF SERIES
I've announced this before, but now Netflix has officially revealed their work on a fantasy series based on eight part fantasy novel saga THE WITCHER from Andrzej Sapkowski! Translated in more than 20 countries around the world and turned into a popular video game as well, it follows “witchers” – hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle deadly monsters. The Mummy and The Expanse producers are working on this one!

'HELLO AMERICA' SF MOVIE
Beside The Witcher, Netflix has also bought rights on JG Ballard's sf novel HELLO AMERICA and will produce it into a movie with Ridley Scott! The novel takes place a century after America’s financial collapse and abandonment by its people, when a group of pioneers return to the ruins of the “New World” on a voyage of rediscovery. The journey through a ravaged wasteland brings hazards at every turn to the crew, culminating in a showdown with a charismatic leader who plans to unleash his nuclear arsenal against anyone who threatens his power perch.

'DARK CRYSTAL' PREQUEL SERIES
Netflix is also working on a prequel series to Jim Henson's THE DARK CRYSTAL titled AGE OF RESISTANCE. The 10 episode fantasy adventure series will combine puppetry with visual effects and an ensemble of fantastical, state-of-the-art creatures created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop! The original was set on another planet in the past following a Gelfling on a quest to find a missing piece of a powerful gem in order to restore balance to his world. This one sees three Gelflings discover the terrifying secret behind its power and set off on an epic journey to start a rebellion and save their world.

RICHARD MADDEN, HOLLIDAY GRAINGER JOIN 'ELECTRIC DREAMS' SF SERIES! MARTIN COMPSTON AND OTHERS JOIN 'VICTORIA' EPIC SERIES 2ND SEASON! IAN MCKELLEN, GABRIEL BYRNE IN 'HAMLET REVENANT' MOVIE ADAPTATION

'ELECTRIC DREAMS' SF SERIES

RICHARD MADDEN AND HOLLIDAY GRAINGER JOIN THE CAST

Rejoice, people! Two of our most favourite youngsters Richard Madden and Holliday Grainger will work together again and I think it will be their fifth time! They will star in The Hood Maker episode of ELECTRIC DREAMS anthology series in which each of the ten episodes will be done by a different director and cast adapting one of the stories from Philip K. Dick's sf opus. As I've informed you before some of the other episodes of the Channel 4 and Amazon series will star Timothy Spall, Greg Kinnear, Jack Reynor, Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston!

THE HOOD MAKER is set in a world without advanced technology where mutant telepaths have become humanity's only mechanism for long distance communication. Their powers have unintended implications and when the public begins to embrace mysterious telepath blocking hoods, two detectives with an entangled past are brought in to investigate.

'VICTORIA' SECOND SEASON

LATEST CASTING ADDITIONS!

In television news, still staying over in Britain, the second season of the hugely popular ITV series VICTORIA set to come back this Autumn with eight episodes plus a two hour Christmas special, has just added Martin Compston, Bruno Wolkowitch,  Emerald Fennell, Jo Stone-Fewings, Leo Suter and Michael Maloney to the cast with previously announced Diana Rigg! They will all join the second season which sees the Queen (Jenna Coleman) facing motherhood. She is now a working mother, trying to balance her responsibilities but with Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) still struggling to find a role for himself, there is an inevitable power struggle between husband and wife.

Martin Compston will be playing Dr Robert Traill, a key campaigner in the petition to gain awareness and support for those suffering from the potato famine in Ireland during the 1840s. French actor Bruno Wolkowitch will star as French King Louis Philippe, who Queen Victoria visits on her first outing to France. Nigel Lindsay returns as Sir Robert Peel, Alex Jennings as King Leopold, Peter Bowles as Duke of Wellington, David Oakes as Prince Ernest, Daniela Holtz as Baroness Lehzen and Catherine Flemming as the Duchess of Kent.

'HAMLET REVENANT'

CASTS SIR IAN MCKELLEN!

