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20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment's upcoming three-film adaptation of Goosebumps author R L Stine's teen horror book series Fear Street has been snatching up cast left and right over the past month. And today seems to be no different as this afternoon we got word that Ashley Zukerman, Fred Hechinger, Julia Rehwald, and Jeremy Ford have signed onto the series of flicks. No word on who they will be playing, or in which of the three planned films they will appear. Not only that but now it seems that Honeymoon director Leigh Janiak will be directing all three movies instead of parts 1 and 3 while Listen Up Philip and Queen of Earth writer-director Alex Ross Perry who was attached to helm the middle Fear Street sequel seems to have dropped out or been replaced.

Anyhow, today's casting update comes to us on the heels of the recent announcement that...

‘Emu Runner’, which debuted at Tiff, will screen as part of Adelaide’s feature competition.

Adelaide Film Festival launched its full program today, including a variety of highlights direct from Venice, Toronto and Telluride.

Among the films announced today are Venice’s Golden Lion winner Roma, from director Alfonso Cuarón; the Coen Brothers’ best screenplay winner The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate, for which Willem Dafoe won best actor.

Overall this year’s program includes more than 130 features, documentaries, shorts, virtual reality and installation works, including 17 world premieres and 30 Australian premieres.

Almost 45 per cent of the films in the line-up are Australian. They include, as previously announced, some of the most anticipated local films of the year, such as Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale, which just won Venice’s Special Jury Prize and the Marcello Mastroianni award for star Baykali Ganambarr; Anthony Maras...

David Oyelowo wins for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr; Amma Asante collects award for Belle.

Us civil rights drama Selma and its director Ava Duvernay scored a hat-trick at the Screen Nation Film & Television Award in London on Sunday (Feb 15).

David Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King Jr in the drama, won best male performance in film, while a public vote named Selma the favourite international movie.

A further public vote named Selma director Duvernay favourite female screen personality.

Period drama Belle won Gugu Mbatha-Raw best female performance in film while director Amma Asante collected the award for achievement in film production.

The event, known as the ‘black Baftas’, was also attended by stars including Idris Elba.

Charles Thompson, founder and CEO of Screen Nation, said: “We’re not a diversity quota anymore and never have been. We’re mainstream.”

Winnersuk Screen Awards

Rising Talent

Aaron Fontaine – Actor in HollyoaksAntonia Thomas – Scrotal RecallGeorgina Bobb – Producer...

“From the network that brought you Mermaids,” read the title card ahead of the trailer for Animal Planet’s self-described “scripted event” The Whale: Revenge From the Deep. That may be enough to either intrigue or dissuade any number of people who either liked or disliked Animal Planet’s previous forays into scripted fare like Mermaids, but the trailer does look promising. Add to that the fact that Martin Sheen headlines the film based on a gripping true-life tale, and that’s enough to get us to dive in. The two-hour production is a retelling of the sinking of the Nantucket whaling ship … Continue reading →

The post Animal Planet’s “The Whale” explores real-life event that inspired “Moby-Dick” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

Animal Planet is plunging into scripted territory with a retelling of the story that inspired the novel Moby Dick, in Revenge Of The Whale (working title). Starring Martin Sheen, this two-hour film tells a dramatic story of a time when whales were hunted for their oil. The BBC co-production re-imagines what happened when the magnificent sea creature finally turned on its killers. Here’s a complete look at Animal Planet’s new slate: New Series (in alphabetical order): Deadly Islands Animal Planet’s large predator expert Dave Salmoni is no stranger to adventure. Having trekked the globe to study predators and their unique environments, Salmoni combines his hands-on experiences in his new landmark series, Deadly Islands. Salmoni visits some of the world’s most remote islands to investigate how and why their native inhabitants have been so spectacularly successful at surviving — despite the harshest of conditions. In a unique...

With filming commenced in London on 24: Live Another Day, opportunities have arisen for British actors to nab roles in the Emmy-award winning Us series, including Stephen Fry as the British Prime Minister. The new European-set adventure follows heroic agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), taking up his story several years following the events of the final season back in 2010. Once again, viewers will join Jack on a pulse-pounding ride in real time.

Attack The Block star John Boyega (represented in the UK by Identity Agency Group) will join the series laying a computer tech who flies drones for the military. John has recently been cast to star in the Jesse Owens biopic 'Race'.

Charles Furness (represented by A&J Management) has landed the role of Peter. Charles was a graduate of the inaugural Nyt Rep season and recently starred in BBC drama The Whale alongside John Boyega. He'll also be...

