Castium Revelio: OMG, Not “The OA”!

by · August 10, 2019

Here at MuggleNet, we’re more than a little miffed this week about the cancellation of one of our latest favorite series, Jason Isaacs’ The OA. You can read all about that – plus Isaacs’ reaction to the whole mess – below, along with much, much more. We’ve got premiere dates for Peaky Blinders and The Crown, Domhnall Gleeson singing “Happy Birthday” as General Armitage Hux, and Nat Tena hating on the Game of Thrones finale! Take a deep breath and practice the movements… Castium Revelio!

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Harry Potter Cast & Crew

Hilariously enough, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) seems to be just as well known in Ireland for partying with the Dublin Minor Football team in 2012 as he is for playing the boy who lived. Speaking with Extra.ie this week, Radcliffe said, "I love how that story in Ireland - everyone knows me for that. It's a nice thing, it's a good thing." He also recounted the story of how he made a point - even two years down the road - of repaying the team for covering his cab fare that night, as you can see in the tweet below. Asked if he'd ever be up for a rematch with the squad, Radcliffe said, "I don't know, I don't drink anymore, so it would have to be a more sedate sesh. But if I'm ever there and any of those guys see me again, I will happily buy them a drink because I definitely owe them one." Sláinte!

 

 

Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) is among the star-studded cast of Jason Mewes' directorial debut, Madness in the Method, joining the likes of Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher, Danny Trejo, Judd Nelson, and Stan Lee in his final on-screen performance, HorrorCultFilms reports. Lynch portrays Abbie Fox in the movie.

No longer content being known only as Jay from 'Jay and Silent Bob', Jason takes matters into his own hands and hatches a plan to change people's perception of him in the movie business. Did the plan involve a killing spree, a wide-scale police investigation, and international press scrutiny? Probably not, but whatever works, right? Can Jason get away with murder and climb his way to the top of Hollywood, or is it just the fantastical 'mewesings' of an insane ex-drug addict?

The film will be making its European premiere August 24 at the Arrow Video FrightFest in London, England. You can purchase tickets to that event now and check out the trailer below.

 

 

 

 

Also premiering August 24 at FrightFest will be Gary Oldman's (Sirius Black) new horror flick, Mary. The movie will hit theaters and video on demand October 11, and its first trailer was released this week. In it, Oldman plays yet another character who doesn't "want to hear any more about curses." We feel ya.

 

 

 

 

Pinkies up! We're just a little over a month away from the much-anticipated debut of the Downton Abbey movie! In anticipation of the big event, PBS has announced it will be airing Downton Abbey Live, featuring never-before-heard stories from the series, film clips, and a look back on the uber-successful period drama, on August 18. The film, meanwhile, hits theaters September 20. MuggleNet gave you a look this week at new images from the film featuring Dame Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall), but the newest cast photo also features Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) in all her glory as Lady Bagshaw.

Staunton has another premiere fast approaching as well: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. That debut is slated for October 18, and a new poster and television spot for the movie were released this week, both of which you can scope below. Mistress of Evil also features Jenn Murray (Chastity Barebone, Fantastic Beasts) and Warwick Davis (Griphook/Filius Flitwick).

 

 

 

Now that we've given you a false sense of security with all that pleasant news, it's time to drop the hammer: Netflix has canceled The OA. We'll wait while you dash off an angry tweet. What the heck, we'll do another of our own as well.

Moving on to the next stage of grief, Deadline Hollywood broke the news last week, and fans have been in turmoil since. It feels like a particularly dirty trick, considering the two years the dedicated base waited between the debut of Season 1 in December 2016 and the Season 2 premiere March 22. Cindy Holland, Netflix's vice president of original content, confirmed the cancellation.

We are incredibly proud of the 16 mesmerizing chapters of 'The OA' and are grateful to Brit [Marling] and Zal [Batmanglij] for sharing their audacious vision and for realizing it through their incredible artistry. We look forward to working with them again in the future, in this and perhaps many other dimensions.

Yes, well, apology not accepted, Cindy. Some fans have already begun hoping the whole thing is a hoax meant to add drama to a third season, but barring that, we can also hope the series will be picked up by another service. Meanwhile, Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), who starred as Hap Percy, broke our hearts further with his Twitter reactions. Group hug.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in other rips in the space-time continuum, Isaacs was in attendance at the recent Star Trek Las Vegas convention and made clear in a panel discussion with the man who succeeded him as captain on Star Trek: Discovery, Anson Mount, that he'd love to return to the role of Captain Gabriel Lorca. Asked point-blank if he'd made a comeback, he responded, "How do you know I am not already? Of course I would do it. I loved it!"

