(L to R) Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton in Prime Video’s ‘All the Old Knives.’
Digging through past relationships can be a thorny, emotional prospect in the best of circumstances. But when you’re part of the CIA, and the romance is intertwined with a mission gone tragically, treacherously wrong? Well, that’s surely enough to buy a therapist a new house.
No therapy is seemingly involved in the story for ‘All the Old Knives’, which has its first trailer online. Not least because the main characters – Chris Pine’s Henry Pelham and Thandiwe Newton’s Celia Harrison – are, or in her case, were, intelligence operatives who can’t really go spilling their secrets to some stranger, no matter how many certificates they have on their wall or how much confidentiality they promise.
The new thriller, directed by ‘Borg/McEnroe’s Janus Metz, adapts Olen Steinhauer’s 2015 novel. And, unusually, the writer himself worked up the script. Though he does have some experience – he created successful CIA series ‘Berlin Station’.
‘All the Old Knives’ finds him back in espionage territory, as the story follows what happens when the CIA discovers that one of its agents leaked information that cost more than 100 people their lives during a particularly tricky hostage situation on a plane six years previously in Vienna.
Veteran operative Pelham is assigned to root out the mole from among his former officemates at the agency’s Vienna station. His investigation takes him from Austria to England to California, where he is reunited with his one-time colleague and ex-lover Harrison.
The pair are forced to blur the lines between profession and passion in a tale of global espionage, moral ambiguity, and deadly betrayal. And not everyone will leave the reunion alive…
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This latest spy outing for Pine (who starred as Jack Ryan in 2014) also has the actor working as an executive producer. Also in the cast are Jonathan Pryce (having quite the spy moment between this and his role as a retired MI5 agent in Apple TV+’s upcoming ‘Slow Horses’ series), and Laurence Fishburne, who has no little experience in on-screen espionage with the likes of ‘Five Fingers’ and ‘Bad Company’.
There’s a definite John le Carré feel to this one, with characters trying to give up the life while others are still deep within it. That’s not surprising, since Steinhauer’s novels have been favorably compared to the spy master’s work.
Yet despite a seemingly compelling story, the movie has had some issues on its journey to the screen: Kate Winslet and Idris Elba were at one point seriously considering the lead roles, with Neil Burger attached to direct before they all moved on to other things. And Michelle Williams was starring opposite Pine until development delays meant she didn’t have time on her schedule.
You’ll be able to watch ‘All the Old Knives’ on limited theatrical release and via Prime Video on April 8.
(L to R) Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Laurence Fishburne, and Jonathan Pryce in Prime Video’s ‘All the Old Knives.’
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(L to R) Sadie Sink, Noah Schapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and Caleb McLaughlin in Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things.’
If you’re a TV fan, it has felt a little like “The Night Of The Long Knives” in the last day or so, as several popular shows announced their final seasons.
Fortunately, while disappointing that the likes of ‘Stranger Things’, ‘Atlanta’ and ‘The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel’ will be coming to an end, there’s a feeling that it represents the show’s various creators are all going out on their own terms.
For ‘Stranger Things’ – which, due to its complicated storylines, young cast and pandemic delays has been off screens since Season 3 finished in 2019.
Now, we finally know that Season 4 of the show is headed our way in two parts this year, with the first kicking off on Netflix on May 27 and the second on July 1.
Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 begins on on May 27th.
“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete arc for ‘Stranger Things’, said show creators Matt and Ross Duffer. “At the time, we predicted the story would be four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but – as you’ll soon see for yourselves – we are now hurtling towards our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season. Season 5 will be the last.”
Yes, that little bombshell at the end of the Season 4 statement comes like a stalking Demogorgon. But if you’re thinking that that’ll be the definitive end of the show then A) you’re clearly not used to how popular, zeitgeisty series like this work and B) there are major hints of something in the works beyond the fifth season in another note… “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of ‘Stranger Things’”. Plus, the Duffers mention “new adventures, new mysteries, new unexpected heroes”.
But that’s for (probably) next year. Here’s what we can expect in Season 4… “It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time –and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.”
