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Benedict Cumberbatch, Rosamund Pike, and Anthony Hopkins have joined Guy Ritchie’s Wife & Dog for Black Bear.

Ritchie wrote the screenplay and will once again dive into the world of back-stabbing British aristocracy he explored in The Gentlemen film and TV series. Production is scheduled to begin in the UK in February 2025.

The filmmaker is producing alongside his producing partner Ivan Atkinson and Black Bear’s John Friedberg. Executive producers include Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler for Black Bear, which launched sales on the project in Cannes.Black Bear and Ritchie have collaborated on The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare and In The Grey.

Here’s the latest episode of The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro-budget indie films to bigger-budget studio films and everything in between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dom Lenoir, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk about how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their filmmaking experiences from directors, writers, producers and screenwriters, to actors, cinematographers and distributors.

The Filmmaker’s Podcast #422: Conclave – A Screenwriting Superclass with Oscar Nominated...

At the Cannes Film Festival six years ago, British producer Tessa Ross arranged a meeting with an emerging German-born filmmaker named Edward Berger. Ross — the Oscar-winning force behind 12 Years a Slave, Slumdog Millionaire and The Zone of Interest — had fallen in love with Berger’s British historical miniseries Patrick Melrose and wanted to work with him. She proposed several projects — she won’t say which — but none took.

Pondering her options back in London, Ross hit on it: Conclave, an adaptation of Robert Harris’ novel to which she controlled the rights. The story told of the infighting, scandals and crises of faith at the Vatican after the pope’s unexpected death — a compelling if hardly uncontroversial yarn. Enchanted by a first draft from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Straughan (of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy fame), Berger soon said yes to the story of the world’s most secretive and sacred election.

Conclave...

The 2025 Oscars race for Best Adapted Screenplay has a new front-runner.

“Conclave,” the Edward Berger-directed film that’s written by Peter Straughan and based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Robert Harris, now holds the #1 position to win the adapted screenplay contest at Gold Derby. The movie just opened in U.S. theaters on Friday, October 25. Note that our Oscar odds will continue to change as our Experts, Editors and Users keep making or updating their predictions.

The Focus Features drama stars Ralph Fiennes as Thomas Lawrence, a Cardinal who is tasked with overseeing the election of the late Pope’s successor. But he soon realizes that many of the candidates have personal scandals that could upend the church. Other cast members include Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini, John Lithgow as Cardinal Tremblay, Sergio Castellitto as Cardinal Tedesco, and Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes.

Straughan received an...

Sometimes I think we put too much pressure on Aardman Animation. They’re the filmmakers who brought us “Wallace and Gromit,” “Chicken Run,” “Arthur Christmas” and “Shaun the Sheep,” so they have a very long legacy of high-quality and hilarious movies. Even their underwhelming films, like “Flushed Away,” aren’t nearly as bad as the worst movies made by their competitors. So we expect Aardman — like we expect Studio Ghibli (or like we used to expect Pixar) — to knock it out of the park every single time, and that’s not fair. They’re only human. It would be no great tragedy if the long-awaited, second feature-length “Wallace and Gromit” movie wasn’t very good.

Fortunately, the long-awaited, second feature-length “Wallace and Gromit” movie is great. So that whole first paragraph was just a big misdirect and I apologize. (It kind of got away from me.)

“Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl...

Readers who regularly follow Gold Derby’s Oscar predictions may have noticed a movie quietly working its way up the ranks in various categories. That movie is “Conclave,” an adaptation of Robert Harris‘s best-selling 2016 novel, which was released nationwide by Focus Features on Friday, October 25. So now seems like a good time to look at which categories “Conclave” can thrive in.

Directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front“), the movie follows Ralph Fiennes‘s Cardinal Lawrence, who has taken on the less than envious task of running the elections to select a new pope after the previous pontiff dies suddenly. Many cardinals are in the running, and some even want Lawrence to take on that lofty role, until someone lurking in the shadows begins revealing dirt on the candidates.

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When you have a movie do as...

The Pope is dead. For years, his Holiness had helped to move the Catholic church toward modernity and serving its constituents in a manner befitting the 21st century. Now, however, “the throne of the Holy See is vacant,” and a group of high-ranking cardinals — some of whom called the figurehead a friend, others who bitterly fought him on every issue — must assemble in Rome and elect one of their own to fill that void. They will be sequestered and meet every day until a worthy soul (or at the very least,...

