BEAUTIFUL 'LITTLE CHAOS' TRAILER WITH KATE WINSLET, MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS & ALAN RICKMAN AS KING LOUIS XIV! MANU BENNETT JOINS 'SHANNARA' EPIC SERIES!

'SHANNARA' EPIC TV SERIES

MANU BENNETT WILL BE A DRUID

MTV's small screen adaptation of famous epic novels SHANNARA keeps casting actors, and the latest one is SPARTACUS, ARROW and THE HOBBIT star Manu Bennett who will play a druid named Allanon, the last of his kind. The ten episodes of the epic TV series already have Austin Butler as half human and half elf - who discovers that he is the last of the legendary SHANNARA family. The events of the series take place years after the destruction of our civilisation. Poppy Drayton will play elfin princess Amberle. Aaron Jakubenko will be Ander, Amberle’s uncle, an Elven Prince with the reputation for being the wild party boy who has yet to find his way in the world.

'LITTLE CHAOS' FIRST TRAILER

KATE WINSLET AT ALAN RICKMAN'S KING LOUIS XIV COURT

Here's something we've been anxiously waiting for - first trailer for Kate Winslet's period drama LITTLE CHAOS which comes out next March with Kate playing Sabine, a strong-willed landscape designer who challenges sexual and class barriers when she is chosen to build one of the main gardens at King Louis XIVs (Alan Rickman, who is also directing the movie) new palace at Versailles. This causes her to become professionally and romantically entangled with the courts renowned landscape architect André Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts)!

NEIL JACKSON IS PRINCE OF 'LUMEN' IN TNT'S NEW FANTASY ADVENTURE TV SERIES! ROMANTIC MUSICAL 'THE LAST FIVE YEARS' POSTER AND TRAILER WITH ANNA KENDRICK, JEREMY JORDAN

NEIL JACKSON JOINS

TNT'S 'LUMEN' FANTASY SERIES

In  the news from our favourite fantasy genre, TNT's upcoming fantasy adventure television series LUMEN has cast its prince! 'Deadline' reports that super dashing Brit Neil Jackson (whom we noticed when he played naughty driver in BBC's UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS) has joined the show about the famous author of a best selling series of fantasy books suddenly who disappears, and a family of four finds themselves transported to the mystical alternate world that inspired her work. 

PRINCE DAI OF LUMEN
Neil Jackson will play Prince Dai of LUMEN who’s also the long lost husband and father of the family. Stunned to see his wife and son in LUMEN, Dai explains how he came to be on Earth and why he left them, unwillingly, to go back to Lumen, his home. I've reported recently that Sam Jaeger will play the stepfather, while Wynn Everett will be the author! Young actor Simon Kassianides will play Bevan Gravewood, the Captain of the Emperor’s Royal Guard in Lumen!

'THE LAST FIVE YEARS'

ROMANTIC MUSICAL TRAILER

The first poster and a trailer have been released for THE LAST FIVE YEARS, a musical deconstruction of a love affair and a marriage taking place over a five year period. Jamie Wellerstein (Jeremy Jordan) is a young, talented up and coming novelist who falls in love with Cathy Hiatt (Anna Kendrick I personally cannot stand the screeching frequency of her voice), a struggling actress. Their story is told almost entirely through songs using an intercutting time line device; all of Cathy's songs begin at the end of their marriage and move backwards in time to the beginning of their love affair while Jamie's songs start at the beginning of their affair and move forward to the end of their marriage. Its beautiful pop music score portrays an honest, heartbreaking, often funny, exploration of love and it's consequences on individual identity. It's out next February!

DEZZY'S CHRISTMAS CAKE MAGIC

Mark your calendars for Monday December 22nd because that is the day Dezzy will bake his scrumptious strawberry cake over at my sweet sister Theresa's MIXED NUTS blog in honour of Christmas and her birthday!

1ST KATE WINSLET PIC AS 'THE DRESSMAKER'! NEW 'SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL' TRAILER WITH JUDI DENCH, MAGGIE SMITH, BILL NIGHY! JULIAN MCMAHON IN 'CHILDHOOD'S END' SF SERIES

KATE WINSLET IN FIRST

PHOTO AS 'THE DRESSMAKER'

It's a day of delights today since we have the first photo of Kate Winslet as THE DRESSMAKER! She plays Tilly Dunnage, a fashion designer who returns to her hometown in rural Australia in the 1950s. She returns to her childhood home to take care of her ill mother Molly, but takes the opportunity to exact revenge on those who have wronged her in the past. Liam Hemsworth, Hugo Weaving and Judy Davis also star!