Season 4 sees Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and some of the other characters relocated to California, but there’s plenty of drama to be found there, while we’re fairly sure it’ll all end up in Hawkins, Indiana where everything began.
(L to R) Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, and Donald Glover in FX and Hulu’s ‘Atlanta.’
And if you thought ‘Stranger Things’ fans had a wait, spare a thought for those who love ‘Atlanta.’ Donald Glover’s story of rappers, friends, weirdos, and partners has been away since the end of Season 2 in 2018. Yes, it’s been nearly four years, but the series returns for Season 3 on March 24 via FX and Hulu.
The new season sees Darius (Lakeith Stanfield), Earn (Glover), Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) and more headed on tour in Europe, with all the misunderstandings and comedy that ensues. Yet even here there was word that Glover is moving on – Seasons 3 and 4 were shot back-to-back and the fourth will arrive in the fall.
“Death is natural,” Glover said during FX’s portion of the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “I feel like when the conditions are right for something, they happen, and when the conditions aren’t right, they don’t happen. I don’t feel any longevity. Because then things start to get weird. The story was always supposed to be what it was. And the story, it really was us. Everybody in that writers’ room, everybody on set. It really was what we were going through and what we talked about. … I think it ends perfectly.”
Rachel Brosnahan in Amazon Prime Video’s ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’
Finally, there’s ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ which has been charting the stand-up aspirations and family frustrations of Rachel Brosnahan’s Miriam “Midge” Maisel. Created by ‘Gilmore Girls’ veteran Amy Sherman-Palladino, the show has run for three seasons on Prime Video, and the fourth starts today.
The company announced that Season 5 will wrap up the story, and that it’s already shooting in New York.
Yet if you’re unhappy to see a favorite show ending, take heart: there is plenty still to watch, and a couple of series have announced new developments.
Kirsten Dunst in FX’s ‘Fargo’ season 2. Photo: Mathias Clamer/FX.
‘Fargo’, created for TV by Noah Hawley, is officially renewed by FX for Season 5, though there is no word on a premiere date yet. We do know it’ll be set in 2019 and offers the tantalizing tagline: “when is a kidnapping not a kidnapping, and what if your wife isn’t yours?” Could it be hinting at hewing closer to the Coen brothers movie that originally inspired it?
Finally, news from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s TV arm, as ‘Loki’, which we already knew would return for a second season, has directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead on board to film most of its episodes. The duo, who made movies such as ‘Synchronic’ and ‘The Endless’, also worked on Marvel’s upcoming ‘Moon Knight’, which stars Oscar Isaac and debuts on Disney+ on March 30.
(L to R) Wunmi Mosaku, Tom Hiddleston, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Owen Wilson in Disney+’s ‘Loki.’
Amazon Prime’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’
Everything about Prime Video’s planned ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV adaptation, ‘The Rings of Power’ has been huge so far, from the $250 million the company spent to buy the rights from the Tolkien estate to the reported $456 million that it has lavished on the first season alone. It makes sense, then, that the initial drop of character posters would be suitably epic, with more than 20 arriving at once.
In keeping with the veil of secrecy that the company has draped across the show so far, the posters don’t specify which characters are on each, though sharp-eyed fans are already hunting for clues.
So far, all we really know in terms of characters is that Clark is playing a younger version of Galadriel (as brought to life by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s two movie trilogies).
And all we’ve seen of the show is one picture and the impressive opening sequence, which, it was later revealed, was created entirely practically.
This new adaptation of Tolkien’s sprawling fantasy novels comes courtesy of J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, who have writing credits on movies including ‘Star Trek Beyond’. ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s JA Bayona is involved as an executive producer and director along with fellow director Charlotte Brändström.