Brits in our last piece of news today as well: as 'Deadline' reports acting legend Ian McKellen and Gabriel Byrne will star in HAMLET REVENANT the latest big screen adaptation of Shakespeare's famous plays on the tragic Danish prince. Connie Nielsen and Lambert Wilson will also join them in the Ken McMullen directed film together with Medici star Lex Shrapnel!

HAMLET REVENANT follows a character caught amidst treasonous political upheavals, family crisis, sexual tensions and ambiguous friendships: a vortex of revenge, doubt and madness out of which no main character escapes. It brings to the surface the violence and destructive instincts that haunt the human psyche!

1ST 'GREATEST SHOWMAN' MOVIE MUSICAL PICS WITH HUGH JACKMAN, ZAC EFRON, MICHELLE WILLIAMS! 'ALIENIST' PERIOD SET SERIES TRAILER WITH LUKE EVANS! 1ST 'STAR TREK DISCOVERY' PHOTO

'THE GREATEST SHOWMAN'

1ST HUGH JACKMAN PHOTOS

Photo exclusives today, people! 'Entertainment Weekly' has revealed the first photos from Hugh Jackman's new movie THE GREATEST SHOWMAN an original musical movie on P.T. Barnum, the founder of a modern circus. With Michelle Williams playing his wife the colourful film will bring glitz to the big screens next Christmas! Zac Efron plays his business partner with Rebecca Ferguson also in the cast. Even though the story is set in the middle of the 19th century, it will be filled with dance numbers and pop sounding hits.

THE FATHER OF MODERN CIRCUS  
The story of P.T Barnum, a visionary who rose from nothing to create a mesmerizing spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. Directed by Michael Gracey, it will track Barnum's rise from poverty-stricken childhood to the launch of his first circus in New York.

'STAR TREK: DISCOVERY'

 TRAILER & PHOTO RELEASED

In the television department, CBS has revealed the first image from their new STAR TREK: DISCOVERY series showing Michelle Yeoh, playing a captain of a starship, and lead star Sonequa Martin Green who plays a commander of the Discovery helmed by Jason Isaacs. Set before the original series, the series will air sometime later this year. Maybe.

'THE ALIENIST' SERIES TRAILER

 LUKE EVANS & DANIEL BRUHL

TNT has, meanwhile, released the first trailer for their period set series THE ALIENIST  based on the novel by Caleb Carr. The psychological thriller drama is set in 1896, when a series of gruesome murders of boy prostitutes has gripped the city. Newly appointed top cop Teddy Roosevelt calls upon Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Bruhl), a criminal psychologist, aka alienist, and newspaper illustrator John Moore (Luke Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret. Joining them in the probe is Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning), a headstrong secretary at Police Headquarters.

BRITISH BOYS DAY: COLIN FIRTH TO STAR IN WW2 DRAMA 'BENJAMIN'S CROSSING', KENNETH BRANAGH IN 'KEEPER OF THE DIARY' AS OTTO FRANK, RAFE SPALL IN 'DENMARK' COMEDY

COLIN FIRTH TO STAR

IN WW2 'BENJAMIN'S CROSSING'

Ladies, rejoice! It's the British Boys day today here! First stop Firthville! As 'Deadline' reports Colin Firth will star in BENJAMIN'S CROSSING period set drama about a man who crossed the Pyrenees Mountains running away from the Nazis!

Based on Jay Parini novel (his other novel The Last Station on Tolstoy has already been adapted), it is a  a true story set in 1940 when Jewish philosopher Benjamin finds himself forced to flee his home in Paris on the heels of the Nazi invasion. With nowhere else to turn, he meets Lisa Fittko, who is helping refugees escape to Spain through the Pyrenees. Despite his weak physical condition, Lisa reluctantly agrees to bring him along, leading an unlikely group of refugees on a daring adventure that will change their lives forever.