JULIAN MCMAHON JOINS

'CHILDHOOD'S END' SF SERIES
In TV news, SyFy's new sf series CHILDHOOD'S END has just added Julian McMahon to the cast of the six hour miniseries based on Arthur C. Clarke’s classic which follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious ‘Overlords,’ whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture. McMahon will play Rupert Boyce, an enigmatic entrepreneur. Daisy Betts is the female lead, Ellie, an arts graduate engaged to marry Ricky Stormgren (Mike Vogel), the most influential human in the world. Charles Dance is playing the alien leader!

DELIGHTFUL NEW TRAILER

 'SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL' WITH JUDI DENCH

A charming treat for today is new trailer for SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, the expansionist dream of Sonny (Dev Patel), which is making more claims on his time than he has available, considering his imminent marriage to the love of his life, Sunaina. Sonny has his eye on a promising property now that his first venture, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful, has only a single remaining vacancy - posing a rooming predicament for fresh arrivals Guy (Richard Gere) and Lavinia (Tamsin Greig). Evelyn and Douglas (Judi Dench and Bill Nighy) have now joined the Jaipur workforce, and are wondering where their regular dates for Chilla pancakes will lead, while Norman and Carol (Ronald Pickup and Diana Hardcastle) are negotiating the  tricky waters of an exclusive relationship, as Madge (Celia Imrie) juggles two eligible and very wealthy suitors. Perhaps the only one who may know the answers is newly installed co-manager of the hotel, Muriel (Maggie Smith), the keeper of everyone's secrets. As the demands of a traditional Indian wedding threaten to engulf them all, an unexpected way forward presents itself. The movie is out next March!

'DA VINCI'S DEMONS' 3RD SEASON TEASER AND PHOTOS WITH TOM RILEY, ELLIOT COWAN, BLAKE RITSON! NEW 'CINDERELLA' TRAILER WITH CATE BLANCHETT, RICHARD MADDEN, HELENA BONHAM CARTER!

'DA VINCI'S DEMONS' 3RD SEASON

TEASER & PICS - DESTRUCTION WAS NOT HIS DESIGN

Starz has released first teaser trailer and some new photos for the third season of the planetary popular epic show DA VINCI'S DEMONS which is broadcast in almost 200 countries around the world! The third season should probably start airing at the end of March or beginning of April, and as you can see in the teaser Leonardo (Tom Riley) will be faced with himself as an enemy - or to be more precise with his weapons and genius. Photos also show Elliot Cowan as Lorenzo Medici and Blake Ritson as Count Riario. Laura Haddock and Lara Pulver also star in the series about the life of the famous painter, focusing on his early years in Renaissance Florence. Third season will pick up directly after the events of the second season finale, and will see Da Vinci in turmoil as the city of Otranto is torn apart by an Ottoman invasion. As I reported earlier, David S. Goyer has left the helm to work on other projects and the new showrunner is John Shiban (X FILES). Speaking of epic series, I've uploaded 1st trailer for MUSKETEERS series, click to watch!

NEW 'CINDERELLA' TRAILER

ELLA'S RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK

Disney has released a new trailer for next March's fairy tale movie CINDERELLA offering new shots that weren't seen in the previous clip. The starstudded cast includes Cate Blanchett as the stepmother, Richard Madden as the prince, Helena Bonham Carter as Fairy  Godmother, Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera as the stepsisters, Hayley Atwell, Stellan Skarsgård and Derek Jacobi, and Lily James as CINDERELLA!

NEW 'BEOWULF' EPIC TV SERIES AT ITV! 'UNDATEABLE' 2ND SEASON, 'ONE BIG HAPPY' NBC SITCOMS TO AIR IN MARCH! EDDIE CIBRIAN JOINS 'BABY DADDY' SITCOM!

'BEOWULF' EPIC SERIES

BRITISH DARK AGE WESTERN

Bunch of TV news for you today starting with British ITV which are planning to turn famous epic BEOWULF into a western type epic TV series! The 13-part re-imagining of the Old English epic poem created by James Dormer, Tim Haines and Katie Newman, is set in the mythical Shieldlands, a dangerous place populated by both humans and fantastical creatures. A type of a Western set in the Dark Ages of Britain's mythic past, the story sees Beowulf return to his hometown of Herot following years spent wandering the country as a mercenary warrior. When Herot is attacked by the terrifying monster Grendel, Beowulf is left with no choice but to hunt it down, winning him favour with Herot's new female ruler. Shooting starts next April in UK!

TV SITCOMS UPDATES

EDDIE CIBRIAN IN 'BABY DADDY'

In the realm of our fave comedy series, BABY DADDY, which returns with the fourth season to ABC Family January 14th, will have Eddie Cibrian as the new guest star! He will play Ross, a charming, chivalrous, genuinely good guy who has just been transferred to a prestigious New York office, where he will be the new managing partner. Unfortunately, the night before his first day, he meets Riley (Chelsea Kane) at a bar — and things quickly turn romantic. What will happen once they learn that Ross is actually Riley’s new boss?