The Rings of Power, according to the showrunners, unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. “Until now, audiences have only seen onscreen the story of the One Ring — but before there was one, there were many… and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”
The “Second Age” refers to a long period in the history of Middle Earth that ends with the defeat of Sauron and precedes Tolkien’s book and Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie trilogy, which take place during the Third Age. The titular Rings of Power were forged in this era and 19 of them were given to elves, dwarves, and humans to incentivize them to support Sauron’s reign. The One Ring, which figures so heavily into the plot of the original trilogy is the most powerful of the 20 (it’s what Frodo and the gang travelled all that way to destroy, after all). The official description mentions an evil even greater than Sauron, which probably points Morgoth, a god-like creature who tried to rule Middle-earth – and that had Sauron serving as his general.
And Prime Video clearly has confidence in the series – though you can imagine it’s also looking for more return on its massive investment – as Season 2 has already been commissioned and will shoot in the UK. (Season 1 shot in New Zealand, which seems fitting given that’s where the movies filmed).
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will launch on Prime Video on Friday, September 2 this year, with new episodes dropping weekly.
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A movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson sounds like a Christmas gift. But to learn that the former cinematic Captain America himself, Chris Evans has joined forces with him, that’ll have you wondering if we all somehow got on the Nice List.
Yet it’s true: Evans, who played Steve Rogers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is on board for a holiday-themed action-adventure comedy called ‘Red One’.
Exact details of what the movie will be about are being stashed in Santa’s sack for now, but we wouldn’t be surprised, given its “holiday” tag, to see Johnson either playing some version of Santa Claus, or helping him out in some way. We can see the poster now… “This Year, Christmas Rocks!”
The idea sprang from the brain of Hiram Garcia, who is Johnson’s producing partner in his Seven Bucks production company. But the person bringing the script to life has also worked with Johnson in the past – Chris Morgan, who wrote many of the ‘Fast & Furious’ movies, including its 2019 spin-off, ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.’
(L to R) Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in ‘Hobbs & Shaw.’
And continuing the theme of past Rock collaborators is director Jake Kasdan, who worked on the ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, both of which featured Johnson and became big box office hits. All involved are clearly hoping for success with this one, and perhaps the birth of a new franchise, as with Johnson’s recent Netflix movie “Red Notice” (2020), which is already spawning not one, but two sequels.
Christmas movies don’t typically tend to feature lots of action, so it’ll be interesting to see how Johnson adapts his usual brand to the holiday season.
Aside from his Disney/Marvel work, Evans is known for appearing in the comic book company’s two Fox ‘Fantastic Four’ films and, also in the graphic novel vein, the cult movie 2010’s ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’.
Next up for the actor is voicing ‘Lightyear’ from Pixar, which will feature the “human” version of ‘Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear, the inspiration for the astronaut toy. He’ll also be seen in ‘The Gray Man’, a Netflix action thriller that co-stars Ryan Gosling and reunites Evans with regular MCU directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo.
Chris Evans in Pixar’s ‘Lightyear.’
Johnson’s schedule is also typically packed, with two films headed to screens this summer. First is the animated ‘DC League of Super-Pets’, in which the canine companion of Superman and a group of shelter animals who unexpectedly develop powers must save the Justice League from the clutches of villain Lex Luthor. That movie finds him working once again (albeit in a voice booth) with old friend Kevin Hart and is in cinemas on May 20.
Then, staying with the DC Universe, Johnson is starring in ‘Black Adam’, a powerful anti-hero with abilities like Superman but a commitment to justice by any means that brings him into conflict with other characters. It’ll arrive on July 29.
As for ‘Red One’, Amazon jumped to acquire the rights to make the movie, and while it doesn’t have a specific release date yet, it should be on screens around Christmas 2023.
Amazon Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ premieres September 2nd.
Amazon has revealed the official title of its upcoming, multi-season series based on the beloved books of J.R.R. Tolkien and it will be called ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’
The series, in a sense, will act as a prequel to director Peter Jackson’s Oscar winning ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit‘ trilogies, as the story will focus on the forging of the original rings of power, which allowed Sauron to spread evil throughout Middle Earth.
