Castium Revelio: Messages from the Future

Scores of decision-makers in the entertainment industry have spoken those saddest of words – "It might have been" – over the years: the guy who passed on the Beatles, the several guys who passed on Harry Potter... Now, Sir Colin Callender (producer, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) has let the Telegraph know that the BBC is smacking itself in the forehead for turning down his hit reboot of All Creatures Great and Small – starring Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) – over fears it wouldn't "speak to a younger audience." This makes Matthew sad.

 

 

The BBC's loss was Channel 5's gain, and the series is now busy drawing audiences of more than 5 million viewers and becoming the network's highest-rated original commission in history. Callender elaborated to the Telegraph:

[The BBC] only wanted to do a pilot. They had concerns about whether it would speak to a younger audience and, I think, whether or not the show could emerge from the shadow of the first series. [...] It is clear the show has struck a chord. It lives comfortably and respectfully alongside the original series.

MuggleNet let you know last week about Stephen Fry's (narrator, UK Harry Potter audiobooks) involvement in the upcoming digital production of What a Carve Up!, and now BroadwayWorld has announced that Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas) will be taking part as well! Enoch will be portraying Raymond Owen, son of acclaimed writer and murder suspect Michael Owen. Just a reminder: The play will run from October 31 through November 29, and tickets can be purchased at whatacarveup.com.

Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) has signed on to star with Love Island narrator Iain Stirling in an upcoming ITV2 sitcom titled Buffering, the British Comedy Guide reports. Described as "a millennial coming-of-age comedy," Buffering will consist of six half-hour episodes and is expected to air sometime next year. We'll keep you posted!

While the entertainment industry certainly takes a back seat to public health during a pandemic, it's still significant that the ongoing crisis has been devastating to theaters, movie and stage alike. Films like Tenet that have opted to premiere in the current climate have simply had to accept poor showings at the box office, while other movies have released straight to streaming services or continue to delay their debut dates in an effort to avoid 2020 altogether. We can now count No Time to Die among the latter, as the latest Bond film – featuring Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort) as M – has vacated its November 20 release date in favor of April 2, 2021.

On a related note, many prominent filmmakers have signed an open letter to the United States Congress that warns of a grim future without cinemas altogether unless the pandemic is brought under control and financial relief made available.

Cinemas are an essential industry that represent the best that American talent and creativity have to offer. But now we fear for their future. Our country cannot afford to lose the social, economic and cultural value that theaters provide. The moviegoing experience is central to American life. Theaters are great unifiers where our nation's most talented storytellers showcase their cinematic accomplishments.

Among those signing the letter were Wes Anderson, Judd Apatow, Barbara Broccoli, Clint Eastwood, Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, Jordan Peele, Martin Scorsese, M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón (director, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), and David Yates (Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts director).

Elsewhere in Fiennes news, the actor joined a host of other stars of the stage this evening for a free virtual gala in celebration of William Shakespeare, and you'll be able to view the recording through 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 6.

 

https://youtu.be/mWKu_X6ae4A

 

 

 

From the bedraggled and tormented Azkaban escapee Sirius Black to the alluringly gothic Count Dracula to the shockingly Winston Churchill-y Sir Winston Churchill, Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) is accustomed to transforming himself for his roles. He was thrown for a loop, therefore, when director David Fincher requested he just be himself in the upcoming film Mank.

I thought, 'Oh, f***ing hell!' I can't remember the last time I did that. I've always got something! I was thinking, 'I don't know about that.' I don't look anything like Mank. There's a similarity with [Tom Burke as Orson] Welles and Amanda Seyfried kind of looks like [film star and William Randolph Hearst's lover] Marion Davies, and you've got this pale make-up on Charles Dance, so he resembles Hearst. But I didn't have anything I could anchor to. Then, once we started, I thought, 'Yeah, Dave was right.' No tricks. No nothing. Just here it is. I've embraced it.

