News

The bell just rang, school is out for summer. Maybe it’s out forever—leaving school behind as our heroes and antiheroes spend long, hot days laying about in the city or countryside, anticipating college dreams or fearing a return to the classroom. Or, more likely, not thinking of studies at all, just anticipating the next summer day and how to score more thrills.As the season winds down, here is a mix that is an ode to the teenage summer—so wonderfully captured in many films—a choice selection that evokes endless possibilities: sweat, love, passion, booze, drugs, and questions of the great unknown just around the corner. The characters of these summertime stories are either breaking hearts, heartbroken, running from hell or somewhere lost in between.Some favorite moments include the confusion, chaos and otherworldly essence of Gheorghe Zamfir’s flute from the unforgettable score for Peter Weir...

With live performance venues subject to heavy admissions restrictions, U.K. fans of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Opera, and Royal Ballet will soon be able to get their performance art fix thanks to a deal struck with BBC and ITV’s streaming platform Britbox, which will allow subscribers to tune in to their favorite productions starting July 23.

Falling under the service’s Centre Stage Collection — a showcase of concerts, documentaries and comedies celebrating British entertainment and performers — the new programming includes 25 Royal Shakespeare Company productions featuring film and TV stars such as Antony Sher in “King Lear,” David Tennant in “Richard II” and Christopher Eccleston in “Macbeth.”

Royal Ballet productions include Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker” as well as Talbot’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” while the Royal Opera will contribute Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly,” Gounod’s “Faust” and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” among others.

Several...

‘Wentworth.’

Arguably the most stressed players in the broadcasting sector, Foxtel, the Seven and Nine Networks and Network 10 are calling for the scrapping of local content quota obligations.

In its submission to the government’s ‘Supporting Australian Stories on Our Screens’ options paper review, Foxtel advocates option 4, which would result in platform-neutral deregulation and revising the existing incentives for Australian content.

The pay TV platform wants to abolish the requirement to invest at least 10 per cent of its total program expenditure on new Australian drama, arguing that would provide more flexibility to invest across a variety of genres.

“Removing regulation provides an equal playing field, offering traditional broadcasters the opportunity to further innovate and modernise in order to compete with international content providers,” Foxtel said.

Free TV Australia, which reps metropolitan and regional broadcaster, favours deregulation of quota obligations, with the exception of the overall 55 per cent Australian transmission quota,...

Michael Dorman and Jessica de Gouw in ‘The Secrets She Keeps.’

When Lingo Pictures’ The Secrets She Keeps premieres on BBC1 at 9pm on July 6, it will mark a milestone as the first Australian-produced TV drama to screen in primetime on the BBC’s flagship channel – at least in recent memory.

The BBC acquired the UK rights to the psychological thriller commissioned by Network 10, starring Laura Carmichael, Jessica de Gouw, Michael Dorman and Ryan Corr, in February but did not disclose the channel or timeslot.

According to Screen Australia’s records, the only other Australian drama to air on primetime on BBC1 was The Cry, a UK co-production.

Five Bedrooms and A Place to Call Home screened during the daytime on the channel. Picnic At Hanging Rock was on BBC2, Romper Stomper on BBC3 and Mystery Road, Safe Harbour and The Slap on BBC4.

Delighted with the prestige slot,...

The producer of Narcos takes us on a walk through some of the movies that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Contagion (2011)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

Rififi (1955)

Night And The City (1950)

Thieves’ Highway (1949)

Never on Sunday (1960)

The Karate Kid (1984)

The Game (1997)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

The Great Escape (1963)

Children of Men (2006)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Godfather (1972)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Animal House (1978)

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Trading Places (1983)

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

Fellini Satyricon (1969)

The Beastmaster (1982)

Sheena (1984)

High Risk (1981)

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Piranha (1978)

Gallipoli (1981)

Witness (1985)

The Killing Fields (1984)

Mad Max (1980)

Max Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

The Last Wave (1978)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

The Hobbit (1977)

The Return of the King (1980)

Class (1983)

The Great Santini (1979)

Fast Times At Ridgemont High...

Bill Gavin, the former Goldcrest executive and general manager of Australia’s Hoyts Theatres, has died at the age of 83 at his home in Auckland, New Zealand, after a short illness.

Gavin moved to the UK in the early 1960s after securing a contract to cover New Zealand’s then highly successful Formula One drivers, going on to write a biography of UK driver Jim Clark. He segued initially into the music business and established Gto Films to promote glam rock acts, the company then branched into distribution and worked on the UK release of Weir’s classic Picnic At Hanging Rock and the original version of Swept Away.

In 1978 he moved to Australia to become general manager of Hoyts Theatres and spearheaded the company’s entry into distribution. His down under success distributing the first Muppet Movie caught the eye of Lew Grade, who invited him to join Itc Films’ sales team in London.

