Exclusive: Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire), Andrea Riseborough (Birdman) and Anson Boon (1917) are leading under-the-radar thriller Good Boy, from director Jan Komasa (Corpus Christi) and producers Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor), Ewa Piaskowska (Essential Killing) and Jerzy Skolimowski (Eo).

Filming recently completed on the movie at studios in Warsaw and on location in Yorkshire, UK, with HanWay films set to introduce footage to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market in Las Vegas.

The synopsis reads: “Nineteen year old Tommy likes his life as a criminal, and leads his friends in acts of horrifying violence, until one night he is kidnapped by a stranger, Chris (Graham). Waking up with a chain around his neck in the basement of an isolated home, Tommy (Boon) finds himself at the centre of a dysfunctional family dynamic as Chris and his mysterious wife Kathryn (Riseborough) try to make Tommy a “good boy”, in a process of forced rehabilitation.

Jackie Earle Haley has over 70 screen acting credits to his name. He was one of the Bad News Bears, he earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film Little Children, he played Rorschach in Zack Snyder‘s take on Watchmen. He worked with Steven Spielberg on Lincoln and with Martin Scorsese on Shutter Island. He has dealt with Dollman, the Maniac Cop, and the remake RoboCop, and he played Freddy Krueger in a poorly-received remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. And now, Deadline reports that Haley is set to star in the game show-themed slasher movie I’m Your Host.

Coming our way from Benacus Entertainment and Rnf Productions, I’m Your Host is directed by Dw Medoff (I Will Never Leave You Alone) from a screenplay written by Joey Miller. The story centers on four friends trapped in a sadistic game show, where they must outwit a twisted...

Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction), Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton) and two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins (The Father) have been set to star in period drama The Housekeeper.

Set in 1930s Cornwall, UK, the film will chart the forbidden romance between a Polish housekeeper and a famous novelist.

Notes On A Scandal and Iris filmmaker Richard Eyre is directing with Julia Taylor-Stanley (Coriolanus) and Kevin Loader (The Death Of Stalin) producing from a script by British novelist Rose Tremain.

The story is inspired by Tremain’s short story in which a young woman is horrified to discover, after a brief sexual encounter with Daphne du Maurier, that she is the model for Mrs Danvers in the writer’s classic work Rebecca.

Dynevor will play Du Maurier, Thurman the housekeeper and Hopkins the wealthy and widowed Lord DeWithers.

Embankment Films is launching sales ahead of the upcoming American Film Market in Las Vegas. Filming...

Plex is gearing up for an exciting lineup of films and series in November 2024. Viewers can look forward to a variety of new additions, including Blue Ridge, But I’m A Cheerleader, Call Jane, and Empire State. Cult classics like The Grudge, Hard Candy, House of 1000 Corpses, and The Midnight Meat Train are also hitting the platform, alongside more recent hits like Wind River and Where’d You Go, Bernadette? For fans of horror, thrillers, and emotional dramas, there’s no shortage of options. However, Plex is also bidding farewell to a number of films and shows in November. Among those leaving are 24 Hours to Live, Drive Angry, The Devil’s Rejects, Snowpiercer, and USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage. If you’ve been meaning to watch these titles, now is the time to catch them before they disappear. For those looking to binge their favorites, many notable titles are still available for streaming.

Prime Video has launched the first official trailer for Kate Beckinsale's next kickass actioner Canary Black, which will see the former Underworld star play a top CIA operative that is forced to go rogue to save her kidnapped husband while simultanously working to prevent the start of World War 3.

The full synopsis reads, "A top CIA operative, Avery Graves, is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to survive and help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want. Betrayed at every turn, she must rely on her cutting-edge training and primitive fighting skills in a deadly race to deliver a ransom that could trigger a global crisis."

This will mark the second action film Beckinsale has launched on Prime Video in recent years, following 2021's Jolt. Her series The Widow was also launched on the streamer,...

If you thought Armando Iannucci couldn’t find a more colourful world than politics to satirise, think again – the man behind The Thick Of It, Veep, The Death Of Stalin and more is back as executive producer of The Franchise, exploring the chaos unfolding behind the scenes of a major superhero movie. Teaming up with director Sam Mendes and showrunner Jon Brown, Iannucci’s latest series ventures into the realm of blue screens, spandex, gods, and monsters, as the production of ‘Tecto: Eye Of The Storm’ – from ‘Maximum Studios’ – threatens to go spectacularly off the rails. Expect a storm of clashing creative visions, cantankerous stars, and overbearing execs.

While the series centres on Himesh Patel’s First Ad, Daniel, and Lolly Adefope’s Third Ad, Dag, as they desperately try to keep ‘Tecto’ on track, one of the complications in the mix is pretentious director Eric – played by Daniel Brühl,...