'UNDATEABLE' 2ND SEASON & 'ONE BIG HAPPY' TO AIR IN MARCH
NBC has announced their new sitcom block on Tuesdays starting from March which will see the return of beloved comedy UNDATEABLE in the second season on March 17th followed by new sitcom ONE BIG HAPPY! Starring Elisha Cuthbert and Nick Zano, ONE BIG HAPPY, produced by Ellen DeGeneres, centres on a lesbian and her straight male friend deciding to have a baby together. Warm and fun, UNDATEABLE follows a bunch of friends who, unlucky in love, hang  together in a bar owned by one of them. This truly lovely sitcom quickly won the love of the crowd when it aired its first season last spring starring Brent Morin, Chris D'Elia, Bianca Kajlich, David Fynn!

LAVISH CHARACTER PHOTOS AND SPOTLIGHT ON BBC NEW HISTORICAL SERIES 'WOLF HALL' WITH DAMIAN LEWIS AS KING HENRY VIII!

'WOLF HALL' EPIC SERIES

GETS FIRST CHARACTER PHOTOS

Although their last year's historical series WHITE QUEEN didn't meet with much success due to being poorly and chaotically written and badly acted at some points, BBC is again bravely venturing into the medieval waters with the launch of new Tudor era series WOLF HALL which will open the doors of the Tudor royal court in January in United Kingdom and later on in April at PBS in the United States! Today you can check out luxurious first images from the upcoming six part series presenting the main characters and their lavish costumes! To be broadcast at BBC Two next month the series is actually a small screen adaptation of Hilary Mantel's highly popular bestselling historical novels WOLF HALL and BRING UP THE BODIES with Damian Lewis leading the cast as English king Henry VIII whom we've last seen portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers in THE TUDORS. But unlike that show, WOLF HALL is going to stick more closely to the real history with the aim to be more realistic in portraying the English court of the 16th century (the airing of the series actually coincides with the 500th anniversary of Hampton Court Palace!

HISTORICAL SERIES WILL FOCUS ON THOMAS CROMWELL  
The series will dominantly focus on Thomas Cromwell, the 16th-century Godfather like figure at the heart of all the machinations at the court of Henry VIII. Mark Rylance plays king’s chief minister, brutal fixer and disposer of royal wives, the man who was at home in courtroom or waterfront, bishop’s palace or inn yard. He could draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a house and fix a jury! He spoke French and Italian, and because of his humble origins as son of a blacksmith, his class consciousness made him an astute observer and reader of men and women. Cromwell was instrumental in securing the annulment of Henry’s marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, his union with the scheming Anne Boleyn, her execution and Henry’s subsequent marriage to Jane Seymour.

JOANNE WHALLEY, ED SPELLERS, JONATHAN PRYCE ALSO STAR

In the series which will have over 100 characters, Saskia Reeves will appear as Cromwell's sister-in-law Johane. Charity Wakefield (Sense and Sensibility) will play Mary Boleyn, the royal mistress and sister to Henry VIII's second wife Anne, who will be played by Claire Foy (who is also the top candidate to portray the current queen Elizabeth in Netflix's new series THE QUEEN). Joanne Whalley will be Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, beloved by the nation. Legendary Jonathan Pryce will play the powerful and scheming Cardinal Wolsey. Mark Gatiss will be Henry's top civil servant Stephen Gardiner while GAME OF THRONES' Anton Lesser will play Thomas More. Another GAME OF THRONES star, Thomas Brodie Sangster, will play Cromwell's ward Rafe. ERAGON and DOWNTON ABBEY star Ed Speleers will be Edward Seymour, brother to Henry VIII's third wife, Jane! Jack Lowden will play famous poet Thomas Wyatt.

CANDLELIGHT AND CODPIECES
Among the interesting facts from the production of WOLF HALL, one of the most intriguing ones is that the series used new camera technology which allowed for the scenes to be shot under candlelight in Tudor halls and country homes which results in bigger authenticity. Among the funny facts is the one about codpieces: they were made much smaller so that they wouldn't baffle the American audience once it starts airing in USA.