You can read the full interview with Oldman in the latest issue of Empire and check out some first-look images of Oldman in the film if you missed them in our September 12 post. Mank is still projected for release this fall, though a specific date is still unavailable.

Meanwhile, Apple has announced that Oldman-starrer Slow Horses has finally gone into preproduction ahead of a November 30 date for the commencement of filming. As it's been a while since our last update on this one, we'll remind you that Oldman will play Jackson Lamb, leader of a group of spies relegated to MI5's Slough House for their reckless mistakes. The movie is based on a series of spy novels by Mick Herron.

Eternal Beauty, starring David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) has finally arrived on video on demand as of Friday. We gave you the first trailer in August, but Awards Daily has released an exclusive clip that you can enjoy below before you watch the full film!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etob5elc3Dk&t=8s

 

 

 

You'll likely recall Robbie Coltrane's (Rubeus Hagrid) performances alongside Pierce Brosnan's James Bond in GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. It's no secret that looks play a large role in the selection of actors who will bring 007 to life, but the Express says Coltrane admitted in a recent interview that he couldn't help but be a bit jealous of his costar.

[Brosnan] was an absolute delight. I'd get jealous though. We'd be getting made up. I'd be in one chair and he'd be in another. I would think, 'God, imagine waking up every morning and shaving a face that looked like that.' You know? Look what they gave me!

To be fair, nobody looks good when they wake up in the morning. Coltrane also imparted that his life isn't as "wild" as it used to be. "I still like to drive my '65 Mustang at ridiculous speeds and things like that, that's never going to leave me, but I'm a 70-year-old man."

A new animated short film is giving us an imagined look at a COVID-19 recovery in which people care more about others and the world around them. It's sad to admit that widespread change is a difficult thing to picture when so many seem so stuck in their destructive ways, but we can hope that this crisis inspires global leaders to change. To that end, the nine-minute film – titled Message from the Future II: The Years of Repair – gives us the perspective of people living in a post-pandemic future that succeeded in those goals. Narrators include Dame Emma Thompson (Sybill Trelawney), and you can view the film below.

 

 

 

 

The Netflix release of Season 4 of The Crown is now just over a month away, and the streaming service released a few first-look photos last week. They include a shot of a troubled Princess Margaret, as played by Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), and you can check that out below.

 

 

Meanwhile, Bonham Carter's latest release, Enola Holmes – which was penned by Jack Thorne (playwright, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and also features Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley) and Frances de la Tour (Madame Maxime) – continues to garner praise, and Netflix released a special behind-the-scenes look last week.

 

 

 

 

Another project we haven't had an update on in quite a while is the Alan McGee biopic Creation Stories, but the first footage of the story of the legendary Creation Records music executive has arrived! The film stars Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) in a currently unnamed role and is directed by Nick Moran (Scabior). The project is in postproduction with no release date yet attached, but you can check out the clip – which doesn't include Isaacs but is still entertaining! – below. Fair warning for language.

 

 

 

 

Magic Radio in the UK will be broadcasting special guest appearances, interviews, and competitions in support of the Prince's Trust this month, all aiming to raise awareness of the issues currently faced by youth. Among those you'll hear will be Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) and Stephen Fry, along with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Dame Helen Mirren, Richard Grant, Sir Ben Kingsley, and McCrory's husband, Damian Lewis. Fry will also host a one-off two-hour program titled Stephen Fry's Showstoppers on Scala Radio: In Partnership with the Prince's Trust, in which he will open up about his love of classical music and passion as a Trust ambassador.

