Castium Revelio: “Star Wars” Mania and Jude Law on the Beach
by Brienne Green · April 12, 2019
It’s been a whirlwind week for numerous wizarding world alumni, and we’ve just emerged from it, windswept, giddy, and a whole lot more enlightened! Star Wars and Harry Potter fans will be excited to know the trailer for Episode IX has just been released, and you can find it below, along with more from two of the franchise’s stars, Warwick Davis and Domhnall Gleeson. Meanwhile, Jude Law was making waves on the beach in Italy, Kelly Macdonald was repping Ravenclaw, and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin had a good portion of the free world flustered for After. You’ll find all that and much more below! Ready to blast off? Castium Revelio!
Playmobil: The Movie, which stars Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as the voice of Rex Dasher, has a new United States distribution company.
Deadline Hollywood reported last week that US distribution rights to the animated film have been acquired by STX. Playmobil is scheduled to begin rolling out around the globe in August, but with the distribution switch, a definitive date for its US premiere has not yet been set. We'll keep you posted on that, but we do have an official description for you!
'Playmobil: The Movie' is a comedy adventure where younger brother Charlie (Gabriel Bateman) unexpectedly disappears into a magical animated universe of Playmobil, and unprepared Marla (Taylor Joy) must go on a quest of a lifetime to bring him home, teaming up with some unlikely and heroic new friends along the way.
There are few things cooler than Warwick Davis (Griphook/Filius Flitwick) chillaxing with Chewbacca. And yes, we can actually prove that. SlashFilm.com provided an early glimpse last week into the upcoming book Making Solo: A Star Wars Story, and one of the preview photos featured Davis kicking back in a folding chair between takes alongside Joonas Suotamo in full Chewbacca regalia. The behind-the-scenes book will hit shelves April 16, but you can preorder your copy now on Amazon.
Davis is also primed and ready to host the much-anticipated Star Wars Celebration panel for the 20th anniversary of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
The stage is set in the Wintrust Arena at @SW_Celebration. This is my home for the next 4 days and we’re going to have a blast...er! pic.twitter.com/3kCcbFnns5
— Warwick Davis (@WarwickADavis) April 11, 2019
The panel will take center stage Monday at the Chicago festival and is being held this year in anticipation of the December 20 (December 19 in the United Kingdom) release of Star Wars: Episode IX. There's no official word yet on whether Davis is appearing in the film, but considering the number of characters he's brought to life for the saga in the past - the most famous, of course, being Wicket W. Warrick the Ewok - it's a somewhat safe assumption. Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley) is for certain reprising his role as General Armitage Hux in the movie, and the wildly anticipated first trailer for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released today at the Star Wars Celebration!
When I met @WarwickADavis he was a 10-year-old boy whizzing around Elstree Studios on roller skates. He was also a huge #StarWars fan who only had a few action figures. All I did was ask George if we could fill out his collection. (We even got him the #DarthVader carrying case!) https://t.co/l44w3JvuRF
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) April 7, 2019
Fans immediately responded with a variety of adorable photos of Davis from that era, and you can view a few of them below.
In final Davis news, the actor had a few funny stories of his own to share at the opening of the Gringotts Wizarding Bank addition at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, starting with a slippery situation for Ralph Fiennes in Malfoy Manor.
I remember lying on the floor of Malfoy Manor in a pool of fake blood, and I was watching the great Ralph Fiennes in action through a little crack in my eyes. I watched him striding down with bare feet, and he slipped on the fake blood. It was like he'd slipped on a banana skin in a cartoon. You couldn't help but laugh. He soon got his composure back like the great actor he is and carried on being very bad.
In keeping with the banana theme, Davis also revealed his son, Harrison, had a high-maintenance-actor moment on the set of the final Potter film. We can hardly blame him, though. A kid's gotta eat!
In 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2', my wife and children played goblins. My son Harrison was six at the time and said he was hungry and couldn't wait. I had to go and ask if the crew could get Harrison something to eat. They then had to shut down filming for ten minutes so he could eat a banana before resuming. I don't know where he gets that attitude from!
Gleeson, meanwhile, was spotted last week in London going full Hux on an unfortunate Land Rover. The road rage was all an act, however, as Gleeson was busy shooting scenes for the Peter Rabbit sequel, in which he'll return as Thomas McGregor, with Rose Byrne, who was filming with him, back as Bea. You can view the photos, published last week by the Daily Mail, below. Peter Rabbit 2 is scheduled for a February 7, 2020, release.