So I have talked to [the producers] plenty. Where and when? Nobody ever dies. There is a Prime Lorca. There are three different shows coming out and multiple seasons, and if I can squeeze back into that eight-year-old's uniform, would do. Who wouldn't want to do it again? They are timeless stories.

An interview with Isaacs is never a dull affair, and the actor had plenty more (predominantly hilarious) things to say, which you can peruse further at TrekMovie.com. You can also view a gallery of photos of Isaacs at the convention, courtesy of TrekNews.net.

In June, we gave you the first trailer for Ralph Fiennes' (Lord Voldemort) upcoming picture with Matt Smith and Keira Knightley, Official Secrets, and this week we have a brand-new movie poster for you! Fiennes stars as Ben Emmerson in the true-story drama, which premieres August 30 in the US and October 18 in the UK.

 

 

 

Rumors are also flying around the internet about an offer extended to Prince Charles to join the cast of Bond 25. As we told you in June, the prince paid a visit to the movie's set, and remembering the overwhelmingly positive response to Queen Elizabeth II joining Daniel Craig in a Bond spoof to kick off the 2012 London Olympics, Esquire says the filmmakers would love to include another member of the royal family. And we'd love to see it! In final Fiennes news, some of the costumes from the actor's 2018 staging of Antony and Cleopatra will be appearing in a National Theatre exhibition at the theater's Wolfson Gallery in London. Costumes from a variety of National Theatre productions will be available for viewing October 3–March 2020.

We've been keeping you up on all the Peaky Blinders news as the series moves toward Season 5, and now, we finally have a premiere date! The new season will debut August 25 on BBC One in the UK. And if you're any kind of a normal human being, you'll be disgusted, Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) says. The actress spoke to the Sun this week about the new season, saying, "It's really horrible, and you should look away. I did. I can't watch it. I think it's disgusting, gratuitous violence." But at the same time, McCrory notes, it's supposed to be.

It should be horrifying, and you should have the people who are responsible for the violence unable to self-medicate or having mental health problems - because it is not a natural state of affairs. I hope it makes you flinch or turn away. Anybody who looks at the violence of 'Peaky Blinders' and thinks 'that is exactly what I want to do' is sick.

McCrory also spoke about how she's turned down other offers to remain with the show, which she says has had the broadest impact of any other project she's undertaken in her career. Of course, when it comes to her remarks about the Potter franchise, we're inclined to believe that just means she's been bumping into the wrong sort of people. But we digress.

I have had a weekend of considering just this, with a wonderful, wonderful offer of another thing with someone I think is one of the most talented people. I said no and came back to this because I feel it's given me so much, and I think that you behave well in some things and see it through to the end if somebody wants you to. You don't just go 'thank you.' Also, I want to see it through to the end. [...] I have friends who are actors, I'm married to an actor, I'm used to people saying, 'Oh, I've liked this.' I've never had anything that's had the 'Peaky Blinders' effect. It's bigger than 'Harry Potter'. For me.

While we're tossing about highly anticipated release dates, let's do one more! Season 3 of The Crown is also finally coming down the pike, with its Netflix debut set for November 17. Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) joins the cast as the new Princess Margaret, and we can't wait to see the versatile actress in this role.

Are you among the camp that was disappointed in the series finale of Game of Thrones? Well, you've got a new tentmate. Nat Tena (Nymphadora Tonks), who portrayed wildling Osha on the show, spoke out on Yahoo's White Wine Question Time podcast this week about how the show's ending literally sent her on a tirade. SPOILER ALERT! You'll want to skip the italicized quote below if you haven't yet finished the Game.

I liked it to the bit where [Arya Stark] stabs [the Night King] in the heart. I like it up to then. But after that, I just feel like - I just didn't understand. The calibre of writing towards the end and the plots and everything that happens and how they wrapped it up compared to any other season, any other bit, it just feels like it's been written by different people. It doesn't make sense, for me. I was a few glasses of wine in when I watched it. I'd binge-watched the whole thing, but I ended up... my boyfriend had to leave the boat because I was ranting for an hour at him about how much I didn't like it. And then I rang my friend to rant to him. It's done. I don't think I'd go as far as petition. I think they had to end it. [But] I don't understand why they made those choices.

We have several David Tennant (Barty Crouch Jr.) updates for you this week, and we'll start with that other little role for which he's mildly beloved: the Doctor. The tenth anniversary of Tennant's final appearance as Ten (that's a lot of ten!) is upon us, and the actor recently spoke with Cinemablend about a possible return to the Doctor Who series in the future.