In a statement released by Amazon, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay discussed the new title and upcoming series. “This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien’s other classics. ‘The Rings of Power’ unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring, but before there was one, there were many… and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”
The studio also released a teaser trailer for the series that explains the origins of the rings. While the teaser does not utilize any actual footage from the series, it features the title being “physically forge in a blacksmith foundry, pouring fiery molten metal into hand-carved wooden ravines shaped to the letterforms,” with lines from Tolkien’s “Ring Verse” being spoken in voice over.
“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”
You can watch the full teaser below:
Here is the full synopsis for the series:
Prime Video’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit‘ and ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared reemergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the farthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
Joining showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay as executive producers on the series are Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, as well as producers Ron Ames and Christopher Newman. J.A. Bayona, Charlotte Brandstrom, and Wayne Che Yip are all scheduled to direct episodes of the series.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ is set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video beginning Friday, September 2nd, with new episodes dropping each week.
Emeraude Toubia, Desmond Chaim, and Rome Flynn talk about the relationship between their three characters.
Moviefone: Emeraude, I loved this series. It’s just so… It’s like a big hug to watch it. So Lily is… She has family love, she has sibling love, and she’s searching for romantic love. So, talk to me about her sibling love and her search for romantic love.
Emeraude Toubia: Yes. I love Lily so much, because I feel she reminds me of myself. She reminds me of all my girlfriends, and we’re all desperately, sometimes, looking for love. We want to find the perfect person. So she has ups and downs. She has her perfect on paper boyfriend, but unfortunately he’s not fulfilling her in other ways. So I think it’s really brave of her to break up with him and value herself and realize she needs more. Not that he’s not good enough, but for her, it’s just it’s time to move on. So I think that’s brave. And I just think it’s she’s spunky, she’s human more than anything. And I think it’s really nice for just everyone to see all her struggles and what she goes through and how it’s okay to sometimes just be by yourself and learn a little bit more about you before taking that next step with somebody else.
MF: Well, Desmond, she kind of leans on Nick’s shoulder.
Toubia: That’s all she does. I promise!
MF: Nicks naked shoulder, I might add.
Desmond Chaim: I wish. Yeah. Look, I don’t know if he is what she needs in the long term emotionality of the thing. But there is definitely that moment of it’s Christmas, there is this thing of love in the air and when you’re single on Christmas, which I think can be a very universal experience. There can be this explosion of passion that just drives a very, very intense encounter. And can lead both parties to consider a bunch of things that they maybe haven’t considered before.
MF: And Rome, Santiago’s got some issues.
Rome Flynn: So, what issues do you think?
MF: He is the most stand-up guy. I feel like he has so much integrity, but he’s got some love issues.
Flynn: Yeah. I don’t know if I would classify his issues, but I just think his perspective is one more practical. And that’s what I think is more unique. The dynamic between Lily and Santiago is that, they’re on completely different ends of how they see relationships and see love. And somehow they meet in the middle. And I think that’s kind of how it works in life sometimes, and you end up being closer to those people that don’t necessarily believe in everything that you believe. But, you want to see them win after that. You want to see how that develops. And so, yeah, maybe a little bit issue with love, but in a way I think that’s the relationship that people go through. And so it’s been great to be able to play that.
MF: You said practical. Love is not practical. That’s the whole thing.
Flynn: And you can’t say that it’s right or wrong. And that’s the unique thing about it.
Chaim: Love’s infinite.
Flynn: Exactly, loves infinite, right? But it’s also there is, I feel like, some sort of science behind it. What he’s saying is kind of true about the relationship patterns and how people get in relationships, and then they’re doing the same exact things, it’s kind of right, but hey…
Actors Vincent Rodriguez III and Mark Indelicato talk about what the show means to them.
(L-R): Desmond Chiam (Nick Zhao), Vincent Rodriguez (Henry), Mark Indelicato (Jorge Diaz Jr.), Emeraude Toubia (Lily Diaz)
Moviefone: So Vinnie, we’ll start with you. I really loved this series. I loved the love in all different forms, the inclusivity of it. What does this series mean to you?
Vincent Rodriguez III: Gosh. I mean, to me, the series means positive, compassionate, authentic humanity for all.
MF: Those were great adjectives.