James and Lucia, a film exploring the final years of acclaimed Irish writer James Joyce's life, has been a long time coming, but Screen International says Sir Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) signed on to the project this week.
Gambon will portray Professor Alfred Vogt, who performed many operations on Joyce as the author descended into blindness. The film will also explore Joyce's fight to save his daughter, Lucia, who was labeled "mad." Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger, Game of Thrones) was previously cast in the role of Joyce. Screen International says the project is aiming to begin production in November, shooting in Brussels and Dublin.
Gambon has two other projects in postproduction. Judy, which we told you about last year, the story of the decline of Judy Garland's career, in which Gambon plays London theater manager Bernard Delfont, has a September 27 release date. The film also enlisted the talents of Harry Potter costume designer Jany Temime. Gambon additionally appears as Moses in the psychological thriller Cordelia, and while that movie has no release date as yet, you can view a few stills and behind-the-scenes photos in the gallery below.
Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort) has reportedly joined Emma Stone in agreeing to star in director Alexander Payne's new project, The Menu.
Collider says Fiennes is tabbed to play the "twisted chef" in the dark satirical comedy, which follows a young couple who travel to a remote island to attend an exclusive restaurant event where "the acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu, along with some shocking surprises."
Fiennes was also featured last week in GQ, opening up to the magazine about a wide variety of topics, including the fact his idea of perfect happiness is "swimming naked in the sea." You can - and should - read the entire interview here and view photos from the accompanying shoot below.
Fiennes' nephew, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (11-year-old Tom Riddle), will finally see his first starring effort hit the big screen tonight as the fan fiction–turned-film After premieres at theaters around the country. Fiennes-Tiffin, who plays the Harry Styles–inspired character Hardin Scott, and costar Josephine Langford (Tessa) have been globetrotting for months in support of the movie, speaking with CP24 Breakfast in Canada last week. Fiennes-Tiffin admitted the fervor with which fans are awaiting After came as a bit of a shock, particularly considering he didn't know anything about the fanfic or ensuing novel series prior to being cast.
I must have been living under a rock because everyone else does. Anna kind of warned us of the size of it, and I understood what she was saying, but I don't think I really... I think I slightly underestimated it. But I've been pleasantly surprised with how supportive the fan base are.
You can view that full interview below as well as another from Screen Rant.
Fiennes-Tiffin: I haven't been recognized for it much. I did it at a point where I changed how I looked quite quickly after.
Langford: Puberty.
Fiennes-Tiffin: Yeah, that old thing.
It'll get you every time. Some more favorably than others. Need a few more looks? We don't blame you. Check out the gallery below for shots of Fiennes-Tiffin from the April 8 premiere of After in Los Angeles, courtesy of Just Jared, and also a photo from GQ, which lauded the young actor's choice of a double-breasted Dior suit for a screening of the movie in Paris.
So what will be coming after After? Deadline Hollywood reports Fiennes-Tiffin has been cast in the upcoming thriller The Silencing, playing Brooks, the troubled younger brother of Sheriff Alice Gustafson. Gustafson and a reformed hunter become involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse when they set out to track a vicious killer who may have kidnapped the hunter's daughter years before.
It's been a big week for Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley), thanks to the Season 2 premiere of the hit BBC America and AMC series Killing Eve, and it got even bigger when a third season was announced.
Deadline Hollywood reports BBC America has approved the show for a Season 3, which will be helmed by a new writer, executive producer, and showrunner: British writer Suzanne Heathcote (Fear the Walking Dead).
Meanwhile, Shaw and her costars, including Jodie Comer (Villanelle) and Sandra Oh (Eve), were out and about celebrating the start of Season 2, appearing at the AMC Network Summit in New York City and a private party at the home of AMC CEO Josh Sapan, where Shaw made a rare public appearance with her wife, Dr. Sonali Deraniyagala. You can see photos from those two events in the gallery below.
Shaw was also interviewed last week by Out, which asked her what she termed "a brilliant question": "Do you think Aunt Petunia would watch 'Killing Eve'?"
