Castium Revelio: The Bat Is Back
The big news this week, of course, is that Robert Pattinson has recovered from his COVID-19 scare and is back on set with The Batman costars Zoë Kravitz and Colin Farrell! This is great news, and it doesn’t stop there. We also have a new trailer for The Trial of the Chicago 7, starring Eddie Redmayne, new posters and film stills for Sir Kenneth Branagh‘s Death on the Nile and Helena Bonham Carter‘s Enola Holmes, a first look at David Tennant in Around the World in 80 Days, and more Hero Fiennes-Tiffin looking moody than you can shake a stick at! Let’s celebrate a week with no bad news. Castium Revelio!
MuggleNet exclusively let you know last week via Twitter that Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory) was on the mend following a bout with COVID-19 and that filming would resume this week on The Batman. Warner Bros. Pictures confirmed all of that in a statement issued to Variety, and Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz (Leta Lestrange, Fantastic Beasts), and Colin Farrell (Percival Graves, Fantastic Beasts) are all back to work. We couldn't be happier that Pattinson is feeling better, and what better way to celebrate than with a new movie poster, released at DC FanDome!
Credit: Warner Bros.
DC FanDome was definitely a fun bit of escapism this year, and in one of its more entertaining offerings, Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) and a host of other stars of film and television gathered (distantly) to reenact Superman radio specials of the 1940s. Isaacs voiced Wolf in Episode 4, alongside CCH Pounder (The Shield), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Anthony Rapp (Rent), Anthony Carrigan (Barry), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), and others, and you can watch the episode below – courtesy of Variety – by skipping to the 53:11 mark. The reenactments benefited the Creative Coalition.
Isaacs was also announced this week by Deadline Hollywood to have joined the cast of Australian sci-fi film Rainfall, a sequel to Occupation that sees the survivors of an intergalactic invasion fighting back on the ground. Isaacs's character information is not listed, but the movie is expected to be released in the United States in January 2021.
And we're not done with Isaacs yet! The actor further benefitted the Creative Coalition this week by participating in its Television Humanitarian Awards Virtual Gala, and you can catch him at the 20:19 mark below.
As if all of that weren't enough, Isaacs surprised a Somerset, England, teenager who volunteers for the Marie Curie Community Fundraiser, a terminal-illness charity, with a thank-you video for her selfless work; will be participating in the first-ever virtual Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Race for the Kids to raise funds for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity of London, England; and will appear in conversation on Saturday, September 26 with Suffolk County, Massachusetts, District Attorney Rachael Rollins to discuss what it means to spread love with urgency. What a guy!
The October 23 release date for Sir Kenneth Branagh's (Gilderoy Lockhart) Death on the Nile is inching closer, and a fresh batch of film stills was released this week. Branagh – who stars as famed detective Hercule Poirot – does a great job of compiling all-star casts for his Agatha Christie adaptations, and this film features the likes of Dawn French (the Fat Lady, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Rose Leslie, Annette Bening, Jennifer Saunders, and more. You can view the film stills featuring Branagh, along with a birthday message from some of the cast to the late Agathie Christie on what would have been her 130th, below.
Credit: 20th Century Studios
Credit: 20th Century Studios
Critics have been impressed with Netflix's Enola Holmes – which is set to be released on September 23 and features Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley), and Frances de la Tour (Madame Maxime), with a screenplay by Jack Thorne (writer, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) – and Collider revealed Wednesday that a new set of character posters has been released. The posters feature the four members of the Holmes family – Enola, played by Millie Bobby Brown; Sherlock, portrayed by Henry Cavill; Mycroft, played by Sam Claflin; and Eudoria, portrayed by Bonham Carter – and you can check out Bonham Carter's below.
Credit: Netflix
Bonham Carter also sat down with Extra this week to talk about the movie, and you can watch that interview below.
Shaw, meanwhile, spoke this week with the Radio Times, revealing that she'd love to step into a detective role herself.
In 'Killing Eve', I play an MI6 boss who investigates international crimes, but I'd very much like to play a detective. I flatter myself that I'm too young for Miss Marple, so I really wish they'd make a new one who was my age, stylish, glamorous, and travels to lovely places around the world – a James Bond–type detective who's a woman. I'd love that. [...] I'm not naturally suspicious of people, but I'm inquisitive and very interested in others. The sleuth has to be sympathetic to how their suspect thinks, and that's very like acting; you have to be sympathetic to how the character thinks.