Mubi also reveals ’Portrait Of A Lady On Fire’ has become its most-viewed film in the UK to date.

Corneliu Porumboiu’s The Whistlers topped UK streaming platform Curzon Home Cinema’s (Chc) most-watched films over the weekend, after bypassing a theatrical release due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The Romanian crime thriller, which debuted in competition at Cannes last year, was originally due to receive a UK day-and-date release on June 26 via Curzon. But ongoing cinema closures meant the film launched exclusively on Chc on May 8, seven weeks early, and performed strongly as audiences look to streaming platforms for new titles during lockdown.

Harvey Weinstein-inspired drama received an early digital release in the UK due to cinema closures.

UK streaming platform Curzon Home Cinema (Chc) has recorded its biggest weekend to date following the early digital release of Harvey Weinstein-inspired drama The Assistant.

The film, starring Julia Garner (Ozark), helped the platform generate a 7.4% revenue boost on its previous best weekend and was 340% up on Chc’s equivalent weekend in 2019.

It marks an ongoing success story for the streaming platform, which has seen a consistent rise in figures following the closure of all cinemas in mid-March as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Entertainment One has signed a multi-year distribution deal with fledgling U.K. scripted indie Three Tables Productions.

Under the pact, Three Tables will develop and produce original scripted programming for eOne to distribute worldwide.

Three Tables was founded by former Leopard Pictures head of development David Chikwe, ex-u.K. Film Council executive Himesh Kar, and entrepreneur and investor J.T. Wong. The chairman of Three Tables is David Green, who founded September Films, and went on to become CEO and then chairman of Dcd Media.

Three Tables is developing drama projects aimed at the U.K. and international markets. These include projects being developed with France Télévisions’ france.tv studios and the BBC.

It is working with talent such as “Picnic at Hanging Rock” writer Beatrix Christian, “Windermere Children” and “The Eichmann Show” writer Simon Block, “Gone Too Far!” writer Bola Agbaje, and Veronica Gleeson, whose credits include “Sixteen.”

Noel Hedges,...

Noel Mpofu and Anthony Ellis.

Seasoned writer and script executive Anthony Ellis has joined Screentime in the newly created role of head of scripted.

Ellis will work alongside head of production (scripted) Kerrie Mainwaring at the Banijay-owned production company headed by CEO Rory Callaghan.

Also at Screentime, chief financial officer Noel Mpofu has been promoted to chief operating officer. Earlier Screentime executive producer Johnny Lowry was upped to head of non-scripted.

These moves follow the retirement late last year of executive chairman Bob Campbell.

A former head of scripted content at Fremantle and Wentworth script executive, Ellis’ most recent credit was writing an episode of Breathless, Fremantle’s four-part thriller created by Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison for Network 10 and the UK’s Channel 5.

Ellis said: “I am delighted to join Screentime and look forward to helping secure and build on its legacy of innovative, compelling and hugely popular drama.

It’s a remarkable story of personal and professional friendship, all the more so because it plays out within the notoriously volatile realm of show business.

Two young men skip university to become chartered accountants. They run a partnership for almost two decades, serving and representing many of the preeminent musical attractions of their time. After decid­ing to go separate ways, they remain the best of friends, and almost 60 years after they met are reunited as co-executive producers on “Judy,” an awards season front-runner.

And it all happened on the strength of a handshake.

“We never had a piece of paper,” claims Laurence Myers.

“We never signed a contract or anything,” Ellis M. Goodman confirms.

Myers left school early. “I wanted to be a Latin-American percussionist, but if I’d told my mother that at 16, I wouldn’t have made it to 17.” He and Goodman met in 1962 while studying for their accounting certification.

Top: Tyroe Muhafidin, Charlie Vickers. Bottom: Tom Budge, Markella Kavenagh.

Aussie actors Tom Budge, Markella Kavenagh, Tyroe Muhafidin and Charlie Vickers will be series regulars in Amazon Studios’ The Lord of the Rings, due to start filming in New Zealand next month.

Kavenagh, whose previous credits include The Cry, Romper Stomper, Picnic at Hanging Rock and True History of the Kelly Gang, was reported as attached to the production from last July. However, Amazon had yet to officially confirm her casting in the series, led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.

The Lord of the Rings will be the first major series for Tyroe Muhafidin, who has previously appeared in a number of short films including Two Sands, as well as the online series Caravan. Vickers, who has been largely based in the UK, was most recently seen in Rachel Ward’s Palm Beach, while...