Continuing with the Fry updates, a first-look teaser has been released for his new series, previously titled Boys and now titled It's a Sin. The Russell T. Davies–directed show – which is set to air in 2021 on Channel 4 – follows five 18-year-olds moving to London during the onset of the AIDS epidemic in 1981.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IT’S A SIN, the new title for Boys, a 5-part drama coming in 2021 on Channel 4 & HBO Max. . 1981. Five 18-year olds leave home and move into a London flat. The decade unfolds, as they explore their hopes and dreams... but with a terrible new virus on the rise. . Starring Olly Alexander as Ritchie, Lydia West as Jill, Omari Douglas as Roscoe, Callum Howells as Colin, Nathaniel Curtis as Ash, with Shaun Dooley, Stephen Fry, Neil Patrick Harris, Tracy Ann Oberman and Keeley Hawes. Produced by Phil Collinson, directed by Peter Hoar. . @ollyyears @lydiawestie @marsdoug @callumhowells_c @nathaniel.curtis @misskeeleyhawes @nph @stephenfryactually @tracyanno @davidcarlyle_ @nathanieljhall @jill.nalder @luckyshanniiee @jonnygreen4 @neilashtonactor @davidgajones @natsus1 @totobruin @kenchristiansen1 @michaelmather @seyansarvan @tobias__charles_ @mathewbose @1carolineberry @billycullum @miche_greenidge @tatsu_carvalho @redproductionco @channel4 @hbomax @nicolanshindler @jfferkim @andypryorcasting @realandypryor @ri_mcd @lordfulcher @philcollinson @pjuk @lindaviemakeup @alynwaterman @sarahbrewbrew @katznelson.david @carolinedkwh

A post shared by Russell T Davies (@russelltdavies63) on Oct 2, 2020 at 2:00am PDT

 

Finally, Scotland's largest-ever virtual book launch is being held to benefit the Super Power Agency (SPA) charity, and Fry will be one of the celebrities reading a selection of the stories in nine publications produced this school year by 450 pupils at SPA workshops held around Edinburgh. The readings are being released sporadically on the SPA's YouTube channel, and the books can be purchased on the SPA's website.

Back to Fiona Shaw for a moment – the first trailer has been released for her upcoming horror film, Kindred. Since it's been a while since we mentioned this project, here's the official synopsis:

When her boyfriend dies suddenly in an accident, psychologically fragile mother-to-be Charlotte is taken in by his family – but they seem increasingly obsessed with her every move. Her suspicions grow and panic builds – but just how far will they go in their desire to control her and her unborn baby?

Shaw portrays Margaret, Charlotte's boyfriend's mother. The movie is set to release in select theaters and digitally on November 6. Prepare to be unnerved!

 

 

 

 

Also going back to Frances de la Tour, ITV has reported that filming has commenced on a "stylish" new crime drama – Professor T – starring the Madame Maxime actress and Ben Miller (Death in Paradise). The six-part series will be based on the Belgian series of the same name and follows brilliant criminology professor Jasper Tempest (Miller), who suffers with OCD and a tortured past. de la Tour plays Jasper's colorful yet overbearing mother, Adelaide. We'll let you know more as this one moves along.

Potter fans know Kelly Macdonald as the actress behind the Grey Lady, Helena Ravenclaw, but many more fondly remember her for her role as Diane in 1996's Trainspotting. It's that latter role we're focusing on this week. Trainspotting's infamous "Choose Life" monologue is famed and much-memorized, and Macdonald has narrated a reimagined version of it for a climate action campaign film from Project Everyone and the Climate Coalition. The short film calls for meaningful climate action from the UK government, and the campaign is also backed by signatories such as Robert Carlyle, who played Begbie in Trainspotting; Liam Gallagher, formerly of Oasis; actor James Norton; singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding; and many more. You can view the short film – featuring Iggy Pop's iconic "Lust for Life" in the background – below and join the fight at Choose Life Now.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-iiuOXiF80

 

 

 

Elsewhere, the third season of Alan Carr's There's Something About Movies is set to premiere October 22 on Sky One, and it will feature Macdonald. Classic scenes to be recreated this season hail from The Wizard of Oz, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Toy Story. This season will also feature the series's first Christmas special.