Rodriguez: Our show is… I mean, I feel like a broken American saying this, and I feel like, oh, other shows might chime in like, “Hey, what about us?” But I really feel like this show is going to have a huge impact on the people who watch it. And it had definitely had an impact on us as the actors. We just had a press conference, and hearing the stories from my fellow cast mates who are incredible and have amazing careers and have played amazing roles. And now the fact that we all got to be assembled to portray these characters to tell this story led by Gloria Calderón Kellett, who wrote it with the intention of showing the world that we’re all different, we’re all beautiful, we all need family, we deserve joy, and we deserve a community, and we’re all capable and deserving of love.
No matter how old you are, no matter what ethnic background you have or what spectrum of the LGBTQ Queer Transgender community that you’re a part of, you belong, and you are deserving, and I think it’s something we need. We need to see these characters celebrated in the way that they are celebrated in With Love. Which is why December 17th is going to be a very exciting day when 250 countries get to actually experience what we felt for two months through five episodes. So it’s pretty…it’s a lot, and it feels our hearts and hopefully the audience will feel that too.
MF: And Mark, how about for you?
Mark Indelicato: Well, I was very, very excited to explore a very multidimensional character. I think that Jorge Jr is dealing with familial relationships, Platonic relationships and romantic relationships all at the same time simultaneously. And I think that as an actor, that’s extremely rewarding and extremely interesting to be able to have on the page and also get the liberty and the agency and autonomy to create a very well-rounded and fully realized character. And that was really the impetus for me to come onto this project. And also, I’ve never done a romantic comedy before, and I felt like this was just a joy to do. It made me feel very happy to make, which I hope shines through for the audience and that they’re very happy to watch it.
MF: Oh, it did shine through for me, and I was so happy watching it. Can you describe for me, Mark, your relationship with Lily and also your relationship with Henry?
Indelicato: Sure. Well, my relationship with Lily is extremely interesting because I feel like there’s a lot of times a sibling rivalry, right? And I think that in this show, in With Love, Jorge and Lily are “ride or dies.” They wear each other’s names on their necks, literally. And that was something that I was very, very adamant about is that, rather than having our own name plate necklaces, we would wear each other’s. Because when I read the pilot for the first time, I felt such a strong connection to this relationship, this familial relationship, between brother and sister that is completely rife with unabashed love. And I think that in a show called With Love one would perhaps assume that this is all about romantic love, but it’s not.
And I think that Jorge and Lily’s relationship is very indicative of the kind of multiplicity of love. But then you have Jorge and Henry who are very much in love with each other in a romantic capacity, but that is still very rife with conflict, whether that’s…perhaps not conflict between the two of them in a very traditional way of fighting and this and that, slamming of doors and… But I think that for Jorge, the conflict stems from his own insecurities about falling in love and staying in love. And what does that mean to be in love and be a good partner? And so I was very, very happy and very grateful and very interested in exploring the different ways in which we all love.
Constance Marie and Benito Martinez talk about their characters’ relationship.
(L-R): Constance Marie (Beatriz Diaz), Benito Martinez (Jorge Diaz Sr.)
Moviefone: Constance, what does this series mean to you?
Constance Marie: Oh, it means Latinos have finally made it to the upper middle class. I’ve been waiting for…30 something years for that to happen. And to have multifaceted, diverse…rom-com love is groundbreaking. And I think in society right now with all that we’ve dealt with COVID and divisiveness in America, we really need a show like this. And especially around the holidays, when we all need love. And this show is great for that.
MF: And like I said, this show deals with all kinds of love, like romantic love, family love, self-love. It’s not just a rom-com.
Marie: Yes.
MF: So, Benito, where is the love relationship between Beatriz and Jorge Sr. at?
Benito Martinez: Yeah. Well, it travels…it moves around, that’s our journey. So it starts in one place. I think I’m in one place. I realize I’m not in one place. And then I have to work hard to get back to some place. But ultimately, it’s a long term related that is built in trust and love that has some bumps in the road. And it’s that a…that investment that we’ve made over time that helps us get past the rough parts.
