News

Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan are set to join the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for the upcoming third season. Bower will be a regular in the series, while Marsan will appear in a recurring role. The new season is in pre-production now and will begin filming this spring at Shepperton Studios in the UK.

Bower is widely recognized for his role as the villain Henry Creel/Vecna in Netflix’s Stranger Things. He’s also appeared as Mick Jagger in Urban Myths: Mick & Margaret, Christopher Marlow in Will, and King Arthur in Camelot. He even voiced Skiff in Thomas & Friends.

Related: 10 Ways ‘The Rings of Power’ Is Different than ‘Lord of the Rings’ (& 5 Why It Is Better)

Marsan is best known for playing Terry Donovan in the Showtime series Ray Donovan, which ran for seven seasons. He...

Middle-earth just gained two more inhabitants.

Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan have joined the cast of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” for the Amazon Prime Video series’ upcoming third season.

Bower will be a series regular, while Marsan will appear in a recurring role. The season is currently in pre-production and will begin filming this spring at Shepperton Studios in the U.K.

Bower is perhaps best known for playing the villain Henry Creel/Vecna in Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” He also played Mick Jagger in “Urban Myths: Mick & Margaret,” Christopher Marlow in “Will,” King Arthur in “Camelot,” the voice of Skiff in “Thomas & Friends” and 11-12 in the remake of “The Prisoner” alongside Sir Ian McKellen.

He made his film debut in Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” opposite Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter. He...

The “For All Mankind” spinoff “Star City” is building out its cast with the addition of three new series regulars.

Variety has learned that Solly McLeod, Agnes O’Casey, and Alice Englert have all signed on to the alt-history drama.

They will appear alongside previously announced cast members Rhys Ifans and Anna Maxwell Martin.

The show was originally announced in April 2024. As previously reported, the series will tell the story the alternative history of the space race like “For All Mankind,” but this time from the Soviet Union perspective.

The official description for the show says it is “a propulsive, paranoid thriller that takes us back to the key moment in the alt-history retelling of the space race – when the Soviet Union became the first nation to put a man on the moon. But this time, we explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, showing the lives of the cosmonauts,...

Solly McLeod (House of the Dragon), Agnes O’Casey (Black Doves) & Alice Englert (Bad Behaviour) have joined the cast of Star City, Apple TV+’s upcoming spinoff from the streamer’s space drama For All Mankind. They join previously announced Rhys Ifans and Anna Maxwell Martin.

Created by Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and Ronald D. Moore, Star City is another alt-history retelling of the space race – when the Soviet Union became the first nation to put a man on the moon. But this time, we explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, showing the lives of the cosmonauts, the engineers, and the intelligence officers embedded among them in the Soviet space program, and the risks they all took to propel humanity forward.

McLeod will play Sasha, a reckless cosmonaut who has yet to live up to his potential.

O’Casey will portray Irina, a recent addition to the surveillance department at Star City.

An Irish heiress becomes a prisoner of her ruthless uncle and his twisted spawn in this gripping adaptation of author J. Sheridan Le Fanu's classic gothic novel. Lies We Tell masterfully stokes unease and tension before escalating into a harrowing journey of sexual and psychological abuse. Your skin will crawl as a leery protagonist realizes the dire severity of her situation. She's trapped not only by her relatives, but also victimized by a cruel patriarchy's constraints on women. How can you scream for help when no one is willing to listen?

In Ireland circa 1864, on the lush estate of Knowl, 17-year-old Maude Ruthyn (Agnes O'Casey) leaves her recently deceased father's grave for an important meeting. Doctor Bryerly (Mark Doherty) and Captain Ilbury (Kieran Roche) have been named trustees of Maude's fortune but not her guardian. That right falls to her long-banished Uncle Silas (David Wilmot), who was infamously acquitted for murdering a gambler.

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

This week we’re heading the westernmost end of Europe to discover why Irish dramedy Faithless became a hit from a nation with a storied history of comic creations. Written by and starring Baz Ashmawy, known primarily for his TV travelogs and Sky’s 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy, the darkly comic series charts how a widowed Irish-Egyptian father in County Wicklow attempts to raise three young girls, while exploring issues such as grief, gender roles, identity and acceptance.

