GAEL GARCIA BERNAL IS THE NEW FUTURISTIC 'ZORRO'! LUPITA NYONG'O IS CHESS CHAMPION IN 'QUEEN OF KATWE' MOVING TRAILER AND POSTER!

GAEL GARCIA BERNAL

WILL BE FUTURISTIC ZORRO!

In these seven or so years that Dezzy has been spying for you, methinks we've mentioned ZORRO projects at least a dozen of times and they never really came to fruition, but now it has been revealed that Jonas Cuaron, who is directing a ZORRO movie titled Z (originally known as ZORRO REBORN), has offered the lead role to Gael Garcia Bernal! Although details on the script are very sparse right now, it has been rumoured before that it will be a futuristic take on the famous legend  set in the near future. Bernal has already worked with director Jonas Cuaron on DESIERTO drama which is out in cinemas later this year.

'QUEEN OF KATWE' TRAILER

WITH LUPITA NYONG'O!

The only trailer I have for you today is for Disney's and Mira Nair's true story drama QUEEN OF KATWE starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o! Based on a book by Tim Crothers, it brings the real life story of a poor young girl from Uganda who trains to become a world chess champion. It is out this September!

JAMES TUPPER, ANNE HECHE TO LEAD 'AFTERMATH' POST APOCALYPTIC SF SERIES! TODD GRINNELL, RITA MORENO, JUSTINA MACHADO LEAD 'ONE DAY AT A TIME' SITCOM REMAKE

SYFY'S 'AFTERMATH' SENDS

JAMES TUPPER, ANNE HECHE INTO THE APOCALYPSE

A series I've already announced earlier this year has rounded up its cast: real life couple James Tupper and Anne Heche will play the lead couple in AFTERMATH post apocalyptic series. The Canadian sf series will air later this summer at SyFy! The two of them will play Joshua and Karen Copeland who, along with their three teenage kids, must battle for survival after civilization comes to an apocalyptic end, triggered by devastating natural disasters, massive storms, meteor strikes, earthquakes and plague and the rise of supernatural creatures. I've reported before that Julie Sarah Stone, Levi Meaden, and Taylor Hickson will play the three siblings coming of age in the Apocalypse.

'ONE DAY AT A TIME' REMAKE

WITH TODD GRINNELL, RITA MORENO AND JUSTINA MACHADO
After resurrecting FULLER HOUSE, another classic sitcom  getting a fresh new version at Netflix is ONE DAY AT A TIME which will this time revolve around a Cuban American family.  Justina Machado, Rita Moreno, Stephen Tobolowsky and Todd Grinnell have been cast already. The 13 episode multi camera sitcom, will follow Penelope (Machado), a recently separated mom who is navigating a new single life while raising her radical teenage daughter and socially adept tween son, with the “help” of her old-school Cuban-born mom and a friends without benefits building manager named Schneider (Grinnell). Being the only character transplanted from the original comedy, Schneider is a charming and over-privileged handyman who lives in his dad’s building rent-free in return for being the building manager.

HULU AND MGM PREPARING 'DAWN' PREHISTORIC EPIC ADVENTURE TV SERIES WITH FOLA EVANS AKINGBOLA, CARL SHAABAN, MATTHEW HOPKINSON!

'DAWN' EPIC SERIES

SET IN PREHISTORIC TIMES!  
Earlier this year when Lifetime unfortunately decided to pull the plug on their long awaited pilot for CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR epic series adapted from the same novel series, I thought we wouldn't see anyone else trying their chance with a prehistoric drama, but I was, thankfully, wrong! As 'Deadline' reports Hulu has decided to venture into primordial history with DAWN series and they've already done the casting as well!

DAWN OF HUMANITY?
 Set on an epic scale, DAWN follows a tribe of Neanderthals as they struggle to survive and hold on to their way of life after coming into contact with a family of Homo Sapiens. At the intersection of evolution and genocide, DAWN asks the fundamental question, what does it mean to be human?

THE CAST ALREADY SET!

To be run by Hank Steinberg (The Last Ship) and writen by Ken Nolan with Maleficent helmer Robert Stromberg directing the pilot, DAWN has assembled an international cast lead by Fola Evans Akingbola (Game of Thrones, as Pakalan), Temuera Morrison (as Wikkanak), Carl Shaaban (as Buzur), and Matthew Hopkinson (as Kamak)! To be produced by MGM, the series will start shooting tomorrow in Ireland where another of MGM's series VIKINGS is also produced. 