KENNETH BRANAGH IS OTTO

FRANK 'KEEPER OF THE DIARY'

Just a week ago you saw the first photos from Kenneth Branagh's directed Murder on Orient Express, in which he also plays Hercule Poirot the famous detective, and now he will play another famous Jew - Otto Frank in KEEPER OF THE DIARY which depicts his struggle to find a publisher for the diary written by his daughter Anne Frank before she perished in the Holocaust. He was aided by an ambitious young woman who, fresh out of the Doubleday typing pool, became a junior editor trying to find her way by combing through the slush pile for publishable manuscripts. She and Otto Frank found each other and their perseverance led to the publication of one of the most enduring documents of the Holocaust. That woman, Barbara Zimmerman, became a publishing legend at Doubleday and was the founder of the New York Review of Books. As 'Deadline' writes, the movie is set right after the WW2.

RAFE SPALL TO END UP

IN A PRISON IN 'DEN- MARK'
Meanwhile, another of our beloved Brits, ever so charming and lovely, Rafe Spall, will star in a more light of genres - a comedy DENMARK - with a rather funny plot: the story will follow a man’s decision to leave behind his dreary life and start afresh. Spall will play Herb, a down on his luck Welshman with no job, horrible neighbours and even worse prospects. When he discovers that Danish convicts live a luxurious life he could only dream of, he finally feels that he has something to aspire to: a life in Denmark as a prisoner. Spall's currently shooting new Jurassic World.

'WLL & GRACE' RETURN TRAILER! CBS ORDERS '9JKL', 'BY THE BOOK' SITCOMS. FOX ORDERS 'ORVILLE' SF COMEDY SHOW & MEDICAL 'RESIDENT' WITH MANISH DAYAL, MATT CZUCHRY. 'BABY DADDY', 2 BROKE GIRLS' CANCELLED

 'WILL & GRACE'

RETURN THIS AUTUMN TO NBC

NBC is to release the first trailer for the comeback of their WILL & GRACE sitcom, which will return to Thursday nights with This Is Us this Autumn with 12 and possibly even more new episodes. Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, Eric McCormack and Sean Hayes, are all returning in their original roles. I will replace the US only trailer below as soon as the non geoblocked one appears.

CBS ORDERS '9JKL' SITCOM
CBS has ordered new multicamera sitcom 9JKL. Starring Mark Feuerstein it is inspired by the time he lived in apartment 9K in the building he grew up in, right between his doting parents’ apartment 9J, and his brother, sister-in-law and their baby’s apartment 9L, and his attempts to set boundaries with his intrusive but well-meaning family. Linda Lavin, Elliott Gould, David Walton play his parents and his brother.

FOX ORDERS 'ORVILLE' SETH MACFARLANE SF COMEDY

Fox has ordered 13 episodes of Seth MacFarlane's sf comedy  THE ORVILLE in which the story is set 300 years in the future. It follows the adventures of the Orville, a not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship in Earth’s interstellar Fleet. Facing cosmic challenges from without and within, this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before. MacFarlane stars, writers, creates and executive produces the series which will air on Thursdays this Autumn.

 FOX ORDERS 'THE RESIDENT'

STARRING MANISH DAYAL AND MATT CZUCHRY

Fox has also ordered Manish Dayal's medical series THE RESIDENT which follows a tough, brilliant senior resident who guides an idealistic young doctor through his first day, pulling back the curtain on what really happens, both good and bad, in modern-day medicine. Matt Czuchry, Emily VanCamp and Bruce Greenwood also star.