From retrospective screening series celebrating everything from Hammer films to the movies of Jean Rollin and Mario Bava, New York's Quad Cinema has always featured an eclectic lineup of classic horror films, and this month is certainly no exception. To celebrate the January 24th opening night screening of Bertrand Bonello's Zombi Child, Quad Cinema is featuring a bunch of 35mm screenings of movies that inspired Bonello's latest film, including Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow, Brian De Palma's Carrie, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and more.

You can view the full lineup of Quad Cinema's "Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child" screenings below, and to learn more, visit their official website.

"Origin Stories:

Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child

Starts Fri January 17

French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello selects films that inspired and informed his upcoming Zombi Child, opening January 24

Titles include 35mm prints of Carrie, I Walked with a Zombie,...

Amazon is the latest network to take to the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

As expected, there were some big announcements, and we've rounded them up for you in one post.

The long-gestating Lord of the Rings TV series finally has a confirmed cast!

New additions to the eight-episode first season include Owain Arthur (Casualty) and Nazanin Boniadi (Counterpart), who join Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones‘ Young Ned), Tom Budge (The Wrong Girl), Morfydd Clark (His Dark Materials), Ismael Cruz Córdova, and Markella Kavenagh (Picnic at Hanging Rock).

They join a cast that already includes Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones), Megan Richards (Wanderlust), Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers (Medici), Daniel Weyman (Silent Witness), Sophia Nomvete, Tyroe Muhafidin, and Ema Horvath.

Additionally, production is slated to get underway in February, and the series will “explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.”

“After undertaking an extensive global search,...

Amazon Prime kicked off its Television Critics Association press tour day by unveiling a slew of cast members for its upcoming Lord of the Rings series.

New additions to the eight-episode production include Owain Arthur (Casualty) and Nazanin Boniadi (Counterpart), who join Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones‘ Young Ned), Tom Budge (The Wrong Girl), Morfydd Clark (His Dark Materials), Ismael Cruz Córdova (Berlin Station, Ray Donovan) and Markella Kavenagh (Picnic at Hanging Rock).

More from TVLineJack Reacher, From Scorpion Ep, Gets Series Order at Amazon PrimeAmazon's Lord of the Rings Series Adds Game of Thrones' Young Ned in RecastHunters: Al...

“Fleabag,” “Pose” and “Grey’s Anatomy” are among the recipients of the 2018-19 ReFrame Stamp for Television, Variety has learned exclusively.

Additionally, ReFrame and IMDbPro have extended their partnership through 2022.

The ReFrame Stamp for Television’s inaugural class of recipients was the 2017-18 television season. Then, the organization awarded 62 series the stamp. Now, only 21 series are receiving the new season’s stamp.

While that seems like a steep decline, ReFrame and IMDbPro have actually altered the decision-making process for which series receive the stamp. The first year, producers, studios and networks were allowed to submit for the stamp via an open call. Now, ReFrame and IMDbPro have created “a baseline and closed data set on which to more accurately compare yearly results.” In doing this, the organizations have found that only 22 series for the 2017-18 television season qualify for the stamp under the new metric. While all 62 series that originally earned...

A familiar character just joined the fellowship of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series: His Dark Materials star Morfydd Clark will play a young Galadriel, the elf played by Cate Blanchett in the Lord of the Rings movies.

Our sister site Variety first reported the news, which marks the first major character from the original J.R.R. Tolkien books to join the cast. Amazon’s adaptation will precede the events depicted in the books and the Peter Jackson film trilogy — but, since elves live for thousands of years, Galadriel can easily fit within the new series’ timeline.

More from TVLineLord...

“Game of Thrones” star Natalie Dormer has launched Dog Rose Productions, which will work up projects that Fremantle has first-look rights to co-develop and distribute.

The two parties are already collaborating on “Vivling,” a look at the life of “Gone With the Wind” star Vivien Leigh. Their next project together is “Spitfire Sisters,” an eight-part series recounting the true story of a group of female aviators during World War II. It will be written by playwright and screenwriter Morgan Lloyd Malcolm.

“Spitfire Sisters” follows the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary, who were tasked with flying 90 different types of aircraft from airbase to airbase so that the planes were ready for combat. The mission was a perilous one.

“Spitfire Sisters” is told through the eyes of these women and deals with themes such as “empowerment, friendships, love, camaraderie, and deep tragedy and loss,” Fremantle said in a statement.

“This is a barely known story,...

Picnic at Hanging Rock writer Beatrix Christian is to adapt Emily Bitto’s novel The Strays with Killing Eve director Shannon Murphy as a six-part TV series.

The pair are working on the adaptation with Jo Monk’s Apogee Pictures, the producer behind Diane Keaton-fronted feature Hampstead, and See Pictures, the company behind Simon Baker’s Breath.