CLIVE OWEN AND JESSICA BIEL TO STAR IN 'INVISIBLE' OMNIBUS MOVIE! JESSICA BIEL, PATRICK STEWART, SUSAN SARANDON LAND VOICES IN 'SPARK' ANIMATED ADVENTURE

'INVISIBLE' CASTS

CLIVE OWEN & JESSICA BIEL

Well, you already know I love me a good omnibus movie and here's a new one on the horizon: Clive Owen and Jessica Biel are to star in Bosnian Oscar winner Danis Tanovic's new movie INVISIBLE in which the story follows Felix (Clive Owen) and Ann (Jessica Biel), who despite their perfect lives find themselves wanting more. On the other side of London, Anton, Hana and Alma have each travelled from faraway lands and put their lives on the line to seek out better opportunities than their homeland can offer. As these vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of class, identity and belonging, Invisible examines the true cost that the pursuit of happiness can take.

'SPARK' ANIMATED MOVIE

GETS VOICES FROM JESSICA BIEL, PATRICK STEWART  
Speaking of Jessica Biel, she will also lend her voice alongside Patrick Stewart, Susan Sarandon and Hilary Swank in SPARK, new animated adventure  from the creators of 2014’s The Nut Job. The space opera animated adventure is set on a world conquered more than a decade ago by a power-mad general who now is tearing it to pieces. Spark and his friends, Chunk and Vix, team up to stop the general bent on universal domination.The Canadian produced movie  brings the story of a boy who takes on great responsibility, and in the process, discovers his rightful place in the universe.

ALDEN EHRENREICH TAKES THE LEAD ROLE IN 'HAN SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY'! AMAZON'S 'DARKOVER' EPIC SF SERIES FINDS WRITERS!

ALDEN EHRENREICH

TO LEAD 'HAN SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY' SPINOFF MOVIE

I'm sure the Star Wars fans among you have been following the hunt for the new star who will play young Han Solo in HAN SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY and now it is almost official - Alden Ehrenreich has got the role in the Christmas 2018 movie! Disney, LucasFilms and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have auditioned thousands of young Hollywood hopefuls for the role of the Millenium Falcon pilot in his early days but Alden has managed to beat the final rivals including Jack Reynor, Taron Egerton and Ansel Elgort. Swedish actor Joonas Suotamo will be playing Chewbacca in the movie about the early years of the two galactic scoundrels!

'DARKOVER' SF SERIES

FINDS ITS WRITERS!
In TV news, something I've already announced now has writers: as 'Deadline' reports Amazon's TV series adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley's sf classic saga DARKOVER which has 25 books translated into almost 20 languages, will be written by MARCO POLO's hunk Patrick Macmanus and LOST's Elizabeth Sarnoff who are also producing. It is a mix of fantasy and science fiction, an ambitious tale tracing the development of a civilization from its inadvertent founding on a distant planet by a group of human colonists through war-torn feudal ages to recontact 2,000 years later with their Earthly descendants.

SETH MACFARLANE TO CREATE AND LEAD SF SPACESHIP DRAMEDY TV SERIES! ANDREW GARFIELD, CLAIRE FOY TO 'BREATHE'! JOSH HUTCHERSON TO LEAD 'FUTURE MAN' TV COMEDY

'BREATHE' CASTS

ANDREW GARFIELD & CLAIRE FOY

In today's casting news, 'Deadline' reports that Andy Serkis will direct inspiring drama movie BREATHE starring Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield (I don't think I've ever heard of a more unappealing casting in my life, especially given the nature of the movie)! Based on the true story of Robin (Garfield), a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralysed. Claire Foy will portray Robin’s devoted and determined wife Diana. Together they refuse to be imprisoned by his suffering, travelling the world and transforming the lives of others with their humour, courage and lust for life!

