Role Call: Trailers, Tales, and Theaters!

It’s taken us a bit of time to recover from the fun of our Expo Patronum event in London, but we’re back! This week, we learn about a slew of new stage roles, get our hands on a few trailers, and continue our efforts to find out exactly which character Domhnall Gleeson will be portraying in the new Star Wars! Read on for all the scoop on the latest roles for our favorite cast members!

The spinoff for The Walking Dead now has a title and small teaser trailer! While we have not yet seen Frank Dillane (teenage Tom Riddle, HBP) in the trailer, this helps takes the edge off of our excitement.  The new series is slated for a six-episode premiere season this summer, followed by an already scheduled season 2 in 2016.   It was also recently announced that Hulu will take exclusive streaming rights for the series. Take a look below at the trailer for Fear the Walking Dead!

It looks like a lot of our HP family will be on stage this season! Announced for roles on stage recently are Ciaran Hinds (Aberforth Dumbledore, DH: P2), who will join the production of Hamlet as Claudius at the Barbican Theatre with Benedict Cumberbatch; Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) is set to star in The Master Builder, The Hairy Ape and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail) in The Caretaker at the Old Vic; and David Tennant (Barty Crouch, Jr., GoF) will be in New York and London in 2016 for a production of Richard II.

Speaking of Timothy Spall – the actor has signed on for a television special with Casual Vacancy star Keeley Hawes! Fungus the Bogeyman will be aired during the Christmas season in four parts with Spall in the titular role. Says Spall of his latest role,

Fungus has brought joy to generations of children and I am so thrilled to be playing such a beloved character.”

Sir Michael Gambon‘s (Albus Dumbledore) television drama Fortitude has been renewed for a second season on Pivot, and he recently appeared in a video to celebrate the 150th birthday anniversary of WB Yeats. Incidentally, the score for the video was composed by Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince composer Nicolas Hooper! Take a look at the video below:

Sir Michael is also set to play Winston Churchill in the thriller Target Churchill. The synopsis of the film is below:

The fictionalised plot follows an attempt by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to have Churchill assassinated before he can make his Iron Curtain speech in 1946.

Emma Thompson‘s (Professor Trelawney) drama SOLD will premiere at the Illuminate Film Festival next month to open the festivities. The festival aims to provide access to “life-affirming cinematic works that encourage audiences to ponder existence more deeply than their daily routines”.  Also, we found the tiniest morsel that indicated Emma is involved in a new film, titled Adam Jones. According to this article, the film is about a chef attempting to assemble a team to create the world’s best restaurant.

Recently Tony nominated actor Bill Nighy (Rufus Scrimgeour, DH:P1) has his next film role locked down. The actor will appear in Their Finest Hour and a Half. The film is based on a novel of the same name and described as “a battle of the sexes that follows the misadventures of a British movie crew trying to make a patriotic film to boost morale during the Blitz”. Shooting of the film is set to begin later this summer.

Rumor alert! While we know that Gary Oldman‘s (Sirius Black) production company Flying Studios is set to produce the newly optioned Truman Capote adapted television series In Cold Blood, we are still unclear if the actor will appear in the series. The Weinstein Company’s David Glasser had this to say regarding Gary’s involvement:

We are extremely excited to be partnering with Gary, Doug and the whole Flying Studios team to bring what’s sure to be an unbelievable series to TV viewers.”

Star Wars fans have been abuzz with the new teaser trailer that was released, but unfortunately we still have no idea what role Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley) is playing. The actor has been under a Star Wars Statute of Secrecy and has so far kept his end of the bargain. You can view the trailer below:

Domhnall has also reportedly begun talks to join the cast of Mena alongside Tom Cruise. The synopsis of the film is below, based on a true story:

Barry Seal, a TWA pilot recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in Central America, finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the U.S., one that spawned the birth of the Medellin cartel and eventually almost brought down the Reagan White House through the Iran Contra scandal.

We had so much fun visiting with Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) during Expo Patronum in London and now we have a glimpse at her next film, The Tale of Tales, which also stars Jessie’s sister Bebe as well as Toby Jones (the voice of Dobby). We’ve included the link to the restricted trailer here, but please be aware that there is nudity and some disturbing images in the trailer. The Italian trailer is below, which is a bit more family friendly.

Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) is taking a break from directing once again to star in a film! It was announced last week that he has joined Olivia Cooke and Douglas Booth (Emma Watson’s Noah co-star) in The Limehouse Gollum. The film is described as “a gothic murder mystery…A series of murders has shaken the community to the point where people believe that only a legendary creature from dark times — the mythical so-called Golem — must be responsible”. No word yet on Alan’s exact role, but we know he is more than capable of playing a baddie!

Finally, producer David Heyman has hinted that there will be a Paddington 2. In an interview with Collider, Heyman let it slip:

It’s very early days. Let’s just say that we’re in talks. That’s where we are. We’re having conversations. Paul has to decide that he wants to do it, and we have to come up with a story that we feel works. If we do that, then we’ll be on our way.”

Unfortunately for us, no new information regarding Fantastic Beasts has yet emerged. Guess that will have to wait for another edition of Role Call!

That concludes our first post-Expo edition of Casting News! Let us know what you think about all the new roles in store – we love hearing your opinions!