Catherine Tate’s latest sitcom Queen Of Oz has been given the chop after a single series, the BBC have confirmed.
Catherine Tate is currently riding high on the huge success of the long awaited Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. Written by returning showrunner Russell T Davies, the episodes saw Tate reprise her role as Donna Noble opposite David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor.
However Queen Of Oz, Tate’s latest foray into sitcom, has been cancelled after a single series, the BBC has confirmed.
The six-part series followed Tate as Princess Georgiana, the “spare to the British throne”. With her party girl lifestyle and constant public scandals threatening the monarchy’s future, she is moved to Australia to become their Queen, along with her new staff – director of communications Zoe (Jenna Owen), private secretary Bernard (Robert Coleby), head of security Marc (Rob Collins), personal assistant Matthew (William McKenna), lady...
Catherine Tate is currently riding high on the huge success of the long awaited Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. Written by returning showrunner Russell T Davies, the episodes saw Tate reprise her role as Donna Noble opposite David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor.
However Queen Of Oz, Tate’s latest foray into sitcom, has been cancelled after a single series, the BBC has confirmed.
The six-part series followed Tate as Princess Georgiana, the “spare to the British throne”. With her party girl lifestyle and constant public scandals threatening the monarchy’s future, she is moved to Australia to become their Queen, along with her new staff – director of communications Zoe (Jenna Owen), private secretary Bernard (Robert Coleby), head of security Marc (Rob Collins), personal assistant Matthew (William McKenna), lady...
- 12/14/2023
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Tudor, or not Tudor. That is the question in “Firebrand,” a revisionist royal portrait of Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr (played here by Alicia Vikander), that features all the pageantry you’d expect from a lavish costume drama, while showing the ahistorical audacity to call “Time’s Up” on the gluttonous king (Jude Law). Never mind that Henry VIII died — of very different causes than the movie depicts — all of 476 years ago. When it comes to art, there’s no statute of limitations on taking toxic masculinity to task, which can be both encouraging (since history has excused no shortage of monsters) and frustrating.
There’s a big difference between exposing the truth and rewriting what came before to suit a contemporary political agenda, the way “Firebrand” does. Liberally adapted from Elizabeth Fremantle’s fast-and-loose historical fiction “The Queen’s Gambit,” director Karim Aïnouz’s tony yet dull British...
There’s a big difference between exposing the truth and rewriting what came before to suit a contemporary political agenda, the way “Firebrand” does. Liberally adapted from Elizabeth Fremantle’s fast-and-loose historical fiction “The Queen’s Gambit,” director Karim Aïnouz’s tony yet dull British...
- 5/21/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
So, here’s the good news. Martha Plimpton has packed up her home in New York to live and work in London. Pooches to follow.
Her first gig? Playing Jacque in Shakespeare’s As You Like It on the stage of @sohoplace, the West End’s first purpose-built theatre in half a century. That Plimpton should deliver, with aplomb, the ‘All the world’s a stage’ monologue in Josie Rourke’s lively festive production, seems wholly appropriate because the same viewpoint applies elsewhere in town.
Related: Deadline’s Broadway Critic Picks The Best Of 2022, And Looks Ahead To 2023
Martha Plimpton in ‘As You Like It’. Photo by Johan Perrson
To watch Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) make the Harold Pinter Theatre’s stage her world in Australian writer Suzie Miller’s legal twister Prima Facie confirms that she’s one of her generation’s best thespians. It was also her debut professional theatre performance.
Her first gig? Playing Jacque in Shakespeare’s As You Like It on the stage of @sohoplace, the West End’s first purpose-built theatre in half a century. That Plimpton should deliver, with aplomb, the ‘All the world’s a stage’ monologue in Josie Rourke’s lively festive production, seems wholly appropriate because the same viewpoint applies elsewhere in town.
Related: Deadline’s Broadway Critic Picks The Best Of 2022, And Looks Ahead To 2023
Martha Plimpton in ‘As You Like It’. Photo by Johan Perrson
To watch Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) make the Harold Pinter Theatre’s stage her world in Australian writer Suzie Miller’s legal twister Prima Facie confirms that she’s one of her generation’s best thespians. It was also her debut professional theatre performance.
- 12/25/2022
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
143 of the 588 titles released this year were made by women.
The number of films made by women and released in the UK dropped by 6 in 2022, according to figures from female-focused film organisation Birds Eye View.
Out of the 588 titles to receive a theatrical release in the UK this year, 143, or 24, were made by women. For a film to qualify it must be directed or co-directed and/or written or co-written (with at least 50 film credit) by women.
This figure is down 6 from 2021 when 166 titles (30) qualified.
Birds Eye View found a significant rise in films made by Black women and women of colour,...
The number of films made by women and released in the UK dropped by 6 in 2022, according to figures from female-focused film organisation Birds Eye View.
Out of the 588 titles to receive a theatrical release in the UK this year, 143, or 24, were made by women. For a film to qualify it must be directed or co-directed and/or written or co-written (with at least 50 film credit) by women.
This figure is down 6 from 2021 when 166 titles (30) qualified.
Birds Eye View found a significant rise in films made by Black women and women of colour,...
- 12/22/2022
- by Ellie Calnan¬Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) won the best actress prize at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her West End debut performance playing a criminal barrister specialising in defending rapists — who is then sexually assaulted herself.
Comer won critical and public acclaim for the solo role in Prima Facie, which is written by Suzie Miller and directed by Justin Martin. James Bierman’s Empire Street Productions will launch the courtroom drama at Broadway’s Golden Theatre from April 11, 2023.
Stephen Graham (The Irishman), like Comer a Liverpudlian, presented Comer with the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress, named in honor of the star who died in 2009.
Comer told guests, who included Richardson’s mother Dame Vanessa Redgrave and sister Joely Richardson, that her experience in Prima Facie had been “utterly terrifying, having never trained,” added: “I didn’t know if I could execute this.”
However, she praised the production’s creative team for supporting her,...
Comer won critical and public acclaim for the solo role in Prima Facie, which is written by Suzie Miller and directed by Justin Martin. James Bierman’s Empire Street Productions will launch the courtroom drama at Broadway’s Golden Theatre from April 11, 2023.
Stephen Graham (The Irishman), like Comer a Liverpudlian, presented Comer with the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress, named in honor of the star who died in 2009.
Comer told guests, who included Richardson’s mother Dame Vanessa Redgrave and sister Joely Richardson, that her experience in Prima Facie had been “utterly terrifying, having never trained,” added: “I didn’t know if I could execute this.”
However, she praised the production’s creative team for supporting her,...
- 12/12/2022
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Australian actress Margot Robbie has revealed why she took the role in ‘Bombshell’, the 2019 drama about the women who worked together to expose Fox News CEO Roger Ailes for his ongoing sexual misconduct.
The actress, 32, admitted she didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment and took the role to help her better understand it, reports People magazine.
“I realised that I – as a person with an established position in the industry, financially set up and self-sufficient – I didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment, and that’s shocking,” she said during a BAFTA Life in Pictures talk celebrating her career, according to Variety.
According to People, Robbie also said that it “horrified” her that she knew so little about the topic, and ‘Bombshell’ taught her that sexual harassment and bad behaviours truly “flourishes in the grey area.”
“Roger Ailes or Harvey Weinstein, they take advantage of the area,...
The actress, 32, admitted she didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment and took the role to help her better understand it, reports People magazine.
“I realised that I – as a person with an established position in the industry, financially set up and self-sufficient – I didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment, and that’s shocking,” she said during a BAFTA Life in Pictures talk celebrating her career, according to Variety.
According to People, Robbie also said that it “horrified” her that she knew so little about the topic, and ‘Bombshell’ taught her that sexual harassment and bad behaviours truly “flourishes in the grey area.”