Murphy is attached to direct, off the back of her debut feature film Babyteeth, starring Ben Mendelsohn, Essie Davis and Eliza Scanlen, which premiered in competition at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this year. She is currently working on the third season of Killing Eve.

See Pictures’ Sonia Borella will produce with Monk.

Inspired by the Australian artist collective Heide Circle, The Strays explores what happens when a violent act in the past of a subversive group of artists is linked to the death of a young woman in the present.

Larysa Kondracki, the director of Picnic at Hanging Rock, has inked a deal to become an executive producer on Amazon’s original horror event series Them: Covenant.

Kondracki, who signed a first-look television deal with Amazon Studios in 2018, also will direct multiple episodes of the Little Marvin-created show, including the pilot.

Her TV directing credits include Better Call Saul, Legion, The Americans, and The Walking Dead. Kondracki also directed and co-wrote her debut feature film The Whistleblower, starring Rachel Weisz.

Co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television, Them: Covenant‘s other executive producers are Marvin, Lena Waithe, Miri Yoon, Roy Lee and Michael Connolly of Vertigo Entertainment. David Matthews is the executive producer and showrunner.

Set in 1953, the series centers on Henry and Lucky Emory (Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas) who move their family from North Carolina to a seemingly idyllic all-white neighborhood in Los Angeles. But the tree-lined...

Fremantle, part of Bertelsmann's Rtl Group, will adapt Jamila Gavin's award-winning mystery thriller The Robber Baron’s Daughter as a TV series, the company said Tuesday. Beatrix Christian, a writer on Fremantle's limited series Picnic at Hanging Rock, will adapt Gavin's 2008 novel for the small screen. Fremantle’s creative director for global drama, Christian Vesper, will act as executive producer. The Robber Baron’s Daughter tells the story of a rich girl living a sheltered life of privilege who disobeys her powerful father to investigate the disappearance of her tutor, only to uncover a secret criminal ...

‘Hearts and Bones’.

The casting directors behind Hearts and Bones, Judy and Punch, The Nightingale and Unsound will duke it out for the feature film prize at the upcoming Casting Guild of Australia Awards.

To be held November 29 in Melbourne, the awards will be hosted by actors Zahra Newman (Wentworth) and Mark Coles Smith (Picnic at Hanging Rock), with special guest Aacta Award-winning producer Todd Abbott from Guesswork.

In TV drama, the casting directors behind Diary of an Uber Driver, The Heights (series 1), Total Control and Wentworth (Season 7) have each been recognised with nods, while in the TV Miniseries & Telemovie category it will be a battle between those who worked on Lambs of God, On the Ropes, Secret Bridesmaids Business and The Hunting.

Casting Guild of Australia president Kirsty McGregor leads with seven nominations, three of which are shared with Gemma Brown and one with Stevie Ray (Diary of an Uber Driver...

The original Black Christmas released in 1974 and the first remake released in 2006 are both rated R. That's not something the new Black Christmas can boast, as the holiday killer thriller has been stamped with what some feel is the dreaded PG-13. A move to pull in tween girls who aren't old enough to see darker fare. Well, horror fans aren't having it, lighting up a healthy discussion on Twitter. Now, the screenwriter of the movie has come out to defend the PG-13 rating.

Writer April Wolfe, who is behind this latest take on the Holiday horror classic, has some things to say about her new horror movie receiving a PG-13 rating. She admits that they set out to make something a little more harsh and covered in a lot more blood. But test screenings changed their thinking. In a Twitter post, she says this.

"Here's the deal: We wrote it with an R in mind.

‘Knives Out’ to open 18th edition of the festival.

The 18th Marrakech International Film Festival (Nov 29-Dec 7) has revealed its 2019 line-up.

The competition line-up features 14 films from first or second-time directors. Five of the films competing for the Marrakech Etoile d’Or (Gold Star) are directed by women. Among the line-up is Shannon Murphy’s Babyteeth, starring Ben Mendelsohn, and Fyzal Boulifa’s Lynn + Lucy.

The festival opens with a gala screening of Rian Johnson’s all-star whodunnit Knives Out. The other gala screenings include Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Elia Suleiman’s It Must Be Heaven by.

We have an exclusive clip from Saban's forthcoming Danger Close. The movie stars Travis Fimmel and Luke Bracey. Directed by Kriv Stenders, the movie is the first Australian project to take on the Vietnam War in 40 years, following 1979's The Odd Angry Shot. The movie hits select theaters this week and will also be On Demand. From the looks of things, Stenders let the acting take over the movie and kept the CGI to a minimum, giving it a bare bones and realistic feel.

In Danger Close, Major Harry Smith (Travis Fimmel) and his company of 108 young and inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives in the 1966 Battle of Long Tan. With 2,500 battle-hardened Viet Cong soldiers closing in, their ammunition running out and casualties mounting, each man searches for the strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency and courage. The clip shows just...