Name: Faithless

Country:...

Update 8 Am Pt: Studiocanal has now unveiled Sara Reese Geffroy as SVP of its nascent Studiocanal Stories label and TV series development.

She will run the French major’s new literary adaptations division, which was unveiled earlier today, while also supervising the development of Studiocanal TV series. She has held the VP Development TV series role for the past three years.

Geffroy will start on May 1 and report into new Studiocanal TV boss M-k Kennedy and Ron Halpern, EVP Global Production and Talent Management.

Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh said Geffroy’s “knowledge of the sales and production roles, as well as her trusted relationships with the production companies which form part of the Studiocanal ecosystem, are major assets to achieve our ambitions in the franchise and adaptations market.”

Previous: Studiocanal is pushing further into TV and film adaptations of literary IP.

The Canal+-owned company has launched Studiocanal Stories, two...

Suits star Patrick J. Adams, Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Sas Rogue Heroes), Merritt Wever (Unbelievable, Godless) and Eddie Marsan (Ridley Road, The Pact) are part of the the cast of the upcoming six-episode series Lockerbie, about the December 1988 terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103, for the BBC and Netflix.

Further castmembers unveiled Tuesday include Peter Mullan (Ozark, Payback), Tony Curran (Mary & George, Mayflies), Lauren Lyle (Karen Pirie, Vigil), Andrew Rothney (The Undeclared War, Traces), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey, Guilt), Parker Sawyers (Spy/Master, P-Valley), James Harkness (The Sixth Commandment, The Victim), Khalid Laith (Vigil, Cobra) and Amanda Drew (The Gold, Wolf).

The BBC and Netflix didn’t detail what roles each castmember will play, but said that filming on the show, described as a “factual drama” made by ITV Studios banner World Productions, has begun in Scotland.

“The six-part series is based on the real events surrounding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the joint Scottish-u.

A string of high-profile figures from the entertainment world attended a march against antisemitism on the streets of London yesterday, in what is thought to be the biggest rally of its kind for nearly 90 years.

The likes of Maureen Lipman, Eddie Marsan and It’s a Sin star Tracy Ann-Oberman were at the march, which is reported to have attracted more than 100,000 people. Others who attended included former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson, Countdown host Rachel Riley and comedian David Baddiel. Marsan, Baddiel and Riley were amongst those who addressed the crowds.

Organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), the rally took place to counter heightened concerns over antisemitism among Jewish communities in multiple European countries since the attack on October 7 by Hamas on Israel – which saw the kidnap of 200 civilians and killing of around 1,400 – and the war that has followed.

There was a 1,300% increase in antisemitic...

An orphaned Irish teenager spars with her scheming uncle in this insightful reworking of Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel

Here is a tightly laced, elegantly cut gothic period drama that easily slips through the cracks as the barrage of upmarket cinema vying for awards begins. The 19th-century source material, Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel Uncle Silas, isn’t super well-known outside university literature departments, and the lead actors aren’t especially famous names either – although gravelly-voiced David Wilmot, here playing the heavy, has built a career making indelible impressions with supporting roles on film and TV (Station Eleven). Likewise, if you caught limited TV series Ridley Road then the talents of Agnes O’Casey will already be a known quantity. But in a way, the freshness of face and/or versatility of both O’Casey and Wilmot, along with the rest of the cast, are what makes this feel like a discovery.

Industry and Rye Lane star David Jonsson, Lord of the Rings lead Morfydd Clark and Downton Abbey‘s Penelope Wilton are among the cast of BBC and Britbox International’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation, Murder is Easy.

Filming is now underway in Scotland, with Jonsson playing lead character Fitzwilliam. On a train in 1954 England, he meets Miss Pinkerton (Wilton), who tells him a killer is on the loose in the sleepy village of Wychwood under Ashe. Though the locals believes the deaths are accidents, Miss Pinkerton knows better and is soon found dead on her way to Scotland Yard. Fitzwilliams is convinced he has to find the killer before they strike again.

