News

Executive producer and creator Eric Khoo has announced that they just finished shooting a romance / fantasy miniseries of 5 episodes x 45-50 minutes, titled “Hungry Souls: From Hell, With Love”. Directed by Meng Ong and Caleb Huang, the series is produced by Zhao Wei Films Pte Ltd (the company founded in 1995 by pioneer Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo) for Cj Enm Hk.

Synopsis:

Set during the annual Hungry Ghost Festival, Hungry Souls: From Hell, with Love tells the tale of Bao, a catering chef with the ability to see spirits. Having been traumatised by hungry souls as a child, Bao has learnt to avoid ghosts or risk being besieged by their endless requests or menacing threats.

During this year’s festival, Bao finds himself followed by the enigmatic and beautiful female spirit, Soo Lian. Having been a lost spirit for nearly 50 years, she has no recollections of her living memories or her untimely death.

Christina Mok, born in USA, is a Taiwanese-American model and actress. She graduated from the Fashion Marketing Department of California College of Arts. After returning to Taiwan, she worked for a marketing company and came into contact with part time jobs for graphic model. In 2012, she became well known for her marathon advertisements for Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank. She officially branched into acting in 2013 with romance drama “Love Around”. She has since appeared in a number of popular dramas, including the Taiwanese dramas “Future Mr. Right” (2016) and “Single Ladies Senior” (2018), and the Chinese drama “Memories of Love” (2018). Her roles in cinema include titles such as “Gatao” and “The Greater Good”.

On the occasion of her latest film, “Leave Me Alone” screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival, we speak with her about the role she played in the movie, the impact it had in her personal life even after the ending of the shooting,...

Exclusive: Actor-producer Kit Harington has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

Harington broke out in 2011 in the starring role of Jon Snow on HBO’s critically-acclaimed, Emmy winning fantasy series, Game of Thrones, based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series by George R. R. Martin. Over the course of the show’s eight-season run, the part brought him seven Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, two Emmy nominations, and noms at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, among other accolades.

Harington most recently appeared in Marvel’s Eternals, the hit Amazon series Modern Love and Netflix’s Criminal: UK. In 2018, he exec produced and starred alongside Peter Mullan, Mark Gatiss and Liv Tyler in the HBO Max miniseries Gunpowder, which had him portraying his real-life ancestor, Catholic rebel Robert Catesby.

The actor has also appeared in films including the HBO...

This Power Rangers Beast Morphers review contains spoilers.

Power Rangers for the last six years has featured many plot lines revolving around the Rangers’ parents. It makes sense for the show to tackle the ways teenagers relate to their parents. Not only is it a great source of conflict for stories but also it’s especially relatable to the kid audience. For many children relationships with their parents are the most important things in their lives. Seeing superheroes they look up to having similar relationships can mean a lot.

Unfortunately Beast Morphers really missed the mark with its depiction of Nate and his parents. I do appreciate the show has done a lot of set-up not just about them but Nate wishing they were around more. We got that as recently as ‘The Greater Good.’ We know that they were hardly around when Nate was growing up and that was...

Exclusive: Lara Pulver (Sherlock) has signed with ICM Partners for representation. Additionally the Oliver Award-winning actress has booked a recurring role opposite Daniel Brühl and Luke Evans on TNT’s upcoming The Angel of Darkness, a limited series based on the sequel to author Caleb Carr’s best-selling The Alienist.

The Alienist’s lead cast, including Brühl (Rush), Evans (The Girl on the Train) and Dakota Fanning (American Pastoral), will return for The Angel of Darkness with a new storyline that finds Sara Howard (Fanning), who has opened her own private detective agency, enlisting the help of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) and John Moore (Evans) to hunt down an elusive killer.

Pulver will play Karen, who meets the gang at John’s (Evans) engagement party. She is an alienist and an expert in her field. She and Laszlo (Brühl) form a special professional connection.

Pulver is best known for known for her work on stage,...

Joseph Baxter Sep 11, 2019

Amazon wasted little time giving a green light to a second season of its action-drama, Hanna.

Hanna Season 2 is officially a go at Amazon Prime!

The 8-episode inaugural season of the action-drama – focused on the titular deadly, wilderness-trained teenager who's hunted by a relentless CIA agent – only just premiered on March 29. Yet, it seems that early metrics and an array of positive reviews prompted Amazon to announce an early greenlight on April 12 for the second season of Hanna.

With Hanna Season 2 now in production in the U.K. and France, here's everything to know!

Hanna Season 2 News

A group of newcomers have joined the cast of Hanna Season 2, as reported via Deadline.

Dermot Mulroney will play John Carmichael, “a former mentor of Marissa’s (Enos) who has taken over the new chapter of the Utrax operation and is determined to see through its ruthless agenda.” Clearly the bunch's headlining acquisition,...