 

 

A release date has also been set for Tennant's latest series, Criminal, which we told you about in June. The 12-episode show, which also features Lee Ingleby (Stan Shunpike), will arrive on Netflix September 20.

 

 

 

Tennant will also be included in an upcoming exhibition of images by photographer Simon Annand titled The Half. The photos of dozens of famous actors were taken in the half-hour before they were set to take the stage for a production. Also featured will be images of Dame Maggie Smith, Jude Law (Albus Dumbledore, Fantastic Beasts), and Stephen Fry (narrator of the UK Harry Potter audiobooks). The exhibition will run September 7–February 1, 2020, at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield, England.

 

Finally, we have another sort of image of Tennant for you, courtesy of the amazing imaginations of the internet. With few details available thus far about Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman movie, starring Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory) as the Bat, fans have been enjoying speculating about who else the movie might feature, and artist William Gray posted this rendering of Tennant as the Riddler on Instagram. Show us the petitions because we will sign all of them right now.

 

 

The Kitchen is officially in theaters, and Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley) joined his costars - including Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, and Tiffany Haddish - at the film's Hollywood premiere recently.

 

Gleeson portrays Vietnam veteran and body disposer extraordinaire Gabriel O'Malley in the movie and spoke with the Boston Herald this week about a scene in which O'Malley shows the ladies the proper way to dismember a corpse, falling in love in the process with Moss's character, Claire.

Gabriel just sees it as his job. And he's good at it. That's part of what I liked about him. In my real life, I wouldn't want to know him or meet him. Just based on his track record, you wouldn't want to end up in his bathtub. But I thought if I could just be matter-of-fact and not wanting it to be too gruesome, it would be fine. You don't see blood or what's happening, you see the reactions of the people around that tells you what's going on. I thought that was funny. They're such a weird couple, Gabriel and Claire. I thought it was a wonderful way for them to fall in love. Everyone else, their eyes meet across a crowded bar. And their eyes meet across a bloody bathtub.

Meanwhile, Gleeson has the December 20 debut of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker upcoming as well, and he shared with ComicBook.com what it was like to read the script for the first time. You can view the video of Gleeson's interview on the website.

It was cool, it was a page-turner, and it was different than what I had thought. It was great. It was exciting, and, also, you feel part of this tiny club that gets to read these things ahead of other people, and that feels great. I really did enjoy that, and I think it's gonna be cool.

Gleeson additionally appeared last week on The Late Late Show with James Corden, divulging that, while he doesn't meet many fans of General Armitage Hux, a friend's son was one of those rare admirers, and he was pressed to deliver an in-character birthday song to the boy. You can watch the hilarious results below.

 

 

 

 

Just as unfathomable as the Harry Potter books turning 20 is the fact that beloved space spoof Galaxy Quest, starring Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) as Alexander Dane, is joining them. In honor of the movie's 20th anniversary, a new limited-edition Blu-ray steelbook will be released September 17, featuring a celebration of the cast and filmmakers, deleted scenes, and much more. The steelbook will be available exclusively from Best Buy, and you can preorder your copy now.

Ciarán Hinds (Aberforth Dumbledore) will be starring as narrator, soldier, and devil in a concert performance of Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale this week at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in Ireland. The tale of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil in return for untold wealth will play two nights at the festival, and both performances are sold out. Break a leg, Ciarán!

We previously let you know that David Bradley (Argus Filch) would be returning to his role as Ricky Gervais's character Tony's father in Season 2 of the Netflix series After Life, and Gervais revealed on Twitter this week that filming for the new season will begin soon! We'll keep you updated.

 

 

Meanwhile, Trollhunters, part of the Tales of Arcadia franchise, recently came to an end with its third season, but Arcadia fans still have the Wizards series to look forward to, and that's expected to hit Netflix sometime this fall. Netflix has already released a synopsis for the show.

DreamWorks' 'Wizards' brings together the three disparate worlds of trolls, aliens, and wizards who have found themselves drawn to Arcadia. The final chapter of the 'Tales of Arcadia' culminates in an apocalyptic battle for the control of magic that will ultimately determine the fate of these supernatural worlds that have now converged.

Bradley made his debut as Merlin in Trollhunters - which also featured Ron Perlman (Gnarlack, Fantastic Beasts) as Bular - and executive producer Marc Guggenheim has hinted that he'll be returning to the role in Wizards, stating, "I will say that Merlin is a wizard. That's about as much as I can get away with." Personally, we're just misty-eyed that Bradley finally got to play a wizard.

Toby Jones (voice of Dobby) sat down recently with Metro for a "Sixty Seconds" interview, during which he compared his voice work on the upcoming Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance to playing the beloved house-elf in Harry Potter.