“Roger Ailes or Harvey Weinstein, they take advantage of the area,...
- 11/23/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Margot Robbie has said she didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment in the workplace before making “Bombshell”, Jay Roach’s 2019 drama following the women at Fox News who exposed CEO Roger Ailes for his misconduct.
The actor opened up about her career and experience of the film industry during a BAFTA Life in Pictures talk celebrating her career. At 32, she’s the youngest subject of the event series to date. Robbie is in London as part of the press tour for Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” which hits cinemas at the end of the year.
Discussing her “Bombshell” character Kayla Pospisil, the one fictional woman in the film alongside the likes of Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, Robbie said the role was easy to shake because of the difficult subject matter. “The second I could stop being Kayla, I did,” she said. “It was definitely something I wanted to...
The actor opened up about her career and experience of the film industry during a BAFTA Life in Pictures talk celebrating her career. At 32, she’s the youngest subject of the event series to date. Robbie is in London as part of the press tour for Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” which hits cinemas at the end of the year.
Discussing her “Bombshell” character Kayla Pospisil, the one fictional woman in the film alongside the likes of Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, Robbie said the role was easy to shake because of the difficult subject matter. “The second I could stop being Kayla, I did,” she said. “It was definitely something I wanted to...
- 11/22/2022
- by Ella Kemp
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Screen Media has acquired North American rights to the road-trip comedy The Nan Movie, written by Catherine Tate (The Office) and Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso), with plans for a day-and-date theatrical and on-demand release this July.
The film will serve as the origin story of Joannie Taylor aka Nan—the foul-mouthed grandmother character first introduced by Tate on her multi-award-winning BBC series, The Catherine Tate Show. It follows Nan as she goes on a wild road trip from London to Ireland with her long-suffering grandson Jamie (Mathew Horne) to make amends with her estranged and dying sister Nell (Katherine Parkinson). Through a series of flashbacks, we see the young sisters fall in love with the same handsome GI during World War 2 and how the consequences of this love triangle shaped Nan into the cantankerous old b*****d she is today. Militant vegan arsonists, Australian rugby teams, all-night raves and...
The film will serve as the origin story of Joannie Taylor aka Nan—the foul-mouthed grandmother character first introduced by Tate on her multi-award-winning BBC series, The Catherine Tate Show. It follows Nan as she goes on a wild road trip from London to Ireland with her long-suffering grandson Jamie (Mathew Horne) to make amends with her estranged and dying sister Nell (Katherine Parkinson). Through a series of flashbacks, we see the young sisters fall in love with the same handsome GI during World War 2 and how the consequences of this love triangle shaped Nan into the cantankerous old b*****d she is today. Militant vegan arsonists, Australian rugby teams, all-night raves and...
- 6/14/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Charles Finch (Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love) is as English as they come, but Hollywood runs through his veins. Having written movies, produced a few, directed three; managed movie stars and built brands, and published high-end cultural magazines, he decided “smack in the middle of Covid, in my late fifties,” that he wanted to go back to making movies.
He has set up a small film company that he calls Standalone. Finch has a relationship with Columbia Pictures and he’ll formally announce a development deal with that studio next month. The entrepreneur also has a project with Netflix.
Finch told us that he has a slate of some 15 to 20 projects. Included in his group of filmmaking collaborators are directors Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots), Tom Hooper (Les Miserables), Marina Zenovich (Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind), Simon Curtis (Downton Abbey: A New Era), and Florian Zeller (The Father...
He has set up a small film company that he calls Standalone. Finch has a relationship with Columbia Pictures and he’ll formally announce a development deal with that studio next month. The entrepreneur also has a project with Netflix.
Finch told us that he has a slate of some 15 to 20 projects. Included in his group of filmmaking collaborators are directors Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots), Tom Hooper (Les Miserables), Marina Zenovich (Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind), Simon Curtis (Downton Abbey: A New Era), and Florian Zeller (The Father...
- 5/25/2022
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Belated cinema adventure for Tate’s sketch-show character and her grandson Matthew Horne is depressingly terrible
There are some British films which are basically the convenience-store sandwich of big-screen entertainment. Cinema’s equivalent of the 24-hour-garage tuna mayo pitta bread. And that, sadly, is the case with The Nan Movie, a truly horrendous and depressing film about Catherine Tate’s sweary old-lady character from her sketch show, in a storyline stretched out to a brutal hour and a half.
It arrives in UK cinemas with no fanfare and an uneasy lack of clarity about who the director is supposed to be. Some official listings give it as former Donmar Warehouse artistic director Josie Rourke and some say Tate herself, but there’s nothing on the closing credits, other than to say that both are producers. Was this how British audiences felt when they stumbled out of the cinema having watched...
There are some British films which are basically the convenience-store sandwich of big-screen entertainment. Cinema’s equivalent of the 24-hour-garage tuna mayo pitta bread. And that, sadly, is the case with The Nan Movie, a truly horrendous and depressing film about Catherine Tate’s sweary old-lady character from her sketch show, in a storyline stretched out to a brutal hour and a half.
It arrives in UK cinemas with no fanfare and an uneasy lack of clarity about who the director is supposed to be. Some official listings give it as former Donmar Warehouse artistic director Josie Rourke and some say Tate herself, but there’s nothing on the closing credits, other than to say that both are producers. Was this how British audiences felt when they stumbled out of the cinema having watched...
- 3/18/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
‘The Nan Movie’, ‘Hive’, ‘X’ also opening.
eOne’s UK sports comedy The Phantom of the Open tees off at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, in a bumper weekend with 17 new releases.
Directed by Craig Roberts, The Phantom Of The Open debuted at the BFI London Film Festival in October last year. The film tells the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, an aspiring golfer of limited talent, who managed to gain entry to the British Open Gold Championship Qualifying in 1976 only to shoot the worst round in the event’s history. It will open in 629 locations - the fourth-biggest...
eOne’s UK sports comedy The Phantom of the Open tees off at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, in a bumper weekend with 17 new releases.
Directed by Craig Roberts, The Phantom Of The Open debuted at the BFI London Film Festival in October last year. The film tells the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, an aspiring golfer of limited talent, who managed to gain entry to the British Open Gold Championship Qualifying in 1976 only to shoot the worst round in the event’s history. It will open in 629 locations - the fourth-biggest...
- 3/18/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
German-born UK composer is known for his work on ‘Mary Queen Of Scots’ and ‘Waltz With Bashir’.
The World Soundtrack Awards has named award-winning composer Max Richter as the guest of honour for its upcoming edition in October.
The German-born, UK composer is known for writing scores spanning both film and TV from period feature Mary Queen Of Scots and Oscar-nominated animation Waltz With Bashir to HBO’s The Leftovers and BBC drama Taboo. He has also recorded nearly a dozen solo albums.
Richter will attend the 21st edition of the awards, which will take place in-person as part of...
The World Soundtrack Awards has named award-winning composer Max Richter as the guest of honour for its upcoming edition in October.
The German-born, UK composer is known for writing scores spanning both film and TV from period feature Mary Queen Of Scots and Oscar-nominated animation Waltz With Bashir to HBO’s The Leftovers and BBC drama Taboo. He has also recorded nearly a dozen solo albums.
Richter will attend the 21st edition of the awards, which will take place in-person as part of...
- 6/30/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The film will be released to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s Folio in 2023.
Dominic Dromgoole, the former artistic director of London’s The Globe Theatre, will direct and produce Folio! Folio!, a feature comedy about the publication of the ground-breaking edition of Shakespeare’s works.
The film is aiming to shoot in summer 2022, produced by Marcus Coles’ UK company Folio 400 Productions. The company was founded to celebrate the 400th anniversary in 2023 of the publication of Shakespeare’s Folio – the first full collection of his plays, including the previously unpublished Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and The Tempest.
