Castium Revelio: New Beginnings

by · May 29, 2019

With an abundance of actors and actresses composing the alumni of the wizarding world, it seems like there’s always something new to talk about in MuggleNet’s Casting News. This week, we seem to be teetering on the edge of a few beginnings in particular. Speculation continues to swirl around Robert Pattinson‘s potential casting as the next Dark Knight. Meanwhile, David Tennant has a new little bundle of joy on the way – much better news than the bundle he was helping Wormtail schlep around in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And lastly, Ezra Miller may be moving on from the character of the Flash, and we could know one way or another within the next few days. All that and more await you below, so let’s get started! Castium Revelio!

 

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Harry Potter Cast & Crew

Dame Emma Thompson (Sybill Trelawney) fans counting down the days until the release of Late Night will have to start a bit higher. Deadline Hollywood reported this week that the movie's wide release date has been bumped back from June 7 to June 14. It will still begin an exclusive run in New York and Los Angeles, however, on June 7. The delay means Late Night will now make its debut on the same day as another Thompson film: Men in Black: International. Sounds like a perfect excuse for a marathon at the theater to us! We'll bring the Mr. Pibb and Red Vines. To tide you over, check out this interview with Thompson and Late Night costar Mindy Kaling, courtesy of Moviefone.

 

 

 

A year ago this month, MuggleNet let you know that Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) would be starring in and directing a film for which he also penned the script: Flying Horse. The Mercury News now says the movie - which tells the story of photographer Eadweard Muybridge, one of the fathers of the moving image - applied for the California film tax credit and was approved Tuesday. Hopefully, that means production is on the horizon! We'll keep an eye out.

The newspaper also said the long-postponed live-action adaptation of Japanese anime classic Akira will be shot in California, and the movie now has a May 21, 2021, release date. Director Taika Waititi and producer Leonardo DiCaprio have taken over the project, and while Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) were tabbed to star back in 2011, their names - and all others - were disconnected once production delays began. There currently is no cast tied to the movie, but with Waititi telling Screen Rant in 2017 that, were he to become involved, he'd look to cast "actually Asian teenagers" and largely "unfound, untapped" talent, it's a safe assumption the two actors behind our favorite and least favorite members of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black will no longer be involved.

Meanwhile, Oldman will be appearing soon on an episode of Savage Builds, the new eight-episode series of special effects designer, actor, and former cohost of MythBusters Adam Savage. BroadwayWorld says the show will premiere June 12 on the Science Channel. Savage and Oldman will join forces in one episode in an attempt to construct a multi-functional weapon inspired by The Fifth Element. We'll let you know when we see an air date!

Critics at the Cannes Film Festival saw the light last week, awarding Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory) and Willem Dafoe's The Lighthouse the Directors' Fortnight and Critics Week award for best first or second feature. Pattinson plays lighthouse keeper Ephraim Winslow and Dafoe Thomas Wake in the movie, which the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) called "a brutal work of art, all shot in beautiful black-and-white cinematography and fueled by a soundscape that echoes like a foghorn." The Fipresci jury also had high praise for Pattinson and Dafoe, stating, Deadline Hollywood says, the "two lead actors give stormy, career-best performances." You can check out a Deadline interview with the two stars and director/writer Robert Eggers below.

 

 

 

And while we still don't know for certain whether Pattinson will be our next Batman, the rumor mill continues to churn, particularly after DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee posted a photo of his in-flight entertainment to Instagram, in which Pattinson's name is prominently visible on a tablet turned to a page of Howard Stern's new book. Do we hear the flutter of little bat wings? Pattinson's The Lighthouse costar seems to hope so, too; Dafoe told Variety the actor already has one key component checked off the Dark Knight list.

He's got a strong chin. That's a part of it. Can you imagine anyone with a weak chin ever playing Batman? I don't think so.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Ready for my 16 hour nonstop flight! What am I missing? #essentials #abudhabi #uae

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Subscribers to the Telegraph will have the opportunity to watch productions from the 2019 season of Glyndebourne Festival Opera for free this summer, including one directed by Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley). Shaw brought to life Massenet's Cendrillon, coaxing out, the newspaper says, "the deeper, psychological resonances of the 'Cinderella' tale. How does imagination shape identity? What do those things we desire really say about us?" The opera will be live online June 30, and you can watch Shaw discussing how it gave her the opportunity to dissect fairy tales below.

 

 

 

Shaw also spoke in depth with the Telegraph this week about a wide variety of topics, including her transition from the stage to the small screen for projects like Killing Eve - Season 2 of which premieres June 8 on BBC1 in the UK - and Fleabag.