LATEST SITCOM CANCELLATIONS!
ABC has put Carol Burnett's sitcom HOUSEHOLD NAME to a 'rework' stage but it did order the return of ROSEANNE after cancelling their six year long, 2nd best watched, sitcom LAST MAN STANDING! CBS has ordered BY THE BOOK (aka Living Biblically) multi camera sitcom while cancelling 2 BROKE GIRLS after 6 years and THE ODD COUPLE! CBS has also passed on DISTEFANO and BROTHERED UP sitcom pilots.  FreeForm has cancelled their own 6 year long sitcom BABY DADDY last weekend to the shock of fans since it was their best watched comedy ever and will end on its 100th episode.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON 'STILL STAR CROSSED' ROMEO & JULIET SEQUEL TV SERIES STARRING WADE BRIGGS, TORRANCE COOMBS, ANTHONY HEAD, GRANT BOWLER

 'STILL STAR CROSSED'

NEW PERIOD SET TV SERIES  

I have a very distinct feeling ABC will cancel this one around or before its fifth episode, but some of you might still give STILL STAR CROSSED, the small screen adaptation of Melinda Taub's novel, a go when it starts airing at ABC this late spring, Monday, May 29th! The mini series picks up where the famous story of Romeo and Juliet ends, charting the treachery, fight for power and ill-fated romances of the Montagues and Capulets in the wake of the young lovers’ tragic fate.

AFTER THE LOVERS' DEATH  
In the wake of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic deaths, the Montague and Capulet rivalry escalates. A new royal takes the throne and struggles to determine what is best for his city when Verona becomes an epicentre of mayhem.

Following the death of her cousin Juliet, Rosaline Capulet (Lashana Lynch) finds herself in the middle of a political play to try and save Verona. She will prove she’s a force to be reckoned with especially when it comes to her destiny and must make tough decisions regarding her loyalty to the Capulet name. Rosaline’s sister, Livia Capulet (Ebonee Noel), is a hopeless romantic who dreams of a marriage to provide her with a life she’s always wanted, but her yearning for love makes her an easy target, and she gets drawn into a sordid secret unbeknownst to her.

Romeo’s death thrusts his cousin, Benvolio Montague (Wade Briggs), into a position of responsibility as he becomes the sole heir to the Montague name and must abide by a sinister plan to solidify his family’s prominence. A newly crowned Prince Escalus (Sterling Sulieman) is determined to end the bloodshed between the Montagues and Capulets, but his only solution forces him to decide between following his heart or protecting his kingdom. Eager to help her brother rule Verona, Princess Isabella (Medalion Rahimi) finds herself drawn to the throne, but quickly realizes that obtaining power as a woman will require succumbing to a twisted scheme. 

 Lord Capulet (Anthony Head) is the patriarch of the Capulet dynasty and is willing to maintain the legacy of his family’s name at any cost. Lady Capulet (Zuleikha Robinson) may want the same as her husband, but a mystery behind her true ambitions will slowly come to light. The Montagues are on the precipice of matching the Capulets social status, but Romeo’s death threatens to stall their ascent. Angered by grief and the loss of his son, Lord Montague (Grant Bowler) will stop at nothing to ensure the Montagues are the most respected family in Verona.

The sparring families aren’t the only one’s affected by Romeo and Juliet’s tragic fate. The keeper of Verona’s darkest confessions, Friar Lawrence (Dan Hildebrand), feels a deep responsibility for their deaths, along with the Capulet’s lifelong caretaker, the Nurse (Susan Wooldridge). She holds many secrets of her own including the fact that she is tending to Count Paris (Torrance Coombs), who was supposed to wed Juliet but was left for dead after a brutal fight with Romeo.

FANTASY SATURDAY: TOM HOLLAND, DAISY RIDLEY TO LEAD 'CHAOS WALKING' SF SAGA! VICTORIAN FANTASY SERIES 'CARNIVAL ROW' AND 'JUDGE DREDD: MEGA CITY' TV SERIES! 'KILL SWITCH' DAN STEVENS SF FILM TRAILER

 'CHAOS WALKING' SAGA CASTS

TOM HOLLAND & DAISY RIDLEY

Fantasy news today, people, starting with the big screen adaptation of Patrick Ness saga CHAOS WALKING which will, helmed by Doug Liman, star Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley! It is set on the distant planet of New World wheren an infection called the Noise suddenly makes all thought audible, privacy vanishes, chaos ensues and a corrupt autocrat threatens to take control of the human settlements and wage war with the indigenous alien race. Only young Todd (Holland) holds the key to stop him. As he flees, he stumbles upon a silent girl, Viola (Ridley). They set off on an adventure into the depths of unexplored New World to find a way for Viola to contact her people on a distant spaceship!