Working with voiceover varies so much. Here, you're voicing marionettes that have been pre-shot, so you're fitting your voice to a preexisting animation. That's very different from, say, 'Harry Potter' or 'Tintin', where you're literally doing the movement as well. The puppeteers and designers deserve all the plaudits on this one - I'm just the icing on the cake.

Jones also said he still goes through "a 'Harry Potter' phase" here and there with people who approach him on the street. "It's nice that people don't approach you to beat you up about any of these parts," he said, "to tell me how appalling I was." You can read the full interview on Metro's website.

Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) has been keeping her fans apprised of her recent activities via social media, so we'll share right along with her this week! Firstly, we learned the exciting news that her new show with sister Bebe Cave, which we told you about in June, will be running as a "work in progress" titled Cave Women at Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 15--25!

 

 

We also learned the August 14--15 performances of Cave's acclaimed comedy show Sunrise at Fringe will be that particular show's last.

 

 

And lastly, Cave made a recent appearance on The Two Shot Podcast, which you'll want to check out.

 

 

As you found out from MuggleNet in May, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (11-year-old Tom Riddle) will be reprising his role as Hardin Scott, and Josephine Langford hers as Tessa Young, in the upcoming After sequel, After We Collided. There was fresh news on that front this week, however, as Deadline Hollywood revealed that Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) would be taking on the role of Trevor, and Cruel Intentions director Roger Kumble has signed on to direct. After We Collided is expected next year.

Detective Pikachu, starring Bill Nighy (Rufus Scrimgeour), has finally been released on Blu-ray, and you'll definitely want to check out all the disc's amazing features! Watch the movie again in Detective Mode to see hidden clues, behind-the-scenes footage, pop-up trivia and facts, Easter eggs, and more! You can order the Blu-ray online at Amazon US and Amazon UK.

HBO and Sky's acclaimed drama Chernobyl will be coming to Blu-ray soon in the US and is already out in the UK. The series featured Adrian Rawlins (James Potter) and Ralph Ineson (Amycus Carrow) and received high praise from critics and viewers alike. The US Blu-ray is slated for an October 1 release, and you can preorder now on Amazon.

Also coming soon to Blu-ray is HBO's complete third season of True Detective, starring Carmen Ejogo (Seraphina Picquery, Fantastic Beasts), which is available for preorder ahead of its September 3 release in both the US and the UK, and the 2008 film Good, starring Jason Isaacs and Gemma Jones (Poppy Pomfrey). That disc is slated for an August 27 release; there are no preorder links available, so keep an eye out for it!

Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Roger Davies) is a pretty fascinating guy. In addition to being an actor, with his most recent role as the acclaimed Aaron Peel on Killing Eve, he owns a clothing label. N.E. Blake & Co. was founded in 1926 by his grandfather, and its archives were inherited by Lloyd-Hughes in 2017. He's now set about developing a line of casual wear/sportswear for men, and he recently sat down with 1883 to talk all of that, plus cricket and his upcoming film The English Game, which is set for a 2020 release. You can check out the full interview on 1883's site, along with a gallery of pretty snazzy photos from it and a quote from Lloyd-Hughes on how he goes about selecting roles, below.

Normally, it's how different it is from the last thing I did; that's a major factor for me. You can easily find yourself doing the same thing; someone can see you in something, and they thing, 'Oh, okay, cool, let's get him to do that in this!' But I try to work against that, by which I mean I'll try to err on the side of things which are different than what I last did, which isn't always the case. Now, with the way things are released with streaming services like Netflix, which releases things more arbitrarily, and with the old-fashioned film release schedule, you can end up having projects released right next to each other, but you filmed them two years apart. It's hard to predict, but ideally, you want to try to experience and release contrasting pieces of work.

Netflix has announced that there will be a sequel to The Christmas Chronicles, and Chris Columbus (Harry Potter producer and director) has been tabbed to direct. Kurt Russell will return to the role of Santa Claus in The Christmas Chronicles 2, MovieWeb says, and while there's no release date as yet, the film is expected in time for Christmas 2020.

As MuggleNet let you know in April, the infamous song written by Bruce Springsteen for the Harry Potter movies but never released, "I'll Stand By You," has found a home in the new love-letter-to-the-Boss film Blinded by the Light, and it will also be included on the movie's soundtrack. You can listen to the track below!

 

 

 

 

Fantastic Beasts Cast & Crew

Jude Law (Albus Dumbledore) is continuing filming on his upcoming television series The Third Day, and the Daily Mail spotted Law in action again this week.