Dominic Dromgoole, the former artistic director of London’s The Globe Theatre, will direct and produce Folio! Folio!, a feature comedy about the publication of the ground-breaking edition of Shakespeare’s works.
The film is aiming to shoot in summer 2022, produced by Marcus Coles’ UK company Folio 400 Productions. The company was founded to celebrate the 400th anniversary in 2023 of the publication of Shakespeare’s Folio – the first full collection of his plays, including the previously unpublished Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and The Tempest.
- 6/2/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Universal Pictures Content Group has acquired international rights, excluding France, to “Mr. Malcolm’s List.” U.S. rights are held by Bleecker Street and the Canadian rights have been sold to LevelFILM. The film has added further cast as production rolls in Ireland.
Joining the cast are Zawe Ashton, Theo James and Ashley Park. They join Freida Pinto, a BAFTA nominee and executive producer on the film, “Gangs of London’s” Ṣọpẹ́ Dirisu, who was a BAFTA Rising Star nominee, and “The Invisible Man’s” Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
Emma Holly Jones’ debut feature is based on the novel of the same name written by Suzanne Allain, who also penned the script.
Julia (Ashton) is a society lady jilted by London’s most eligible bachelor Mr. Malcolm (Dirisu), when she fails to meet one of the items on his list of requirements for a bride. Feeling shunned and humiliated, she enlists her...
Joining the cast are Zawe Ashton, Theo James and Ashley Park. They join Freida Pinto, a BAFTA nominee and executive producer on the film, “Gangs of London’s” Ṣọpẹ́ Dirisu, who was a BAFTA Rising Star nominee, and “The Invisible Man’s” Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
Emma Holly Jones’ debut feature is based on the novel of the same name written by Suzanne Allain, who also penned the script.
Julia (Ashton) is a society lady jilted by London’s most eligible bachelor Mr. Malcolm (Dirisu), when she fails to meet one of the items on his list of requirements for a bride. Feeling shunned and humiliated, she enlists her...
- 3/19/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: George Freeman, who saw a 20-year run at WME end in June and continued to represent most of his clients independently as manager, has landed at Brillstein Entertainment Partners. He has brought a lengthy list of clients with him.
Freeman’s list includes Russell Crowe; Dennis Quaid; director Ramin Bahrani; Adarsh Gourav, director and star of the upcoming Netflix film The White Tiger; American Gods, Hannibal & Pushing Daisies writer/EP Bryan Fuller; Florence Pugh, Oscar-nominated Little Women star who next co-stars in Black Widow); actor Arinze Kene (stars with Rachel Brosnahan in Amazon’s I Am Your Woman); actor Russell Tovey (Looking and Years and Years); and director Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots).
A publicist before becoming an agent, Freeman said he chose Brillstein because he had such lasting relationships with its partners along his career track. None longer than CEO Jon Liebman. That relationship goes all the way back to kindergarten.
Freeman’s list includes Russell Crowe; Dennis Quaid; director Ramin Bahrani; Adarsh Gourav, director and star of the upcoming Netflix film The White Tiger; American Gods, Hannibal & Pushing Daisies writer/EP Bryan Fuller; Florence Pugh, Oscar-nominated Little Women star who next co-stars in Black Widow); actor Arinze Kene (stars with Rachel Brosnahan in Amazon’s I Am Your Woman); actor Russell Tovey (Looking and Years and Years); and director Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots).
A publicist before becoming an agent, Freeman said he chose Brillstein because he had such lasting relationships with its partners along his career track. None longer than CEO Jon Liebman. That relationship goes all the way back to kindergarten.
- 10/1/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Crazy Rich Asians and Captain Marvel actress Gemma Chan has signed with M88, the full-service representation firm formed created by former WME Partner Phillip Sun and MacRo Founder & CEO Charles D. King.
The signing marks the continuing relationship between Chan and Sun who initially worked together at WME. Chan first caught the world’s attention when she starred in the Channel 4/AMC series Humans. She went on appear alongside Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie in the Oscar-nominated Focus Features period piece Mary Queen of Scots directed by Josie Rourke. Last year, she starred in the third and final installment of Channel 4’s three-part women empowerment anthology I Am Hannah.
The actress will continue to live in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the forthcoming Chloe Zhao-directed The Eternals where she will star alongside a high-profile global cast including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry,...
The signing marks the continuing relationship between Chan and Sun who initially worked together at WME. Chan first caught the world’s attention when she starred in the Channel 4/AMC series Humans. She went on appear alongside Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie in the Oscar-nominated Focus Features period piece Mary Queen of Scots directed by Josie Rourke. Last year, she starred in the third and final installment of Channel 4’s three-part women empowerment anthology I Am Hannah.
The actress will continue to live in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the forthcoming Chloe Zhao-directed The Eternals where she will star alongside a high-profile global cast including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry,...
- 9/3/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
As Josie Rourke’s Donmar production of Shakespeare’s tragedy is streamed for National Theatre at Home, its star recalls the thrilling intimacy, the brutal fights – and the cold shower
Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and dance to watch online
Coriolanus is a play that’s more respected than revered. Why does it have a rather difficult reputation?
Coriolanus is relentless, brutal, savage and serious, but that’s why I find it interesting. Shakespeare sets the play in ancient Rome: a far older place than the Rome more familiar to us – of Julius Caesar or Antony and Cleopatra or the later Empire. This Rome is wild. A city-state wrestling with its identity. An early Rome of famine, war and tyranny.
In the central character, Caius Martius Coriolanus, Shakespeare shows how the power of unchecked rage corrodes, dehumanises and ultimately destroys its subject. I’ve read that some find Martius a hard character to like,...
Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and dance to watch online
Coriolanus is a play that’s more respected than revered. Why does it have a rather difficult reputation?
Coriolanus is relentless, brutal, savage and serious, but that’s why I find it interesting. Shakespeare sets the play in ancient Rome: a far older place than the Rome more familiar to us – of Julius Caesar or Antony and Cleopatra or the later Empire. This Rome is wild. A city-state wrestling with its identity. An early Rome of famine, war and tyranny.
In the central character, Caius Martius Coriolanus, Shakespeare shows how the power of unchecked rage corrodes, dehumanises and ultimately destroys its subject. I’ve read that some find Martius a hard character to like,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Interview by Chris Wiegand
- The Guardian - Film News
Jodie Comer, Martin Freeman, Tamsin Greig, Kristin Scott Thomas and Imelda Staunton are among the stars lined up for new BBC One adaptations of playwright Alan Bennett’s acclaimed “Talking Heads” monologues, which start filming Tuesday.
Ten of the original pieces are being remade, having first aired on BBC Television in 1988 and 1998, winning two BAFTA awards. Two new monologues, written by Bennett last year, are also being filmed.
The contained nature of Bennett’s monologues means they are one of the very few dramas that can be produced while following guidelines on safe working practices during Covid-19. Filming is taking place at BBC Elstree Studios using existing sets.
They are produced by former National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner’s London Theatre Company and ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ producer Kevin Loader.
Lead director Hytner, whose film credits include “The Madness of King George” and “The History Boys,” said:...
Ten of the original pieces are being remade, having first aired on BBC Television in 1988 and 1998, winning two BAFTA awards. Two new monologues, written by Bennett last year, are also being filmed.
The contained nature of Bennett’s monologues means they are one of the very few dramas that can be produced while following guidelines on safe working practices during Covid-19. Filming is taking place at BBC Elstree Studios using existing sets.
They are produced by former National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner’s London Theatre Company and ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ producer Kevin Loader.
