SEE FIRST IMAGES FROM NAOMI WATTS, BILL MURRAY DRAMA MOVIE THE FRIEND

   FIRST THE FRIEND  

MOVIE IMAGES WITH NAOMI WATTS

Also premiering over in Toronto beside all the period set movies I told you about, is THE FRIEND starring Bill Murray, Naomi Watts, and a charismatic Great Dane named Bing who propel this wise and insightful character drama

The film will open September 8th in Toronto

based on the acclaimed novel by Sigrid Nunez and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. The cast also has Owen Teague, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd and Carla Gugino.

THE FILM FOLLOWS 

Iris (Watts) has had a long, complex friendship with Walter (Bill Murray). Walter is an irresistible charmer, a brilliant author, a lover of many women, and a master at letting down loved ones. When he dies suddenly, Iris is left to deal with all he left behind — three ex-wives with unfinished business, his interrupted literary legacy, and his beloved beast Apollo (Bing). It's not that Iris doesn't like dogs, but this is Manhattan, and she’ll get kicked out of her building if they find out she’s pretty much trying to house a horse.Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding to the animal, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.

 

1ST IMAGES FROM CHANNEL 5'S THE TEACHER SERIES SEASON 2 WITH WILL MELLOR, EMMETT SCANLAN, THE WIVES SERIES WITH JAMIE BAMBER

  FIRST CHANNEL 5 IMAGES  

FROM THE TEACHER SERIES SEASON 2

After the ones from The Hardacre period set series, we have the first images from the second season of Channel 5's THE TEACHER which will, as an anthology series not follow Sheridan Smith's character from the first season, but  Dani (Kara Tointon), a teacher who loves her job. She’s a real mentor and inspiration to her students, but what she lacks is a properly functioning marriage with real intimacy and mutual desire. This leads her into an impulsive affair with a fellow colleague that at first answers all her needs, but soon spirals out of control. When a pupil goes missing on a school trip, Dani rightly blames herself for being too easily distracted. When things start to take a sinister turn she is forced to lie, and quickly finds her life falling to pieces. She risks everything to right the wrongs that she has, in part, been responsible for. Will Mellor and Emmett Scanlan will play her husband and her lover in the four parter.

 

FROM THE WIVES NEW TV SERIES 

We also have first images from their new 6 part thriller THE WIVES. Last year, four sisters-in-law and their families escaped to their Maltese holiday apartments, as they’ve done every summer for 15 years. Sylvie Morgan (Tamzin Outhwaite), was happily married, Natasha Morgan (Angela Griffin), was swimming in wealth, and Beth Morgan (Jo Joyner) and Annabelle Morgan (Christine Bottomley), were thick as thieves. But this year, as they come together again, everything is different. Sylvie’s now single and loving life, Natasha’s hiding a desperate financial situation, Beth is barely keeping her life together and Annabelle is, well... dead. When Annabelle’s widower Charlie (Jamie Bamber), arrives with a new woman in tow, Beth tries to be happy for them, but something doesn’t sit right. Charlie’s new girlfriend Jade (Katie Clarkson-Hill), looks exactly like Annabelle. Beth’s plans to have a great summer are quickly scuppered by Charlie’s odd behaviour, and her suspicion that there is more to Annabelle’s death is heightened. With lies coming to light and evidence building, the women work together and against each other to unravel the mystery and bring the culprit to justice. But with corrupt officials, drug cartels and career criminals closer to home than ever expected, have they bitten off more than they can chew? Ben Willbond stars as the eldest Morgan brother and Beth’s husband Frankie, Jonathan Forbes as Natasha’s husband Sean, Catriona Chandler as Annabelle, Louis Boyer as local businessman Luca Vella and Ajay Chhabra as consulate official Vinay Taneja.

 

SEE FIRST IMAGES FROM THE HARDACRES 19TH CENTURY TV SERIES AIRING THIS AUTUMN AT CHANNEL 5

   THE HARDACRES   

1ST IMAGES FROM THE PERIOD SET SERIES 

 Channel 5 has unveiled a batch of first images from their new series coming up this Autumn (come by tomorrow for the rest), including THE HARDACRES, a sweeping rags to riches story that follows the lives, loves and fortunes of the working class Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890’s Yorkshire.