HBO’s The Franchise is Based on True Chaotic Stories About Working at Marvel and DC - Main Image

It feels like every big streaming service needs to have its own superhero property nowadays with Amazon having The Boys, and Disney+ having the whole Marvel Studios lineup. Though The Penguin is technically a comic book series, HBO has also greenlit another show that looks to take on the superhero genre in a different way.

The Franchise is set to premiere later in October, and while it looks like it’s poking fun at the making of superhero and big-budget films, it’s been revealed that a lot of the series is actually based on true stories.

The Franchise is Based on Reality

Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, series creator Jon Brown (Succession) delved into how he and fellow co-creators Sam Mendes (1917) and Armanda Iannuci (The Death of Stalin) came up with the show.

Teaser for HBO’s The Franchise Pokes Fun at the Making of the MCU and Dcu - Main Image

Sustaining a franchise as huge as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is definitely no cakewalk, and things have not always been going according to plan during its run for more than a decade.

There have always been stories going around of trouble lurking behind the scenes, and it was a premise interesting enough that HBO had decided to make an entire show around it.

The Franchise Pokes Fun at Big Blockbuster Movies

Enter the upcoming HBO series The Franchise which follows the story of a crew trying to keep a lucrative superhero universe running. The series is set to premiere on Max sometime this October, and the first teaser has officially been dropped.

Check this out:

The description of the series is as follows:

“A team trapped inside the dysfunctional hell of creating franchise superhero movies,...

Hollywood big-budget tentpoles get ready, Armando Iaunucci is coming for you.

The Veep and Avenue 5 creator/writer teamed up with Succession and Veep writer Jon Brown and the pair have crash-landed from the worlds of media, politics and outer space onto a superhero movie set for the satirical series, The Franchise, which has now dropped a teaser trailer.

Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty) is director and executive producer along with Iaunucci (The Thick Of It, The Death Of Stalin) and Brown, with Brown as showrunner.

“Everything’s exploding at a million miles an hour, and the movie is a scrotum resting on a razor’s edge,” says Himesh Patel to set the tone in the footage. Patel is playing the director an unloved franchise movie “fighting for its place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe.”

Per the logline, “The comedy series shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking,...

“Night Call,” a French thriller directed by Michiel Blanchart and set amid Black Lives Matter protests in Belgium, has been sold nearly worldwide by Gaumont which releases the film today in France.

Previously acquired by Magnet Releasing for North American distribution, “Night Call” follows a young locksmith who gets way more than he bargained for after responding to an emergency call that puts him in the crosshairs of a ruthless mob boss.

It marks the feature debut of Blanchart whose live-action short “You’re Dead Hélène” was shortlisted for the 94th Oscars and is now being adapted into an English-language feature produced by Sam Raimi and TriStar Pictures.

U.K. (Vertigo), Spain (A Contracorriente), Italy (102 Distribution), Scandinavia (Nonstop), South Korea (Mediasoft), Latin America (California Filmes), Portugal (Cinemundo), Germany, Austria, German speaking Luxembourg and Switzerland, Poland (Galapagos), India (Pictureworks) and New Caledonia (Trident Import Export).

The movie played on opening night...

Like Rian Johnson’s Knives Out Mysteries franchise, casting for Mike White’s The White Lotus is always an event. Fans love to speculate who could join the cast of White’s award-winning series, and now Conan O’Brien wants to put his fiery red quaff in the ring. According to legend, O’Brien bumped into White in a restaurant, and the two started talking about The White Lotus Season 3. O’Brien offered to appear on the show, wanting to be a part of White’s hit project, though his proposed role could raise an eyebrow or two.

Speaking with Walton Goggins for episode 19 of Conan’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, the former late-night host recapped his run-in with White, telling Goggins, “Before you guys started shooting The White Lotus, I ran into none other than Mike White in a restaurant. I said, ‘Hey, so the next season of The White Lotus,...

Last week, Armando Ianucci, creator of “Veep” and the writer/director behind “In the Loop,” spoke to Politico’s West Wing Playbook in regards to America’s political climate at that moment and specifically how White House staff were comparing the energy to “The Death of Stalin.” This was prior to President Biden dropping out of the race on Sunday and passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, but Ianucci’s sentiments still speak to how art has the power to inadvertently capture issues we can’t always face in real-life.

“The scene I always remember is that committee scene at the end of the film where they are all voting on what to do. And of course, no one wants to be the first person to put their hand up in case they’ve got it wrong and will be shot. Everyone is looking to what everyone else...

Armando Iannucci, who created the series Veep, has shared that ever since President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed his female Vice President, Kamala Harris, he has received a “pile-on” of requests from news organizations (including this one) to comment about how real life is tracking the plot of the HBO political comedy.