Lead director Hytner, whose film credits include “The Madness of King George” and “The History Boys,” said:...
- 4/28/2020
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
From “Bridget Jones’s Diary” to “Mr. Bean,” Working Title has for the past three and a half decades helped ensure that the sun never sets on British pop culture.
The leaders of the London-based film and television production company, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, have been important emissaries from across the pond, backing stories that resonate with global audiences.
Be they quirky rom-coms or costume-heavy historical epics, their films have enjoyed commercial and critical success. Since it was founded in 1984, Working Title has produced more than 100 features, which have generated $8 billion globally. They have been nominated for 86 Oscars and won 14 statuettes.
Despite its sterling track record, the company, housed in Central London offices near the West End, is an anomaly in today’s movie business. The films that form the spine of its reputation, such as “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Billy Elliot,” are part of a vanishing style of moviemaking.
The leaders of the London-based film and television production company, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, have been important emissaries from across the pond, backing stories that resonate with global audiences.
Be they quirky rom-coms or costume-heavy historical epics, their films have enjoyed commercial and critical success. Since it was founded in 1984, Working Title has produced more than 100 features, which have generated $8 billion globally. They have been nominated for 86 Oscars and won 14 statuettes.
Despite its sterling track record, the company, housed in Central London offices near the West End, is an anomaly in today’s movie business. The films that form the spine of its reputation, such as “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Billy Elliot,” are part of a vanishing style of moviemaking.
- 12/12/2019
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Mary Queen Of Scots director plots feature with Damian Jones producing.
Mary Queen Of Scots director Josie Rourke has boarded This Nan’s Life, an origins story of UK comedian Catherine Tate’s character Nan based on her TV series.
Mathew Horne is reprising his role from the series and subsequent TV spin-offs and will be joined by Katherine Parkinson (Pirate Radio) in the cast.
The feature will explore the origins of the profanity-laden pensioner Joannie Taylor, played by Tate, who first appeared in BBC sketch series The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series between 2004 and 2006. It was nominated for six BAFTA Awards,...
Mary Queen Of Scots director Josie Rourke has boarded This Nan’s Life, an origins story of UK comedian Catherine Tate’s character Nan based on her TV series.
Mathew Horne is reprising his role from the series and subsequent TV spin-offs and will be joined by Katherine Parkinson (Pirate Radio) in the cast.
The feature will explore the origins of the profanity-laden pensioner Joannie Taylor, played by Tate, who first appeared in BBC sketch series The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series between 2004 and 2006. It was nominated for six BAFTA Awards,...
- 5/20/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Liam Neeson revenge thriller Cold Pursuit opens behind half-term holdovers.
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Feb 15-17) Total gross to date Week 1 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Warner Bros) £2.4m £14m 3 2 Instant Family (Paramount) £1.67m £6.4m 2 3 How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Universal) £1.66m £15.9m 4 4 Alita: Battle Angel (20th Century Fox) £870,704 £7.7m 3 5 The Kid Who Would Be King (20th Century Fox) £651,610 £2.6m 2 Warner Bros
The Lego Movie 2 - The Second Part easily held the top spot at the UK box office this three-day weekend (February 22-24), leading a field of family-friendly half-term titles.
A Star Is Born...
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Feb 15-17) Total gross to date Week 1 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Warner Bros) £2.4m £14m 3 2 Instant Family (Paramount) £1.67m £6.4m 2 3 How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Universal) £1.66m £15.9m 4 4 Alita: Battle Angel (20th Century Fox) £870,704 £7.7m 3 5 The Kid Who Would Be King (20th Century Fox) £651,610 £2.6m 2 Warner Bros
The Lego Movie 2 - The Second Part easily held the top spot at the UK box office this three-day weekend (February 22-24), leading a field of family-friendly half-term titles.
A Star Is Born...
- 2/25/2019
- by Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
Liam Neeson revenge thriller Cold Pursuit opens behind half-term holdovers.
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Feb 15-17) Total gross to date Week 1 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Warner Bros) £2.4m £14m 3 2 Instant Family (Paramount) £1.67m £6.4m 2 3 How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Universal) £1.66m £15.9m 4 4 Alita: Battle Angel (20th Century Fox) £870,704 £7.7m 3 5 The Kid Who Would Be King (20th Century Fox) £651,610 £2.6m 2 Warner Bros
The Lego Movie 2 - The Second Part easily held the top spot at the UK box office this three-day weekend (February 22-24), leading a field of family-friendly half-term titles.
A Star Is Born...
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Feb 15-17) Total gross to date Week 1 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Warner Bros) £2.4m £14m 3 2 Instant Family (Paramount) £1.67m £6.4m 2 3 How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Universal) £1.66m £15.9m 4 4 Alita: Battle Angel (20th Century Fox) £870,704 £7.7m 3 5 The Kid Who Would Be King (20th Century Fox) £651,610 £2.6m 2 Warner Bros
The Lego Movie 2 - The Second Part easily held the top spot at the UK box office this three-day weekend (February 22-24), leading a field of family-friendly half-term titles.
A Star Is Born...
- 2/25/2019
- by Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Maria Dragus, Eileen O’Higgins, Liah O’Prey, Izuka Hoyle, Brendan Coyle, Martin Compston, Gemma Chan, Ismael Cruz Córdova | Written by Beau Willimon | Directed by Josie Rourke
Mary Queen of Scots, directed by Josie Rourke, is a remake/retelling of the 1971 film of the same name Mary, Queen of Scots directed by Charles Jarrott. Rourke’s film stars two heavyweight leading actress titans of their craft in Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, as opposing queens Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I battling out for the reign. This twenty-nineteen rendition is a highly intense scorcher of deliberating venomous proposal and political promise. Wrapped in a deeply controversial and disputed historical subject matter with questionable accuracy that thankfully doesn’t derail an otherwise immersive film.
Josie Rourke’s film looks and sounds stunning. Courtesy of the score from composer...
Mary Queen of Scots, directed by Josie Rourke, is a remake/retelling of the 1971 film of the same name Mary, Queen of Scots directed by Charles Jarrott. Rourke’s film stars two heavyweight leading actress titans of their craft in Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, as opposing queens Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I battling out for the reign. This twenty-nineteen rendition is a highly intense scorcher of deliberating venomous proposal and political promise. Wrapped in a deeply controversial and disputed historical subject matter with questionable accuracy that thankfully doesn’t derail an otherwise immersive film.
Josie Rourke’s film looks and sounds stunning. Courtesy of the score from composer...
- 2/11/2019
- by Jak-Luke Sharp
- Nerdly
Mary Queen of Scots Movie Review: A solid showcase by Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie
Mary Queen Of Scots movie review is here. Nominated for best costume design and best makeup and hairstyling at the 91st Academy Awards, the movie stars Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. Let?s find out what director Josie Rourke has in store in the story of Mary ? the Catholic Queen of Scotland cousin of? ?Protestant Queen of England Elizabeth 1in Mary Queen Of Scots movie review.
What is Mary Queen Of Scots all about?
A historical drama film set in the 16th century based on John Guy's biography Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.
What is the plot/storyline of Mary Queen Of Scots?
Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) has lost her husband and returns to her native Scotland from France. The Catholic Queen Mary desires to sit on the throne of...
Mary Queen Of Scots movie review is here. Nominated for best costume design and best makeup and hairstyling at the 91st Academy Awards, the movie stars Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. Let?s find out what director Josie Rourke has in store in the story of Mary ? the Catholic Queen of Scotland cousin of? ?Protestant Queen of England Elizabeth 1in Mary Queen Of Scots movie review.
What is Mary Queen Of Scots all about?
A historical drama film set in the 16th century based on John Guy's biography Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.
What is the plot/storyline of Mary Queen Of Scots?
Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) has lost her husband and returns to her native Scotland from France. The Catholic Queen Mary desires to sit on the throne of...
- 1/31/2019
- GlamSham
SAG Awards Ceremony Auction Features Autographed Collectibles by Nominees, VIP Experiences and More!
The SAG Awards Ceremony Auction begins today, Friday, January 25, at 9 p.m. Et / 6 p.m. Pt at sagawards.org/auction.
The SAG Awards Ceremony Auction offers film buffs and television fans the chance to win autographed collectibles signed by many of this year’s nominated actors including Lady Gaga, Rami Malek, Emily Blunt, Timothée Chalamet and casts of “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “The Favourite” and more. Also up for bid are tapings to “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and “American Idol,” and premium items and exclusive experiences including a VIP trip for 2 to France to visit the Champagne Taittinger estate in Reims, and an exclusive ride aboard the Goodyear Blimp. The online auction closes Monday, February 4 at 9 p.m. Et / 6 p.m. Pt.
Proceeds from the SAG Awards Ceremony Auction support the SAG-aftra Foundation's award-winning children’s literacy program Storyline Online where actors read to children. Storyline Online...
The SAG Awards Ceremony Auction offers film buffs and television fans the chance to win autographed collectibles signed by many of this year’s nominated actors including Lady Gaga, Rami Malek, Emily Blunt, Timothée Chalamet and casts of “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “The Favourite” and more. Also up for bid are tapings to “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and “American Idol,” and premium items and exclusive experiences including a VIP trip for 2 to France to visit the Champagne Taittinger estate in Reims, and an exclusive ride aboard the Goodyear Blimp. The online auction closes Monday, February 4 at 9 p.m. Et / 6 p.m. Pt.
Proceeds from the SAG Awards Ceremony Auction support the SAG-aftra Foundation's award-winning children’s literacy program Storyline Online where actors read to children. Storyline Online...
- 1/30/2019
- Look to the Stars
Awards contender ’Vice’ takes third place on debut.
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Jan 25-Jan 27) Total gross to date Week 1 Glass (Disney) £1.9m £6.9m 2 2 Mary Queen Of Scots (Universal) £1.5m £5m 2 3 Vice (eOne) £1.2m £1.3m 1 4 Stan & Ollie (eOne) £1.1m £8.3m 3 5 Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) £995,173 £42.1m 6 Disney
Glass held the number one spot at the UK box office over the weekend of January 25-27, grossing £1.9m for a 42% drop on its first session.
The third film in director M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 trilogy is now up to £6.9m total. Its second week was down...
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Jan 25-Jan 27) Total gross to date Week 1 Glass (Disney) £1.9m £6.9m 2 2 Mary Queen Of Scots (Universal) £1.5m £5m 2 3 Vice (eOne) £1.2m £1.3m 1 4 Stan & Ollie (eOne) £1.1m £8.3m 3 5 Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) £995,173 £42.1m 6 Disney
Glass held the number one spot at the UK box office over the weekend of January 25-27, grossing £1.9m for a 42% drop on its first session.
The third film in director M. Night Shyamalan’s Eastrail 177 trilogy is now up to £6.9m total. Its second week was down...
- 1/28/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Karyn Kusama’s tense cop thriller, powered by a terrific performance from Nicole Kidman, flips traditional gender roles to spectacular effect
Amid the hoopla of Tuesday’s Oscar nominations, it was depressing to be faced with yet another all-male list in the best director category. The Oscars have always been skewed towards men, although it’s been argued in the past that the awards merely reflected the gender bias of the film industry itself. Yet this year, potential contenders included such diverse film-makers as Chloé Zhao for The Rider, Marielle Heller for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Lynne Ramsay for You Were Never Really Here, Josie Rourke for Mary Queen of Scots, and Debra Granik for Leave No Trace – the last of which, my favourite film of 2018, received no Academy recognition whatsoever.
To that impressive list I’d add Karyn Kusama for Destroyer, another female-led feature which has flown entirely under the Oscars’ radar.
Amid the hoopla of Tuesday’s Oscar nominations, it was depressing to be faced with yet another all-male list in the best director category. The Oscars have always been skewed towards men, although it’s been argued in the past that the awards merely reflected the gender bias of the film industry itself. Yet this year, potential contenders included such diverse film-makers as Chloé Zhao for The Rider, Marielle Heller for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Lynne Ramsay for You Were Never Really Here, Josie Rourke for Mary Queen of Scots, and Debra Granik for Leave No Trace – the last of which, my favourite film of 2018, received no Academy recognition whatsoever.
To that impressive list I’d add Karyn Kusama for Destroyer, another female-led feature which has flown entirely under the Oscars’ radar.
- 1/27/2019
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
It was an anticipated takeaway from this year’s Oscar nominations announcement, but that doesn’t make it any less unfortunate: Despite a number of worthy contenders to choose from, female filmmakers were shut out of the directing category.
From Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” (an Amazon release that received a Cannes screenplay prize) to Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” (a Sundance entry notably recognized by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. last month), great work from deserving women was certainly on the table. Ramsay, in fact, was — along with “BlacKkKlansman” helmer Spike Lee — the most laureled filmmaker on the critics’ awards circuit after Alfonso Cuarón.
Marielle Heller and Chloe Zhao were other acclaimed players that arguably deserved to make the lineup. Tamara Jenkins (“Private Life”), Karyn Kusama (“Destroyer”), Mimi Leder (“On the Basis of Sex”) and Josie Rourke (“Mary Queen of Scots”) were options as well.
From Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” (an Amazon release that received a Cannes screenplay prize) to Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” (a Sundance entry notably recognized by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. last month), great work from deserving women was certainly on the table. Ramsay, in fact, was — along with “BlacKkKlansman” helmer Spike Lee — the most laureled filmmaker on the critics’ awards circuit after Alfonso Cuarón.
Marielle Heller and Chloe Zhao were other acclaimed players that arguably deserved to make the lineup. Tamara Jenkins (“Private Life”), Karyn Kusama (“Destroyer”), Mimi Leder (“On the Basis of Sex”) and Josie Rourke (“Mary Queen of Scots”) were options as well.
- 1/22/2019
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Variety Film + TV
M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass opens with £3.4m bow.
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.29
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Jan 18-Jan 20) Total gross to date Week 1 Glass (Disney) £3.3m £3.4m 1 2 Mary Queen Of Scots (Universal) £2.1m £2.1m 1 3 Stan & Ollie (eOne) £1.8m £6.1m 2 4 Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) £1.7m £40.7m 5 5. The Favourite (20th Century Fox) £1.3m £11.1m 3 Disney
Glass comfortably opened number one in the UK this weekend with a £3.4m debut, including previews of roughly £100,000.
The film is a sequel to two of director M. Night Shyamalan’s previous works – Unbreakable (£11.6m gross in the UK) and Split (£11.4m...
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.29
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Jan 18-Jan 20) Total gross to date Week 1 Glass (Disney) £3.3m £3.4m 1 2 Mary Queen Of Scots (Universal) £2.1m £2.1m 1 3 Stan & Ollie (eOne) £1.8m £6.1m 2 4 Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) £1.7m £40.7m 5 5. The Favourite (20th Century Fox) £1.3m £11.1m 3 Disney
Glass comfortably opened number one in the UK this weekend with a £3.4m debut, including previews of roughly £100,000.
The film is a sequel to two of director M. Night Shyamalan’s previous works – Unbreakable (£11.6m gross in the UK) and Split (£11.4m...