[Laughs] That's a crazy question. No, she really wouldn't like it. I don't think she would like it at all. I think she would like to turn the television off.
Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) is continuing to film the drama/thriller Dreamland, set for a 2020 premiere, and his wife, Gisele Schmidt, posted a first look at the actor - who'll play Dr. Tyrone Brower - on set with costar Greg Kinnear.
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Timothy Spall's (Peter Pettigrew) new film, The Corrupted, is set to premiere May 3. Spall plays Clifford Cullen in the movie, and you can view the first official trailer below.
She felt real: sympathetic at times, unlikable at others. The title is great because you're wondering who the victim is. Reading the script, my allegiances were switching, so I hope it's the same for viewers.
She also took a moment to rep the blue and bronze when the Guardian revealed to her she was the last actor ever cast for the Harry Potter films.
Really? I knew I was last to film my scenes, so I was pretty much acting on my own - just me, a green screen, and a cardboard cutout of Daniel Radcliffe. It's always a thrill when I go into the 'Harry Potter' shop and see the navy-and-gray scarves. I think, 'That's my house!' I don't support any sports teams, so that's as close as I get. Team Ravenclaw!
You can read Macdonald's full interview, touching on her roles in Trainspotting, Brave, and more, here.
Since the announcement that three wizarding world alumni have been cast in the impending prequel to Game of Thrones, we've been keeping you up to date on what could be in store for Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter), Jamie Campbell Bower (teen Gellert Grindelwald), and Toby Regbo (teen Albus Dumbledore). The prequel, which has been dubbed The Long Night by author George R.R. Martin, has yet to begin filming, but Martin - speaking with the Hollywood Reporter at the New York City premiere of GOT's final season - says, "They're getting very close to that. They have a great director and an amazing cast." Martin also elaborated a bit further on the familiar-yet-new world in which viewers will find themselves.
I've been following along closely. I have my fingers crossed. It's different. It's definitely very different. It's set thousands of years in the past. You're looking at a whole different era of Westeros. No dragons, no Iron Throne, no King's Landing. It will be interesting to see what the fans make of that.
Last week, we gave you a first look and a trailer for Alfred Enoch's (Dean Thomas) upcoming debut on Season 2 of the BBC One series Trust Me, and this week, the actor spoke with the Daily Star about what it's been like to step into an ongoing show previously fronted by Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who). Enoch told the Star he tends to put pressure on himself with every role he undertakes, but "taking over from Jodie hasn't directly affected me."
I'm playing a completely different part in a different story. I didn't come into this playing Jodie's part. It's a different story, characters, and city. However, that tense thriller element from the first series that made it so successful is still very much there. I like what the producers have done with the angle and the scripts. It makes for a good piece of TV.
Trust Me debuts April 16.
We let you know in late March that Robert Pattinson's (Cedric Diggory) name had been mentioned in connection with an upcoming blockbuster by director Christopher Nolan, and now it seems Pattinson's involvement has been confirmed. MovieWeb reports the actor says he's read the script, and it's "unbelievable." He can't divulge much more, however, as the project is top-secret.
I got locked in a room to read the script - I don't have it myself. I've been a little wary of doing big movies for years and years, but there's just something about Chris Nolan's stuff. He seems like the only director now who can do what is essentially a very personal, independent movie that has huge scale. I read the script, and it's unreal.
Freddie Stroma (Cormac McLaggen) will be making magic once again in an upcoming NBC comedy. Like Magic currently has a pilot episode in preproduction and will feature Stroma as Jake, the overworked entertainment director of the Magic Palace. Variety says Criss Angel will also be making a guest appearance in the episode as Trent, the leader of the familiarly named Ministry of Magic.
The workplace comedy follows an optimistic young woman (Jee Young Han, 'City of Dreams') pursuing her dream to be a headlining magician in the eccentric and ego-driven world of the Magic Palace.
No release date has yet been announced for Like Magic, but we'll keep you posted!
While we know and love Brendan Gleeson as the constantly vigilant Mad-Eye Moody, the actor is also a talented musician, and he's lent his voice and fiddle to a song on Irish band Dervish's new album, The Great Irish Songbook. The Irish Examiner says Dervish singer Cathy Jordan was pleased to include Gleeson on the band's recording of "Rocky Road to Dublin."