One particularly prescient plotline that has been recirculating on social media is from the season two finale (which aired in 2013), when the show’s then-vp Selina Meyer (played by star Julia Louis-Dreyfus) finds out that the show’s president (who viewers never saw) will remove himself from the ticket and won’t run for a second term. She breathlessly informs her staff that she intends to run for president.

Ianucci jumped into the discourse as the clip was being shared. “Still working on the ending,” he wrote.

Veep memes have been flooding social media,...

Despite the film having been shot in 2016 prior to Donald Trump’s electoral college win, at the time of its premiere in 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival “The Death of Stalin” was immediately hailed as a finger-on-the-pulse political satire. How could it not be? Coming from Armando Iannucci, one of the great humorists of his generation, known for capturing government in all of its obscene clumsiness in the U.K. with “The Thick of It” and “In the Loop,” as well as across the pond in the U.S. with the hit TV series “Veep,” “The Death of Stalin” marked the first time the writer/director took on actual history.

Based on the French graphic novel, “La Mort de Staline,” the film is a comedic interpretation of the social and political power struggle that followed the death of Russian leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Steve Buscemi,...

House of the Dragon‘s world gets even bigger in season 2. With the Dance of the Dragons Targaryen civil war now in motion, the “Blacks” (Queen Rhaenyra I’s supporters) and the “Greens” (King Aegon II’s supporters) must enlist the other Great Houses of Westeros to their cause.

This means that many of the characters we’ve gotten to know thus far, Prince Jacaerys (Harry Collett), Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), Ser Criston (Fabian Frankel), and more, will hit the road to recruit nobles like college football coaches in need of a star quarterback.

“People have to curry favor with the other lords and figure out who’s on what team,” House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal told Den of Geek. “It’s nice because instead of just introducing 18 new characters, we follow characters who we already know going to these new places and meeting new people.”

Condal is exaggerating a bit.

AMC+ is a unique streaming service because it offers great original dramas and access to three smaller streamers: horror hub Shudder, and independent films from IFC Films Unlimited and Sundance Now. Normally, those three smaller streamers would cost nearly $19/month on their own, but they come free with AMC+.

We’ll break down all the ways to watch AMC+, including a brand new option that is a great choice for fans of live TV.

7-Day Free Trial $4.99+ / month amc+ via amazon.com

What Can You Watch on AMC+?

How Much Does AMC+ Cost?

What Are Your AMC+ Subscription Options?

What Can You Watch on AMC+?

AMC+ includes originals like “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire,” Anne Rice’s “Mayfair Witches,” “Gangs of London,” “Dark Winds,” “The North Water,” “Monsieur Spade,” “Parish,” and “Snowpiercer.”

Subscribers also get classic shows that first aired on AMC: “Mad Men,” “Killing Eve,” “The Killing,...

Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired North American rights to Night Call, a French thriller marking the feature directorial debut of Michiel Blanchart, whose live-action short You’re Dead Hélène was shortlisted for the 94th Oscars.

Slated for release later this year, the film follows a young locksmith who gets way more than he bargained for after responding to an emergency call that puts him in the crosshairs of a ruthless mob boss.

One evening, Mady (Jonathan Feltre) – a student by day, locksmith by night– receives an emergency call from Claire to open a lock. But the door the young woman wants to open isn’t hers, and the bag of cash she runs away with isn’t hers either. It belongs to Yannick (Romain Duris), a sinister crime boss who blames Mady and will stop at nothing to retrieve his stolen goods. In a city shaken by protests,...

Beta Cinema is launching pre-sales at Cannes on a big-screen version of Julian Barnes’ novel The Noise Of Time that is being adapted by two- time Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton and will star August Diehl and Andrea Riseborough.

Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, who was Oscar nominated for his 2019 feature Corpus Christi, is lined up to direct the fictionalised account of the life of composer Dimitri Shostakovich in Stalinist Russia.

Diehl will star as Shostakovich, while Riseborough will play his wife Nita, Shostakovich’s wife and intellectual equal.

The story follows the trajectory of the Russian composer’s life and career,...

Beta Cinema is launching pre-sales at Cannes on a big-screen version of Julian Barnes’ novel The Noise Of Time that is being adapted by two- time Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton and will star August Diehl and Andrea Riseborough.

Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, who was Oscar nominated for his 2019 feature Corpus Christi, is lined up to direct the fictionalised account of the life of composer Dimitri Shostakovich in Stalinist Russia.

Diehl will star as Shostakovich, while Riseborough will play his wife Nita, Shostakovich’s wife and intellectual equal.

The story follows the trajectory of the Russian composer’s life and career,...

They’re going to need an even bigger dining room table.

Paul Giamatti, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan are joining the third “Downton Abbey” feature film. Giamatti, who recently scored an Oscar nomination playing an ornery teacher in “The Holdovers,” is reprising his role as Harold Levinson, the bother of Elizabeth McGovern’s Cora Grantham, a part he played in the TV show that spawned the film franchise.