Endeavor Content has sealed one of the most significant drama deals of this year’s MipTV, selling the Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sandra Oh series “Killing Eve” to pay-tv giant Canal+ in France. The female-led espionage thriller has been one of the buzzed-about programs at this year’s market in Cannes.

The Sid Gentle Films-produced eight-parter stars Oh as a bored Mi-5 operative who becomes entangled in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with Villanelle, a brilliant female assassin played by Jodie Comer. It is based on the Luke Jennings novellas, written by “Fleabag” scribe and actor Waller-Bridge, and commissioned by BBC America.

The series bowed Sunday on BBC America, and the AMC Networks- and BBC Studios-owned cable network has already renewed it for a second season.

The show is in the competition section of the inaugural Canneseries drama festival, which is running alongside MipTV. Endeavor Content, which handles distribution,...

Cassandra Carias also joins business affairs team.

Ollie Madden has been appointed as head of creative at Film4, joining from Kudos where he was executive producer.

He replaces Rose Garnett who left in February to head up BBC Films.

Madden previously worked at Warner Bros, Intermedia and Miramax before he joined Kudos as head of film in 2011. His credits include Spooks: The Greater Good, the Sherlock Holmes franchise, Magicians and upcoming BBC1 mini-series Gunpowder. The search for candidates was carried out by recruitment firm Mission Bay.

Cassandra Carias has been appointed head of finance, where she replaces Harry Dixon, who left in March to join House Productions. Starting in August, she is currently head of legal and business affairs at eOne Features.

She previously worked at Harbottle and Lewis for 14 years, rising from trainee to senior associate. She also had an 18-month secondment to Working Title Films. She has worked on Eye in the Sky, Les Miserables...

If you're a fan of the eerie artificial intelligence featured on the TV series Humans, then you'll be pleased to know that AMC, Channel 4, and Kudos have renewed the series for an eight-episode third season that will premiere in 2018 and begin filming this fall.

Press Release: New York/London – March 28, 2017 – AMC, Channel 4 and Kudos today announced that the critically acclaimed drama series “Humans,” has been picked up for a third season. The series will return with eight new episodes in 2018. Production will begin in fall 2017 with key cast set to return.

“Humans” is written by Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley (Humans S1, Spooks: The Greater Good), and based on the award-winning Swedish sci-fi drama “Real Humans” created by Lars Lundstrom and produced by Svt and Matador Film. The new season is executive produced by Derek Wax, Emma Kingsman-Lloyd, Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley for Kudos in association with Wild Mercury Productions,...

Author: Zehra Phelan

You could be forgiven in thinking, with a title such as Lady Macbeth, we are about to get yet another film adaptation based on Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth and in particular his wife. Most recently the play adapted for the big screen in 2015 with Michael Fassbender playing Macbeth and Marion Cotillard as his long-suffering wife Lady Macbeth. From the recently released trailer of this new film from director William Oldroyd, it has the same brooding tone but that’s where the similarities end.

Related: Lady Macbeth Lff Premiere Interviews

This story of Lady Macbeth is an adaptation loosely based on the nineteenth century novella called Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov, with the title role played by the rising talent of Florence Pugh, who won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Breakthrough of the Year for this role.

In this film she stars alongside...

Industry veteran, co-producer of Fox’s upcoming untitled A.A. Milne biopic, died suddenly at home last weekend.

UK producer-financier Steve Christian has died unexpectedly at home aged 53.

Former CinemaNX co-founder and chairman Christian, who previously oversaw the development of the Isle of Man’s film investment programme, most recently served as co-producer on Fox Searchlight’s upcoming Untitled A.A. Milne project starring Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie.

Christian, a former accountant, was intrinsic to the development of the Isle Of Man Film Commission, which invested in projects including Lawless Heart, The Libertine and Revolver as well as TV series The Shadow Line.

He launched production and distribution outfit CinemaNX, which was backed by the Isle of Man government, in 2007 alongside producer Marc Samuelson.

The outfit backed titles including Me And Orson Welles, The Disappearance of Alice Creed and Chico & Rita.

Christian joined Pinewood Pictures in 2012 when the studio took over management of the Isle of Man...

Hayley Atwell has found her next role.

The Agent Carter and Conviction alum is set to star in Kenneth Lonergan's TV adaptation of Howards End. Starz is now on board as a co-producer with BBC on the four-part limited series.

Additionally, Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street, Mi-5) and Tracey Ullman have signed on for the project, which will be directed by Hettie Macdonald (White Girl).

The drama will explore the changing landscape of social and class divisions in turn-of-the-century England through the prism of three families: the intellectual and idealistic Schlegels, the wealthy Wilcoxes from the world of business and the working-class Basts....

Exclusive: Former Film London executive joins UK funder which is riding high following Toronto successes.

UK funder Creative England, whose previous credits include 45 Years and Spooks: The Greater Good, has appointed former Film London executive producer Brek Taylor as its new head of film.