Welcome to this edition of The Last Week In Wrestling, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have a few weeks we’re going to bunch together, like those Australian chicks in “Picnic At Hanging Rock”. Aliens took them. Boingoingoingoingoing! Okay, we’ve have lots to get to, so let’s do so before “America’s Test Kitchen” starts taste-testing “Soylent Green”. Soylent Green is people!

Best Moment:

Moxley Ddt’d The Omega Out Of Omega (All Elite Wrestling) – Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega had a brawl that went all over the arena and, eventually, led to Jon DDTing Kenny Omega through a glass table in the green-room area.

Best Promo:

Sami Is The Jerk We Need (Impact Wrestling) – Sami Callihan cut one hell of a promo about how he doesn’t want to hurt people, but the world won’t let him be decent. Sami sold...

Exclusive: Shoot is underway in the U.S. on American Civil War-set film Freedom’s Path, starring Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Rj Cyler (Me And Earl And The Dying Girl) and Gerran Howell (Catch 22).

The story follows the friendship forged between a Union soldier and runaway slave William who is helping facilitate the Underground Railroad. The feature marks the feature directorial debut of writer-director Brett Smith and is based on his short of the same name.

Supporting cast includes Harrison Gilbertson (Picnic At Hanging Rock) as William’s best friend; Afemo Omiliami (Poms) as Ellis Freeman, a leader of the underground railroad who has decided to stay in the south and help runaway slaves move North; Carol Sutton (Poms) as Caddy, a compassionate matriarch of a group of slaves facilitating the underground network; and Thomas J Byrd (Chi-Raq) as Abner, the tough adopted father of a group of former slaves running the railroad.

Rupert Penry-Jones in ‘The Commons’. (Photo: John Platt)

British actor Rupert Penry-Jones, Ryan Corr (Bloom) and David Lyons have joined the cast of Stan/Playmaker Media’s The Commons.

They join the previously announced headliners Brit Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) and Damon Herriman, most recently seen on film in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and on Foxtel’s Mr Inbetween.

Additionally, the cast will be bolstered by television stalwart John Waters, Fayssal Bazzi (Stateless), Simone McAullay, Andrea Demetriades, Felix Williamson, Inez CurroĢ (Picnic at Hanging Rock), Dominic Ona-Ariki and Zara Michales (Diary of an Uber Driver).

The eight-part high end drama production was created by Aacta Award-winning showrunner Shelley Birse (The Code), who wrote the series with a team including Matt Ford, Michael Miller and Matt Cameron.

Currently being shot across Sydney, the thriller is directed by Jeffrey Walker alongside Rowan Woods and Jennifer Leacey. Described...

Derek Theler, Beth Riesgraf and Lamont Thompson are set as series regulars in Paramount Network’s drama 68 Whiskey, an adaptation of Israeli TV series Charlie Golf One, from Imagine Television Studios, the TV arm of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, and CBS TV Studios. Additionally, Usman Ally, Artur Benson and Aaron Glenane (Picnic at Hanging Rock) are set for recurring roles. They join previously announced cast members Sam Keeley, Gage Golightly, Cristina Rodlo, Jeremy Tardy and Nicholas Coombe. Production on season 1 is currently underway with the series scheduled to premiere on Paramount Network in early 2020.

Written by The Brink co-creator Roberto Benabib, the adaptation, in the vein of M*A*S*H, follows a multicultural mix of men and women...

Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring’.

Amazon Studios has confirmed it will shoot its The Lord of the Rings series in New Zealand, with pre-production already underway and the shoot to kick off in Auckland in coming months.

“As we searched for the location in which we could bring to life the primordial beauty of the Second Age of Middle-earth, we knew we needed to find somewhere majestic, with pristine coasts, forests, and mountains, that also is a home to world-class sets, studios, and highly skilled and experienced craftspeople and other staff. And we’re happy that we are now able to officially confirm New Zealand as our home for our series based on stories from J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’,” said showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay in a statement.

“We are grateful to the people and...

Amazon Studios has announced that The Lord of the Rings series that they are currently developing will shoot in New Zealand, which is where Peter Jackson filmed his adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth novels. New Zealand is Middle Earth, so it makes sense that they would want to shoot there.

Showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay had this to say in a statement:

“As we searched for the location in which we could bring to life the primordial beauty of the Second Age of Middle-earth, we knew we needed to find somewhere majestic, with pristine coasts, forests, and mountains, that also is a home to world-class sets, studios, and highly skilled and experienced craftspeople and other staff. And we’re happy that we are now able to officially confirm New Zealand as our home for our series based on stories from J.R.R.