- 1/21/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan excel as wily foes in Josie Rourke’s striking take on the rivalry between Elizabeth I and her Scottish cousin
Director Josie Rourke makes a very assured move from the theatre to the cinema screen in her feature debut, a full-blooded tale of personal and political rivalries told with wit, flair and passion. Like Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, which inventively revisits the court of Queen Anne (albeit with a very different tone), the setting may be historical but the core concerns are utterly contemporary: a tale of two “sisters” – Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) and Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) – caught in the middle of a power struggle between England and Scotland, Protestants and Catholics, men and women.
We begin at the end, in 1587, with a candle being snuffed out as the Catholic Mary is led to the executioner’s block. From here we flash back...
Director Josie Rourke makes a very assured move from the theatre to the cinema screen in her feature debut, a full-blooded tale of personal and political rivalries told with wit, flair and passion. Like Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, which inventively revisits the court of Queen Anne (albeit with a very different tone), the setting may be historical but the core concerns are utterly contemporary: a tale of two “sisters” – Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) and Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) – caught in the middle of a power struggle between England and Scotland, Protestants and Catholics, men and women.
We begin at the end, in 1587, with a candle being snuffed out as the Catholic Mary is led to the executioner’s block. From here we flash back...
- 1/20/2019
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Titles go up against Stan & Ollie and The Favourite.
This weekend’s UK box office sees M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass and Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen Of Scots both open widely.
Disney’s Glass is a sequel to two of Shyamalan’s previous works – Unbreakable (£11.6m gross in the UK) and Split (£11.4m) – starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson from the former, and James McAvoy from the latter in an unusual take on the superhero genre.
The director’s best-performing title in the UK remains The Sixth Sense, which built to £25.8m back in 1999. Despite less than stellar reviews,...
This weekend’s UK box office sees M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass and Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen Of Scots both open widely.
Disney’s Glass is a sequel to two of Shyamalan’s previous works – Unbreakable (£11.6m gross in the UK) and Split (£11.4m) – starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson from the former, and James McAvoy from the latter in an unusual take on the superhero genre.
The director’s best-performing title in the UK remains The Sixth Sense, which built to £25.8m back in 1999. Despite less than stellar reviews,...
- 1/18/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Actors Saoirse Ronan, Jack Lowden and James McArdle attended the Scottish premiere of their new film Mary Queen of Scots on Monday at Edinburgh Castle. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was one of several famous guests who was also present at the screening. Mary Queen of Scots is a historical drama directed by English filmmaker Josie Rourke and written by former House of Cards show runner Beau Willimon. Based on […]...
- 1/16/2019
- by Pablo Mena
- Uinterview
To celebrate the release of the acclaimed historical drama Mary Queen on Scots later this month, we sat down with many of the cast and the film’s director to dissect and chat about it.
The film charts the life of Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) who became Queen of France at aged 16 before returning to Scotland to reclaim her throne. However, both Scotland and England are under the rule of Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) and soon the two become rivals for the throne. Here, we chat to some of the male cast who surround the two leads: Martin Compston, Adrian Lester, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn and James McArdle make up some of those who both advise the two as they become closer and closer to war.
In addition, we chatted to director Josie Rourke, who makes her directorial feature debut with the film and discuss the challenges in bringing it to the screen,...
The film charts the life of Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) who became Queen of France at aged 16 before returning to Scotland to reclaim her throne. However, both Scotland and England are under the rule of Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) and soon the two become rivals for the throne. Here, we chat to some of the male cast who surround the two leads: Martin Compston, Adrian Lester, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn and James McArdle make up some of those who both advise the two as they become closer and closer to war.
In addition, we chatted to director Josie Rourke, who makes her directorial feature debut with the film and discuss the challenges in bringing it to the screen,...
- 1/14/2019
- by Scott Davis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Cinematographer John Mathieson had to “hit the ground running” with “Mary Queen of Scots.” After taking over at the last minute for Seamus McGarvey, Mathieson had to conceive of how to shoot a historical epic on a modest $25 million budget. Watch our exclusive video interview with Mathieson above.
See Saoirse Ronan Interview: ‘Mary Queen of Scots’
Directed by Josie Rourke, this Focus Features release centers on the rivalry between Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) of England. Though $25 million is certainly nothing to scoff at when it comes to making a movie, it gets stretched pretty thin “when you have to have two countries going to war against each other,” Mathieson says.
No stranger to gigantic productions, Mathieson knew he would have to “address things as they came along.” He explains, “You go to your producers and director and say, we need to go big this day.
See Saoirse Ronan Interview: ‘Mary Queen of Scots’
Directed by Josie Rourke, this Focus Features release centers on the rivalry between Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) of England. Though $25 million is certainly nothing to scoff at when it comes to making a movie, it gets stretched pretty thin “when you have to have two countries going to war against each other,” Mathieson says.
No stranger to gigantic productions, Mathieson knew he would have to “address things as they came along.” He explains, “You go to your producers and director and say, we need to go big this day.
- 1/11/2019
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Call it a pink wave if you must. But there’s no denying that a bunch of feminist-leaning movies are vying for Hollywood’s biggest trophies this awards season.
From animated superhero mom Elastigirl, leaving her husband and kids behind to fight crime in “Incredibles 2,” to a flame-haired Saoirse Ronan leading troops into battle in “Mary Queen of Scots,” a gender-bending Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite” and a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg finding her legal voice in “On the Basis of Sex,” female characters are assuming traditionally male roles on the big screen while contemporary counterparts battle for parity in Hollywood and beyond under the Time’s Up movement.
Even Nicole Kidman’s hollow-eyed detective flips the script on Hollywood gender norms in “Destroyer,” which unravels her troubled past and violent actions rather than those of yet another complicated man.
Although the underlying feminist politics in these movies — intentional...
From animated superhero mom Elastigirl, leaving her husband and kids behind to fight crime in “Incredibles 2,” to a flame-haired Saoirse Ronan leading troops into battle in “Mary Queen of Scots,” a gender-bending Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite” and a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg finding her legal voice in “On the Basis of Sex,” female characters are assuming traditionally male roles on the big screen while contemporary counterparts battle for parity in Hollywood and beyond under the Time’s Up movement.
Even Nicole Kidman’s hollow-eyed detective flips the script on Hollywood gender norms in “Destroyer,” which unravels her troubled past and violent actions rather than those of yet another complicated man.
Although the underlying feminist politics in these movies — intentional...
- 1/10/2019
- by Diane Garrett
- Variety Film + TV
From the stripped-down authenticity of Jonah Hill’s “Mid90s,” to the fed-up outcry of Carlos López Estrada’s “Blindspotting,” to the prestige Oscar-bait trappings of Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” 2018’s class of debut filmmaking talent built impressively on the promise of cinema’s future. Directors such as Ari Aster (“Hereditary”), Aneesh Chaganty (“Searching”), Josie Rourke (“Mary Queen of Scots”) and Boots Riley (“Sorry to Bother You”), to name a few, also stepped up with singular offerings, forming a chorus of new voices with something to say.
Following in the wake of newcomer talents like Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) in recent years, critical appreciation seems to have rallied around one name in particular: “Eighth Grade” writer-director Bo Burnham, who received a Directors Guild nomination for best first-time feature this week along with Cooper, Estrada, Riley and “A Private War” helmer Matthew Heineman.
Following in the wake of newcomer talents like Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) in recent years, critical appreciation seems to have rallied around one name in particular: “Eighth Grade” writer-director Bo Burnham, who received a Directors Guild nomination for best first-time feature this week along with Cooper, Estrada, Riley and “A Private War” helmer Matthew Heineman.
- 1/9/2019
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Variety Film + TV
While writing the script for Mary Queen of Scots, Beau Willimon spent a lot of time with two fascinating historical figures—Queen Elizabeth I, and her cousin, Mary Stuart—coming to identify personally with these women, for they ways in which they were devalued and misunderstood. For Willimon, as with these rulers, one problem is the narratives of others, which can give a false impression, diminishing attention paid to that which is true. As a writer, there are always two voices to contend with—the voice of the critic, who seeks to label and dissect, and the voice of the writer himself—and rarely do they meet. With regard to Mary Queen of Scots, Willimon had several questions in mind: “What are the molds that people want to impose on you? And what’s to be done about them?”