But it’s…you said it, “It’s a big warm hug.” And for me, it’s fun to see it as a story of a family and all the celebrations that happen. All the weirdness that happens at holiday time. The expectations of what it’s like at Valentine’s and 4th of July.
There are weird expectations that we have of the holiday within themselves, and then add to that family and church and relationships. It’s a mess.
Marie: Yeah.
Martinez: It’s expensive, it’s a mess, it’s time-consuming. It’s all of that.
Marie: Yes.
Martinez: And so for me, what’s fun about the show is we just do it, and we have fun with it, and we grow from it. And I like that.
MF: I think there’s something in this for everybody.
Marie: Yes.
MF: Something that everybody can see in it and grow from it. Constance, I love the family aspect of this and the huge Diaz family and all their quirks. Can you kind of give me an overview of the Diaz family?
Marie: I think at the core of the Diaz family is humor and love and acceptance. And that is something that all of us crave from our families. And we have a lot of diverse love relationships in our family. And it breaks down a lot of stereotypes, like Benito’s character, who’s the Stoic Latino man. You would think that he’s very closed-minded, and he is not at all. And the generational acceptance of younger generations and their diverse sexual paths. It’s…at the core of all of that is that your family is here for you. And I also learned a lot of the Latino celebrations because every episode is a different holiday and some of them I knew about and some of them I didn’t. And it is just…this show is like a wonderful…and our family is like a one wonderful invitation to be a part of the love.
MF: And Benito, there’s some strife in the marriage of Beatriz and Jorge Sr. How does Jorge handle this?
Martinez: He goes on the drinking binge.
Marie: No, he wasn’t.
Martinez: It’s off camera, but he’s a mess.
MF: That’s the backstory.
Martinez: She finds him in the car, out cold in the backyard. No, it is actually the discovery of that things aren’t perfect that sends Jorge into that moment of, what happened? And I think anytime you’re in a relationship where you don’t realize your partner is…isn’t happy, and you think you are. You have to realign things and that’s basically it. I mean, in a nutshell it is a realignment, but it’s the learning to realign that wakes up a relationship it’s a…but yeah, it’s the challenge of the journey.
Isis King and Todd Grinnell talk about how the show’s inclusivity is so special for them.
(L-R): Isis King (Sol Perez), Todd Grinnell (Dr. Miles Murphy)
Moviefone: Isis, this series is so beautiful. I really loved it. I loved all different forms of love. Also, the inclusivity of it. What does this series mean to you?
Isis King: Well, I’ve never seen a storyline of like this for someone who looks like me. So to have a career, to have the family support, to have the friend support and then to possibly find love. I think those are things that we’ve always just said we wanted to see. And, I think that every human being should be able to see that type of representation. So, to be that representation is kind of mind-boggling because I didn’t know, it hasn’t been done yet, for a holiday theme rom-com, tv series, or movie. So, I’m just so grateful to be a part of it. And I watched it back the other day and I remember laughing, saying aw, to crying, and I’m just so grateful. There’s no trauma related, they are just people living their lives, trying to find love.
MF: Yeah, Todd, this is what I love about it. I was so happy watching it. What does this series mean to you?
Todd Grinnell: It means everything to me. It’s just so, it fills me with a lot of pride to be able to be part of a storyline like this in a show like this, where we’re just celebrating love and destigmatizing relationship constrictions and stereotypes, and just telling a story about two human beings who have fallen in love and are finding happiness with each other. And, to get to do that with Isis is such an honor. It’s… We’ve had so much fun working together and I just, I love acting with you, Isis!
King: I love acting with you too, Todd!
Grinnell: I miss it.
King: I miss it too. Hopefully we get to do more.
Grinnell: We’ve got to do more.
MF: I love it. More love going on right here in this interview, Isis, who is Sol and what is that relationship with her and Dr. Murphy?