 

A SMALL SCREEN ADAPTATION OF

CL Skelton’s best-selling series of novels it follows the family of a loving married couple Mary and Sam Hardacre (Claire Cooper and Liam McMahon), who land on hard times following an accident at work on the docks, which leaves them unemployed and broke. With Julie Graham as Mary’s wily mother, Ma, and their three kids, Joe, Liza, and Harry (Adam Little, Shannon Lavelle and Zak Ford-Williams), the family band together to think fast with a business venture that will free them from their humble existence on the North Yorkshire Coast and catapult them into high society. Holly Sturton stars as Adella, Cathy Belton as Emma and Owen Roe as George, from the well to do Fitzherbert Family and new neighbours of The Hardacres. Ingrid Craigie is housekeeper Mrs Dryden, with Siobhan O’Kelly as Lena and Taheen Modak as Saunders. 

 

SEE MICHAEL KEATON GET HELP FROM MILA KUNIS IN GOODRICH DRAMA MOVIE TRAILER

 GOODRICH MOVIE TRAILER 

WITH MICHAEL KEATON AND MILA KUNIS

An estranged father tries to reconnect with his grown up daughter in GOODRICH drama movie trailer starring Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis in the lead roles. Michael Urie and Andie MacDowell also star in the film out October 18th. Andy Goodrich’s (Michael Keaton) life is upended when his wife and mother of their nine-year-old twins enters a 90-day rehab program, suddenly leaving him on his own with their young kids. Thrust into the world of modern parenthood, Goodrich leans on his daughter from his first marriage, Grace (Mila Kunis), as he ultimately evolves into the father that Grace never had.

SPOTLIGHT ON TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL 2024 PERIOD SET MOVIES: WILLIAM TELL, ON SWIFT HORSES, QUEER, RETURN, PENGUIN LESSONS, BRUTALIST, VERMIGLIO

  TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL 

WILLIAM TELL

Tiff is ready to start next month so I thought I could spotlight for you some of the period set films that will air there. WILLIAM TELL will have world premiere there September 5th. Ben Kingsley, Claes Bang, Jonathan Pryce, Solly McLeod, Jonah Hauer King, Emily Beecham, Connor Swindells, Ellie Bamber Eanna Hardwicke and Rafe Spall lead the monumental tale about the legendary 14th century warrior marksman who liberated Switzerland, becoming a folk hero for the ages. In 1307, a cruel Austrian Hapsburg king (Ben Kingsley) occupies the bordering Swiss cantons. His tax collectors oppress and violate the citizens, driving one farmer to thoughts of murderous revenge. Fleeing across a vast landscape, this farmer finds only one man who will come to his aid: William Tell (Claes Bang). Tell has returned home weary after fighting with the Knights Templar in the Holy Land. Now seeking only a quiet life with the wife he met there (Golshifteh Farahani), he’s nevertheless bound by his principles. When pushed beyond his limits by the villainy of the Hapsburg court, Tell picks up his weapons and rides into battle 

  ON SWIFT HORSES

Opening September 8th is new period set drama from director Daniel Minahan ON SWIFT HORSES set in the 1950s. Newlyweds Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Lee (Will Poulter) leave their Kansas home for a new life in San Diego, with steady jobs and a house they can start a family in. Lee’s brother Julius (Jacob Elordi), meanwhile, returns from the Korean War without any long-term plans. A deft hand at poker, he winds up in Las Vegas, where he does pit surveillance at a casino and befriends Henry (Diego Calva), a handsome Chicano who, like Julius, loves a good gamble. All this time, Muriel and Julius correspond, though neither realize how much they have in common. Bored with waiting tables, Muriel secretly begins playing the horses and winning. What’s more, Muriel and Julius find themselves on parallel journeys involving clandestine transgressions that could place them in greater danger than either bargained for.

 

QUEER

September 10th will mark American premiere of Luca Guadagnino's drama QUEER in which Daniel Craig is Lee who mingles with the expatriate set in postwar Mexico City, wandering its streets, frequenting its gay bars, and ingesting whatever illicit substances are available. He is a consummate raconteur who has no trouble finding an audience, but he is also a desperately lonely, middle-aged addict with an alarming fondness for guns.  Lee sets his sights on a journey to the Amazon in search of the potentially telepathic ayahuasca — and he wants handsome young bi-curious Oklahoman Allerton (Drew Starkey) to accompany him. Their travels will yield a string of unexpected encounters and provide Lee with sobering lessons in what Burroughs dubbed “the algebra of need.”