No word yet on who Richardson, Nivola, Beale and Froushan will portray. Nor are there any details about the plot, but this being “Downton Abbey” you can expect silverware to be polished to a high gloss, tables set with military precision and a mad dash to find an adequate number of ladies maids to service all the guests for this or that soiree.

Richardson’s credits include “Nip/Tuck,” “101 Dalmatians” and “Red Sparrow.” Nivola recently starred in...

Former eOne and Pathé UK marketing executive Chris Besseling has joined True Brit Entertainment, the UK distribution company run by Zygi Kamasa.

Besseling’s official title at True Brit is Head of Theatrical Distribution, Marketing, and Publicity. He will oversee the full theatrical distribution, marketing, and publicity function for True Brit Entertainment’s slate. He will be based in London and report to True Brit Entertainment CEO Kamasa.

Besseling began his career at the Metrodome, BFI, and Optimum Releasing. Since then, he has been responsible for launching over 200 films at the UK and Irish box office. During his time at eOne and Pathé, he spearheaded the theatrical campaigns for a wide array of titles, including 1917, Suffragette, Green Book, Selma, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves, Wild Rose, The Death of Stalin, The Woman King, Stan & Ollie, Clifford The Big Red Dog, The House With A Clock In Its Walls, Blinded By the Light...

Upcoming wartime drama The Guns Of Muschu has assembled a cast of Australian talent ahead of a planned shoot in 2025.

Directed by Australia’s Matthew Holmes, the story is set in the jungles of Papua New Guinea during the Second World War and centres on a mission in which eight commandos went in but only one survived.

The cast is led by Ben Hall, known for his roles in TV miniseries Warnie and Devil’s Playground, alongside Matt Day (Sweet Country), Callan McAuliffe (The Walking Dead), Jordan Fraser-Trumble (The Legend Of Ben Hall), Gerald Lepkowski (The Death Of Stalin), Maximillian Johnson...

Epic war-time survival tale “The Guns of Muschu” has already assembled a weighty cast ahead of a production start in the first quarter of 2025.

The film is an adaptation of the non-fiction book “The Guns of Muschu,” written by Don Dennis, with an adapted screenplay by Tom Broadhurst and Jack Brislee (“Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan”). The narrative brings to life a pivotal chapter of Australian war history with gritty authenticity, recounting the high body count Operation Copper, a mission during WWII when Australian and New Zealand troops were sent into the jungles of Papua New Guinea.

The objective of the mission was to investigate the Japanese defenses on Muschu Island, capture a Japanese officer for interrogation and discover the location of two naval guns on the island that were protecting a harbor. Eight commandos were landed as part of the operation, but only one survived.

The story...

Jenna Ortega’s hit Netflix show Wednesday announces the addition of actor Steve Buscemi to the cast. His character details remain undisclosed, but sources claimed he will be playing the new principal of Nevermore Academy, a role once bestowed to actress Gwendoline Christie.

Jenna Ortega in Wednesday

After Principal Larissa Weems’ death, many fans wish there was a way to bring the character back to life. But, with the announcement of Buscemi replacing Christie, the idea seems futile now.

Gwendoline Christie Talks About Larissa Weems’ Possible Return

So far, there are only a few details about the progress of Wednesday Season 2. It was previously announced that Jenna Ortega will reprise her role as Wednesday Addams. The return of Gwendoline Christie’s Larissa Weems is very vague at this point, though she gave fans a flicker of hope during her interview with Digital Spy:

“We haven’t seen her put in the ground,...

The makers of the horror-comedy streaming series ‘Wednesday’ have cast actor Steve Buscemi for the show’s second season.

However, exact character details are currently being kept under wraps, but sources say Buscemi will play the new principal of Nevermore Academy, reports Variety.

A few details are available about the new season of ‘Wednesday’, aside from the fact Jenna Ortega will return as the titular Addams Family daughter going through her teenage years. The first season ended with Wednesday successfully solving a series of grisly murders while also thwarting an attempt to destroy Nevermore and its students.

Buscemi is a highly-celebrated actor, known for his ability to take on drama and comedy roles in equal measure.

He has starred in films like ‘Reservoir Dogs’, ‘Fargo’, ‘The Death of Stalin’ and numerous Adam Sandler productions. He has also starred in shows like ‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘Miracle Workers’, season 5 of ‘The Sopranos’, and...

It's not easy to get people to agree about stuff, but I think we can all agree that Steve Buscemi is one of the greats. Buscemi has been kicking around for years, appearing in big movies, small movies, TV shows, and more. He's a wonderful character actor who always heightens whatever material he happens to be attached to. Even if his part is small, you come away remembering what he did. Hell, he shows up as a waiter dressed like Buddy Holly in "Pulp Fiction" for about less than one minute and still steals that moment. He's that good. Whenever Steve Buscemi appears on screen, we all do the Leo point and proclaim, "Hey, 'it's Steve Buscemi!"