We know Brendan through music because he plays in sessions in Boyle. Once, he was on a tour with Mike McGoldrick, and everyone ended up in my house afterwards. We sang until all hours of the morning, so for us, he was always a singer and fiddle player. When it came to 'Rocky Road to Dublin,' we knew it had to be him.
The album was released today, and you can order yours in several different formats on Amazon.
Sean Biggerstaff (Oliver Wood) is a really nice guy.
MuggleNet told you last month that the actor - who played Sgt. Donald Odd in the 2016 movie Whisky Galore, filmed in Portsoy, Scotland - was headed back to the site of what he calls one of his favorite film projects to help raise funds for a local boat festival. While in Portsoy, the Press and Journal reports, he took time to officially open a new telescope installed in the city's harbor. Would Oliver Wood use it to spy on nearby rival Quidditch teams' practices? Probably. But Biggerstaff has no such dubious intentions. He was just being a sweetheart.
I've spent many a happy day looking at and from this beautiful harbor front, and this makes it even better.
ComicBook.com released a first-look video Thursday of Anna Shaffer (Romilda Vane) in her latest role as Triss Merigold in the television adaptation of The Witcher. The eight-part series is based on the Andrzej Sapkowski book series of the same name and is scheduled to premiere on Netflix this year.
Anna Shaffer as Triss spotted in Ogrodzieniec castle - more footage soon from r/netflixwitcher
It's apparently been several years since Jim Tavaré (Tom, landlord of the Leaky Cauldron) agreed to let his hair - erm, sideburns - down for I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu, but the April 23 premiere of the film is now imminent, the actor announced this week on Facebook. You can also view a trailer for the movie here.
Showtime's upcoming miniseries The Loudest Voice, a look at the rise and fall of former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, has a star-studded cast, and among them is Simon McBurney (voice of Kreacher). The Hollywood Reporter took a look this week at the show and its actors, which also include Russell Crowe, Naomi Watts, Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane, and Josh Charles, and you can view the video below. McBurney is set to portray media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The Loudest Voice will premiere June 30.
A song written by the Boss and originally offered to filmmakers for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has finally found a home, 18 years later.
The Wrap says Bruce Springsteen recorded "I'll Stand by You Always," a tender song sung from the point of view of a man whose child comes crying to him in the night, in 2001, but J.K. Rowling had a stipulation that no commercial music be used in the Harry Potter films. The song will now be featured in the end credits of the upcoming movie Blinded by the Light, based on the memoir Greetings from Bury Park, by Sarfraz Manzoor, in which the Pakistan-born writer discusses his teen years in a small town in England and having his passion for writing fueled by Springsteen songs.
We clued you in recently to the identities of the Mystery Inc. gang actors who'll lend their voices to Chris Columbus's (Harry Potter producer and director) upcoming Scooby-Doo film, Scoob, and two more cast members have now been added to the list: Ken Jeong (The Hangover), who will voice Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, and Kiersey Clemons (Dope), who'll portray Dee Dee Sykes, one of Captain Caveman's Teen Angels. Scoob is slated for a May 15, 2020, premiere.
Deadline Hollywood says Francis Ford Coppola is almost ready to unleash a masterpiece with Megalopolis, a "sprawling film as ambitious as 'Apocalypse Now.'" The director says he has a script and has begun talks with potential cast members, reportedly including Jude Law (Albus Dumbledore). This one's still in the rumor stage, but we'll stay on top of it!
Meanwhile, Law created an incredible stir this week on the internet when he was spotted filming scenes for his upcoming television series The New Pope in nothing but a white Speedo on the beaches of Venice, Italy. Law may be approaching 50, but he's doing it very, very well. He'll be reprising his The Young Pope character Pope Pius XIII, a.k.a. Lenny Belardo, on the new HBO series, which has no US air date as yet. If you feel you can take it, go ahead and check out the photos below. We are not having impure thoughts about a guy playing the Pope...
The official trailer for Johnny Depp's (Gellert Grindelwald) upcoming movie, The Professor, was released Wednesday by ONE Media, and after checking it out, we couldn't be more excited to see the versatile actor in this role. Depp plays Richard, a college professor dealing with a bleak medical diagnosis and the realization he has just six months left to live. Rather than wallow, Richard chooses to seize the day and begins striving to take his students along with him on that journey, telling them, "You've got one shot. Grab it, snatch it up, make it yours. Don't let a moment slip by." You can watch the trailer and enjoy a few stills below. The Professor arrives in theaters May 17.