THE RETURN

September 8th will also bring world premiere of Uberto Pasolini's THE RETURN which picks up as Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) washes onto the shores of Ithaca. It has been more than 20 years since he left his kingdom to fight in the Trojan War and, in all that time, his wife and queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche) has waited. Their son, Telemachus (Charlie Plummer), has lost faith that his father will return and worries for his mother’s safety as a group of increasingly unruly suitors pressure her to take one of them as the new king.

 

THE PENGUIN LESSONS

September 6th will see the world premiere of Peter Cattaneo's THE PENGUIN LESSONS set in 1976. Tom (Steve Coogan) lands in Buenos Aires to take up a teaching position at a prestigious English boarding school. The city is in the midst of political violence, but the headmaster (Jonathan Pryce) insists his school simply keep calm and carry on. That suits Tom just fine. When a coup d’état shuts down the school, he hops next door to Uruguay to party. A romantic foray leads to a walk along the beach, which leads to the sight of a penguin drenched in oil from a spill. Against his better judgment, Tom rescues the bird, which unlocks its undying loyalty. He's forced to sneak the flightless beast back to Argentina, and thus begins a strange and beautiful friendship.

THE BRUTALIST

September 6th will also see the American premiere of Brady Corbet's THE BRUTALIST in which Adrien Brody plays Jewish architect László Toth who arrives in America with barely anything to his name, eagerly hoping to soon be joined by his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones). Settling in Philadelphia, he has a not-so-gracious run-in with Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), a wealthy businessman, after he becomes an unwitting client for a home renovation scheme. This serendipitous encounter leads to a more complex undertaking, as Van Buren and his son (Joe Alwyn) enlist László’s brilliance for a monumental new project. It’s a dream that he never thought he could relive, but it comes with a dark cost, as László sacrifices more and more of himself to complete his exacting vision.

 

VERMIGLIO

Coming to TIFF from Italy on September 9th is Maura Delpero's VERMIGLIO. A young Sicilian soldier Pietro has carried his injured comrade Attilio all the way back to his mountain home, much of the journey with his passenger on his back. Hailed as a hero, Pietro is furnished with the best the village can provide. As a rare newcomer, Pietro is much gossiped about but keeps to himself. He catches the eye of Lucia, the eldest daughter of the stern village schoolteacher and soon the two are gently flirting and falling in love. This seemingly simple pairing of two young hearts sets off a sweeping series of events that shakes the village and a small town in Sicily, uncapping age-old misogyny, intolerance, and narrowness with tragic results.

FIRST IMAGE FROM BURATINO FAMILY MOVIE ADVENTURE, A NEW VERSION OF FAMOUS PINOCCHIO

   BURATINO   

FIRST IMAGE FROM FAMILY ADVENTURE

 Set for January 2026 release over in Russia is family fantasy movie adventure BURATINO based on the famous story of Pinocchio from director Igor Voloshin with Aleksandr Yatsenko as Papa Karlo and our dear Aleksandr Petrov lending voice to cat Bazilio with Fedor Bondarchuk as Karabas Barabas.  It will be an old fairy tale in a new way. The story of everyone's favorite hero Pinocchio, his dad Carlo and their friends, told with the help of modern technology. The film is based on Alexei Tolstoy’s fairy tale “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio,” which takes place in the Kingdom of Tarabar following wooden doll Pinocchio, who goes through many adventures.

CAMILA MENDES JOINS NICHOLAS GALITZINE'S HE-MAN AS TEELA IN MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MOVIE ADAPTATION

   MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE  

CAMILA MENDES CAST AS TEELA

Although it was scraped a number of times and got its lead star switched as well, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE seems to be progressing over at Amazon MGM Studios as they have just added Camila Mendes next to already announced Nicholas Galitzine, who will be the He-Man. Mendes will play his sidekickTeela, a warrior who as Captain of Eternia’s Royal Guard, is responsible for protecting the royal family, especially Prince Adam aka He-Man. Travis Knight is directing for a June 2026 release date.

SEE JAMES PUREFOY, TOBY REGBO, ANNA CHANCELLOR, JAMIE BLACKLEY, CALAM LYNCH, JOSHUA SASSE IN BRITBOX PERIOD SET SERIES OUTRAGEOUS

  OUTRAGEOUS TV DRAMA  

FIRST MITFORD SISTERS SERIES IMAGES

Although their life has been already adapted a couple of times by BBC, famous Mitford sisters are getting a new period set series at UKTV's channel Drama and Britbox in USA and today we have the first images coming from Vanity Fair. The six part series OUTRAGEOUS will depict the British socialite sisters, whose antics in the 1930s made their family one of the most well known in the UK. Several infamously supported fascism and the Nazis, though two became staunch opponents of the ideology. Two became well known authors. It will be a story of family betrayals, public scandal, political extremism, personal heartache and even imprisonment. 