We let you know last time about Adrian Rawlins's (James Potter) voice work in new video game South of the Circle, and a new teaser has been released this week, which you can enjoy below.

 

 

 

 

Early last month, we gave you a first look at First Action Bureau, starring Genevieve Gaunt (Pansy Parkinson, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), and the series's opening title sequences and theme have now been released. You can check that out below and stream the series now on your podcast provider of choice.

 

 

 

 

SyFy Wire is reporting that David Heyman (Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts producer) has acquired the television rights to Peter McLean's fantasy-crime novel Priest of Bones. The book, which has been described as "Peaky Blinders with swords," follows army priest Tomas Piety, who returns from war to discover his criminal empire has been stolen. He naturally proceeds to form a new gang to take it back.

Heyman is also reportedly chasing the film rights for children's novel The Beast and the Bethany, by Jack Meggitt-Phillips. The book is Meggitt-Phillips's debut but has already been pounced upon by Ergmont Books, which offered him a six-figure advance on a three-book deal, the BBC reports. Heyman's Heyday Films has sought the motion picture rights, and Meggitt-Phillips was quoted as saying, "I couldn't think of a better partnership to help bring The Beast and the Bethany to the screen." We'll keep you posted on this, and in the meantime, check out the official synopsis.

The novel, written for children aged eight to twelve, is about a 511-year-old man called Ebenezer Tweezer who has a hungry creature in his attic. Ebenezer feeds him different things and in return the beast vomits out an ever-lasting youth potion, keeping him alive. But things become complicated when the Beast announces that it wants to eat something new – a child. He thinks he's found a simple solution when he comes across the rebellious, naughty prankster, Bethany, but it is not as straightforward as he thought.

The much-anticipated remake of The Witches – starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Rock – is another film that added to movie theaters' woes by opting to skip waiting for a wide release and moving straight to HBO Max instead. For those of us unwilling to subscribe to a dozen streaming services to watch movies when we already pay way too much for satellite television with supposed movie channels, it was an extra-large bummer! But regardless, the first trailer for the film – on which Alfonso Cuarón produces – has arrived, and you can celebrate the arrival of the witching season by viewing it below. The Witches streams October 22.

 

 

 

With Netflix's The Trial of the Chicago 7 picking up major kudos, its stars are making the chat show rounds, and you can look out for Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander) on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on October 8.

And while we're talking the red carpet, Katherine Waterston (Tina Goldstein) caught Vogue's attention last week for her ensemble at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain. She donned a three-piece cream suit from the Row to promote The World to Come.

Tony Award–winning producer Eva Price has begun a podcast, My First Show, in which she discusses the theater and theater firsts with a variety of guests. She'll be joined by Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski) on October 13, and you can listen on the Broadway Podcast Network.

Warner Bros. is continuing to piece together Ezra Miller's (Credence Barebone) The Flash film, and Variety has reported that Billy Crudup (Almost Famous) is in early talks to join him. Crudup played Henry Allen, Barry Allen's (a.k.a. the Flash) father in Justice League.

Cornell John (Arnold Guzman) and Wunmi Mosaku (Beryl) received praise for their performances in British thriller His House at the Sundance Film Festival, and Netflix is now preparing to release the movie on October 30. As such, a new trailer has dropped, and you can view that below. The movie focuses on a young refugee couple from Sudan who are struggling to adjust to their new life in a small English town with unspeakable evil lurking beneath its surface.

 

 

 

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre in Birmingham, England, has commissioned 12 new micro-plays centered around the theme of social distancing, and Jack Thorne (playwright) is among the writers. The plays will pop up in locations around Birmingham, the Stage reports, and will begin "as soon as it is safe to resume outdoor performances." The Park Bench Plays, as they are called, will create "a living snapshot of our socially distanced, somewhat disturbed world." Somewhat? Anyway, each play will be ten minutes long and take place in locations such as bus stops, parks, train stations, and community centers.