Taylor, who joined the organisation last week, takes over from Caroline Cooper Charles.

Taylor co-directed 2011 Glasgow Film Festival feature The Island, which starred Natalie Press, Colin Morgan and Janet McAteer. The title, made under Taylor’s production banner Tailormade Productions, was acquired by Soda Pictures for the UK.

Having started out in theatre, she has worked on documentaries for National Geographic’s ‘Explorer’s Journal’ and a 24-hour international Shakespeare theatre event involving 35 countries.

Caroline Norbury MBE, chief executive of Creative England, said in a statement to Screen: “We’re delighted to welcome Brek Taylor to Creative England as our new Head of Film, bringing her 15 years experience directing and producing in theatre...

Altitude Film has taken UK on the Tiff premeire, Kmbo has taken France rights.

Sales agent Protagonist Pictures has racked up a series of sales on William Oldroyd’s feature debut Lady Macbeth, which premiered in Toronto’s Platform strand.

Following on from previous deals for North America (Roadside Attractions) and Spain (Betta Pictures), the film has now sold to Altitude Film for the UK, Kmbo for France, Sharmill Films for Australia / New Zealand, and California Filmes for Latin America.

Further deals include Cherry Pickers Filmdistributie Bv for Benelux, Strada Films for Greece, Non Stop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Iceland and the Baltics, Front Row Filmed Entertainment for Middle East, Alambique for Portugal, and Jaguar Distribution Corp for Airlines.

Set in 19th century England, Lady Macbeth stars Florence Pugh (The Falling) and 2013 Screen Star of Tomorrow Cosmo Jarvis (Spooks: The Greater Good) in the story of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage.

It was written...

British drama to world premiere at Tiff.

Protagonist Pictures has taken on worldwide sales rights to Lady Macbeth, the debut feature from theatre director William Oldroyd, which will receive its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 8-18) in the competitive Platform programme.

The film has also been selected to screen in competition at San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 16-24).

An adaptation of Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 Russian novella Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District, the film stars British newcomer Florence Pugh (The Falling).

Pugh plays Katherine, a young woman stifled by her marriage of convenience to an industrialist twice her age. Bored, alone and unable to fulfill her duties as a wife, she longs to be free. When she embarks on a passionate affair with a farmhand on her husband’s estate, her passion is awoken and she will stop at nothing to keep hold of him.

Former Screen Star of Tomorrow Cosmo Jarvis (Spooks: The Greater Good) plays...

Exclusive: Pinewood’s former head of production appointed production finance executive.

Film4 has hired former Pinewood Pictures head of production Nicky Earnshaw as production finance executive.

Earnshaw, head of production at Pinewood for three and a half years, joined the broadcaster last week.

In her new role she will supervise physical production on a number of projects, reporting to Film4’s head of production Tracey Josephs.

Three Film4 backed projects commence production in the Us in the next month: Andrew Haigh’s Lean On Pete, Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, and Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing Of A Sacred Deer.

At Pinewood Pictures, Earnshaw oversaw production on films including Lone Scherfig’s forthcoming Their Finest, Spooks: The Greater Good and Belle.

Prior to joining Pinewood, she freelanced for 13 years in various production roles including production manager and line producer, on films including Cuban Fury, Berberian Sound Studio and Johnny English Reborn.

• only 22% of 2015’s movies had female protagonists

• best and worst representations of women on film in 2015 (and the average Watw score for the year)

• critics are slightly more likely to rate a film highly if it represents women well

• mainstream moviegoers are not turned off by films with female protagonists

• movies that represent women well are just as likely to be profitable as movies that don’t, and are less risky as business propositions

The Where Are the Women? project was designed to drill deep down into the films of 2015 in order to determine how well — or how poorly — they represented women. The project has now come to its end, and you can examine the final ranking here. The ranking includes 270 films released in the Us, Canada, and the UK, in both limited and wide release (including every wide-release North American film and most of the UK wide-release films). The...

Yet another celebration of an overconfident mediocre white man as charming, heroic, and worthy of emulation. It’s inspirational! I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Canadian writer and feminist Sarah Hagi recently said a glorious thing: “Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre white man.” This kept ringing in my brain as I tolerated yet another celebration of an overconfident mediocre white man as charming, heroic, and worthy of emulation. In many ways, Eddie the Eagle is more insufferable than the whatever Triumph of the Ordinary Schmoe that opened last week at the local multiplex, and the one two weeks before that, because it is based on a true story that has been largely fictionalized to, theoretically, render it even more “inspirational” than it would otherwise have been. While stories about actual brilliant women...

Saban Films is acquiring North American distribution rights to horror thriller 31, the latest film from visionary mastermind Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects Halloween and Lords of Salem). The film stars Sheri Moon Zombie, Golden Globe Nominee Malcolm McDowell, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ginger Lynn Allen, Elizabeth Daily and Meg Foster. Rob Zombie wrote and directed the film, which made its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and will have a September 16th release.