Shaw's character in Enola Holmes is still unnamed, but we could see from the trailer that she was involved in a school of sorts. She told the Times that, in some scenes, "I had to improvise teaching Enola how to behave with deportment, and Millie thought I was completely barking."
Meanwhile, the Dorian TV Awards have been announced by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Critics, and Killing Eve earned Best TV Drama honors. Shaw virtually accepted the award alongside writer Suzanne Heathcote and executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle.
MuggleNet let you know in March to be on the lookout for a new Channel 4 comedy series written by, produced by, and starring brothers Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley) and Brian Gleeson, and the Irish News has reported that filming is underway in Belfast, Ireland. Frank of Ireland, a six-part sitcom, has no release date as yet, but we'll be sure to let you know when it does since the series will also be available to residents of the United States, Canada, and Australia via Amazon Prime Video. In the meantime, enjoy a photo of the brothers at work! You can also catch Domhnall on The Late Late Show (no, not that one – the Irish one with host Ryan Tubridy) on September 24.
We're well aware that there are people who only read Casting News to see if there are any new pictures of Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (11-year-old Tom Riddle), and we're okay with that. Those people are in luck this week, as the young actor has been announced as the face of yet another fashion campaign: Superdry's aptly named Rebels and Heroes.
Need more? We live to please, kids.
AW20 Rebels and Heroes.
Starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Discover the collection. https://t.co/WMOUzkyCIx#NoBetterStory #HeroFiennesTiffin pic.twitter.com/xyfGlU8lHP— Superdry (@Superdry) September 11, 2020
AW20 Rebels and Heroes.
“Make sure you wear the clothes. Don’t let the clothes wear you,” Hero Fiennes Tiffin. https://t.co/TFz450TtbJ#NoBetterStory#HeroFiennesTiffin pic.twitter.com/umNbBG3IHl— Superdry (@Superdry) September 12, 2020
AW20 Rebels and Heroes.
BTS on set with Hero Fiennes Tiffin. https://t.co/OYkWsp72yW#NoBetterStory#HeroFiennesTiffin pic.twitter.com/cuVT0qvGBs— Superdry (@Superdry) September 12, 2020
All right, that'll do. On the After We Collided front, Deadline Hollywood reports the film has racked up $21 million in box office sales overseas thus far, with its US release still ahead on October 23. In the United Kingdom alone, the movie has outearned The New Mutants and trails just behind Tenet – and all with little to no marketing behind it. The power of fanfic cannot be denied.
We informed you back in January when filming began on It Snows in Benidorm, starring Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew), and the first trailer has now been released. The film continues to have a Spanish release date only – November 13 – on its docket, but we'll keep an eye out for additional countries.
It's been ages since we told you about David Tennant's (Barty Crouch Jr.) casting as Phileas Fogg in the new BBC adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days, but we finally have a first look at the actor in his role. It's a heck of a lot more pleasant than all the photos we've seen lately of him in Des! Ibrahim Koma (Strahinja) and Leonie Benesch (The Crown) will join him on his voyage as Passepartout and Abigail Fix, respectively. The eight-episode series is expected to air in 2021, now that production has resumed. It's a bit hard to see the cast in the full graphic, so we've included a close-up as well.
Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC
Tennant is also gearing up to return to his role as the Tenth Doctor in nine Doctor Who audio episodes of Dalek Universe, which sees Tennant's Doctor snatched out of time and returned to the era preceding the last Time War. Tennant told the Radio Times he's excited about the project:
It's a big old epic sweep. It reminds me a little bit of those 'Flash Gordon' serials that used to be on the TV during the school holidays when I was a kid. Each story has its own self-contained world, but the whole thing has an over-arching momentum. I've really enjoyed how varied it is, all within this one story, and the variety of worlds that we go to and environments that we're in. And, as we go through this space opera, to have all these characters brought so clearly to life by a whole range of wonderful actors, it's been a treat.