GORGEOUS NEW CHARACTER POSTERS FOR 'JUPITER ASCENDING' SF EPIC ADVENTURE WITH MILA KUNIS, CHANNING TATUM, EDDIE REDMAYNE, SEAN BEAN

'JUPITER ASCENDING' SF EPIC

STUNNING NEW CHARACTER POSTERS REVEALED

Gorgeous new character posters have been revealed for the long awaited science fiction epic JUPITER ASCENDING which will finally arrive into theatres next February directed by the Wachowsky siblings. The movie tells the story of Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), who was born under a night sky, with signs predicting she was destined for great things. Now grown, Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to the cold reality of a job cleaning other people’s houses and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine (Channing Tatum), a genetically engineered ex-military hunter, arrives on Earth to track her down does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all along — her genetic signature marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance that could alter the balance of the cosmos. It turns out that her DNA is identical to the one of the Queen of the Universe! 

EDDIE REDMAYNE ALIEN ROYALTY
Beside Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum, the other two posters show Eddie Redmayne and Sean Bean. Sean Bean is playing Stinger, who is spliced with bee DNA, giving him wings, speed, special vision and a sense of loyalty. Stinger was in the military with Caine, but when Caine got into trouble and Stinger stood up for him, his wings were removed and he was exiled to Earth. He lives a normal life on Earth along with his daughter, who he describes as the only good thing he's done in life, until she falls ill and is in need of a special nectar. Eddie Redmayne stars as Balem Abrasax, alien royalty whose family engages in the planetary business, trading in youth serum. He is the elder of the three Abrasax siblings and serves as the main villain who wants Earth for himself! Douglas Booth also stars!

GORGEOUS FIRST POSTER AND PHOTO FOR 'MUNE: GUARDIAN OF THE MOON' ANIMATED FANTASY MOVIE! DYNAMIC 'TRACERS' TRAILER WITH TAYLOR LAUTNER, ADAM RAYNER

'MUNE, GUARDIAN OF THE MOON'

GORGEOUS FANTASY ANIMATION

One of Europe's most anticipated and most ambitious of the 2015 animated movies MUNE, GUARDIAN OF THE MOON has released the first poster and pics. Directed by Benoit Philippon, the movie is set in an imaginary universe where the sun and the moon must be protected by guardians. MUNE, a small and candid forest faun who’s a free-spirited dreamer, is unexpectedly selected to be the new guardian of the moon, a heavy responsibility that lead him to discover his supernatural power. As the sun gets captured by the lord of the underworld, MUNE embarkson an epic journey with Sohone, his guardian counterpart, and Glim, a young girl made of wax, to rescue the sun and save the planet!

DYNAMIC 'TRACERS' TRAILER

 WATCH TAYLOR LAUTNER RULING ALL THE ROOFTOPS

It's an extremely slow day in the movie news business, so the only trailer I have for you is for very dynamic action movie TRACERS in which Taylor Lautner plays a New York City bicycle messenger, Cam who is the hottest thing on two wheels, but is in debt to an organized crime gang. When he crashes his bike into a sexy stranger, Nikki (Marie Avgeropoulos from THE 100), Cam is immediately seduced by her and the thrill of the high-stakes world of parkour. Dashing Adam Rayner from TYRANT also stars!

GORGEOUS 'LITTLE PRINCE' ANIMATED TRAILER WITH MARION COTILLARD, JEFF BRIDGES, RICKY GERVAIS! JUSTIN LONG TO LEAD ABC SITCOM 'IRREVERSIBLE'! 'TOMB RAIDER' TO GET MINI TV SERIES

JUSTIN LONG TO LEAD

 'IRREVERSIBLE' SITCOM AT ABC

In today's TV news, 'Deadline' reports that Justin Long will take the lead role in IRREVERSIBLE comedy pilot at ABC! The sitcom centres on Andy and Sarah, a somewhat eccentric, self absorbed couple, and their trials and tribulations — most of which they bring upon themselves. The project was also done as pilot last year with David Schwimmer but wasn't picked up, so this is its second chance.

'TOMB RAIDER' MINI TV SERIES
It was also revealed today that famous video game TOMB RAIDER will be done in the form of television mini series serving as a prequel to the upcoming 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' game, and eventual movie, which will take players to multiple locations around the world, filled with exploration spaces that are described as some of the most beautifully hostile places on earth.

'THE LITTLE PRINCE'

NEW ANIMATED TRAILER!

The first trailer has been released for animated adaptation of THE LITTLE PRINCE which will come out next Autumn with voices from Marion Cotillard, Jeff Bridges, Benicio Del Toro, Paul Giamatti and Ricky Gervais! In the film an old pilot tells a little girl the story of how he crash-landed in the Sahara Desert where he came across a young boy that claimed to be a prince from his home on an asteroid. During his time repairing the downed aircraft, the young boy told him stories about the foolish inhabitants surrounding his asteroid. The plot around the pilot and the girl will be CGI animated, while THE LITTLE PRINCE story is done by stop motion!