31 follows five carnival workers who are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned, Hell-like compound where they are forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns. Said Saban Films President Bill Bromiley.

"31 is a treat not just to horror fans, but fans of true auteur filmmaking. The film is executed in true stylistic Zombie fashion. Rob is an unrivaled talent,...

Exclusive: Challenges mount at UK funding agency as Caroline Cooper Charles hands in notice.

Creative England head of film Caroline Cooper Charles is to step down after handing in her notice at the challenged creative industries funding agency.

Cooper Charles, previously Creative England’s senior film enterprise executive, took over as head of film six months ago following the departure of Chris Moll.

The executive is understood to be leaving of her own accord following recent cuts to the the organisation’s film team.

Creative England confirmed to Screen that Cooper Charles will leave at the end of June to “pursue creative opportunities outside of the company” and that the executive will be replaced.

Cooper Charles told Screen: “I’ve had some fantastic times at Creative England, headed up a truly brilliant team and been constantly surprised and delighted by the people and projects we’ve supported. It has been a privilege to work with such exceptional...

Exclusive: Creative industries agency taps into reserve to ensure effective delivery of services.

Since its contentious launch in 2011 UK creative industries financier Creative England has proven a boon to many UK companies and creatives.

The not-for-profit public and privately-backed organisation, whose primary aim is to invest in the regional film, games and digital industries, has invested tens of millions of pounds into more than 400 companies.

Among a host of film investments are Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed 45 Years and Kit Harrington thriller Spooks: The Greater Good, while it also runs perennial micro-budget film scheme iFeatures. It has also backed hit TV shows including Dancing On The Edge and Line Of Duty.

The company’s financial clout has grown from a budget of under £5m at launch to £12.5m for 2015/16 and it has attracted notable executives from the media, games and film industries to its board, including Karen Blackett OBE, Ian Livingstone Cbe and Studiocanal UK CEO Danny Perkins.

BFI...

Pexels

Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of J G Ballard’s High-Rise takes the lift to cinemaland this week, hoping to challenge and freak out audiences with its mix of social satire and outrageous content. Tom Hiddleston stars in the avant garde director’s most star-studded and high profile release to date.

The tale is well-known in literary circles, but its setting is one the big screen has utilized to great effect many times. A tower block is always going to be good fodder for human stories, being a cross section of personalities piled on top of each other, producing frequently frightening results.

Comedy, drama, action and all-out catastrophe – vertical slabs of concrete have played host to all manner of scenarios over the years. Whether lined with gleaming chrome or covered in graffiti, upper class to lower class, there’s a range of accommodation to suit all tastes here.

10. Downtime Film...

Initially intriguing detective tale of ancient Rome hops genres into fantasy, with a strange manic-preacher-dream-boy seduction of its pragmatic protagonist. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): not a fan of “faith-based” movies

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Here’s something we don’t see often on the big screen: a detective story set in the ancient world. There are lots of novels, but I can’t think of a single other movie in the mold of Risen, an initially intriguing mystery tale in which a politically ambitious Roman soldier, Clavius (Joseph Fiennes [Hercules, Running with Scissors], who is terrific here), is set to a policing task by Pilate (Peter Firth: Spooks: The Greater Good, Pearl Harbor), the Roman governor of the province of Judea in the Middle East. It seems that the followers of a local rabble-rousing preacher who was just executed believe that...

Exclusive: 45 Years, Spooks: The Greater Good executive Richard Holmes made redundant amid company cuts.

Creative England’s senior film executive for production Richard Holmes has been made redundant amid staff cuts aimed at reducing overhead.

Holmes, who joined Creative England in 2013, was instrumental in Creative England film investments including Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed second feature 45 Years and Kit Harrington thriller Spooks: The Greater Good.

He was an executive producer for Creative England on titles including Notes On Blindness, The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson, Keeping Rosy, Burn Burn Burn and upcoming films The Girl With All The Gifts by Colm McCarthy and Rachel Tunnard’s Tribeca-bound Adult Life Skills.

Creative England declined to comment on the decision.

Holmes’ credits as an independent producer prior to his stint at Creative England include James Watkins’ Eden Lake, war drama Resistance, Waking Ned Devine and Shooting Fish.

Earlier this month Creative England CEO Caroline Norbury told Screen that the company would need...

Former Rocket Pictures exec joins as studio also promotes commercial director.

Yu-Fai Suen has been appointed managing director of Pinewood Studio’s production arm Pinewood Pictures.

Yu-Fai, who held senior roles at Aramid Capital Partners, Momentum Pictures and most recently Rocket Pictures where he was chief operating officer, takes up the Pinewood post on March 7.

Pinewood Pictures has also promoted Robert Norris from commercial director to senior vice president, a new position to help the company broaden its content offering. Norris joined Pinewood in 2012 from CinemaNX.

Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood Group plc, said: “Pinewood Pictures has benefitted in the last year from growing interest in our offer to independent film and television producers and our ability to introduce funding from our relationship with the Welsh Government and Isle of Man Government. Yu-Fai will be working with the existing Pinewood Pictures team to extend our offer to the wider production community.”

Pinewood Pictures...

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Rosario Dawson, Hugh Jackman and Blake Lively lead our look at 2015's best under the radar acting performances in film...

This article contains mild spoilers for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. We've kept these as vague as possible, but if you haven't seen the film yet, you might wish to skip the entry pertaining to that.

2015 was a particularly exemplary year for all kinds of movies, but particularly in genre and blockbuster cinema. When there's so much to talk about, it's inevitable that some of the really good stuff gets lost in the mix of awards season chatter, but that's especially true when there's still some residual stigma about movies outside of the 'worthy' release schedule that will arrive in UK cinemas between now and the Academy Awards ceremony in February.

There are a couple of likely breakthrough geek movies for this year's Oscars, in the...

Kit Harington knows you're watching him. For six months now his every move has been documented, whether he shows up at an airport, a tennis match, or on set. Everything he does, or doesn't do, is treated as a clue -- what length is his famously contracted hair? How is his stubble? What is his mood? Could any of this reveal something about the fate of Jon Snow? Those are not answers he's prepared to give just yet, so you'll just have to wait another four months. (Sorry!) And besides, he's got a film career, which is fortunately helping him work out some of his issues regarding being constantly followed wherever he goes. Harington's latest, now finally getting a U.S. release, is called Mi-5. It's a sequel to the U.K. TV show Spooks, and in it he plays a rogue spy who's brought in to help catch a terrorist and,...

Action b-movies have had a resurgence of late, with a few of the finest escaping the oblivion of VOD and putting up solid box office numbers. Last year’s excellent Keanu Reeves flick, “John Wick,” even proved, once again, that the genre still packs a punch. And Gerard Butler will be back to save the President (or whole world or something) in the follow up to “Olympus Has Fallen” — aptly titled “London Has Fallen” — which destroyed its mega-budget counterpart, "White House Down," at the box office in 2013. Now “Mi-5” is here to spice up the early goings of the holiday season and supply us with our bi-annual dose of rogue-hero-who-will-stop-at-nothing-to-do-the-right-thing. Read More: Kit Harrington Gets In The Spy Game In Teaser Trailer For 'Mi-5' Based on the BBC One TV series “Spooks,” with much of the principal cast reprising their roles, “Mi-5” (known as “Spooks: The Greater Good” across...

A ridiculous, rote action thriller, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t entertaining, crammed with all sorts of macho emoting and spy nonsense as it is. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Sorry, all you American fans of Game of Thrones’ Kit “Jon Snow” Harington. Spooks: The Greater Good is unlikely to make it onto many U.S. screens (ie, none at all, I suspect). It’s not that the BBC series it’s based on — Spooks, also known as Mi-5 during its niche broadcasts in the U.S. — isn’t well known in the U.S., although there is that to consider. Mostly, it’s that Greater Good posits an American citizen turned jihadi terrorist, Qasim (Elyes Gabel: Interstellar), as one of its villains, and the nefarious influence of the CIA as its ultimate big baddie.

To celebrate the Australian release of Spooks: The Greater Good on home video, Madman is giving you the chance to win one of Five copies of the film on DVD!When charismatic terrorist Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel) escapes from MI5 custody during a high profile handover, legendary operative Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) is blamed. Disgraced and forced to resign, Harry disappears without a trace. With MI5 on its knees, former agent Will Holloway (Kit Harington) is brought back from Moscow to discover the truth about Harry's disappearance and, in doing so, uncovers a shocking revelation: Harry is still alive and desperately needs Will's help.For a chance to win, all you have to do is to follow these two steps:1) Tell me in 25 words or less...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Lovely Day and Shine Pictures are to be absorbed into Kudos following Diederick Santer’s appointment as joint CEO of the UK production company.

Shine Pictures, which is best known for producing feature films including Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Spooks: The Greater Good, will expand into long-form TV drama following its move under Kudos.

MD llie Madden becomes an executive producer, while Alice Pearse becomes a development executive.

Lovely Day was established by Santer under the Kudos umbrella in 2010 and went on to produce Grantchester, ITV’s drama about an investigative vicar, which has been picked up for a second series.

The show, along with developments including a yet-to-be-announced BBC drama series, will now be produced under the Kudos banner, with Lovely Day’s head of development Richard Cookson becoming a senior development executive.

The two brands will cease to exist and Kudos will now consist of around 40 full-time staff.

Santer said the...

A trailer has dropped for Mi-5, the feature film based on the hit UK series that stars Peter Firth and Kit Harington (formerly?) of Game Of Thrones. The pic actually premiered in the UK in May under the name Spooks: The Greater Good, with series director Bharat Nalluri helming and series writers Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent penning the screenplay. Now it premieres on this side of the pond with an exclusive DirecTV window beginning November 5. It goes out in select…...