Clark will play Bridget, Sinead Matthews (Hullraisers, The Crown) is Miss Waynflete, Tom Riley (The Nevers, Ill Behaviour) is Lord Whitfield, Douglas Henshall (Shetland, In Plain Sight) plays Major Horton, Mathew Baynton (Ghosts, Wonka) portrays Dr Thomas, Mark Bonnar (World on Fire,...

’The Martini Shot’, starring Matthew Modine, John Cleese and Derek Jacobi, will also world premiere.

The Galway Film Fleadh has lined up a number of world premieres of Irish films for this year’s festival, which runs from July 11-16, including Lisa Mulcahy’s Lies We Tell, George Kane’s Apocalypse Clown and The Martini Shot, starring Matthew Modine, John Cleese and Derek Jacobi.

Lies We Tell is the story of an heiress who is forced to embrace her family’s dark legacy, starring Agnes O’Casey, David Wilmot, Holly Sturton and Chris Walley. Produced by Blue Ink Films and backed by Screen Ireland,...

“Bridgerton” Season 2 breakout Calam Lynch has joined “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” cast, along with new additions Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin

Eldon, Will Keen and Selina Lo.

The eight new members join previously announced Season 2 additions Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen “Zates” Atour, Ben Daniels, Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle and Nicholas Woodeson.

Sam Hazeldine was also recently announced as a replacement for “Game of Thrones” alumnus Joseph Mawle as antagonist Adar.

As is custom for the series, character details for all are being kept under wraps.

Also Read:

‘Rings of Power’ Recasts Orc Villain Role Adar for Season 2 as Additional New Cast Members Revealed

Lynch broke out in Netflix’s second season of “Bridgerton” with the role of Theo Sharpe, a love interest of sorts to the stubborn Eloise (Claudia Jessie). Other television credits include Channel 4’s “Derry Girls” and BBC’s “Mrs. Wilson.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is continuing to build out its cast for Season 2.

The epic fantasy series has added eight new recurring cast members. They are: Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon, Will Keen, Selina Lo, and Calam Lynch.

As with past announcements, character details for the new additions to the cast are being kept under wraps. Season 2 of “The Rings of Power” is currently in production in the U.K., with Season 1 having launched worldwide on Amazon earlier this year beginning in September 2022. The season finale dropped on Oct. 14.

This is the second casting announcement for the series in as many weeks. It was previously revealed that seven actors were joining the series, including Sam Hazeldine, who will take over the role of Adar from Joseph Mawle in the second season.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power...

“Masked Singer” host Davina McCall, “We Are Lady Parts” creator Nida Manzoor, legendary British sports anchor Sue Barker and Emma Butt, a dubbing mixer, dialogue and SFX editor and Adr recordist, were among the women celebrated at the Women in Film and TV Awards on Friday evening in London..

Comedian Katherine Ryan hosted the event, which saw numerous famous faces in attendance including “Bad Sisters” star Anne-Marie Duff, who awarded Ramita Navai a prize for the BBC News and Factual award, former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston, who handed Nainita Desai the Gravity Media Creative Technology prize, and “Bridgerton’s” Adjoa Andoh, who presented Akua Gyamfi the Mercury Business award.

Other well-known names present at the event were “Inside No. 9” star Jessica Hynes, TV “Ridley Road’s” Tamzin Outhwaite, “Strictly Come Dancing” semi-finalist Aj Odudu, “This Morning” host Dermot O’Leary, who presented and accepted the Eikon presenter award on Davina McCall’s behalf,...

Some new faces are set to hit Middle-Earth. “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” has added seven new cast members for its second season, which is currently in production in the United Kingdom.

Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen Atour, Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle, Ben Daniels, Nicholas Woodeson, and Sam Hazeldine have been cast in the series, which serves as a prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy series. Hazeldine replaces Joseph Mawle, who played the Ork leader Adar in the first season of the series; a reason for the casting change was not given. The other new cast members’ roles are currently being kept under wraps, but all of them join the show in a recurring capacity.