And now, he's joining the cast of "Wednesday" season 2. The "Addams Family"-adjacent show stars Jenna Ortega as everyone's favorite miserable young woman, Wednesday Addams. The series, which had episodes helmed by none other than Tim Burton,...

Steve Buscemi has joined the cast of “Wednesday” Season 2 at Netflix, Variety has learned exclusively from sources.

Exact character details are being kept under wraps, but sources say Buscemi will play the new principal of Nevermore Academy.

Reps for Netflix and Buscemi declined to comment.

Few details are available about the new season of “Wednesday,” aside from the fact Jenna Ortega will return as the titular Addams Family daughter going through her teenage years. The first season ended with Wednesday successfully solving a series of grisly murders while also thwarting an attempt to destroy Nevermore and its students.

Buscemi is a highly-celebrated actor, known for his ability to take on drama and comedy roles in equal measure. He has starred in films like “Reservoir Dogs,” “Fargo,” “The Death of Stalin,” and numerous Adam Sandler productions. He has also starred in shows like “Boardwalk Empire,” “Miracle Workers,” Season 5 of “The Sopranos,...

I’m not overly fond of politics. Given a choice, I’d rather talk food, or faraway places.

But I do have a weakness for political films — or, more precisely, films about political campaigns.

The best of them have been sharp, often witty, and self-aware to the point of cynicism. Bulworth. The Campaign. Wag the Dog. Primary Colors. Dave.

As a genre, they tend toward satire, if not broad comedy. In one of my favorites, David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis, two inimical American political consultants corrupt Bolivian politics by transplanting our worst habits to foreign shores. It’s painfully funny stuff.

Where serious, the campaign genre tends to be confessional. With The Ides of March, progressive filmmaker George Clooney, adapting a play be Beau Willimon, unmasked Faustian bargains behind the gleaming ideals of a “good” politician in a hard-fought Ohio primary.

Should we show it at the White House,...

Exclusive: Motherland actor Paul Ready is set to star with Elliot Grihault (House of the Dragon) in feature film All That Glitters, a young adult comedy-drama inspired by Shakespeare and how he might have written in the modern day.

London-based production company Clover Fox Films is behind the feature, which is aiming to start filming this summer.

All That Glitters is described as a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet in a UK school setting, populated with anxious teens and TikTok scrollers. Ryan (Grihault) is the lighting technician for his school’s play Romeo and Juliet, directed by his dad Philip (Ready), but struggles to keep his eye on the ball as he’s hopelessly in love with the play’s lead, Jasmine.

As the story progresses, and to Ryan’s surprise, one night, the ghost of Shakespeare himself appears in his room and offers to teach him the role...

Mubi has unveiled next’s streaming lineup, featuring notable new releases, including Molly Manning Walker’s debut How to Have Sex, Kevin Macdonald’s High & Low: John Galliano, and Quentin Dupieux’s Yannick. Ahead of Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, two of his earlier films will arrive on the platform, along with a pair of features from All of Us Strangers director Andrew Haigh, as well as S. Craig Zahler’s Brawl in Cell Block 99, and more.

“The story can be translated into many different settings and I think it’s still relevant in terms of house parties, clubs, and even in relationships,” Molly Manning Walker recently told us about her debut How to Have Sex. “On the other hand: I wanted to make something that was very cinematic, but not set in a domestic environment. But the reason that this particular setting felt perfect was that––at that time,...

When Chancellor Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) addresses the citizens of her unnamed Central European country, she doesn’t sound like a politician. “My loves,” she coos in a plummy, posh accent, further softened by a hint of a lisp. “I bless you all, and I bless our love. Always.” Seven years into her reign, this signoff suggests that Vernham has transcended the role of head of state, or even autocratic strongwoman. The propaganda videos she records from her palace, a luxury hotel turned personal residence, are closer to guided meditations than ideological sermons. The relationship between this ruler and her subjects, Vernham seems to believe, is more intimate and emotional than mere governance.

Before creating “The Regime,” the six-episode HBO series set in Vernham’s impenetrable echo chamber, writer Will Tracy worked on “Succession.” Just as Logan Roy was a composite of various Irl oligarchs, Vernham can’t be traced to any single inspiration.

Exclusive: UTA has signed acclaimed actor Rupert Friend for representation in all areas.

Up next, Friend will be seen in buzzy New Line thriller Companion opposite Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, and Lukas Gage, as well as Michel Franco’s Dreams alongside Jessica Chastain and Lucio Castro, 2Am’s After This Death, and Pierre Morel’s Canary Black opposite Kate Beckinsale.