TELEVISION HEADLINES

SETH MACFARLANE IN SF DRAMEDY SERIES AT FOX
In TV news, here's something I don't think we've had before: a sf comedy drama series! Seth MacFarlane will apparently create, produce and star in new sf hourlong dramedy series, currently untitled, which already has 13 episodes ordered by Fox! Set 300 years in the future, the show 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.
JOSH HUTCHERSON TO LEAD HULU'S NEW COMEDY SERIES
Speaking of sf comedy series, Hulu is also preparing one with Josh Hutcherson and Eliza Coupe which has just added Derek Wilson to the cast as well! Titled FUTURE MAN, this high concept half hour sf comedy series will see Hutcherson playing Josh Futterman, a janitor by day, world-ranked gamer by night, who is tasked with preventing the extinction of humans after mysterious visitors from the future proclaim him the key to defeating the imminent super-race invasion. Derek Wilson will play Wolf, a futuristic soldier, another character in the Cybergeddon video game, who has no respect for Josh and no faith in his ability to carry out the mission.

CHARLIE HUNNAM TO LEAD 'PAPILLON' REMAKE? DAISY RIDLEY, NAOMI WATTS FOR 'OPHELIA' HAMLET REIMAGINED? EMILIA CLARKE, JACK HUSTON ARE 'ABOVE SUSPICION' FOR PHILLIP NOYCE

CHARLIE HUNNAM TO LEAD

'PAPILLON' MOVIE REMAKE?

It's all remakes and adaptations today, people, starting with news coming from 'Deadline' about Charlie Hunnam potentially taking the role of Steve McQueen in the remake of prison break drama PAPILLON! The original movie followed a man unjustly convicted of murder in 1930s France and condemned to life in a South American prison. He plots his escape, aided by a counterfeiter (originally played by Dustin Hoffman) who finances PAPILLON’s prison escapes in exchange for protection in prison. Hunnam has finished shooting KING ARTHUR: KNIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE for Warner Bros. recently.

'ABOVE SUSPICION' CASTS

EMILIA CLARKE & JACK HUSTON
And yet another big screen adaptation will be a movie version of Joe Sharkey's ABOVE SUSPICION which will be directed by Phillip Noyce who already cast new Ben Hur Jack Huston and GAME OF THRONES Dragon Queen Emilia Clarke for the lead roles! As 'Deadline' writes today, it is a true story of a newly married FBI poster-boy assigned to an Appalachian mountain town in Kentucky. There he is drawn into an illicit affair with an impoverished local woman who becomes his star informant. She sees in him her means of escape; instead, it’s a ticket to disaster for both of them. This scandal shook the foundations of America's top law enforcement agency, ending in the first ever conviction of an FBI agent for murder.

'OPHELIA' S VERSION OF 

HAMLET TO STAR NAOMI WATTS OR DAISY RIDLEY?

Meanwhile, in the sea of the fresh adaptations of Shakespeare's plays (there's STILL STAR CROSSED, WILL and also FAMILY SHAKE- SPEARE), yet another one will be OPHELIA which, as 'Deadline' reports, is eyeing Naomi Watts and Daisy Ridley as potential stars. It is actually an adaptation of Lisa Klein's book which shows the story of Hamlet through the eyes of the doomed heroine who driven mad by Hamlet's behaviour and the death of her father drowns herself in the river.  Set in the 14th century but spoken in a contemporary voice, OPHELIA will put the titular character centre stage.

'THESE BROKEN STARS' BESTSELLING SF SAGA TO BECOME TV SERIES! 'BAD MOMS' TRAILER WITH MILA KUNIS, KRISTEN BELL, CHRISTINA APPLEGATE!

'THESE BROKEN STARS' SF

TRILOGY TO BECOME TV SERIES!

Here's a potentially massive new sf series for us: FreeForm and British Sky could adapt Amie Kaufman's and Meagan Spooner's sf epic saga THESE BROKEN STARS into a sf series produced by Eric Balfour. CONTINUUM creator Simon Barry will pen the script for the small screen adaptation of the sf trilogy.

In THESE BROKEN STARS, a massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux,  the daughter of the richest man in the universe, and Tarver Merendsen, a young war hero who comes from nothing, are the only survivors and must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

'BAD MOMS' TRAILER

MILA KUNIS & KRISTEN BELL VS CHRISTINA APPLEGATE!