 

Meanwhile, Edinburgh Live spoke with the magician who helped Law become comfortable in his Dumbledore skin for Fantastic Beasts, Pete Heat. Heat will be performing his comedy magic show Massive Wizard August 11--13 and 15--26 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and he talked a bit about how his magic lessons with Law went.

He told me he needed a bit of help doing magic for a film. I asked him which film, and it turned out it was one of the biggest films of the year: the second film in the 'Fantastic Beasts' franchise. He had been cast as Dumbledore, and he wanted to learn some actual magic, some sleight of hand, so that he could handle the wand as a magician would. I went round to his house and taught him some magic for Warner Brothers. [...] There's a scene where Dumbledore keeps making a card with an address on it appear and disappear. He's trying to hand it to Newt. For whatever reason, Newt keeps turning it down, and Dumbledore keeps making it reappear in different places. I taught Jude how to make this card appear from an empty hand, and I also taught him how to spin a wand around as if he'd held it his whole life - as Dumbledore would have. He was straight in at the advanced level. He was really good, and he took to it straight away.

And while we’re doling out credit for things, Nicolas Cage says he’s the one who convinced Johnny Depp (Gellert Grindelwald) to become an actor. Cage told Variety this week that the two had the discussion over one of their frequent games of Monopoly. Thanks, Nic!

He was at the point in his career where he was selling pens or something to get by. He would take my money and buy cocktails but wouldn't tell me about it. He admitted it later. I said, 'Why don't you just try acting?' He wanted to be a musician at the time, and he told me, 'No, I can't act.' I said, 'I think you can act.' So I sent him to meet with my agent. She sent him out on his first audition, which was 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. He got the part that day.

Alison Sudol (Queenie Goldstein) is continuing her tour of the US through next month, and while passing through Los Angeles, California, last week, she spoke with both LA Weekly and the San Francisco Examiner about her return to music. She also talked with the Weekly about using her knowledge of music to find Queenie Goldstein’s voice.

You know, it's interesting. I know we're not talking about movies, but from a musician's standpoint, the moment I found Queenie was through finding her voice. In the script, she said the word 'ain't,' and I was like, 'How on earth am I going to say "ain't"? I can't say ain't in my speaking voice.' And then I just started speaking in her way - and she's so gentle and so feminine. Once I found her voice, every other aspect of her came to life.

Variety reported this week that Gemma Chan (Madam Ya Zhou) is in talks to join the cast of Marvel’s The Eternals. Chan recently portrayed Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel alongside Jude Law, but it’s unknown at this point whether she’ll be reprising that same role in the new film. We’ll keep you updated! Chan also spoke last week with Bustle about freeing oneself from the expectations of others and UK politics, and you can read that interview on Bustle’s site.

Kevin Guthrie’s (Abernathy) 2017 picture Edie is finally crossing the pond. The movie, starring Sheila Hancock (Carry On Cleo) as an 83-year-old woman who decides to leave her life behind for a mountain adventure in Scotland, premiered in 2017 at the Edinburgh and Raindance Film Festivals in the UK. Guthrie portrays Jonny, and you can check out a trailer and film poster below. The film’s US debut is set for September 6.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGb96fqn_X0

 

Netflix has announced a new four-part drama chronicling the life and career of Sarah Breedlove, better known as Madam C.J. Walker, and the Hollywood Reporter revealed this week that Carmen Ejogo (Seraphina Picquery) will join Tiffany Haddish, Blair Underwood, and Octavia Spencer as part of the cast.

The series tells the story of black haircare pioneer and mogul Madam CJ Walker and how she overcame hostile turn-of-the-century America, epic rivalries, tumultuous marriages, and family challenges to become America's first black, self-made female millionaire.

Ejogo will play Addie in Madam CJ Walker, a hairstylist and former friend of Breedlove’s. The series is anticipated to premiere in 2020.

She is a savvy businesswoman who parlays her good looks and social standing into a profitable African American haircare business. Fiercely competitive, when she quickly dismisses Sarah's ambitions to be one of her saleswomen, she charts a course to become Sarah's nemesis and rival.

The Casual Vacancy Cast & Crew

Simona Brown (Gaia Bawden) will be starring in Netflix’s new adaptation of the Sarah Pinborough book Behind Her Eyes, Deadline Hollywood reports. Brown will play Louise, a single mother and secretary who meets and kisses David (Tom Bateman), a successful young man who turns out to be her new boss. No expected release date has been revealed as yet.

That’ll do it for another jam-packed week of updates on your favorites from the wide, wide wizarding world! Ready to go post another angry tweet about The OA’s cancellation? Us too! See you next week!