Edward Berger‘s “Conclave” opened on Oct. 25 to some of the best reviews of the year. Critics heaped praise on this crackling adaptation of Robert Harris‘s bestselling thriller by Oscar nominee Peter Straughan (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”). A conclave of cardinals gather to elect a new pope after the mysterious death of the Pontiff. Ralph Fiennes stars as the cardinal in charge, who is drawn into a conspiracy. Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow are rival cardinals while Isabella Rossellini is a nun with secrets.

Critics praised the deft direction by Berger. His last film, a remake of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” won four of its nine Oscar bids two years ago including Best International Feature. While Berger was snubbed by the directors branch back then, we are predicting he will reap a bid this time around.

Many of the reviewers singled out the performance by Fiennes and...

Studiocanal have released a fantastic new 4K restoration of Orca, The Killer Whale, as part of the Cult Classics Collection. Terror is just below the surface in this ferocious action adventure of mythical proportions from legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis, starring screen legends Richard Harris (Oscar-nominated for This Sporting Life) and Charlotte Rampling (Oscar nominated for 45 Years). As well as a collectable 4K Uhd SteelBook, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

From Academy Award nominated director Michael Anderson (Around The World In Eighty Days) and screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni comes a gripping and terrifying tale of man versus beast. Described by Scream Magazine as ‘Jaws with heart’, Orca, The Killer Whale features a marvellous lead performance from Harris as a sea captain targeted by a vengeful killer whale, and also stars Will Sampson, famous for his performance as in Chief Bromden One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Bo Derek (“10”), and Robert Carradine...

When “All Quiet on the Western Front” director Edward Berger first read Peter Straughan’s script for “Conclave,” his adaptation of the 2016 Robert Harris papal bestseller, it wasn’t the nasty cardinal intrigues and the luxurious Vatican settings that most appealed to him. It was the conflict inside the character of Cardinal Lawrence, the man in charge of running the elaborate process of picking a new pope. That’s also what lured in Ralph Fiennes, who could finally score his third Oscar nomination after his stellar early career performances in “Schindler’s List” and “The English Patient.”

“Conclave” marks a contrast from Berger’s intense German war movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix), which nabbed three craft Oscar wins along with Best International Feature Film. You could call the English-language “Conclave” a crowdpleaser, having played well at Telluride and Toronto with an 80 Metascore, followed by audience awards at both Middleburg and Mill Valley.

October ends with yet another sequel in a month that’s been chock full of sequels with some clearly doing far better than others. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

One thing that’s set 2024 apart from other recent years is that there has been a noticeable lack of superhero and comic book movies, possibly because both Marvel and DC had such a weak 2023. Along comes Sony Pictures’ “Venom: The Last Dance,” the third (and reportedly final) movie starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock aka Venom, the Spider-Man villain who has become a popular anti-hero in his own right.

The first “Venom” movie opened in October 2018 to $80.3 million, going on to make $856 million worldwide, followed by the sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which opened with $90 million in October 2021, while Covid was still pervasive. That only made $501 million globally, though both movies made $213.5 million domestically with the...

Over the past 20 years, screenwriter Peter Straughan has become British cinema’s go-to guy for adaptations. That might sound like a back-handed compliment, but his protean talent makes it hard to pinpoint what exactly constitutes a typical project for the UK-based writer: is it Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), his masterly adaptation of John Le Carré’s classic Cold War spy thriller; is it Frank (2014), which stars Michael Fassbender as a struggling indie musician sporting a papier mâché head; or is it Our Brand Is Crisis, a satirical Sandra Bullock comedy based on a deadly serious political documentary?

Straughan is currently sailing into awards season with his take on Robert Harris’ 2016 bestseller Conclave, a darkly witty conspiracy drama starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. Directed by Edward Berger, following hard on the heels of his award-winning drama All Quiet on the Western Front two years ago, it...

Writer-director Cord Jefferson won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2024 Oscars for turning Percival Everett‘s novel “Erasure” into the critically acclaimed film “American Fiction.” That marked the fourth time in a decade that a film based on a novel won this award. The others: “Women Talking” (Sarah Polley), “Jojo Rabbit” (Taika Waititi), and “Call Me By Your Name” (James Ivory). This is the most common form of adaptation to win. Indeed this award, which dates back to the first Oscars in 1928, has gone to the adapters of 48 novels over the year. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay.)