Acquisitions exec joins from Goldcrest.

Courtney Noble has joined Pinewood Pictures as its new head of acquisition and development, ahead of the American Film Market (Afm) (Nov 4-11).

Noble joins from Goldcrest Films International, which she joined in January 2013 as head of acquisition and development.

She was previously VP of acquisitions at Fortissimo Films, where she secured Terence Davies’ Sunset Song and oversaw international and world premieres for titles including Winter’s Bone and Martin Scorsese’s Shine A Light.

Robert Norris, commercial director at Pinewood Pictures said: “We are delighted to have Courtney joining the team to help us both develop and acquire great film and television projects, for the Isle of Man, Wales and Pinewood.”

Pinewood Pictures is part of the Pinewood Group, funding TV and film productions, as well as games, on behalf of the Isle of Man Media Fund and The Welsh Government’s Media Investment Budget. It also invests...

When Spooks first hit television screens back in 2002 it was a real breath of fresh air. Gritty, realistic and not afraid to do terrible things to main characters who would previously have been deemed untouchable, it redefined what British drama on the small screen was all about while making London look both seedy and fantastic all at once.

Ten seasons later it bowed out gracefully after a decade of critical acclaim and that was that, or so we thought. With Bond riding high once more thanks to Skyfall and in the wake of a plethora of Bourne and Mission: Impossible movies, the announcement that Spooks was to finally hit the big screen raised the question of whether a small screen drama, impressive as it was, could make the transition to the multiplex and stand shoulder to shoulder with the aforementioned competition.

The answer is yes, but only just. Putting Kit...

Blu-ray

From director Bharat Nalluri, comes the long awaited film debut of Spooks: The Greater Good which arrives to download on 14th September and on Blu-rayTM and DVD on 28th September 2015, courtesy of Entertainment One. The film sees Kit Harington in his most action-packed role to date as agent Will Holloway, in the gripping espionage thriller based on the award winning TV series, Spooks.

When charismatic terrorist Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel) escapes from MI5 custody during a high profile handover, legendary operative Harry Pearce (Peter Firth), Head of Counter-Terrorism, is blamed. With MI5 on its knees former agent Will Holloway (Harington) is brought back from Moscow to discover the truth about Harry’s resulting disappearance and in doing so, uncovers a shocking revelation; Harry is still alive, has gone rogue and desperately needs Will’s help.

To coincide with the release of the film on Blu-ray and to celebrate the prize giveaway,...

The BBC First British Film Festival has revealed its full program.

Featuring 31 titles, the program aims to capture the magic, unique humour, romance, traditions and new age vitality of British culture.

The festival will open with Paolo Sorrentino.s film, Youth, nominated for the Palme d.Or at this year.s Cannes film festival, and the follow up to his Academy Award-winning film, The Great Beauty (2013)..

Following two old friends, retired composer Fred (Michael Caine) and film director Mick (Harvey Keitel), on vacation at a prestigious hotel in the Swiss Alps, the film is an introspective and thought-provoking, wry buddy comedy — and it employs Sorrentino.s hallmark stunning visuals to majestic effect.

Straight from its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Man Who Knew Infinity — the retelling of mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan.s life — will close the festival..

Featuring performances from Dev Petal (Slumdog Millionaire) as Ramanujan, and...

To mark the release of Spooks: The Greater Good on 28th September, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on Blu-ray. When charismatic terrorist Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel) escapes from MI5 custody during a high profile handover, legendary operative Harry Pearce (Peter Firth), Head of Counter-Terrorism, is blamed. Disgraced and forced to resign, Harry

The post Win Spooks: The Greater Good on Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Florence Pugh, who starred alongside Maisie Williams in The Falling, has landed the lead role in Lady Macbeth, a 19th Century period drama telling a tale of forbidden passion and murder. Lady Macbeth is the first feature to go into production from last years iFeatures initiative.

19 year old Florence, (represented by Tavistock Wood), plays Katherine, a young woman brought up in the wilds of Northumberland, who finds herself childless and friendless, stifled by her marriage of convenience to a rich local industrialist twice her age. Tired of the vast house she shares with her detached husband and father-in-law, Katherine’s interests become piqued by Sebastian, a worker on her husband’s estate.

Florence made her screen debut in The Falling, she was spotted after the casting directors came to her boarding school in Oxford. She is the sister of Game of Thrones actor Toby Sebastian.

26 year old singer-songwriter Cosmo Jarvis...

Saban Films has acquired the North American distribution rights to Mi-5 starring Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones,”, Testament Of Youth), Academy Award nominee Peter Firth (“Spooks”), Jennifer Ehle (Fifty Shades Of Gray, Zero Dark Thirty), Tuppence Middleton (“Sense 8”, Jupiter Ascending), and Elyes Gabel (“Scorpion”, A Most Violent Year). Mi-5 (known outside the Us as Spooks: The Greater Good) is based on the original BAFTA Award® winning BBC television series.