Akuwudike has appeared in the TV series “Hanna,” “Ridley Road,” and “War of the Worlds,” along with the films “1917” and “Brexit.” Atour was a cast member in Season 2 of Netflix’s “The Witcher,...

Variety can reveal a first look at Maggie Smith and Laura Linney in the new drama “The Miracle Club,” which has wrapped production in Ireland and is now in post.

The Dublin-shot film, which also stars Kathy Bates, centers on four Dublin women who come together on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Lourdes in France, where they discover the solidarity in their friendship and unveil their own personal miracles.

Directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, “The Miracle Club” wrapped over the summer at Ardmore Studios in Dublin.

The film also features Oscar nominee Stephen Rea and up-and-coming star Agnes O’Casey.

Linney most recently starred in the last season of Netflix’s “Ozark,” while Smith was last in “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” where she plays the salty Dowager Countess. Bates starred in the 2020 film “Home,” directed by German actor Franka Potente.

“The Miracle Club” is an official co-production between Chris Curling...

Exclusive: It’s A Sin producer Red Production Company has optioned acclaimed British author Ayisha Malik’s The Movement just days prior to the book’s publication.

The Studiocanal-owned indie will develop an “ambitious TV series” from the book and is currently attaching an as-yet-unnamed writer to adapt. No network is attached as of yet.

Due to be published on July 21, The Movement is Malik’s fourth novel after Sofia Khan is not Obliged, The Other Half of Happiness and This Green and Pleasant Land.

The book follows protagonist Sara Javed, a well-known novelist who decides to stop speaking, triggering a worldwide silence movement that sends shockwaves through society.

The Movement joins a Red development slate that also includes John Boyne’s adaptation of his novel The Echo Chamber.

Red was behind Russell T Davies’ critically-acclaimed Channel 4/HBO drama It’s A Sin, along with a range of Harlan Coben...

UK head Alex Hamilton and TV production head Françoise Guyonnet to temporarily steer UK outfit.

Studiocanal UK chief execuive Alex Hamilton and Studiocanal executive managing director of TV series, Françoise Guyonnet are to temporarily help steer Salford-based Red Production Company following the departure of Sarah Doole.

Last week it was reported Doole had stepped down from the It’s A Sin producer in early May to focus full-time on her scripted and unscripted incubator Sow The Seed.

Studiocanal is in the process of setting up a team to manage Red “during this period of transition” with support from Hamilton and Guyonnet.

UK chief Alex Hamilton and production boss Françoise Guyonnet to steer indie on temporary basis.

Studiocanal UK chief exec Alex Hamilton and production chief Françoise Guyonnet are to temporarily help steer Red Production Company following the departure of Sarah Doole.

Last week it was reported that Doole had stepped down from the It’s A Sin producer in early May to focus full-time on her scripted and unscripted incubator Sow The Seed.

Studiocanal is in the process of setting up a team to manage Red “during this period of transition” with support from Hamilton and Guyonnet.

Hamilton became UK chief...

Exclusive: Patrick J. Adams (Suits) and Karine Vanasse (Cardinal) have been cast as the leads in an English-language adaptation of time travel drama Plan B for Canada’s CBC.

Adapted from the Radio-Canada French-language drama created by Jean-François Asselin and Jacques Drolet and set in Montreal, Plan B is billed as high-concept, gripping and intimate psychological drama about a man on a desperate and relentless quest to save his relationship – and by extension, his whole world.

Adams plays Philip, who discovers how to go back in time, giving him the chance to save his relationship with love of his life Evelyn (Vanasse), his law firm and his dysfunctional family. But he soon realizes that even the smallest choice has repercussions — as uncontrollable as they are unexpected — on his life and the lives of others.

Quebec-based Kotv, which produces the original series, is attached to the adaption and will be...