Dalek Universe will be released in three volumes in April, July, and October 2021. It's available for preorder now from Big Finish. In final Tennant news, the actor will at last be starring in a new production of the Cecil Philip Taylor play Good in 2021. The play was originally scheduled to run this autumn and winter but is now down for April 21–July 17, 2021, at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End. You can find out how to book your tickets on the theater's official site.
Bits and pieces of Bond will, of course, continue to trickle in between now and No Time to Die's – featuring Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort) as M – long-awaited November 20 premiere, and we have two new bits for you this week: a fresh movie poster and a glimpse into Rami Malek's (Bohemian Rhapsody) villain, Safin.
Credit: Universal Pictures
Many will remember the Riverdance craze of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the Irish Post has announced that Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody) will be lending his vocal talents to an animated film based on the popular Michael Flatley stage show. Riverdance: The Animated Adventure will follow Keegan, an Irish boy who embarks on a journey into the mythical world of the Megaloceros Giganteus (Irish elk) with his Spanish friend, Moya. There, the pair learns the magic and celebration of the dance.
Credit: Sky Cinema/Netflix
Credit: Sky Cinema/Netflix
Gleeson will reportedly be starring as one of the film's villains alongside fellow Irish actor John Kavanagh (Vikings). The movie will also feature Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye), Aisling Bea (Quiz), and Lilly Singh (Bad Moms). You can check out the extremely brief – it was posted in February, prior to the voice casting – teaser below, and we'll keep an eye out for a release date!
Meanwhile, Gleeson's turn as Donald Trump in The Comey Rule is due to air September 27 on Showtime, and a new trailer was released Thursday that gives us a much more significant look at Gleeson in character. It's... never mind. Presented without comment.
St Barnabas Hospice has orchestrated a display of more than 1,000 handcrafted iron dragonflies at Doddington Hall in Doddington, England, each one dedicated to the memory of a departed loved one. The display was officially opened last week by Warwick Davis (Griphook/Filius Flitwick), a patron of the hospice since 2017. Davis spoke to the Lincolnite about the display.
There's a misunderstanding that hospices such as St Barnabas are funded, but the reality is that they have to raise their own funds to survive. End-of-life care should really exist as part of the health service, but sadly, it doesn't, so I'm pleased to be able to help causes like this. The dragonfly display at Doddington Hall is beautiful, and the importance really comes home when you realise that each one represents a loved one that's no longer with us. It's also amazing that each one is helping the hospice with funding.
The public will be able to visit the display through September 25, and you can find more information on the St Barnabas Hospice website. Pictured below are Davis and his wife, Samantha, at the launch.
Credit: Rachel London Photography
Credit: Rachel London Photography
The Radio Times says the third and final season of Sky Atlantic drama Tin Star is slated for a November premiere, and Ian Hart (Quirinus Quirrell) will be appearing as a guest star. Hart will portray businessman and crime boss Michael Ryan, who can "smell the law through concrete walls and across county lines, which is why he remains un-convicted of any major drugs related crime." You can spot him in the first-look trailer below.
We previously let you know about the second season of Criminal, starring Lee Ingleby (Stan Shunpike) as Detective Tony Myerscough, and Ingleby spoke with the Express about not knowing which celebrity guest stars will be taking on the roles of the criminals ahead of time. A key episode this season, for instance, will feature Kit Harington (Game of Thrones).
I didn't... none of us knew who was going to play it! A role like this is going to take some chutzpah, and Kit delivered brilliantly, and as all guests did. [...] Each story is different and sometimes you have a different energy in the room depending on what the story is. But yeah, it was good; it was fun! It was a nice, nice group of people, I think.
Ingleby also chatted with the Evening Standard about the new season and the nuances of the show.
It's the tips and the techniques that the cop has used to pile on the pressure, or to sit back and let people stew in their own juices. The rules of how long a pause you leave, when you keep looking, making them try and explain their way out of things. Looking disapprovingly can make somebody crumble, despite the fact that nothing is said at all. [...] There's almost a sort of weariness to Tony, of society and what we do for a living and how it affects people. Especially even more so now, you know. My sister's a nurse, and it's not so much the story she tells me of what her day was, it's what happens once she's home. Is she able to wash away that day, that week, that death? You don't have to hammer it home. It's just those little paint strokes of what you think of a case, how it affects you, how it leaves you, how it sits with you in the room. [...] I think it's just those little nuances that really make it. It makes you lean forward as a viewer.