When I'm in the theatre, where I would be swimming with the tide, it's my job to lasso the audience and to make sure they understand the moral dilemma of the piece - that's what leading players do. You are sort of the MC for the night. In 'Killing Eve', most of my work is about knowing more than everybody else in the scene and hiding it. And it's a terribly lonely thing to do. It feels all wrong - like rubbing my tummy and patting my head at the same time. I want to smile, I want to make jokes - but you are left with an ambiguity. You don't know whether I know I've made a joke or not. It's very good exercise for me.

You'll want to read the full interview, which gives powerful insight into the actress's life and some of the events that have shaped it. You can find it here.

David Tennant (Barty Crouch Jr.) is no doubt eagerly anticipating Friday's premiere of Good Omens - which also stars Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter) - on Amazon Prime, but the actor has something even more exciting to look forward to in a few months: the birth of his fifth child.

Tennant told The Late Late Show host James Corden recently that his wife of eight years, Georgia Moffett, was expecting and that "what's really weird is that we're now getting lectures in birth control from our 17-year-old son. That's definitely meant to be the other way 'round." You can check out the video of Tennant on the talk show below, and be sure to tune in Friday for the much-anticipated Good Omens debut!

 

 

Kenneth Branagh's (Gilderoy Lockhart) tribute to the man behind the legend that is William Shakespeare, All Is True, has been receiving positive reviews globally following its wide release, and the actor sat down last week with TheaterJones to discuss his approach to the movie, including how his vast experience with and love for Shakespeare's works helped afford him a valuable perspective. You can read the entire interview here.

It's obviously a subjective thing. Others might see it and say, 'That's not how I imagine him at all from the inside out,' but it is how I imagine a version of Shakespeare who is deeply human, humane, and humorous. All of that really came from my encounters with his work across 40 years of having the privilege of having to watch it, or be in it, or direct it.

The final episode of Season 3 of SkyTV's Urban Myths aired today, featuring Kelly Macdonald (Helena Ravenclaw) and Jamie Campbell Bower (young Gellert Grindelwald) as Princess Margaret and Mick Jagger. We let you know about the episode in March, and Macdonald told the Express this week that she had a blast filming it. You can check out a few photos of the unlikely pals in the gallery below as well as a video tweet from SkyTV that you are NOT going to want to scroll past. Trust us here. It's perfect.

Everybody heard stories about Princess Margaret and read things about her, and 'Urban Myths' is just sort of that amplified. It was a hilarious couple of days.

 

 

The Yorkshire Post says the city of Hull, England, is soliciting support for a new maritime center, and Miriam Margolyes (Pomona Sprout) has pledged hers. The actress is among hundreds who've committed to backing Hull's $34 million plans to transform its seafaring history into an international tourist attraction by way of a state-of-the-art interpretation center. Margolyes said she's excited about the potential of the project.

Hull was a tremendously important entry point for thousands of people. Many of my own family came to Hull from Eastern Europe. I'd be thrilled to support the Hull Maritime Foundation.

Popular BBC1 drama The A Word, starring Lee Ingleby (Stan Shunpike) as Paul Hughes, will be returning for a third season, Digital Spy reports. The show, which follows a family struck by unexpected news in the form of an autism diagnosis for son Joe (Max Vento), began filming this week in the Lake District and Manchester, England. We'll let you know as soon as we hear a premiere date!

The show will pick up two years on from the end of the second series, where things have significantly changed for the Hughes family. Joe is now 10 and living in two places at once, processing the major changes in his life through the filter of his autism. Meanwhile, Alison (Morven Christie) and Paul are divorced and live 100 miles apart. It's only Maurice (Christopher Eccleston) who is holding things together, which isn't a good sign for the family.

As we told you last week, Gentleman Jack, which stars Gemma Jones (Poppy Pomfrey) as Aunt Anne Lister, has been making a splash for both the BBC and HBO, and Variety now reports the show has been renewed for a second season. Season 1 of the series - which is based on the true story of Anne Lister, played by Suranne Jones, the proprietor of her family's coal mines and a woman regarded as "the first modern lesbian" - is winding down now, and we'll keep you posted on when you can expect the second!

It was certainly worth the 25-year wait to see the cast of Four Weddings and a Funeral reunited last week during the Red Nose Day fundraiser event. One Red Nose Day and a Wedding featured nearly all of our favorite characters - including Sophie Thompson (Mafalda Hopkirk) - coming back together to celebrate the marriage of Charles (Hugh Grant) and Carrie's (Andie MacDowell) daughter, Miranda (Lily James), to Fiona's (Kristin Scott Thomas) daughter, Faith (Alicia Vikander). The ceremony was, of course, hilariously slaughtered by Father Gerald (Rowan Atkinson). If you forgot to set your alarm and missed it live, you're still invited to watch it here.