Keira Knightley-voiced animated biopic “Charlotte” has been picked up for distribution in U.K. and Ireland by Parkland Entertainment.

The feature, from Good Deed Entertainment, the studio behind “Loving Vincent,” tells the story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish artist who was murdered in Auschwitz at the age of 26. Knightley voices Salomon in the English-language version while Marion Cotillard voices the artist in the French-language version.

“Charlotte” also features one of the last performances from “Peaky Blinders” star Helen McRory, who died of cancer in 2021.

“Charlotte” is directed by Eric Warin and Tahir Rana and includes the voices of Jim Broadbent (“Paddington 2”), Brenda Blethyn (“Pride and Prejudice”), Sam Claflin (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”), Eddie Marsan (“Ridley Road”), Sophie Okonedo (“Death on the Nile”) and Mark Strong (“1917”).

Erik Rutherford and David Bezmozgis wrote the screenplay.

The film is produced by Julia Rosenberg as well as Jerome Dopffer,...

A popular song in the 1960s quipped, “England swings like a pendulum do,” but during that flashy decade of youthful rebellion, there was also a much more sinister movement sweeping the land toward neo-Nazi white-supremacy fascism. PBS’s Masterpiece revisits this uneasy time (with unfortunate echoes of the present) in the tense four-part limited series Ridley Road, featuring the exploits of a most unusual Mata Hari–style spy. We meet Vivien Epstein (an alluringly vulnerable Agnes O’Casey) as a restless young Jewish woman in Manchester, fleeing a dull arranged marriage proposal to follow her dashing boyfriend, Jack (Tom Varey), to London, though he warned her not to. Finding work as a hairdresser in fashionable Soho, this romantic is in for a rude awakening when she discovers that Jack has gone underground as a member of the anti-fascist 62 Group, based in the East End’s Ridley Road and led by her...

Keira Knightley-voiced animated biopic “Charlotte” has an official trailer.

The feature, from Good Deed Entertainment, the studio behind “Loving Vincent,” tells the story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish artist who was murdered in Auschwitz at the age of 26.

“Charlotte” is directed by Eric Warin and Tahir Rana and features the voices of Jim Broadbent, Sam Claflin (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”), Eddie Marsan (“Ridley Road”), Sophie Okonedo (“Death on the Nile”) and Mark Strong (“1917”).

It also features one of the last performances from “Peaky Blinders” star Helen McRory, who died of cancer in 2021.

A French version of the film stars Marion Cotillard (“Inception”) as Charlotte.

“I believe this film is going to connect with young creative women,” producer Julia Rosenberg told Variety. “It’s a war story, it’s a refugee story, but it’s really a biopic of an artist who’s been overlooked. She invented the graphic memoir,...

The new head of production will report into Duck Soup’s founders.

UK film and TV production outfit Duck Soup Films has appointed established line producer Kate Larking as head of production.

Larking will be responsible for overseeing the management of all Duck Soup projects, from development through to delivery, and will reporting to the company’s founders Bekki Wray-Rogers, Libby Durdy and Jessica Hoyland.

Prior to joining Duck Soup, Larking was working with Birmingham-based, kids and family focused indie Threewise Entertainment. Additionally, her credits include BBC series Ridley Road for Red Productions.

Leeds-based Duck Soup was founded in 2015 by Wray-Rogers,...

Documentary

Comcast-owned pay TV service Sky U.K. has released the first trailer for “Super Greed: The Fight for Football.” Produced by Fulwell 73, the 90-minute film charts the rise and rapid fall of the European Super League. In Apr. 2021, owners and executives of the 12 most powerful clubs in world soccer attempted to launch a new competition that would secure their club’s financial future for the next 23 years. The Super League created a fury of opposition from the entire soccer world and collapsed in just 48 hours. “Super Greed: The Fight for Football” tells the inside story of the league through the eyes of those who helped bring it down.