'CARNIVAL ROW' VICTORIAN FANTASY
Amazon is to make a fantasy TV series from Star Trek's Rene Echevarria CARNIVAL ROW! The 8 part series is set in a neo Victorian city. Mythical creatures fleeing their war-torn homeland have gathered in the city, and tensions are simmering between citizens and the growing immigrant population. The series follows the investigation of a string of unsolved murders that are eating away at whatever uneasy peace still exists.

 'JUDGE DREDD: MEGA CITY' 

NEW SF TELEVISION SERIES

Meanwhile, IM Global Television is set to produce sf television series JUDGE DREDD: MEGA CITY in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the British comic book. It is envisioned as an ensemble drama that follows a team of Judges, futuristic cops invested with the power to be judge, jury, and executioner, as they encounter the myriad challenges of a world in which east coast cities have merged into a giant megalopolis. Despite its 22nd century setting, many of the issues they encounter will have echoes of those today – from the dangers of domestic terrorism to the tensions between the ultra-rich and the disenfranchised.

'KILL SWITCH' TRAILER

FOR A DAN STEVENS SF MOVIE

Earlier this spring I showed you the first poster and teaser for this one and today you can check out the first super exciting trailer for sf action adventure KILL SWITCH which will see Beauty and the Beast star Dan Stevens playing  a pilot who battles to save his family and the planet after an experiment for unlimited energy goes wrong. Also known as REDIVIDER, this science fiction action adventure movie will also have Berenice Marlohe in its cast and is supposed to be out this June. 

AUSTRALIAN FRIDAY: TONI COLLETTE, WHOOPI GOLDBERG IN 'SHRIVER', SAM NEIL, JEREMY IRVINE JOIN 'GUINEA PIG CLUB', GEOFFREY RUSH, JAI COURTNEY IN 'SILVER BOY', THOMAS COCQUEREL, WILLIAM MOSELEY, CLIVE STANDEN, DAVID WENHAM, CALLAN MULVEY IN 'IN LIKE FLYNN'

 'SHRIVER' COMEDY

CASTS TONI COLLETTE AND WHOOPI GOLDBERG

Two of our favourite ladies in the same movie together: Toni Collette and Whoopi Goldberg will star in comedy movie SHRIVER alongside Thomas Haden Church who plays a loner mistaken for a renowned but reclusive author. He suddenly finds himself the centre of attention at a writer’s conference celebrating the 20th anniversary of the book written by the real author. SHRIVER takes on the mistaken identity while sparking a romance with the English professor who runs the conference and is about to pull it all off when the real Shriver appears. It will be an adaptation of a Chris Belden novel of the same title.

 'THE GUINEA PIG CLUB'

SAM NEIL, JEREMY IRVINE JOIN RICHARD E. GRANT'S WW2 FILM
Meanwhile, a rather nice cast has been assembled for period set drama THE GUINEA PIG CLUB as well: as ' Deadline' reports, Richard E. Grant, Sam Neil and Jeremy Irvine will star in the remarkable true story of maverick surgeon Archie McIndoe (Richard E. Grant) who, at the height of World War II, defied the British establishment with his radical methods aimed at healing the severely burned bodies – and more importantly the tortured souls – of Britain’s heroic Royal Air Force pilots. In doing so, he risks his career, his reputation and his marriage.

 'STORM BOY' CASTS

GEOFFREY RUSH, JAI COURTNEY

Even more Australian stars will be seen in Australian family movie STORM BOY in which Geoffrey Rush will play Mike “Storm Boy” Kingley, who recounts his childhood adventures to troubled teen granddaughter Madeline in an effort to prevent her from making the same mistakes he made years before. Jai Courtney will play Hideaway Tom, a protective father who, after the untimely death of his wife and daughter, removes himself and his son from society to live on a remote isolated coastline.