Meanwhile, the woman who voiced Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Jessica Hynes, visited Liskeard School and Community College in Cornwall, England, last week to speak to students about the benefits of studying drama, Cornwall Live reports. Hynes recently won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for her work on There She Goes and spent time encouraging and offering advice to students in the school's A-level drama program. You can view photos of the actress in action below.

I was so impressed with how expressive, articulate, and perceptive your students were. Incredible, alive, and full of creativity, passion, and energy - what an inspiration to us all! I enjoyed today so much, I wish I could come back tomorrow!

Robbie Jarvis's (young James Potter) production of Loot at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, which we let you know about earlier this month, has been extended through August 10! The play begins June 8, and you can purchase tickets here.

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Robbin' banks and hiding bodies till August 10th. Link in bio!

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Deadline Hollywood says Alfonso Cuarón (director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) has returned to William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC (WME). The director left WME in 2017 but has returned to the agency in high demand after going on an award-winning spree early this year with his Netflix film Roma.

Fantastic Beasts Cast & Crew

Writer and director Aaron Sorkin's film The Trial of the Chicago 7, which has been on pause for several years, will reportedly begin filming June 1 in Toronto, Canada, according to Geeks WorldWide. We let you know in December 2018 that the movie - which is set to star Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander) as Tom Hayden - was on hold once again, but Deadline Hollywood reported in February that its production was being fast-tracked for an early summer start after strong responses from buyers in Berlin. We'll keep you posted!

Not all is well in the world of the Flash, as we told you last month. Whereas we previously had a standalone film about the speedy superhero starring Ezra Miller (Credence Barebone) to look forward to, things began slowing to a crawl when Miller reportedly expressed disappointment with the script and his intent to help rewrite it. Since then, it's been all quiet on the Flash front, but with ComicBook.com reporting both Miller's and Ray Fisher's (Cyborg) contracts relating to the characters are expiring at the end of this month, Miller could potentially be moving on to less monotone outfits. There's still time for the actor to renew his contract, but the clock is ticking.

Tim Burton's live-action adaptation of Dumbo will be coming in for a landing on digital download, 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD June 25. The movie stars Colin Farrell (Percival Graves) as Holt Farrier.

We gave you a few more details last week about Zoë Kravitz's (Leta Lestrange) upcoming series adaptation of High Fidelity, and the Daily Mail spotted the actress filming for the show last week in New York. You can view a few photos of Kravitz, who'll be playing the lead role of Rob, in the gallery below. She's also anticipating the June 9 premiere of Season 2 of Big Little Lies, and costar Reese Witherspoon recently shared this tantalizing tweet.

 

 

 

Victoria Yeates (Bunty) will star in a reading of Simon Stephens' T5 next month at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham, England. The one-woman short play will be free to same-night ticket holders of the June 12 performance of Stephens' Country Music.

'T5' portrays a road trip below the heart of London and follows a darkly magical flight out to the edges of the 21st century. Visions of violence and the ancient and modern lights of the city mingle with the dreams and nightmares of family life in this searing monologue by Simon Stephens.

 

 

 

Bloody Disgusting says the comedy-horror film Corporate Animals - which we told you about in April and which stars Jessica Williams (Eulalie Hicks), Demi Moore, and Ed Helms - was acquired at Sundance by Screen Media and will now be released in theaters and on demand August 9.

The Cannes Film Festival awards are all wrapped up for 2019, and one Fantastic Beasts alumnus received significant acclaim. Ingvar E. Sigurðsson (Grimmson) earned the Cannes Critics' Week Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for his performance as Ingimundur in A White, White Day, which we told you about in April. Congrats, Ingvar!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Cast & Crew

Jack Thorne (writer, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and John Tiffany (Cursed Child director) will be reunited this summer in a production of The End of History... at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The Standard says Thorne's play will star David Morrissey and Lesley Sharp in the lead roles and will run June 27–August 10. You can purchase tickets here.

'The End of History...' is set in 1997 and shows what happens when leftie couple Sal (Sharp) and David (Morrissey) welcome their kids back home for the weekend - all of which have been named after their socialist heroes.

That brings this edition of MuggleNet’s Casting News to an end! We’ll no doubt be coming full circle next week, however, when your favorite wizarding world stars embark on a host of other undertakings, so until then, let us know which newly beginning projects you’re most looking forward to in the comments below!