The feature debut of Josie Rourke, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie,...
The feature debut of Josie Rourke, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie,...
- 1/8/2019
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The Directors Guild of America is largely considered the top Oscar season barometer. Only twice has a film won the Academy Award for best picture without a nomination from this group: Laurence Olivier’s “Hamlet” in 1948 and Bruce Beresford’s “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1989.
So with those statistics in tow, and with this year’s DGA nominees finally revealed, you’d be safe to assume the current best picture race has boiled down to five films: “BlacKkKlansman,” “Green Book,” “Roma,” “A Star Is Born,” and “Vice.” But only one of them, it should be noted, has a perfect record with nominations from every industry guild/group that has announce so far, and that’s Golden Globe casualty “A Star Is Born.”
A year after Greta Gerwig became just the ninth woman to receive a DGA nod, things went back to the status quo on that front this year. There were contenders,...
So with those statistics in tow, and with this year’s DGA nominees finally revealed, you’d be safe to assume the current best picture race has boiled down to five films: “BlacKkKlansman,” “Green Book,” “Roma,” “A Star Is Born,” and “Vice.” But only one of them, it should be noted, has a perfect record with nominations from every industry guild/group that has announce so far, and that’s Golden Globe casualty “A Star Is Born.”
A year after Greta Gerwig became just the ninth woman to receive a DGA nod, things went back to the status quo on that front this year. There were contenders,...
- 1/8/2019
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Variety Film + TV
‘Mary Queen Of Scots’ Hair & Makeup Designer Talks Transforming Margot Robbie Into Queen Elizabeth I
Like costume designer Alexandra Byrne—her friend and frequent collaborator—Jenny Shircore was daunted by Mary Queen of Scots, trying to find a new angle on Queen Elizabeth I after covering her era twice before. Winning her first Oscar with Elizabeth in 1999, the hair and makeup designer is an expert in period work, whose attraction to the project came down to everything that made it fresh. “The script was very, very different, and I was encouraged by the script,” she says. “I was encouraged by Alex, when I heard her thoughts on the costume design, and I was encouraged when I heard that Saoirse Ronan was playing Mary, Queen of Scots, even more so when I knew Margot Robbie was going to play Elizabeth.”
From director Josie Rourke, the Focus Features release examines the complicated relationship between the Queen and her cousin, the titular Mary Stuart, who comes after her throne.
From director Josie Rourke, the Focus Features release examines the complicated relationship between the Queen and her cousin, the titular Mary Stuart, who comes after her throne.
- 1/7/2019
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The real Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart probably never met. But when you cast a film with Margot Robbie as Elizabeth, and Saoirse Ronan as Mary, it seems only right that they come together, if only for one scene. Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots may briefly put the two monarchs face-to-face, but otherwise, staying true to the characters’ separate lives, Ronan and Robbie didn’t meet on set at all until they were on camera together—a decision Ronan calls a mutual “experiment”—and one that turned out to perfectly serve a tale of rivalry, isolation and oppressed female power.
Saoirse, you signed on to play Mary six years ago, but what did you know about this story going into it?
Saoirse Ronan: I didn’t know much, really. I learned a very small amount about Mary Queen of Scots when I was in school, and there...
Saoirse, you signed on to play Mary six years ago, but what did you know about this story going into it?
Saoirse Ronan: I didn’t know much, really. I learned a very small amount about Mary Queen of Scots when I was in school, and there...
- 1/6/2019
- by Antonia Blyth
- Deadline Film + TV
Women in Film La & Women and Hollywood Take Aim At Lack Of Awards Consideration For Female Directors
Women in Film La and Women and Hollywood are rallying behind female directors. In response to the fourth consecutive complete shutout of female directors in the Golden Globes category for Best Director, and as the Oscar nominations voting period commences, the two organizations are launching a joint social media campaign to remind voters and the public to consider women directors and their feature films released this year. The campaign will kick off the evening of the Golden Globe Awards this Sunday and runs until January 14, when Oscar noms voting closes.
In the 75-year history of the Golden Globe awards, only five women have received a nod for Best Director with Barbra Streisand being the only female to have won the award for 1983’s Yentl.
The Academy has also lacked when it comes to the representation of women who direct. Just last year, Lady Bird helmer Greta Gerwig became only the...
In the 75-year history of the Golden Globe awards, only five women have received a nod for Best Director with Barbra Streisand being the only female to have won the award for 1983’s Yentl.
The Academy has also lacked when it comes to the representation of women who direct. Just last year, Lady Bird helmer Greta Gerwig became only the...
- 1/4/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Women in Film La and Women and Hollywood have joined forces for a social media campaign to support women directors that will launch Sunday, Jan. 6.
The campaign, which is entitled #RememberTheLadies, is designed to run until Jan. 14, and the timing of this campaign is no coincidence. January 6 marks the 2019 Golden Globe ceremony, and the almost 100 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. once again chose not to nominate any women directors this year. Voting opens for the 2019 Academy Awards on Monday, January 7, and the organizations hope their campaign will inspire those voting members to consider a more inclusive list for their ballot.
Directors included in the campaign are Susanne Bier (“Bird Box”), Anne Fletcher (“Dumplin'”), Debra Granik (“Leave No Trace”), Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), Tamara Jenkins (“Private Life”), Karyn Kusama (“Destroyer”), Mimi Leder (“On the Basis of Sex”), Lynne Ramsay (“You Were Never Really Here”), Josie Rourke...
The campaign, which is entitled #RememberTheLadies, is designed to run until Jan. 14, and the timing of this campaign is no coincidence. January 6 marks the 2019 Golden Globe ceremony, and the almost 100 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. once again chose not to nominate any women directors this year. Voting opens for the 2019 Academy Awards on Monday, January 7, and the organizations hope their campaign will inspire those voting members to consider a more inclusive list for their ballot.
Directors included in the campaign are Susanne Bier (“Bird Box”), Anne Fletcher (“Dumplin'”), Debra Granik (“Leave No Trace”), Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), Tamara Jenkins (“Private Life”), Karyn Kusama (“Destroyer”), Mimi Leder (“On the Basis of Sex”), Lynne Ramsay (“You Were Never Really Here”), Josie Rourke...
- 1/4/2019
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
The push for more female directors working in Hollywood continues to be an uphill battle despite major successes by Ava DuVernay and others.
A recent study by the annual Celluloid Ceiling from San Diego State University found that women comprised just 8 percent of directors working on the top 250 Hollywood hits of 2018 — a decrease from the 11 percent they made up in 2017.
The study’s author, Dr. Martha Luazen, told Variety her findings “provides no evidence that the mainstream film industry has experienced the profound positive shift predicted by so many industry observers over the last year.”
She continued, “This radical underrepresentation...
A recent study by the annual Celluloid Ceiling from San Diego State University found that women comprised just 8 percent of directors working on the top 250 Hollywood hits of 2018 — a decrease from the 11 percent they made up in 2017.
The study’s author, Dr. Martha Luazen, told Variety her findings “provides no evidence that the mainstream film industry has experienced the profound positive shift predicted by so many industry observers over the last year.”
She continued, “This radical underrepresentation...
- 1/3/2019
- by Alexia Fernandez
- PEOPLE.com
2018 may have been a good year for Greta Gerwig, Ava DuVernay and some other major female directors. But a new San Diego State University study shows the numbers don’t match the headlines when it comes to women in the director’s chair.