Most recently, he was seen at Sundance in The American Society of Magical Negroes, an acclaimed satire from writer-director Kobi Libii, which hits theaters via Focus Features on March 15.

Previously, Friend starred in the shorts The Swan and Ratcatcher, based on short stories by Roald Dahl, which Wes Anderson directed for Netflix. As a favorite of the filmmaker’s, Friend has also taken on prominent roles in his recent films Asteroid City and The French Dispatch.

Other notable film credits for the actor include The Death of Stalin, A Simple Favor,...

Sky has unleashed the full official trailer for the limited event series, ‘Mary & George,’ starring Academy Award and BAFTA-winning actor Julianne Moore alongside Nicholas Galitzine.

is inspired by the outrageous true story of Mary Villiers, who moulded her beautiful and charismatic son, George, to seduce King James VI of Scotland and I of England (Tony Curran) and become his all-powerful lover.

Through outrageous scheming, the pair rose from humble beginnings to become the richest, most titled and influential players the English court had ever seen, and the King’s most trusted advisors.

And with England’s place on the world stage under threat from a Spanish invasion and rioters taking to the streets to denounce the King, the stakes could not have been higher.

Prepared to stop at nothing and armed with her ruthless political steel, Mary married her way up the ranks, bribed politicians, colluded with criminals and...

The official trailer for Starz’s Mary & George shows the scheming mother and son attempting to trap King James I into a sexual relationship as part of their plot to attain power and wealth. The seven-episode period drama will premiere on Friday, April 5, 2024 at midnight on the Starz app. It’ll debut on the Starz network on 9pm Et/Pt in the US and 10pm Et/Pt in Canada.

Oscar winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice) stars as Mary Villiers, Nicholas Galitzine plays George Villiers, and Tony Curran (Mayflies) is King James I. Nicola Walker (The Split) plays Lady Hatton, Niamh Algar (The Wonder) is Sandie, Trine Dyrholm (The Legacy) is Queen Anne, and Sean Gilder (Slow Horses) is Sir Thomas Compton.

The ensemble also includes Adrian Rawlins (Living) as Sir Edward Coke, Mark O’Halloran (The Miracle Club) as Sir Francis Bacon, Laurie Davidson (Masters of the Air) as Earl of Somerset,...

Good lord, White Lotus. Save some actors for the rest of Hollywood. The third season of the HBO series is set to begin filming in Thailand next month with a massive ensemble cast, but hell, why not add a few more? The latest addition to White Lotus season 3 includes Walton Goggins, one of my favourite actors, as well as Patrick Schwarzenegger (Gen V), Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education), Sarah Catherine Hook (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It), and Sam Nivola (Maestro).

As with the previous cast announcements, there are no details on the character Walton Goggins and the rest will be playing in White Lotus season 3. The rest of the cast includes Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Leslie Bibb (The Babysitter: Killer Queen), Jason Isaacs (The Death of Stalin), Michelle Monaghan (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Parker Posey (Scream 3), Miloš Biković (The Challenge), Dom Hetrakul (Bangkok Dangerous), Christian Friedel...

Update: Max announced today that the great Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age) has joined the already stacked cast of The White Lotus season 3. I can’t wait.

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Mike White’s The White Lotus is in full bloom with the announcement of several primary cast members for the show’s third season. Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Dom Hetrakul and Tayme Thapthimthong will join the cast, with Natasha Rothwell returning. From the look of it, The White Lotus Season 3 cast is just as exciting as previous installments of the series.

The White Lotus Season 3 takes place in Thailand, with filming scheduled around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok in February. The plot revolves around a new group of guests at another White Lotus location. Frustratingly, few details about the cast have been made available. Still, we know the cast features a patriarch, a female corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers,...

The cast of Season 3 of the popular award-winning streaming show ‘The White Lotus’ is growing, reports ‘Variety’.

The hit HBO series has added six new cast members and they are: Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, and Tayme Thapthimthong.

The new additions join returning actress Natasha Rothwell, whom ‘Variety’ had exclusively reported would reprise the role of Belinda in Season 3.

The show is set to begin production in Thailand — around Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok — in February. Exact plot details are being kept under wraps aside from the fact that it will follow a new group of guests at a White Lotus resort property, adds ‘Variety’.

Mike White created ‘The White Lotus’ and serves as executive producer and director.

‘The White Lotus’ proved to be an immediate hit for HBO when it debuted in 2021. The first season, set in Hawaii, received 20 Emmy nominations and ten wins,...

The cast of “The White Lotus” Season 3 is growing.

The third season of the hit HBO series has added six new cast members, Variety has learned. Joining the new season are: Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, and Tayme Thapthimthong.

The new additions join returning actress Natasha Rothwell, whom Variety exclusively reported would reprise the role of Belinda in Season 3 back in April 2023.