Contributors include president of UEFA, Aleksander Čeferin; president of La Liga, Javier Tebas; chairman of Crystal Palace Fc, Steve Parish; MP for Liverpool, West Derby, Ian Byrne; soccer writer, Nicky Bandini; Arsenal Supporters’ Trust spokesperson, Tim Payton; and Chelsea Supporters’ Trust member,...

Exclusive: Sam Mendes has begun principal photography on the south coast of England for his upcoming feature, Empire Of Light. From Searchlight Pictures, the drama is written by Mendes — his first solo screenplay — and stars Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke and Tanya Moodie.

Joining the previously announced cast are Tom Brooke and Hannah Onslow (Ridley Road, Call The Midwife).

Billed as a love story set in and around a beautiful old cinema in the 1980s, Empire Of Light will shoot in Margate and along the Kent coastline through May. Produced by Pippa Harris and Mendes under their Neal Street Productions banner, it will be released theatrically by Searchlight.

The filmmaking team is a who’s who of Oscar winners and nominees and includes longstanding Mendes collaborators such as cinematographer Roger Deakins, who reunites with Mendes for their fifth collaboration; as well...

Nominations have been announced for this year’s Irish Film And TV Academy Awards (IFTAs). Scroll down for the full list.

Leading the way with ten apiece are Kenneth Branagh’s much-fancied awards contender Beflast and Irish-language feature An Cailín Ciúin, which recently won the Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus program at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Both titles are up for Best Film, alongside Deadly Cuts, Swan Song, Who We Love, and You Are Not My Mother. Of those six, four are debut features.

For Belfast, Branagh will also contend for the Best Director and Best Script prizes. The film is up for seven Oscars this year.

On the TV Side, crime drama Kin dominated the field with 13 nominations, including Best Drama, as well as director, script, actor (twice) and actress. Vikings:Valhalla, the Netflix sequel of the popular historical show, received seven noms, as did BBC show Hidden Assets.

Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” and Colm Bairéad “An Cailín Ciúin” lead nominations at the 2022 Irish Film and Television Academy Film and Drama award nominations with 10 nods across categories.

“Belfast” is nominated for best film, best director and script for Branagh, with a lead actor nod for Jude Hill, supporting actor recognitions for Ciarán Hinds and Jamie Dornan and a supporting actress nod for Caitríona Balfe, besides craft nominations.

“An Cailín Ciúin” (“The Quiet Girl”), which won the grand prize at the Generation Kplus strand of the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival, was similarly recognized across the main categories.

“Kin” led the drama nominations with 13 nods, while “Vikings: Valhalla” and “Hidden Assets” had seven each and “Smother” five.

IFTA chief executive Áine Moriarty said: “What a spectacular line-up of nominees that have been shortlisted for Irish Academy Awards this year, after a record-breaking production year for the Irish industry. The work...

Exclusive: George Clooney’s long-awaited adaptation of The Boys in the Boat looks to be gearing up production as sources tell Deadline, Clooney has rounded out his cast with Joel Edgerton, Jack Mulhern, Sam Strike, Luke Slattery, Thomas Elms, Tom Varey, Bruce Herbelin-Earle, Wil Coban and Hadley Robinson joining Callum Turner, who was previously announced. MGM, Spyglass and Smokehouse are partnering on the production with Clooney directing and Mark L. Smith writing the script.

Based on No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel James Brown’s 2013 novel The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the pic will tell the triumphant underdog story of the University of Washington men’s rowing team, who stunned the world by winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Clooney and his Smoke House Pictures partner Grant Heslov are producing the project with Spyglass executive producing. Clooney...

Sales

Studiocanal has sold a raft of global territories on four-part thriller drama series “Ridley Road.” Created by Studiocanal’s Red Production Company, commissioned for BBC One and co-produced with Masterpiece, the series will air in the U.S. on PBS Masterpiece, in France on Canal Plus, and has also been acquired by Now Studio Hong Kong, ABC Australia, Nova Greece, Yle Finland, Svt Sweden, Nrk Norway, Dr Denmark, Rte Ireland, Hot Israel, Canal Plus Poland and Disney Plus Benelux. A sale to Mola Indonesia was agreed earlier this year.