The Whale

If the premise of BBC One’s The Whale seemed a bit familiar it’s because it’s based around the true events that inspired the frequently dramatized novel Moby Dick. Told from the perspective of cabin boy Tom Nickerson (Charles Furness), it centered around the ill-fated crew of a whaling ship named The Essex. The rag-tag bunch of runaways, misfits and career seamen had the misfortune to encounter an unusually aggressive whale. The Essex wasn’t built to withstand a battering from a wayward whale and before long the crew were forced to forget hunting and focus on survival. Cue the familiar scenes of discontented crewmen, parched lips, rickety life boats and of the course a conveniently located desert island.

The Whale had the feel of an American made-for-tv movie, perhaps in part because the cast included West Wing veteran Martin Sheen. If you saw the pre-publicity...

The Whale: BBC One, 9pm

Jonas Armstrong stars in this drama about the fateful last voyage of the 19th-century Nantucket whaling ship Essex, which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820, leaving the crew struggling to survive in three smaller boats.

Homeland: Channel 4, 9pm

Carrie and Brody seek refuge at the edge of the desert as security forces close in, and while Saul plans a last-ditch rescue operation, the former marine struggles to find redemption. Last in the current series.

The Muppets and Lady Gaga at Christmas: Channel 5, 5.25pm

The pop superstar joins forces with the furry gang of puppets for an entertainment extravaganza, performing seasonal favourites and her own hits. She sings duets with Kermit the Frog, musician Elton John, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, while Kristen Bell appears in a Christmas sketch.

As we come to the end of 2013, we can look back over a strong, memorable year for black, British actors. We’ve seen Idris Elba controlling gigantic robots, David Oyelowo establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s most dependable stars, and Chiwetel Ejiofor turning in a performance that could deservingly earn him an Oscar in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave. With younger actors back in the UK contending with frustrating typecasts, the success of the aforementioned performers is of great inspiration to the likes of John Boyega, who we had the great pleasure of speaking to in the build up to his latest project The Whale – which airs on the BBC over Christmas.

“It’s a promising time for black british actors,” he said. “I’m observing, because I’m seeing greatness right now and I would very much like to be a part of that. The only way...

First announced in April of this year, John Boyega and David Gyasi are 2 actors in the ensemble cast of a new BBC feature drama titled The Whale.  Said to be based on the the book, The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by A Whale, here's how it's described: In 1820, the Nantucket whaleship Essex, thousands of miles from home in the South Pacific, was rammed by an angry sperm whale. The Essex sank, leaving twenty crew members floating in three small boats for ninety days. The incident was the Titanic story of its day, and provided the inspiration for Melville's Moby-Dick. The 90 minute drama, directed by Alrick Riley, is set to premiere this Christmas...

BBC One has unveiled official details of its Christmas and New Year schedule for 2013/14.

The new listings include transmission times for the Sherlock series three premiere and Matt Smith's final episode of Doctor Who.

On Saturday, December 21, BBC One will air the Strictly Come Dancing final at 6.30pm, followed by the penultimate episode of fantasy drama Atlantis at 7.55pm.

Jonas Armstrong and Martin Sheen star in drama The Whale on Sunday, December 22 at 9pm, with series two of Last Tango in Halifax drawing to a close at 9pm on Christmas Eve.

Doctor Who's 'The Time of the Doctor' will air on Christmas Day from 7.30pm-8.30pm, preceded by Call the Midwife at 6.15pm and followed by the Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas Special at 9.30pm.

David Jason sitcom revival Still Open All Hours and the first part of period thriller Death Comes to Pemberley will hit BBC One on Boxing Day (Thursday,...

Conspiracy on Jekyll Island

AnnaSophia Robb ("The Carrie Diaries") has been cast opposite Minnie Driver and Frank Grillo in Aram Rappaport's political thriller "Conspiracy on Jekyll Island".

Robb plays Driver and Grillo's cancer-stricken daughter. John Leguizamo, Maggie Q, Dianna Agron and Ed Westwick also star with filming currently underway in Chicago. [Source: Deadline]

The Whale

Martin Sheen is set to star in "The Whale," a new BBC One telemovie about the last voyage of the whaling ship Essex which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1820. Jonas Armstrong and Paul Kaye also star.

Sheen will play the elder version of Thomas Nickerson, a character that Charles Furness will play the teenage version of. The elder Nickerson's writings inspired Herman Melville to pen "Moby Dick". [Source: The Mirror]

50 Shades of Grey

Former Broadway stage actress Eloise Mumford ("Lone Star," "The River") has scored the role of Anastasia Steele's...