Series director Bharat Nalluri (Tsunami: The Aftermath, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day) has also directed the screen adaption, which was written by the series writers Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent (“Humans”).

The thriller is currently scheduled to open theatrically at the end of the year.

When a terrorist escapes custody during a routine handover, Will Holloway (Harrington) must team with disgraced MI5 Intelligence Chief Harry Pearce (Firth) to track him down before an imminent terrorist attack on London.

“Mi-5 is...

Saban Films has acquired the North American distribution rights to Bharat Nalluri’s espionage thriller “Mi-5,” which stars Kit Harington from HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” the company announced Tuesday. Oscar-nominated actor Peter Firth (“Equus”) co-stars alongside Jennifer Ehle (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Tuppence Middleton (“Jupiter Ascending“) and Elyes Gabel (“A Most Violent Year”). “Mi-5,” which is known outside the U.S. as “Spooks: The Greater Good,” is based on the original BAFTA Award-winning BBC television series. Series director Nalluri also directed the screen adaption, which was written by series writers Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent. Also Read: 'Game of Thrones...

Mi-5

The long-running British spy series "Spooks" got its own film in the UK back in May, a film dubbed "Spooks: The Greater Good" which saw "Game of Thrones" hunk Kit Harington join the cast.

Now, Saban Films have announced a December release date for the film in the United States, and the film will go by the same name as the series was given in its U.S. release - "Mi-5". [Source: Deadline]

The Tunnels

"Borgen" creator and "The Hunt" writer Tobias Lindholm is teaming with director Paul Greengrass on an adaptation of author Greg Mitchell's upcoming nonfiction novel "The Tunnels".

The story follows a group of West Germans attempting to sneak into East Berlin with the aid of American news networks. Lindholm will write the screenplay. [Source: Deadline]

Terminator: Genisys

With just over $440 million in box-office revenue, $350M of which is from overseas audiences, "Terminator: Genisys" has reportedly edged out the...

Exclusive: Production underway in UK on next iFeatures film, its first period drama.

Principal photography is underway on this year’s first iFeatures film Lady Macbeth, which will star Florence Pugh (The Falling).

Theatre director William Oldroyd makes his feature debut on the 19th Century period drama.

Singer-songwriter and former Screen Star of Tomorrow Cosmo Jarvis (Spooks: The Greater Good) will play opposite Pugh while supporting cast includes Christopher Fairbank (Guardians of the Galaxy), newcomer Naomi Ackie and Paul Hilton (Wuthering Heights).

Lady Macbeth centres on Katherine, a young woman brought up in the wilds of Northumberland, who finds herself childless and friendless, stifled by her marriage of convenience to a rich local industrialist twice her age.

Tired of the vast house she shares with her detached husband and father-in-law, Katherine’s interests become piqued by Sebastian, a worker on her husband’s estate. Sebastian unlocks a fearsome passion in Katherine. As their illicit...

Perhaps you've noticed — 2015 is truly the year of the spy movie. Guy Ritchie's "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (our review here) opens this week, but it is only one of many secret agent-themed films to be popping up: "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation," is still in theaters; Paul Feig's "Spy" is barely gone; onetime Ritchie cohort Matthew Vaughn had his own "Kingsman: The Secret Service" open earlier in the year; still to come is Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies," which will play the New York Film Festival; "Hitman: Agent 47" which strangely didn't secure a festival berth; maybe we'll see Brit TV spinoff movie "Spooks: the Greater Good"; and … and... hmm, what are we forgetting? There's definitely another little under-the-radar spy flick happening, something low-key that no one expects much of… oh yeah... "Spectre." Sam Mendes' second Bond film arrives in November to break a bunch of records prior to.

Industry veteran to take executive producer and producer duties at new firm.

Chris Moll, who stepped down as head of film at Creative England in April, has resurfaced at burgeoning film and TV production company Catalyst Global Media.

Moll has been hired to takes on both executive producer and producer duties at the London-based firm, which launched in May.

Reporting to Catalyst co-founder and CEO Charlotte Walls, Moll will be charged with sourcing high-quality, commercially viable projects for Catalyst’s development and production slate.

He will also be responsible for expanding the company’s national and international partnerships with key talent, producers, agents, publishers and financiers, and identifying new opportunities for collaboration across film, television, digital and music.

Walls said: “Chris brings tremendous strength as an award-winning film producer and seasoned entertainment executive with passion and vision for current projects and the future of Catalyst.”

Moll said he would help build “a slate focused on both creative...

Spooks was revived on the big screen this year - and ex-star Rupert Penry-Jones has admitted he wishes he'd been part of it.