King: So Sol, is a non-binary trans femme, and they are an oncologist, who works at the hospital. Who’s super focused, super kind of conservative and Miles Murphy is a plastic surgeon and always finds himself over on Sol’s side of the hospital. And so, just kind of need a reminder to give people a chance. I think Sol is just so focused on career, family, friends, that’s enough. And I can really relate to that because I’m kind of the same. And, sometimes I have friends like you need to go on a date, you need to give somebody a chance. So I really resonate with this character, and it’s refreshing to see a trans or non-binary character who isn’t just overly sexualized, and that’s all. It’s like, nope, they have a career, they have all this support system, and just a normal person. We are super diverse, complex people, and it’s nice to just see a character that reflects that.
MF: Absolutely. I think sometimes the feeling is people like that are a mess and Sol is so, not a mess, at all. And Todd, what does Dr. Miles Murphy mean to you? And what does that relationship with him and Sol?
Grinnell: Well, Miles to me just represents a big, open heart. He’s a guy that just wants, he just wants love, just like every character in this show. And it’s been, gosh, it’s just so fun to get to do this and share this whole thing with the world. It’s just… the show is really special. And, I think everybody’s going to… It’s a… To me shooting it, felt like… and being with this cast and being with Gloria and being with our crew and our writer’s room, I mean, it’s, it feels like a big warm hug. And I think that’s what it’s going to feel like for the rest of the world too.
Series creator Gloria Calderón Kellett shares her inspiration for the project.
(L-R): Constance Marie (Beatriz Diaz), Gloria Calderón Kellett (Showrunner, Executive Producer, Gladys Delgado)
Moviefone: I just feel so happy after watching this series.
Gloria Calderón Kellett: Good. That’s the goal.
MF: It’s like a big hug. That’s what we’ve been talking about in the interviews. It is so heartwarming, all the different forms of love and the inclusivity. Where did this idea come from?
Kellett: The pandemic, two years at home, not seeing people. My Instagram feed was full of black and brown and queer and Asian bodies in trauma. And I was like, I need to make something for this community. It’s been so heavy.
And so I think that the antidote to hate is love. And so to be able to put out stories of multi-generational, multi-faceted people that happen to look like us and have them experience joy and love and celebration and family was really what I needed as a creator, what I wanted to see on TV, and what was severely lacking.
So it’s just a cocktail for me because I get something out of making it that heals my heart, and then hopefully the people receiving it are getting that hug you’re talking about. That was intention. I always think about the person on the other side of the black box, and that is what I want them to receive right now.
MF: You absolutely succeeded.
Kellett: Good.
MF: 100%. And you also act in the series?
Kellett: I do.
MF: Yeah. That must be fun.
Kellett: It was so fun. I didn’t intend to. I just kept on pitching things for Gladys, and my number two on the show was like, “Well, you’re obviously playing Gladys. That has to happen.” I was like, “Oh, okay.” So it was so fun. So fun to step in with titans. Constance and Benito, they are titans. So it was really glorious for me.
MF: Now, where did the idea of centering the episodes around holidays come from? Because the holidays are such a heightened time anyway. Emotions are higher during the holidays.
Kellett: Emotions are high. Well, again, that was just a lack. We have so many New Year’s traditions, Latinos have. I’ve never seen them on TV. We walk around with the suitcase. We eat the grapes. All that stuff is stuff that we do. And I was like, “I would love to have it at the periphery. I want it to be in the background because that’s what we really do.” And people will be like, “Wait, what are all these fun traditions?” But it’s not a very special episode. It just happens to be going on the way it would in a family while all the family drama is playing out.
And so I just wanted to see us in the holidays. It just feels like there is an erasure of our existence, generally speaking, that I get to make up for on the show, and I get to wrap it in a beautiful … All of our directors were women, women of color. Our DP, Sandra Valde-Hansen is Filipina. We had all these women making a beautiful, warm show. And so all of that together was just glorious for me.
MF: Your filmmakers just sound fabulous, as well as your cast. Did you have a hand in casting this?