Peter Weir celebrates his 75th birthday on August 21, 2019. With six Oscar nominations under his belt, the Australian-born director has firmly established himself as one of our most respected filmmakers thanks to a number of visually striking, narratively ambitious movies. But how many of his titles remain classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at all 13 of his movies, ranked worst to best.

SEEJim Carrey movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Born in 1944, Weir helped usher in the Australian New Wave of cinema with “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975), “The Last Wave” (1977), “Gallipoli” (1981) and “The Year of Living Dangerously” (1983). He brought his unique brand of filmmaking to Hollywood with the romantic mystery “Witness” (1985), which brought him his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. He earned a subsequent bid in the category for the inspirational teacher drama “Dead Poets Society” (1989), competing once again for the media...

Beloved action star Keanu Reeves is having a great year. With his John Wick franchise soaring over $500 million this summer, his scene-steeling role as Duke Caboom in Toy Story 4, and the upcoming re-release of the iconic Wachowski film The Matrix, he's come a long way since the "Sad Keanu" memes. In light of all the recent revivals, Reeves is stepping into his late 1980's and early 1990's shoes in Bill & Ted Face the Music. The third film in the cult franchise is currently filming, so the on-set anecdotes are starting to spill out.

Keanu Reeves is returning to the role of Ted "Theodore" Logan, but on-set photos have him looking much more like a WWE wrestler than a fun-loving, time traveling dude. With shaved sideburns, combed back hair and thick beard, the Speed star is nearly unrecognizable.

The tough look isn't exactly indicative of the plot, however, which writers...

Exclusive: Kaniehtiio Horn, Zahn McClarnon, Lily Sullivan and David Wilmot are set as series regulars opposite David Thewlis in Barkskins, National Geographic’s scripted drama series based on the 2016 bestselling novel of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx. The series hails from Elwood Reid and Fox 21 TV Studios.

Created by Reid, Barkskins follows a disparate group of outcasts who must navigate the brutal hardships, competing interests, and tangled loyalties at the crossroads of civilization—1600s New France—where the war to escape their past and re-make themselves is cast against the vast and unforgiving wilds of North America.

Horn will play Mari, a Wendat Nation woman married to Trepagny (Thewlis) and her alliance with him keeps both the French and Wendat communities safe from a mutual enemy.

McClarnon will portray Yvon,...

Amazon Studios' hotly-anticipated Lord Of The Rings prequel series is coming into focus.

The streaming giant has announced the series' first cast member: an Australian newcomer named Markella Kavenagh. 

Details of Kavenagh's character -- as well as the plot of the series --  are unknown, though her name in the show will be Tyra, per Variety, which is not the name of a character that appears in any of J.R.R. Tolkien's books. The series will take place before The Fellowship Of The Ring book, and cover the 'Second Age' -- which is when the Rings of Power came into existence in the Tolkien's universe. Kavenagh may not be a household name, but has previously appeared in Aussie films like Romper Stomper and Picnic At Hanging Rock, as well as the BBC One series The Cry. She is repped by Silver Lining Entertainment. 

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Markella Kavenagh in ‘The Cry.’

After starring in The Cry, Romper Stomper, Picnic at Hanging Rock and True History of the Kelly Gang, Markella Kavenagh has landed the biggest role of her short career: a series regular in Amazon Studios’ Lord of the Rings prequel.

The young Aussie will play a character named Tyra in the fantasy series set in Middle Earth before J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, according to Variety.

Juan Antonio Bayona will direct multiple episodes of the show to be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which produced the Peter Jackson trilogy.

Its Twitter account released an image of a map with two messages: “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,...

Joseph Baxter Jul 22, 2019

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series adds actress Markell Kavenagh as its very first cast member.

The allegedly-exorbitant Lord of the Rings television series from Amazon Prime Video has reached a new tier in the buildup to its production, the selection of its first cast member.

Markella Kavenagh is the inaugural cast member of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings television series, as Variety reports. With the show process still being in early stages, details on Kavenagh’s character are being tightly-kept. However, sources tell the trade that said character will be named “Tyra.”

Kavenagh, a relative newcomer, recently made her onscreen debut in the 2018-launched Australian Stan drama series, Romper Stomper, moving on to her first bit of work with Amazon on the Natalie Dormer-headlined updated adaptation miniseries, Picnic at Hanging Rock, subsequently appearing on the Jenna Coleman-headlined BBC mystery series, The Cry.

The upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series at Amazon has made its first casting decision.

Variety has learned from multiple sources that Markella Kavenagh is in talks for a role in the upcoming epic fantasy series. Details of Kavenagh’s characters are being kept under wraps, but sources say she would be playing a character named Tyra.