The first trailer and poster have been released for ensemble comedy movie BAD MOMS which is out July 29th starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Christina Applegate! It follows Amy (Mila Kunis) who has a seemingly perfect life - a great marriage, over achieving kids, beautiful home and a career. However she's over worked and exhausted to the point that she's about to snap. Fed up, she joins forces with two other stressed moms (Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn) on a quest to liberate themselves from conventional responsibilities - going on a wild, un-mom-like binge of long overdue freedom, fun and self indulgence - putting them on a collision course with PTA Queen Bee Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate) and her clique of devoted perfect moms.

SF MONDAY: ELISABETH MOSS TO LEAD 'THE HANDMAID'S TALE' TV SERIES REMAKE AT HULU! AMAZON TO ADAPT 'THE BOOK OF STRANGE THINGS' SF NOVEL INTO SERIES

ELISABETH MOSS TO LEAD

'HANDMAID'S TALE' SF SERIES

Probably the main TV news coming to us this weekend was that Hulu will do a remake of classic series THE HANDMAID'S TALE based on Margaret Atwood's book with Elisabeth Moss taking the lead role!

DYSTOPIA OF GILEAD  
It is set in the dystopian Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted religious fundamentalism that treats women as property of the state. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world. In this terrifying society where one wrong word could end her life, Offred navigates between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids – where anyone could be a spy for Gilead — with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.

'STRANGE NEW THINGS' 

TO BECOME SF TV SERIES

Speaking of sf, Amazon will turn Michel Faber's critically renowned book THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS into a 10 episode series to be helmed by Kevin Macdonald with music from Brian Eno!  The story revolves around Peter Leigh, an English pastor who embarks on the journey of a lifetime into deep space that takes him light years away from his beloved wife, Bea. As' Deadline' reports, 'while the project’s scale is believed to be epic, described as “Heart Of Darkness in space, at its centre is a heart-wrenching love story of a husband and wife with the universe between them'.

ABC FINISHES CASTING FOR ROMEO & JULIET SEQUEL EPIC TV SERIES 'STILL STAR CROSSED' WITH TORRANCE COOMBS, ANTHONY HEAD, GRANT BOWLER, WADE BRIGGS

'STILL STAR CROSSED' EPIC

'ROMEO & JULIET' TV SEQUEL

Now, here's an extreme example of the current trend of diversity in Hollywood: a new historical series in which the young nobles of the 16th century Verona will be played by black actors! What do you say about that? ABC has finished casting actors for their new epic series STILL STAR CROSSED with the pilot ready to start shooting this month.

The small screen adaptation of the book by Melinda Taub, STILL STAR CROSSED is set in 16th century Verona and picks up where William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet left off, charting the treachery, palace intrigue and ill-fated romances of the Montagues and Capulets in the wake of the young lovers’ tragic fate.

TORRANCE COOMBS, ANTHONY HEAD, GRANT BOWLER STAR

This time the story will revolve around Rosaline (Lashana Lynch), an intelligent and headstrong Capulet and Juliet’s cousin who is taken in by the Capulets after her parents die, forced to suffer her aunt's cruelty as a servant, and then ordered to marry dangerous and deadly handsome Benvolio (Wade Briggs), a Montague, who is against it at first but will later on fall in love with Rosaline who is smart, although not beautiful. Since they're dead, Romeo and Juliet will appear only in flashbacks, and will be played by Danish actress Clara Rugaard and British black hunk Lucien Laviscount. Among the more famous names in the cast, Anthony Head plays Lord Capulet. Kind and powerful, Lord Capulet is a thoughtful man with a sunny, jovial disposition. However, he will turn on you if you cross him. ROME's Zuleikha Robinson is his evil wife Lady Capulet. His fellow SyFy star Grant Bowler will play rival Lord Montague, scary, rugged, ruthless and brilliant man hellbent on raising his family’s fortunes, no matter the cost. Meanwhile, magnetic Torrance Coombs, who left CW's REIGN in which he played French prince Sebastian, will be prince again, this time Paris, the chivalrous and seductive Count of Mantua, who was betrothed to Juliet before she died. Dan Hildebrand will play Friar Lawrence, who uses the church to climb the social ladder. Sterling Sulieman will be Prince Escalus, while Medalion Rahimi will play Princess Isabella, intelligent, outspoken and practical with inner steel. Ebonee Noel will play Rosaline's younger sister Livia,