That unknown project we told you about last month involving John Cleese (Nearly Headless Nick), Elizabeth Hurley, and Kelsey Grammer is now a known project! Deadline Hollywood reports that family comedy Father Christmas Is Back is now shooting in York, England, and Cleese will be playing Father Christmas himself. No release date is yet attached, but you can check out the synopsis below.
The plot centers on Caroline Christmas (Nathalie Cox), a control freak who desires nothing more than a perfect Christmas with her sisters at her lavish country manor to atone for the fact that their father abandoned the family on December 25 many years ago. When on Christmas Eve their long-lost father arrives at their doorstep with his new girlfriend, chaos ensues. Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, Caroline uncovers a long-buried family secret. Can the family still celebrate Christmas together after all?
Meanwhile, the Southbank Centre in London has announced a new online season, Inside Out, which is set to run now through December 30. Seven literature events are on the docket, two of which will involve Cleese and Dawn French. French will discuss her new novel, Because of You, at various times between October 19 and October 26, and you can learn more and book your streaming ticket on the Southbank Centre website. Cleese will continue to chat about creativity following the release of his latest book, Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide, on Monday, November 2, and you can reserve tickets for his event online as well.
After basically giving spring and summer a miss, it feels beyond bizarre that the holiday season is creeping up again. But Chris Columbus (director and producer) decked our halls this week with a new teaser and release date for The Christmas Chronicles 2. Directed by Columbus and starring, once again, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn as Santa and Mrs. Claus, the sequel to the 2018 original will arrive on Netflix on November 25. Merry... Yeah, we can't say it yet either. But enjoy the teaser anyway!
It's time for Mrs. Claus to get her due.
Kurt Russell & @GoldieHawn are back to save the holidays in THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES 2, only on Netflix 25 November. pic.twitter.com/wKAzAVoQBF
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) September 15, 2020
MuggleNet has been keeping you good and updated on the progress of The Trial of the Chicago 7, starring Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander), and Netflix released a new trailer for the film this week. This movie – set for an October 16 release – couldn't be coming along at a more relevant time.
The Nest, starring Jude Law (Albus Dumbledore), hit theaters Friday, and it's garnering some solid praise. The film took the grand prize – along with the Louis Roederer Foundation Revelation prize and Critic's prize – last week at the 46th Deauville American Film Festival, and the actor spoke about the film recently with USA Today in an interview that also saw him briefly mention what filming amid a pandemic has been like on the set of Fantastic Beasts 3.
Not hugely different. There are very specific guidelines, and there's a lot of testing and mask-wearing, obviously. They're creating bubbles within the crew, so certain departments don't intermingle. It's interesting. Film crews adapt and they've all taken to it swiftly and seriously. So it didn't feel too unfamiliar.
You can view the final trailer for The Nest below.
Law is also preparing to join his The Third Day costars – which include Katherine Waterston (Tina Goldstein) and Richard Bremmer (Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) – in a 12-hour live episode on October 3 on HBO, an endeavor that replaces the series's pre-pandemic plan for a massive live-audience event. The actor spoke to USA Today about that effort as well:
We are still confident that it will feel like an event. We're all getting more and more used to experiencing things online, through our TV screens, our tablets and phones. The original idea was that we would continue this drama that plays out after [Episode 3], about this festival and these sort of rites of passage. And we'll be there doing that as such, just without 2,000 [visitors] witnessing it. But the islanders will be there, and it also plays strangely into the narrative of the piece, which is that the island is very exclusive and closed off.
You can also watch Law's recent The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon appearance below.
Finally, Law will be coproducing a Peace One Day global digital experience on September 21, the United Nations International Day of Peace. The free event will be broadcast live to every continent and will feature a host of inspiring speakers, actors, and musicians, all hoping to spread the message of peace and non-violence throughout the world. You can register to attend the event online to become part of Law's community vision.
Peace Day has always been something that is truly inspirational. Having been a Peace One Day ambassador for over a decade, I've seen it grow, evolve, and really come into its own this year, connecting people around the world and giving a moment to reflect on the peace that is so needed. At a time when the world has been turned upside down by the pandemic, never has it been more important to remind ourselves of the true value of community and creative solutions to the world's biggest problems.