Kavenagh is known for having previously starred in the sequel series to the Australian film “Romper Stomper” as well as for roles in the shows “Picnic at Hanging Rock” and “The Cry.” She is repped by Silver Lining Entertainment.

Amazon and reps for Kavenagh declined to comment.

The “Lord of the Rings” series is being developed by the writing team of Jd Payne and Patrick McKay. In addition, “Game of Thrones” alum Bryan Cogman has signed on as a consultant on the project with J.A. Bayona set to direct multiple episodes.

Little is...

In today’s film news roundup, Kristen Schaal and Holland Taylor have joined the cast of “Bill & Ted Face The Music”; Gravitas sets a pair of release dates; Alamo Drafthouse unveils its “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” plans; and Peter Weir is set for an honor.

Castings

Kristen Schaal and Holland Taylor have joined the cast of “Bill & Ted Face The Music” as characters from 700 years in the future.

Schaal will play a messenger while Taylor is set to take on the role of The Great Leader, the most powerful person in the universe. Keanu Reeves will again portray Ted “Theodore” Logan, and Alex Winter will reprise his role as Bill S. Preston, Esq. Other cast members include Scott Mescudi – best known by his stage name Kid Cudi – William Sadler, Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine.

Amy Stoch and Hal Landon Jr. have signed on to reprise their...

Samara Weaving attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood, California.

Hammerstone Studios announced today that rising stars Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving have been cast in Bill & Ted Face The Music as Billie Logan – Keanu Reeves daughter (Lundy-Paine) and Thea Preston – Alex Winters daughter (Weaving ).

The two will play the daughters of the eponymous time traveling duo who join their fathers in their quest to save the universe.

They join alongside previously announced stars Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and William Sadler in the third installment of the Bill & Ted series. Dean Parisot directs from a screenplay by returning franchise writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon.

“When we saw Samara and Brigette together, it was like deja vu. It was exactly the way we felt when we first saw Keanu and Alex. We are so thrilled to have this funny and unique pair join the Bill and Ted team!

Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving have been cast in Bill & Ted Face the Music, the third installment in the franchise that returns Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter to their iconic roles. The film, from Orion Pictures, has set an August 21, 2020 release date via United Artists Releasing.

Lundy-Paine will play Billie Logan, the daughter to Reeves’ Ted “Theodore” Logan, while Weaving is Thea Preston, daughter of Winter’s Bill S. Preston. They join their dads, now middle-aged best friends, as they set out on a new adventure, when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it and bring harmony to the universe. William Sadler also stars.

Dean Parisot directs the pic from a screenplay by returning franchise writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. Scott Kroopf is producing alongside Alex Lebovici and Steve Ponce on behalf of Hammerstone Studios. Steven Soderbergh is...

Joseph Baxter Jun 5, 2019

Threequel Bill & Ted Face the Music has found the actresses who will play the daughters of the eponymous time-travelling rockers.

Bill & Ted Face the Music just took a major step, having confirmed the first new cast members for the near 30-years-in-the-making continuation of its film universe. Indeed, the lives of our esteemed history-traveling headbangers will manifest with the concept of respective fatherhood in the form of two young-adult daughters, who have each been cast.

Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine will play the new (literal) babes in the lives of Alex Winter’s Bill S. Preston Esq. and Keanu Reeves’s “Ted Theodore” Logan. Indeed, Weaving will portray Thea Preston (Bill’s daughter) and Lundy-Paine will play Billie Logan (Ted’s daughter)*, each of whom will join their fathers in the film for a new time-crossing quest to save the universe. As producer Scott Kroopf lauds of the...

Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine (“Atypical”) have joined the cast of “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” and are set to play the daughters of the time-traveling duo.

Weaving will play Keanu Reevees’ daughter Billie Logan, while Lundy-Paine is playing Alex Winter’s daughter Thea Preston. Dean Parisot is directing the project, based on a screenplay by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, who are returning to the franchise.

“Bill & Ted Face The Music” follows the events of 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and 1991’s “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” with the now middle-aged best friends William “Bill” S. Preston, Esq. (Winter) and Theodore “Ted” Logan (Reeves) setting out on a new adventure to fulfill their rock and roll (Wyld Stallions) destiny to bring harmony to the universe through the power of their music. Along the way, they will be helped by their families, old friends and a few music legends.

Bill and Ted are getting some excellent new cohorts to go along on their much-anticipated third journey. Hammerstone Studios has announced that the long-teased “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” the third film in the rollocking time travel franchise that first kicked off in 1989, has cast a new duo: the eponymous lead’s daughters.

Rising stars Samara Weaving is on deck to star as Bill Preston’s (Alex Winters) daughter Thea Preston, while Brigette Lundy-Paine will join her as Ted Logan’s (Keanu Reeves) daughter Billie Logan.