His character Adam Carter met a spectacular end on the BBC spy thriller - obliterated by a car bomb - but Penry-Jones told Digital Spy that he never imagined a Spooks film would happen when he quit the series.

"I don't regret leaving the show - though maybe I regret being dead so I couldn't be in the movie!" he laughed.

"I think I'd had my time - you can stay on a show for too long, as much as I loved it and thought it was a great show. When I left, it was still going all guns blazing."

Penry-Jones - who stars in BBC Two's drama series Life in Squares - admitted that he had become typecast as troubled spy Adam after four years on Spooks.

Spooks was revived on the big screen this year - and ex-star Rupert Penry-Jones has admitted he wishes he'd been part of it.

His character Adam Carter met a spectacular end on the BBC spy thriller - obliterated by a car bomb - but Penry-Jones told Digital Spy that he never imagined a Spooks film would happen when he quit the series.

"I don't regret leaving the show - though maybe I regret being dead so I couldn't be in the movie!" he laughed.

"I think I'd had my time - you can stay on a show for too long, as much as I loved it and thought it was a great show. When I left, it was still going all guns blazing."

Penry-Jones - who stars in BBC Two's drama series Life in Squares - admitted that he had become typecast as troubled spy Adam after four years on Spooks.

Fans of AMC's artificial intelligence-centric thriller, Humans, will be pleased to know that the network has renewed the series for a second season:

Press Release: "New York / London – July 31, 2015 – AMC, Channel 4 and Kudos today announced that the critically acclaimed drama series “Humans” has been renewed for a second season. The series will return for eight new episodes, with production starting next year.

Penned by British writing partners Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley (“Spooks,” Spooks: The Greater Good) and based on the award-winning Swedish sci-fi drama “Real Humans” from Matador Films, the series stands as a top five cable drama launch among adults 25-54 in the U.S. this season and has averaged 2.0 million viewers and 1.0 million adults 25-54 through its first four episodes in live+3 ratings. The first episode was Channel 4’s highest rated originated drama in 20 years; season one has attracted an 18.0% share of the UK...

Time for a little mid-year check on the Where Are the Women? project, U.K. edition. (See here for the U.S. version. The numbers are almost identical.)

From January through the end of June, 2015, there have been 79 films that have had wide releases in the United Kingdom. (This list includes a few films that opened at the very end of December 2014 and so had the vast majority of their runs in 2015.) These films are, in rough order of release:

Unbroken

Birdman

The Theory of Everything

The Woman in Black: Angel of Death

Taken 3

Foxcatcher

Into the Woods

Testament of Youth

American Sniper

Whiplash

Wild

Ex Machina

The Gambler

Mortdecai

A Most Violent Year

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Big Hero 6

Inherent Vice

Son of a Gun

Trash

The Interview

Jupiter Ascending

Selma

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Fifty Shades of Grey

Project Almanac

Blackhat

The Wedding Ringer

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel...

Pitch Perfect 2 has hit the right note for a second week running at the UK box office.

The sequel retained the top spot in a closely-fought battle with Mad Max: Fury Road, with just £25,500 separating the two.

George Clooney's Tomorrowland failed to challenge the pair, entering third with £1.5 million. Horror remake Poltergeist opened fourth after taking £1.46 million.

A third new entry in the top 10 comes from Tanu Weds Manu Returns, with the Indian romantic comedy-drama taking almost £175,000 to finish ninth.

The UK box office top 10 in full:

1. (1) Pitch Perfect 2 - £2,665,428

2. (2) Mad Max: Fury Road - £2,639,888

3. (-) Tomorrowland - A World Beyond - £1,482,178

4. (-) Poltergeist - £1,463,014

5. (3) Avengers: Age of Ultron - £1,067,076

6. (4) Spooks: The Greater Good - £299,558

7. (8) Far from the Madding Crowd - £220,456

8. (7) Home - £206,394

9. (-) Tanu Weds Manu Returns - £174,938

10. (-) Two by Two - £129,263

Source: Rentrak...

Pitch Perfect 2 put in a winning performance to top the UK box office.

The Anna Kendrick sequel pulled in more than £5 million over the weekend to edge out Mad Max: Fury Road, which took £4.5 million.

Avengers: Age of Ultron drops to third with £1.6 million. The figure brings its total earnings past the £43 million mark in the UK.

Spooks: The Greater Good and Far from the Madding Crowd round out the top five.

The UK box office top 10 in full:

1. (-) Pitch Perfect 2 - £5,005,394

2. (-) Mad Max: Fury Road - £4,538,933

3. (1) Avengers: Age of Ultron - £1,661,968

4. (2) Spooks: The Greater Good - £533,843

5. (3) Far from the Madding Crowd - £400,566

6. (-) A Royal Night Out - £301,686

7. (8) Home - £252,245

8. (4) Unfriended - £250,428

9. (6) Fast & Furious 7 - £224,972

10. (5) The Age of Adaline - £193,494

Source: Rentrak...