BBC One has unveiled its programming highlights for the Christmas period.

The return of Sherlock, Matt Smith's farewell to Doctor Who and the arrival of Danny Dyer in EastEnders are among the most notable pieces of festive scheduling.

BBC's director of television Danny Cohen said: "Brilliant Christmas telly across drama, factual, comedy, entertainment and religion is something licence-fee payers rightly expect from the BBC, and this year's holiday schedule delivers that.

"We have massive events such as the Doctor Who regeneration and the incredible return of Sherlock, as well as festive specials from hit shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Mrs Brown's Boys, Call the Midwife, Bad Education, and The Great British Bake Off.

"And of course there are brand new treats such as David Walliams' Gangsta Granny and we'll be showing a wide range of religious programming, including a live broadcast of The First Eucharist of Christmas from Westminster Abbey.

Katie Couric is making the move from ABC to Yahoo.

The veteran news anchor and former Today host has joined the web corporation’s Yahoo News as a global anchor, beginning in 2014.

“I’ve always respected Katie for her thoughtful, charismatic approach to journalism,” Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said in a statement. “From pivotal coverage of natural disasters and historic elections to the royal wedding and the Olympic games, groundbreaking interviews with heads of state and leading tastemakers, her experience is unmatched. Katie is dynamic, savvy and has a way of connecting with viewers that I really admire.”

In addition to her new role,...

Award-Winning actor Martin Sheen is set to star in the BBC/Animal Planet film "The Whale." -- Two-Hour Film to Premiere on BBC One in December and Animal Planet in Summer 2014 -- -- Sheen to Headline Epic Tale of Survival at Sea -- Esteemed actor Martin Sheen will star in The Whale, a two-hour film from BBC Factual Productions and Animal Planet. Based on true events, the film tells one of history’s greatest stories of survival at sea as Martin Sheen portrays Old Thomas Nickerson, who tells a story of his life as a cabin boy on the ill-fated voyage of the whaling ship the Essex. From Animal Planet The Whale is written by Terry Cafolla (Holy Cross,...

Martin Sheen will star in The Whale, a two-hour film from BBC Factual Productions and Animal Planet that’s set to premiere in December on BBC 1 and in summer 2014 on Animal Planet. Based on true events, Sheen portrays Old Thomas Nickerson, who served as cabin boy on the ill-fated voyage of the whaling ship the Essex. The two-hour drama is inspired by real-life accounts of the ship’s sinking; those accounts are said to have inspired Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. The Whale is written by Terry Cafolla (Holy Cross, Messiah). Filming took place on location in Malta this past spring and wrapped up outside of London last summer. Sheen, repped by ICM Partners, leads the cast as the elder Nickerson with Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood, The Street) as First Mate Owen Chase; Adam Rayner (The Hunted) as Captain Pollard; Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones, Stella) as Joy; David Gyasi (Cloud Atlas,...

Jessica Brown Findlay will star as Mary Yellan in a new BBC adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel Jamaica Inn, written by Emma Frost.

23 year old Jessica (represented by Troika) made her film debut in the coming-of-age drama Albatross. She played Lady Sybil Crawley in Downton Abbey, went on to star in Labyrinth, and has recently wrapped playing Rachel in Lone Sherfig's Posh. Jessica will next be seen playing the lead of Beverly Penn alongside an all-star cast in Winter's Tale for Warner Bros.

In Jamaica Inn she will star alongside Misfits and The Paradise star Matthew McNulty, who will play her love interest Jem Merlyn. They will be join by young cast member Charles Furness (represented by A&J Management) playing Thomas - newcomer Charles will soon be seen in the BBC's The Whale where he plays the lead role of Tom Nickerson.

Made for the...

Two versions of shipwreck and cannibalism story behind Melville's classic are being made

The story that charts the obsessive, ill-fated hunt for a great white whale has resounded down the generations since the publication in 1851 of Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick: or, The Whale. Now the lure of the enormous whale has proved too strong both for film director Ron Howard and for the BBC, who have set off on rival voyages to bring the true story behind Melville's dark saga to audiences.

With Chris Hemsworth, Ben Whishaw and Cillian Murphy lined up in Howard's cast, the director of the new Formula One film Rush returns to England this week to make his next film, In the Heart of the Sea, at the Warner Bros studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire. Howard has recruited British screenwriter Peter Morgan, who also scripted Rush, to redraft his seafaring screenplay.

The BBC is already...