“When we saw Samara and Brigette together, it was like deja vu. It was exactly the way we felt when we first saw Keanu and Alex. We are so thrilled to have this funny and unique pair join the Bill and Ted team!” said producer Scott Kroopf in an official statement.

Lundy-Paine currently stars in the Netflix original series “Atypical” opposite Keir Gilchrist,...

Huw Higginson.

Huw Higginson often plays admirable, upstanding characters but sometimes he gets more of a kick out of tackling villains.

In the past year the English-born actor has portrayed a brutish magistrate in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale and a serial killer truck driver in Playmaker Media’s Mandarin series Chosen directed by Tony Tilse.

He played more nuanced characters including the abandoned husband and father of Miranda Tapsell’s bride-to-be in Wayne Blair’s Top End Wedding; a lawyer who represents the family of a missing priest (Sam Reid) in Lingo Pictures/Foxtel’s drama Lambs of God; and a wealthy gentleman who sends his ward to boarding school in Fremantle/Foxtel’s Picnic at Hanging Rock.

“Unpleasant characters are often more interesting to play,” says the actor who played the well-meaning Constable George Garfield in The Bill for 10 years. “You have to try to find something to...

As May comes to a close, a last-minute surge of original TV series, specials and movies is going to keep audiences busy as they head into their summer vacations. The Television Academy cuts off Emmy eligibility on May 31, and many cable networks and streaming services are loading their lineups with under-the-wire contenders — including on that last possible day.

It just so happens that May 31 falls on a Friday this year, and several programmers are flooding it with shows for viewers to consume over the weekend while conveniently just squeaking into Emmy contention. But whether that approach really helps those shows’ awards chances is debatable.

Premieres on the final day of eligibility include HBO’s long-awaited “Deadwood” movie and Amazon Prime Video’s TV take on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens,” starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant. Netflix has the Ava DuVernay four-part limited series “When They See Us,...

Day for Night is delighted to announce the programme for the 2019 edition of its Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival. Aperture will run in London from 4-13 June with a line-up of 13 features, both new titles and classics, including 6 UK Premieres and 1 London Premiere, as well as 17 shorts. Highlights for the festival include the UK premiere of critically acclaimed Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s “The Gentle Indifference of the World” (Opening Film), the London premiere of Aboozar Amini’s mesmeric debut feature-length documentary “Kabul, City in the Wind” and a screening of 2K restoration of Peter Weir’s classic drama “Picnic at Hanging Rock”.

Aperture seeks to bridge the gap within the UK festival landscape as the only UK film festival to cover the whole of the Asian region and also to explore Oceania and is presented by UK based independent film organisation Day for Night in partnership with the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media...

“Game of Thrones” alum Natalie Dormer has joined the cast of “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” Showtime announced Friday.

Dormer will play Magda, a supernatural demon who can take the appearance of anyone she chooses and manifests in a number of guises throughout the story. Charismatic, clever and chameleonic, Magda is a dangerous enemy and an invaluable ally.

While “Penny Dreadful” was set in Victorian-era London, “City of Angels” opens in 1938 Los Angeles, a time and place deeply infused with social and political tension. When a grisly murder shocks the city, Detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) is embroiled in an epic story that reflects the rich history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city’s first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the Third Reich and the rise of radio evangelism.

Also Read: 'Game of Thrones' Star Natalie...

Game of Thrones alumna Natalie Dormer is set for a lead role opposite Daniel Zovatto in Showtime’s upcoming series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, a followup to Penny Dreadful from the original series’ creator, writer and executive producer John Logan.

A spiritual descendant of the story set in Victorian-era London, the next chapter will employ a new vision, new characters and storylines. It opens in 1938 Los Angeles; a time and place deeply infused with social and political tension. When a grisly murder shocks the city, Detective Tiago Vega (Zovatto) is embroiled in an epic story that reflects the rich history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city’s first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the Third Reich and the rise of radio evangelism. Before long, Tiago and his family are grappling with powerful forces that threaten to tear them apart.

Natalie Dormer has been cast in upcoming drama series “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” in a lead role, Variety has learned.

Described as a spiritual descendant of the original “Penny Dreadful,” the new series opens in 1938 Los Angeles. When a grisly murder shocks the city, Detective Tiago Vega is embroiled in a story that reflects the history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city’s first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the Third Reich and the rise of radio evangelism.

Dormer will play Magda, a supernatural demon who can take the appearance of anyone she chooses and manifests in a number of guises throughout the story. Described as charismatic, clever and chameleon-like, Magda is a dangerous enemy and an invaluable ally. Dormer joins previously announced cast members Daniel Zovatto, who will play Det. Vega, and Jessica Garza and Jonathan Nieves.