Based on Jo Bloom’s book, the series follows a young Jewish woman who falls in love with a member of the ’62 Group. She rejects her comfortable middle-class life in Manchester and joins the fights against fascism in London, risking everything for her beliefs for the man she loves.

The drama adaption is written, and executive produced by Sarah Solemani...

Liverpool City Council have set out the next steps on the long road to delivering a new film and TV studio in the city.

A report, which will go to the Council’s Cabinet next Friday (December 3), is requesting permission to unlock a potential £70M to redevelop the iconic Littlewoods building, which would include studios, creative office space and new media facilities.

The former art-deco HQ of the Littlewoods empire has been vacant for decades and is in a state of dilapidation, including fire damage in 2018.

The report sets out proposals to kick-start the long-gestating redevelopment in two phases, with approval being sought to begin an £8M remediation of the building in early 2022.

If approved, phase one funding will come from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and be granted to developers Capital&Centric to carry out site investigations, remediation and main scheme design works.

The £8m required is part...

Helena Bonham Carter has signed up to star in the new 3-part drama from BAFTA-winning writer Russell T Davies, ‘Nolly.’

Forty years after Noele Gordon’s shock sacking from ‘Crossroads‘, the drama explores the all-powerful reign, and fall from grace, of the inimitable Noele Gordon, TV legend and Queen of the Midlands, the darling of the establishment until it turned on her and betrayed her.

Noele (or Nolly to her friends) was a legend in her lifetime. As flame-haired widow Meg Richardson in the long-running soap opera ‘Crossroads’, she was one of the most famous people in Britain. Then in 1981, at the height of the show’s success and the peak of Nolly’s fame, she was axed without ceremony, without warning and with no explanation. With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of...

“Midas Man,” the biopic about legendary music manager Brian Epstein, has begun shooting in Liverpool, U.K., giving fans the first look at Jacob Fortune-Lloyd’s transformation into the title role (above left).

The actor, who has starred in “Medici” and “The Queen’s Gambit,” will portray the always dapper Epstein in the StudioPOW and Trevor Beattie Films production alongside Emily Watson (“Everest”) as Epstein’s mother, Eddie Marsan (“Ridley Road”) as his father Harry, Lukas Gage (“Euphoria”) as his lover Tex Ellington and Charley Palmer Rothwell (“Jack Ryan”) who will play The Beatles’ record producer George Martin

The film has also cast “Outlander” star Rosie Day as another one of Epstein’s acts, singer Cilla Black. Jonas Åkerlund (“Lords of Chaos”) directs.

The film will shoot across Liverpool, London and the U.S. this fall.

Epstein, who died of an overdose at the age of 32, was responsible for discovering and...

Producer and financier Anton, whose credits include “Greenland,” “His Dark Materials” and “The Night House,” has announced that its latest production, the feature film “Curs>R,” has wrapped principal photography in the U.K. A dark twist on the ‘80s gaming obsession, the horror thriller stars Asa Butterfield, Iola Evans and Eddie Marsan.

Anton will oversee world sales and introduce the project to buyers at the upcoming Cannes virtual market later this month, in association with Endeavor Content, which is co-representing the U.S.

The film also features horror maestro Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger in “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Rounding out the cast is Angela Griffin, Kate Fleetwood, Ryan Gage,” and Joe Bolland (“The Trial of Christine Keeler”).

In pursuit of an unclaimed $125,000 prize, a broke college dropout (Evans) decides to play an obscure, 1980s survival computer game. But the game curses her, and she’s faced...

Samara Weaving, Max Minghella, Lukas Haas Flea, Rory Scovel, Eric Roberts, P.J. Byrne and Damon Gupton have all been added to Damien Chazelle’s movie industry homage movie ‘Babylon’.

The newly announced cast members will join the already announced cast of Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Katherine Waterston.

Described as “The Great Gatsby on steroids” the project is set in the late 1920s during the movie industry’s transition from silent films to talkies, it will explore the rise and fall of multiple characters and will feature both fictional and historical characters.