'IN LIKE FLYNN' BIOPIC

CASTS A STELLAR ENSEMBLE
All the rest of our favourite Australian hunks will, meanwhile, join the cast of Errol Flynn's biopic IN LIKE FLYNN! Thomas Cocquerel will play him in the years before he became famous star during his roust about early life in Australia, before he became an internationally famed celebrity. In those days he was an adventurer, opium smuggler, gambler, street fighter, womanizer, and gold prospector. Also starring William Moseley, Clive Standen, Callan Mulvey, Isabel Lucas, Costas Mandylor, David Wenham and Dan Fogler, it will see young Flynn's magnetism inspiring a rag-tag team of friends to set sail on a thrilling adventure in search of elusive New Guinea gold.

'LAST MAN STANDING' GETS SHOCKING CANCELLATION BY ABC! NEW BBC DRAMAS TRAILER GLIMPSES INTO 'POLDARK', 'GUNPOWDER', 'TROY FALL OF THE CITY', 'WOMAN IN WHITE', 'MINIATURIST', 'HOWARDS END'! JESSE EISENBERG, PIERCE BROSNAN, VANESSA REDGRAVE IN 19TH CENTURY 'MEDUSA'

 NEW BBC DRAMAS TRAILER

 A PEEK INTO NEW TV SERIES

 Some great news and some sad news today! Good ones come from BBC One which has just released an epic trailer announcing all the new dramas coming up our way this year at the British broadcaster giving us exciting first peeks into their new epic series GUNPOWDER with Kit Harintgon, Jessie Buckley's Victorian thriller THE WOMAN IN WHITE, the adaptation of THE MINIATURIST, new mini series on HOWARDS END with Matthew MacFadyen, epic adventure TROY: THE FALL OF THE CITY, gay drama MAN IN ORANGE SHIRT with Oliver Jackson Cohen and Vanessa Redgrave, and the first scenes from POLDARK season 3! Feast your eyes on the trailer below:

 'THE MEDUSA' 19TH CENTURY

MOVIE CASTS JESSE EISENBERG, VANESSA REDGRAVE AND PIERCE BROSNAN

Another period set project will be a movie on famous painter Théodore Géricault THE MEDUSA depicting the tragic events that inspired his harrowing and politically significant masterpiece The Raft Of The Medusa. As 'Deadline' reports Jesse Eisenberg will play the painter, with Pierce Brosnan as his uncle and nemesis, Caruel, and Vanessa Redgrave as his anti royalist innkeeper. Peter Webber of Girl With a Pearl Earring is directing.

Set during the turmoil of post Napoleonic France, the story centres on Géricault, artist and enfant terrible, who learns that his best friend has died after the Naval vessel Medusa runs aground near Senegal. His death and those of over 100 others were horrific due to incompetence on the part of an aristocratic captain.

 'LAST MAN STANDING'

 PREMATURELY KILLED BY ABC

The saddest of news people! The most wholesome of sitcoms on the telly which offered good natured family friendly humour and multiple perspectives on modern day life and politics  LAST MAN STANDING has been cancelled by ABC after the end of its sixth season (which is a great long running number for any sitcom, admittedly). It hasn't been revealed why ABC cancelled it, since it averaged 8 million or more viewers per each episode for six years ruling Friday night evenings in USA (a viewership that most of your favourite shows never had especially not on Friday nights which are considered a graveyard for ratings). It is also not clear whether ABC is looking to cancel its Friday night comedy block and whether the sitcom, which has been done under syndication so far, might get another network. With its friendly but also contemporary and very relevant humour wrapped in warm family stories with highly moral educational messages of tolerance and compromise, Tim Allen's beautiful sitcom was one of the last ones of its kind on the small screens.Tim commented on the cancellation with: Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years.