At first, it was a character who turned into an animal. There was a lot more work of prosthetics, so it amused me a lot. I could already see myself turning into a bird, etc. And when I was told that this part was removed, I was at first a little sad. I thought, oh, so then I would not have a super power. But in fact, it was to make the character more human, more endearing.
Nadylam also spoke about the nature of the films, his fellow actors, and the differences between the Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter films, and you can read the full interview (but will need to run it through an online translator if you're not fluent in French!) here.
Korean pop culture website Soompi says Claudia Kim (Nagini) is considering what would be her first role since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Kim's agency told Soompi the actress was "positively" mulling a role in Chemistry (working title), a drama that would explore a series of 1984 murders and a similar situation in the present day. If it comes to fruition, the show would air toward the end of the year. We'll keep you posted!
The third season of HBO's hit series True Detective wrapped up at the end of February, and Gold Derby caught up with Carmen Ejogo (Seraphina Picquery) this week to inquire about her reaction to the finale. She summed it up rather succinctly: "I burst into tears."
The fact that the show becomes this beautiful meditation on love and time and the cyclical nature of what time is, and is deeply poetic and is very hopeful in the end, was a wonderful payoff. It's pretty genius how [it] takes you down a certain path, and it becomes something so much more glorious and promising and optimistic in many ways. I was just blown away.
Ejogo portrayed teacher Amelia Reardon in Season 3, and the show will likely be looking at some Emmy nominations this summer. You can view her full interview with Gold Derby below.
Resuming production, meanwhile, on May 6 will be AMC's The Walking Dead in preparation for Season 10. Morton joined the cast in Season 9 as the sadistic Alpha, as did Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski) as Luke. The next season of the long-running show is scheduled to premiere in October.
MSN Entertainment also reports Morton is working on an improvised, one-hour film titled I Am Nicola that she developed and cowrote with director Dominic Savage for the UK's Channel 4. No word yet on when that project will come about, but Morton says it's a relevant tale.
The story for 'I Am Nicola' is, weirdly, very apt for today. It's about something I was aware of when I was a girl. It's poverty, and this is about how you can have a life, a job, a partner, a flat, and with a series of events out of your control, lose everything very quickly and end up homeless. With nothing.
We told you in March about Jessica Williams' (Eulalie Hicks) role in the upcoming coming-of-age comedy Booksmart, and while her character remains unnamed, you can catch glimpses of her in the new trailer released last week. Be aware this is for mature audiences only. Booksmart is scheduled for a May 24 release.
Anthony Boyle's (Scorpius Malfoy) new movie, Tolkien, is on the horizon, and two new videos have been released about the J.R.R. Tolkien biopic. The first, from Fox Searchlight, features Boyle's costars, Nicholas Hoult (Tolkien) and Lily Collins (Edith Bratt) discussing the film, and you can see scenes featuring Boyle throughout. Collider was able to sit down with several cast members, including Boyle, at WonderCon in Anaheim, California, and you can also view that interview below. Tolkien premieres May 10.
Variety also announced last week that Boyle has joined Winona Ryder and John Turturro in signing on for a six-part HBO miniseries titled The Plot Against America. Based on the novel by Joe Roth, the show imagines an alternate American history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh.
We let you know way back in 2017 that Jack Thorne (cowriter) had signed up to pen The Eddy for La La Land director Damien Chazelle, but two years later, we finally know what format the project will take.
The Eddy will stream as a Netflix series, and the Hollywood Reporter revealed last week that Andre Holland (Moonlight) has signed on to play Elliot Udo, a once-celebrated jazz pianist and now-part-owner of a failing Paris nightclub. Thorne wrote six of the series' eight episodes and is also an executive producer. There's still no release date for the project, but we'll keep an eye out!
Hulu
- Finding Your Feet: Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge)
- Blow: Johnny Depp (Gellert Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts)
Amazon
- Finding Your Feet: Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge)
I’m sorry, were you saying something? We may or may not have still been looking at those Jude Law pics… anyway, that’s it for another edition of MuggleNet’s Casting News! Thanks for coming along for the ride, and be sure to tune in again next week for more updates on your wizarding world favorites!