Also in news – First look images drop for BBC One mini-series ‘Ridley Road’

Roles are currently being kept under wraps but it is assumed that Minghella MGM’s head of production in the 1920s and 1930s, Irving Thalberg.

Written and directed by Chazelle, Olivia Hamilton, Matt Plouffe and Marc Platt are producing.

The BBC has revealed the first look images from the upcoming mini-series adaptation ‘Ridley Road’.

Inspired by the struggle of the 62 Group, a coalition of Jewish men who stood up against rising neo-Nazism in post-war Britain, Ridley Road sees Vivien leaving her comfortable life in Manchester and starting to work with them when she realises that Jack, her missing boyfriend (played by Varey) has been badly injured. Vivien infiltrates the Nsm, a neo-Nazi movement that is becoming increasingly prominent in London. As Vivien descends further into the fascist organisation, both her courage and loyalties are challenged.

Jack Morris (Tom Varey) – (C) Red Productions – Photographer: Matt Squire Vivien Epstein (Agnes O’Casey) – (C) Red Productions – Photographer: Ben Blackall

Also in news – Chris Noth to return as Mr. Big in ‘Sex and the City’ revival

The 4 x 60 thriller is adapted by award-winning writer Sarah Solemani (Barry, Aphrodite Fry), from the critically acclaimed novel by Jo Bloom.

Paul Mescal emerged as one of the breakout stars of 2020 thanks to his performance in BBC and Hulu drama “Normal People.”

Ireland has seen a slew of such acting talent establish themselves in recent years, like Jessie Buckley with her star turn as the pregnant wife of a doomed Russian fireman in “Chernobyl” and Barry Keoghan, who won attention with lead roles in two 2017 films, “Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “Dunkirk.” Keoghan is now BAFTA-nominated for “Calm with Horses,” as is Niamh Algar, whose credits include “The Virtues” and “Raised by Wolves.” Elsewhere Domhnall Gleeson has made a name for himself as General Dux in recent “Star Wars” films, and also in “The Revenant” and “Ex Machina.”

Among the new generation of actors to watch are Fionn O’Shea, chosen as one of the Berlin Film Festival’s Shooting Stars of 2021. A “Normal People” alumnus, O’Shea will next be...

Veteran British drama producer Nicola Shindler has launched a new scripted venture in Quay Street Productions, backed by ITV Studios.

Based in central Manchester, the outfit will focus on working with new writing talent and producing premium drama for the U.K. and international market. Quay Street Productions is named after the famous Manchester street where Granada Television was based and where Shindler spent a part of her early career. International distribution for the company’s slate will be handled by ITV Studios.

Shindler launched her career at Granada as a script editor on Robbie Coltrane drama “Cracker.” After winning her first BAFTA Award as a producer on ITV drama “Hillsborough,” Shindler launched Red in 1998, producing cult hit “Queer As Folk” and BBC’s “Clocking Off.” In 2019, Shindler was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) and took home one of BAFTA’s highest honours, the Special Award, for her services to British Broadcasting.

Written by Luther creator Neil Cross, The Sister stars Russell Tovey and Bertie Carvel as acquaintances connected by a long-buried, dark secret. The four-part paranormal thriller based on Cross’ 2009 novel Burial, sees Nathan Redman (Tovey) and Bob Morrow (Carvel) tussle with their conscience when the past re-emerges and threatens to upend the lives they’ve built. Tovey and Carvel star alongside Amrita Acharia as Nathan’s partner Holly, and Nina Toussaint-White as Holly’s friend and a police officer investigating the disappearance of a young woman (Simone Ashley).

Leads Carvel and Tovey boast a long and healthy back-catalogue of stage and screen parts. See below for five of their most recognisable roles to date.

Bertie Carvel: Magician, Adulterer, Headmistress, Murdoch, Agatha Christie Jonathan Strange – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Carvel was dream-casting for the role of mercurial magician Jonathan Strange in the 2015 BBC One adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s rich period-fantasy...