Bibb is repped by CAA and Narrative. Isaacs is repped by Independent Talent Group, The Gersh Agency, Silver Lining Entertainment, and Cld Communications. Monaghan repped by CAA, Anonymous Content, Narrative, and Sloane Offer. Posey is repped by CAA and Independent PR. Thapthimthong is repped by Artist International Group.

The show is set to begin production in and around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok, Thailand, in February. Exact plot details are being kept under wraps aside from the fact it will follow a new...

It’s hard to narrow the list of titles we’re excited for on Max to just five, but the following list represents the best of the best.

Warner Bros. Discovery had a fairly impressive 2023 performance-wise. It started the year with a bang streaming-wise, with “The Last of Us” becoming another bona fide hit, and “Succession” premiering its final season on Max. Its Greta Gerwig-helmed comedy “Barbie” became the top box-office performer of the year, and is also now streaming on Max, where it is no doubt compiling impressive viewing statistics.

So what can fans expect from the Wbd release slate this year? There are some truly tantalizing titles headed to Max in 2024, and readers can check out the five shows and movies The Streamable is most excited to watch on the service below!

7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com ‘True Detective’ Season 4 | Jan. 14, 2024

“True Detective” took the...

Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired U.S. rights to Firebrand, a historical thriller starring Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley) that world premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film directed by Karim Aïnouz (Invisible Life) is slated for an exclusive theatrical release on June 21, 2024, when it will go up against Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders and an as-yet-undisclosed title from Universal.

Based on the bestselling historical novel Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle, the film follows legendary Queen of England, Katherine Parr (Vikander), and her quest to survive the perilous last months in the life of her ailing and abusive husband, Henry VIII (Law). Eddie Marsan (21 Grams), Sam Riley (Control), Simon Russell Beale (The Death of Stalin) and Erin Doherty (The Crown) co-star.

It’s in blood-soaked Tudor England that the twice married, accomplished and educated Parr reluctantly agrees to become the...

There’s a lot to take in and even more to process in American-Armenian director Michael Goorjian’s ambitious period piece: What he’s tilting at here is not beyond the realms of comedy, as Armando Iannucci proved with his 2017 jet-black satire The Death of Stalin. But tone is crucial, and Amerikatsi has a waywardness that too often undermines its intent — there’s a lot that works here and so much that doesn’t. There are moments that are sensitive, thoughtful, and really quite moving — in an elegant, silent-movie way — but the framing is so dark in its humor that many viewers may never make it to them.

In Eastern European literature, the greenhorn caught in the crosshairs of bureaucracy has long been a staple, and Amerikatsi pushes that tradition by placing an emigrant American at the heart of its drama. The film opens in 1915, in what was then the Ottoman Empire,...

Death Of Stalin

The Death of Stalin, 11.15pm, Great Movies, Monday, December 11

Armando Iannucci may have cut his teeth on biting satire about British politics but he proves just as adept at rattling the absurdity of Russian state roulette as the politburo descends into farce after the demise indicated by his film's title. Like a Grand National of Russian politics, everyone is jockeying for position, including the sharp-witted Kruschev (Steve Buscemi), chief of police Beria (Simon Russell Beale) alongside Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), who is not the sharpest tool in the box, and Molotov (Michael Palin), who has really had enough of all this. The cast, which also includes Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough and Paul Whitehouse, runs as wide and deep as the humour is cutting and pointed. The vantablack of satire.

Dr Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, Itvx, streaming now

Why not team Iannucci's film with.

Italian writer-director Emma Dante’s “Misericordia” has won the top prize at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia. Adapted from her own play, her third feature tells the story of a young man (Simone Zambelli) with learning difficulties, cared for by a group of sex workers on an island, protecting him from the cruelty of his abusive father. It’s a raw portrait of a marginalized group of people, mixing natural beauty of the locations with the grime of everyday existence.

Zambelli also took the award for best actor, for his role as the man-child at the center of the drama. The best actress prize was shared by Lubna Azabal, who plays a teacher in Jawad Rhalib’s “Amal,” and Kim Higelin, who stars in the controversial French drama “Consent,” directed by Vanessa Filho, as a teenager having an affair with a manipulative and exploitative 50-year-old writer.

The...

Sky and Starz have released a first-look teaser trailer for the spectacular and unapologetic limited event series, ‘Mary & George,’ starring Academy Award and BAFTA-winning actor Julianne Moore alongside Nicholas Galitzine.

is inspired by the outrageous true story of Mary Villiers, who moulded her beautiful and charismatic son, George, to seduce King James VI of Scotland and I of England (Tony Curran) and become his all-powerful lover.

Through outrageous scheming, the pair rose from humble beginnings to become the richest, most titled and influential players the English court had ever seen, and the King’s most trusted advisors.