Kellett: Oh, yeah. Oh, no, I cast the whole thing. Yes. Yeah. It’s very important, this cast. Amazon was so supportive. Leslie Litt was our casting director. I’ve been working with her for many years, so she knew exactly what I wanted. Grounded people, grounded actors. It just so happened they ended up being gorgeous, but really they’re there for their immense talent, their immense heart, the layers with which they give these characters that could be stereotyped in other hands. And we were all very aware that we got to make something special. And to be able to put in a little bit of nutrition into a rom-com, which is seemingly an innocuous entertainment, we got to break ground with so many of these characters. And it’s really, really exciting for us.
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is finally set to make its triumphant return to the spotlight, with the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime series announcing a premiere date for its third season.
The show will be back just in time for the holiday season, with season three set to debut on December 6. “Mrs. Maisel” also dropped a new season three trailer, packed with the show’s signature witty banter (thanks, Amy Sherman-Palladino) and a brief glimpse of new guest star Sterling K. Brown.
Details about Brown’s character haven’t been revealed yet, and his appearance in the clip doesn’t give much away, either, though his presence alone is enough to get us excited. We see him approach Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) and her manager, Susie (Alex Borstein), on an airplane, wishing them “happy flying,” though Susie — mid-gulp of an adult beverage — doesn’t look particularly pleased.
Season three of the series follows Midge as she sets out on a stand-up tour of the U.S. and Europe, serving as the opening act for crooner Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain). Part of the season was shot in Miami, and the locale’s sun-kissed color palette lends an additional air of whimsy to the trailer. Looks like fans of “Mrs. Maisel” should be plenty happy with these new episodes.
“The Wheel of Time” is adding more spokes to its upcoming adaptation on Amazon.
The fantasy epic series, based on the novels by Robert Jordan, has cast five actors to star opposite Rosamund Pike: Madeleine Madden, Marcus Rutherford, Barney Harris, Zoë Robins and Josha Stradowski.
The drama follows Moiraine (Pike), a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.
Stradowski will play Rand Al’Thor, the young man who becomes the Dragon Reborn. Madden is Egwene Al’Vere, a young woman who has the potential to become a powerful Aes Sedai.
Their friends include blacksmith apprentice Perrin Aybara (Rutherford) and prankster Mat Cauton (Harris). And overseeing them all is the village wise woman, Nynyaeve (Robins).
“Wheel of Time” is a bestselling 14-book fantasy series written by Robert Jordan (he died before completing the final three novels; they were finished by author Brandon Sanderson from Jordan’s notes). They have sold over 90 million copies worldwide.
Amazon is clearly looking to fill the fantasy gap left by “Game of Thrones” (as is every other TV and streaming player, including HBO, which has a prequel series in development). Amazon not only is working on “Wheel of Time,” but it spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the rights to make a “Lord of the Rings” TV show.
A television series version of the 1997 sci-fi horror film “Event Horizon” is in development at Amazon.
The streamer is teaming up with Paramount Television to adapt the Paul W.S. Anderson movie into a series.
The original was set in 2047 and followed a crew of astronauts investigating the reappearance of the titular spaceship. The crew learns the ship had an experimental engine that opened a rift in the space time continuum and brought hellish horrors home with it.
Variety reports that Adam Wingard will executive produce and direct the series. Wingard previously directed “Blair Witch” and is currently in production on “Godzilla vs. Kong.”
Longtime and frequent collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are reuniting once again for a new Amazon horror comedy series.
The duo will star in “Truth Seekers,” which follows paranormal investigators as they take out haunted churches, underground bunkers, and abandoned hospitals using an array of homemade ghost-detecting gizmos and share their adventures on an online channel.
Their supernatural experiences grow more frequent, terrifying, and even deadly as the pair begin to uncover a conspiracy that could threaten the entire human race
Pegg said, “Nick and I are delighted that ‘Truth Seekers’ has found a home with Amazon Prime Video. We’re looking forward to working closely with them and creating something very special. These are truly exciting times for television, and I can’t think of a better partner than Amazon to accompany us on a return to the smaller screen.”
Frost added, “It’s been nothing but a joyride in seeing this mad tale of paranormal conspiracy unfold in all its understated brilliance.”
The first season of “Truth Seekers” will have eight episodes. Production begins this fall.