According to “Celluloid Ceiling,” the annual study made by Sdsu’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, the percentage of women who directed the top 250 films in 2018 dropped from 11 percent in 2017 to just 8 percent in 2018.
Even when the list expands to 500 films, the year-to-year percentage still drops from 18 percent to 15 percent.
Also Read: Study: Male Indie Filmmakers Outnumber Women 2 to 1 at Major Us Film Festivals
“The study provides no evidence that the mainstream film industry has experienced the profound positive shift predicted by so many industry observers over the last year,” read a statement from Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, executive director for the Center.
According to “Celluloid Ceiling,” the annual study made by Sdsu’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, the percentage of women who directed the top 250 films in 2018 dropped from 11 percent in 2017 to just 8 percent in 2018.
Even when the list expands to 500 films, the year-to-year percentage still drops from 18 percent to 15 percent.
Also Read: Study: Male Indie Filmmakers Outnumber Women 2 to 1 at Major Us Film Festivals
“The study provides no evidence that the mainstream film industry has experienced the profound positive shift predicted by so many industry observers over the last year,” read a statement from Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, executive director for the Center.
- 1/3/2019
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, Mary Queen of Scots is a historical epic with oral sex, menstruation and a diverse cast – thanks to the director making a bold move from cutting-edge theatre
The best films coming up in 2019
Josie Rourke kicks off her heels and sums up her current punishing schedule with the words: “Bouts of talking about myself, punctuated by having my hair done.” We are in a grand London hotel, where Rourke is stationed to publicise her debut feature film. “The only point of reference I have for all this is Notting Hill,” she says, referring to the scene in the film where Hugh Grant sneaks into a similarly grand hotel and, after stumbling into a press junket, introduces himself as a reporter from Horse & Houndand finds himself interviewing the cast of a sci-fi movie he hasn’t seen.
All this highly controlled pizzazz contrasts comically with...
The best films coming up in 2019
Josie Rourke kicks off her heels and sums up her current punishing schedule with the words: “Bouts of talking about myself, punctuated by having my hair done.” We are in a grand London hotel, where Rourke is stationed to publicise her debut feature film. “The only point of reference I have for all this is Notting Hill,” she says, referring to the scene in the film where Hugh Grant sneaks into a similarly grand hotel and, after stumbling into a press junket, introduces himself as a reporter from Horse & Houndand finds himself interviewing the cast of a sci-fi movie he hasn’t seen.
All this highly controlled pizzazz contrasts comically with...
- 1/2/2019
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
It was a tumultuous year for an entertainment industry rocked by media shifts and adjusting to an unfamiliar post-Harvey landscape. Yes, the 2018 box office wound up well ahead of last year, but the future is not rosy for two-hour movies in theaters, as Silicon Valley streamers from Netflix to Apple make studio chiefs and their theater partners reach for the Maalox.
Here’s how last year’s winners and losers will play out in 2019.
Winners
Having bought Twentieth Century Fox, Disney will thrive as it prepares to stock three late-2019 Ott ventures to compete with Netflix. While Disney will be building its subscribers from scratch, quality IP from Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm and National Geographic will “obviously create a demand and gives us the ability to not necessarily be in the volume game, but to be in the quality game,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger on an earnings call.
On the movie side,...
Here’s how last year’s winners and losers will play out in 2019.
Winners
Having bought Twentieth Century Fox, Disney will thrive as it prepares to stock three late-2019 Ott ventures to compete with Netflix. While Disney will be building its subscribers from scratch, quality IP from Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm and National Geographic will “obviously create a demand and gives us the ability to not necessarily be in the volume game, but to be in the quality game,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger on an earnings call.
On the movie side,...
- 1/1/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
It was a tumultuous year for an entertainment industry rocked by media shifts and adjusting to an unfamiliar post-Harvey landscape. Yes, the 2018 box office wound up well ahead of last year, but the future is not rosy for two-hour movies in theaters, as Silicon Valley streamers from Netflix to Apple make studio chiefs and their theater partners reach for the Maalox.
Here’s how last year’s winners and losers will play out in 2019.
Winners
Having bought Twentieth Century Fox, Disney will thrive as it prepares to stock three late-2019 Ott ventures to compete with Netflix. While Disney will be building its subscribers from scratch, quality IP from Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm and National Geographic will “obviously create a demand and gives us the ability to not necessarily be in the volume game, but to be in the quality game,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger on an earnings call.
On the movie side,...
Here’s how last year’s winners and losers will play out in 2019.
Winners
Having bought Twentieth Century Fox, Disney will thrive as it prepares to stock three late-2019 Ott ventures to compete with Netflix. While Disney will be building its subscribers from scratch, quality IP from Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm and National Geographic will “obviously create a demand and gives us the ability to not necessarily be in the volume game, but to be in the quality game,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger on an earnings call.
On the movie side,...
- 1/1/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Saoirse Ronan just can’t stop starring in projects that cinephiles are highly anticipating. Whether it’s films like “Brooklyn” and “Lady Bird” in years past or “Mary Queen of Scots” this year, the Academy Award-nominated actress just seems to be hitting home runs with her career choices nowadays. And according to a new interview, that trend is continuing into 2019.
In an interview with Gold Derby, where Ronan and director Josie Rourke are discussing their latest film, “Mary Queen of Scots,” the question was posed to the actress about one of her upcoming films.
Continue reading Saoirse Ronan Joins Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’ at The Playlist.
In an interview with Gold Derby, where Ronan and director Josie Rourke are discussing their latest film, “Mary Queen of Scots,” the question was posed to the actress about one of her upcoming films.
Continue reading Saoirse Ronan Joins Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’ at The Playlist.
- 12/26/2018
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
“Right now what I’m thinking about a lot is the cost of power,” said “Mary Queen of Scots” director Josie Rourke, “and when I say cost of power I don’t just mean for these two women. I mean for everybody.” The film explores the rivalry between Mary Stuart and her royal rival Queen Elizabeth I, but it also reflects our current political climate where it seems as though power is “the enemy of empathy and the enemy of compassion and … a call to violence.” Rourke and the film’s star Saoirse Ronan discussed all this and more during a recent luncheon with New York City Oscar voters. Watch their conversation above.
Ronan plays the title monarch, who at the start of the film returns to Scotland after the death of her first husband, King Francis II of France, when he was just 16-years-old. Mary was a threat to...
Ronan plays the title monarch, who at the start of the film returns to Scotland after the death of her first husband, King Francis II of France, when he was just 16-years-old. Mary was a threat to...
- 12/25/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Women’s Image Awards has announced its 2018 nominations, with the BBC miniseries “Little Women” that aired on PBS’ “Masterpiece” series earning a leading six bids on the TV side. As for films, “Mary Queen of Scots” secured five spots on the ballot, followed by the Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic “On the Basis of Sex” and Melissa McCarthy’s “Can Your Ever Forgive Me,” both with four.
Given the #MeToo and Time’s Up movement’s push against sexual harassment and lack of equal opportunity for women in Hollywood, the fact that an organization like Women’s Image Awards exists is more important than ever. The group that is celebrating its 20th anniversary has just announced its nominations in 18 categories. The TV and film nominees are selected from a field of submissions from networks and studios.
SEESaoirse Ronan discuss her role as Mary Stuart in ‘Mary Queen of Scots”
TV...
Given the #MeToo and Time’s Up movement’s push against sexual harassment and lack of equal opportunity for women in Hollywood, the fact that an organization like Women’s Image Awards exists is more important than ever. The group that is celebrating its 20th anniversary has just announced its nominations in 18 categories. The TV and film nominees are selected from a field of submissions from networks and studios.
SEESaoirse Ronan discuss her role as Mary Stuart in ‘Mary Queen of Scots”
TV...
- 12/21/2018
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
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