Waterston, meanwhile, revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that she has recently recovered from COVID-19 and that she's since only come in close contact with people who have also had and recovered from the virus. The actress went on to discuss the fact that – due to the very different looks of her characters – people often don't recognize her for any particular role.
People have told me that I wasn't the girl in 'Steve Jobs' or Tina in 'Fantastic Beasts'. People have said, 'No, that's not the same person.' I mean, I've had a few encounters with people who have been agitated with me and say, 'No, that's not true.' [laughs] So that's weird. And I've had dinner with people who have seen films that I was in, and they don't think they have. Someone recently asked me who I was in 'Fantastic Beasts', and I was like, 'Well, the girl next to Eddie [Redmayne].' [laughs]
We know that Ezra Miller's (Credence Barebone) Flash will be getting a brand-new, Batman-designed suit in the upcoming standalone film The Flash, and now we're just waiting around for a first look. Miller himself hasn't seen the suit yet, but he told the audience at DC FanDome last week what he knows.
I've heard some things about it, and they're extremely exciting. There will be some twists. In some ways, I believe it will be a more traditional comic-based costume, but in other ways, I think, it might be somewhat unconventional. I've heard that it will potentially be lighter weight than my last suit, as an example of some of the changes. Not sure how much I can say.
Amazon Prime Gaming has announced the launch of a three-day gaming tournament – Clicksport-1 – that will be hosted by Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski). The tournament begins September 23 and will see Fogler dressed like this and calling himself Xoc Aventus.
Credit: Dan Fogler/Clicksport-1
Seems normal. Xoc will be overseeing the event, choosing the games, and pitting participants against one another. You can watch the mayhem unfold on Prime Gaming's Twitch channel, Crown.
Lionsgate and HBO Max are continuing to work on a series about legendary chef Julia Child, and a casting change was recently made. David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) has taken over for Tom Hollander in the role of Child's husband, Paul. Child will be portrayed by Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley), and Fiona Glascott (Minerva McGonagall) is also listed among the cast. Little is known about this project so far, but we'll keep an eye out for more.
Vertical Entertainment has announced a release date for Ava, starring Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Geena Davis, Common, and Colin Farrell (Percival Graves), and it's coming up quickly. The film will arrive in select theaters and on demand on September 25. Chastain stars as a trained assassin who is forced to fight for her own life after a job goes wrong. Farrell plays Simon, and you can view a few film stills featuring the actor – plus an official clip – below.
Farrell also participated in the Toronto International Film Festival's (TIFF) socially distanced Tribute Awards this week, presenting the Ebert Director Award to Chloe Zhao. Farrell praised the director's ability to capture "the lives of men and women struggling with universal themes such as loss, suffering, poverty, the deep need we all share for community. We recognise ourselves, our own humanity [in her films]."
Netflix is planning to release its live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon's Winx Club – titled Fate: The Winx Saga – this year, though a specific date has not yet been set. The first season will consist of six episodes and will focus on five unlikely friends attending a magical school in a parallel world. It features Josh Cowdery (Henry Shaw Jr.) as Mike Peters. We'll let you know when a release date surfaces!
In final Fantastic Beasts news, Wunmi Mosaku (Beryl) was featured in an excellent article last week in the New York Times, discussing her most recent role as Ruby in the HBO horror-thriller Lovecraft Country. Mosaku told the Times that she sees parallels between herself – as a Black British-Nigerian woman in America – and Ruby in her setting 60 years ago.
I look like Ruby in a world that still experiences racism, injustice, inequality, the patriarchy and colorism. I've experienced that and my family's experienced that, absolutely. The thing I find the hardest about the show is that it does still feel so relevant. I am Ruby in many ways. The car chase at 25 miles per hour and the police officer in pursuit was the most intense thing, because it's based in reality and resonates with me. It resonates with a lot of people of color. So that's the thing that I find incredibly powerful about the piece, but also really disheartening as well: It feels like not enough has changed, and sometimes it feels like, have we moved on?
Are anyone else’s dreams going to be haunted tonight by Brendan Gleeson and Dan Fogler? Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this edition of MuggleNet’s Casting News, and be sure to check back in next week for even more on your Wizarding World faves!