And with England’s place on the world stage under threat from a Spanish invasion and rioters taking to the streets to denounce the King, the stakes could not have been higher.

Prepared to stop at nothing and armed with her ruthless political steel, Mary married her way up the ranks, bribed politicians,...

Starz is adding the period drama Mary & George to its roster, with an expectation of a 2024 premiere. Described by the network as an audacious historical psychodrama, Mary & George stars Oscar winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Nicholas Galitzine.

In addition to Moore and Galitzine, the series features Nicola Walker (The Split), Niamh Algar (The Wonder), Trine Dyrholm (The Legacy), Sean Gilder (Sherwood), and Adrian Rawlins (Living). Mark O’Halloran (The Miracle Club), Laurie Davidson (Masters of the Air), Samuel Blenkin (Atlanta), Tony Curran (Mayflies), and Jacob McCarthy (Sas: Rogue Heroes) also star.

Rounding out the ensemble are Tom Victor (Consent), Alice Grant (Anthem at Almeida Theatre), Amelia Gething (Emily), Mirren Mack (The Witcher: Blood Origin), Rina Mahoney (Happy Valley), and Simon Russell Beale (The Death of Stalin).

“Mary & George is the perfect complement to Starz’s provocative slate and we’re thrilled to partner with Sky Studios to...

Exclusive: Heading into next week’s AFM, U.S. sales firm The Exchange has made multiple hires and promotions.

Daniel Gusman has been promoted from VP of Marketing and Distribution to Head of Acquisitions and Marketing while the company has hired Matt Hechinger as Acquisition & Development Director and Yue Wang as Director, Worldwide Sales & Distribution Director with Danyelle Foord aboard as Consultant on Production & Development.

The staff changes follow the departure of Head Of Production and Acquisitions, Caddy Pantida Vanasirikul, who left earlier this year to join Plan B.

Gusman was one of the first employees at The Exchange. In his role as VP of marketing and distribution, he has a hand in the promotion, acquisition, and release strategy of most films on company’s slate. He also negotiated the acquisition of the Pete Davidson comedy Big Time Adolescence with Hulu and Exchange’s first series, Tales from the Void.

Jason Isaacs is no stranger to transforming himself on-screen. There’s his straight-talking Soviet Field Marshal Zhukov in :a[The Death Of Stalin]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/death-stalin-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}, his sinister, kidnap-happy scientist Hap in The Oa – and, of course, who could forget the long, platinum locks of his Lucius Malfoy in the :a[Harry Potter movies]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/every-harry-potter-movie-ranked/' target='blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}? But Isaacs is undergoing perhaps his biggest _physical transformation yet to play Hollywood legend Cary Grant in new series Archie. With the title inspired by Grant’s birth name Archibald Alexander Leach, and written by :a[Philomena]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/philomena-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'} scribe Jeff Pope, it’s a biographical drama which will explore the acting icon’s extraordinary life story, from his troubled childhood...

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being reviewed here wouldn't exist.

Traditionally speaking, vampire stories have boasted a unique kind of versatility that most other subgenres can only dream about. In the last decade alone, they've run the gamut of high-water marks like Taika Waititi's mockumentary "What We Do In The Shadows" and Jim Jarmusch's soulful "Only Lovers Left Alive" to epic lows such as "Dracula Untold," "Morbius," and, well, take your pick of literally any of the "Underworld" movies. 2023 alone has seen two "Dracula" adaptations debut with various degrees of success, but the last quarter of the year brings us the most distinct and boundary-pushing vampire flick, by far -- courtesy of one of the most unexpected sources imaginable.

Leave it to filmmaker Pablo Larraín and the evocative black-and-white "El Conde...

London and Paris-based Film Constellation has taken international sales on Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky’s hotly anticipated Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan,” ahead of its Toronto Film Festival world premiere.

“Hajjan,” which will launch from Toronto’s Discovery section, is a followup to Shawky’s first feature “Yomeddine,” which had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes.

Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine” – which involved the desert voyage of a leper, a donkey, and a child – “Hajjan” also involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a young orphan boy and his beloved camel. The big-budget film, which was shot mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the kingdom, is about a young boy named Matar who, after the death of his brother on the camel race track, tries to avenge his death. To do...

Bocco was speaking as part of Locarno Pro’s annual think tank StepIn

This year’s 11th edition of Locarno Pro’s StepIn think tank was held under the banner headline “What’s The Deal with Independent Cinema?” to discuss the current state of the independent film industry.

In a discussion before the closed roundtable brainstorming sessions, film distribution and content strategist Arianna Bocco, who spent almost 17 years at IFC Films before suddenly stepping down as the company’s president this spring, suggested that the film industry is at a crossroads and “very ripe for – you can use a lot of different words – an overhaul,...