 

  THIS BRAND NEW SERIES WILL FOLLOW

the six upper-class Mitford sisters — Nancy (Bessie Carter), Diana (Joanna Vanderham), Unity (Shannon Watson), Jessica (Zoe Brough), Deborah(Orla Hill), Pamela (Isobel Jesper Jones) — who were the Kardashians of the 1930s, when they both dazzled and scandalized English society. Nancy was a writer who wrote novels including “The Pursuit of Love” while Diana and Unity were fascists who were close to Hitler. Jessica was a communist, Pamela lived out the latter half of her life with a woman and Deborah became a duchess after marriage. Toby Regbo will play their brother Tom while Anna Chancellor and James Purefoy will be their mother and father. Joshua Sasse will star in the six part series as Oswald Mosley, Jamie Blackley as Peter Rodd, James Musgrave as Hamish Erskine, Calam Lynch as Bryan Guinness and Will Attenborough as Joss.

 

NAUTILUS EPIC ADVENTURE TV SERIES GETS STREAMING DATE AT PRIME VIDEO AND FIRST POSTERS AND TRAILER

  NAUTILUS SERIES 

GETS STREAMING DATE AT PRIME VIDEO

Nautilus arrives this October to Prime Video

Although Disney cancelled it even after it was shot and produced because they decided to take some new course in their programming, whatever that may be, epic mini series NAUTILUS based on Jules Verne's famous adventure novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has found its home over at Prime Video and is now getting a streaming date: the submarine will start its voyage October 25th at least in United Kingdom and Ireland. In United States it found its new home over at AMC but they are yet to announced the launch date there. Back in June it already started on SVT Play in Sweden and on France TV two months later.

The series will stream in ten episodes

 

NAUTILUS 

 tells the origin story of Captain Nemo: it follows an Indian Prince robbed of his birthright and family joining him as he steals a formidable prototype submarine and escapes into the Indian Ocean with a ragtag crew, determined to enact revenge against the ruthless East India Mercantile Company. With Shazad Latif in the lead role of the ten episode series, the regular cast also includes Georgia Flood, Thierry Fremont and Céline Menville, with guest appearances from Richard E Grant, Anna Torv, Benedict Hardie, Jacob Collins Levy, Luke Arnold and Noah Taylor. 

 

SEE THE INSANELY MAGNIFICENT OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR THE RINGS OF POWER EPIC TV SERIES SECOND SEASON COMING THIS MONTH TO PRIME

    THE RINGS OF POWER  

MAGNIFICENT SEASON TWO TRAILER

Second season arrives August 29th on Prime

It has been two years since the first glorious season aired, but Prime Video is finally preparing August 29th as the start date of the brand new season of the epic THE RINGS OF POWER series from the Lord of the Rings universe and today we are celebrating it with a spectacular official trailer which you can feast your eyes upon below and tell us what you think.

 

IN THE SECOND SEASON SAURON 

 (Charlie Vickers) has returned. Cast out by Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and energy and oversee the creation of the mighty Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. Season two plunges even its most  beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity.  Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle even more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.

The new season will again have six episodes

 

 

 WHO ARE THE NEW FACES IN THE CAST?

Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon, Will Keen, Selina Lo, and Calam Lynch have join the series in the second season which was shot over in United Kingdom. Joseph Mawle was replaced in the role of evil Orc leader Adar with Sam Hazeldine. The reasons are not known, but Mawle did not take part in promotional activities for the first season either. New faces joining the second season in undisclosed roles also include Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen ‘Zates’ Atour, Ben Daniels, newcomer Amelia Kenworthy,

The first season has been watch by over 100 million viewers

Nia Towle, and Nicholas Woodeson! The show set thousands of years before the events from the Lord of the Rings movies, will, according to rumours, also have our dearest Jack Lowden in the cast and he will share the role of Sauron with Charlie Vickers. Confirming its status of the most expensive television series ever, the second season was shot on over 120 different physical sets with over a hundred make up artists doing make up to over a thousand orcs that appear in this season. Check out the wildly insane second season trailer below and tell us what you think about it. Are you excited to tune into the story again after the terrific first season when it hits the screens at the end of the month? The first season broke all possible records for Prime Video with well over a 100 million people watching it so far.