Peter Straughan reaped an Oscar bid in 2012 for his adaptation of John le Carre‘s spy tale “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” His screen version of Robert Harris‘ taut thriller about Vatican intrigue should bring him back to the Oscars.

“Sing Sing” was written by director Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley.

Banijay Entertainment is offering an exclusive early look at its jam-packed Mipcom lineup, featuring plenty of crime dramas, historical epics, popular formats and non-fiction projects from Eva Longoria and Sarah Jessica Parker.

“Our dynamic line-up for this year’s Mipcom truly highlights the continued growth and global appeal of our catalog,” said Banijay Rights CEO Cathy Payne. “From riveting dramas such as ‘Bergerac’ and ‘Wolf Hall’ to high-end factual series like ‘Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain,’ we are eager to present a diverse and competitive slate that celebrates the power of storymaking and the outstanding talent behind our IP.”

Banijay Chief Content Officer, Development James Townley and Chief Content Officer, Operations Lucas Green added: “Our offering of distinctive and fresh formats coming from the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, U.K. and the U.S., underscores our commitment to creating popular IP like ‘Three Are The Champions,’ and evolving classic favorites like ‘By Land,...

Exclusive: Filming has wrapped in Wales on Mr. Burton, the upcoming biopic about the man who inspired screen legend Richard Burton.

Independent Entertainment has sold UK and Ireland rights to Icon Film Distribution, which will release the film theatrically in 2025 to coincide with the centenary of Burton’s birth.

As we first revealed, the film will tell the true story of the relationship between Welsh schoolmaster Philip Burton and a wild young schoolboy called Richard Jenkins. The latter dreamed of becoming an actor, but his ambitions were in danger of being derailed by a combination of family trouble, the pressure of war, and his own lack of discipline. Mr. Burton recognized the raw talent in his pupil, and made it his mission to fight for him, becoming his tutor, strict taskmaster and eventually his adoptive father. Actor Burton would go on to be nominated for seven Oscars and was well...

Toronto film festival: the actor leads a top-tier ensemble, including Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, in an entertainingly juicy adaptation of Robert Harris’s novel

Like the easily devoured paperback it’s based on, pulpy papal thriller Conclave has a brisk, page-turning allure, filled with juicy intrigue and mystery, a beach read that would follow you back home after. We’ve become grimly accustomed to plot-heavy bestsellers such as this stretched out into indulgent 10-episode seasons of television (such as the recently misjudged re-adaptation of Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent on Apple TV+), a baggy over-extension of stories that demand a tighter grip.

So it’s a mercy of sorts to see All Quiet on the Western Front’s Edward Berger transform Robert Harris’s “unputdownable” pot-boiler into a brisk, contained feature instead, a two-hour escape to the Vatican that knows exactly when to drop us in and take us out.

The twisty political thriller Conclave wastes little time getting right into it: the Pope is dead, and after a three-week time jump, the world’s most powerful cardinals gather in Vatican City, their mission to elect a new leader from among their ranks.

Our window into this closed world is Cardinal Lawrence, portrayed in characteristically sturdy fashion by Ralph Fiennes. Dean of the College of Cardinals, Lawrence is in charge of this conclave, and while he takes his duties very seriously, they’re complicated by a recent request to the (now-dead) Pope to resign his post and be sent elsewhere so that his faith might be reignited. Request denied––perhaps because the former pope knew he needed him to run this forthcoming conclave––Lawrence finds himself in a position of immense power. As a reluctant leader with deep convictions (but still capable of missteps), he is a relatable window into this foreign world.

The Oscars will surely knock on Pedro Almodóvar’s door this awards season.

Pedro Almodóvar’s expansive filmography has shaped international cinema for over four decades. With his English-language directorial debut, “The Room Next Door,” fresh off winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Spanish auteur and distributor Sony Pictures Classics are setting their sights on landing Almodóvar’s first best picture nomination.

Adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s novel “What Are You Going Through,” the film follows two women — war correspondent Martha (Tilda Swinton) and author Ingrid (Julianne Moore) — who reunite after years apart under challenging circumstances.

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars

Almodóvar’s body of work has garnered widespread acclaim within the Academy. “All About My Mother” (1999) won the Oscar for international feature, while “Talk to Her” (2002) earned him two noms for directing and original screenplay,...

Some people claim you can’t touch anything Ingmar Bergman was involved in. Tomas Alfredson is not one of these people.

“Not everything Bergman did was genius, but a lot of it was,” he tells Variety. Swedish director is behind new series “Faithless,” premiering in Toronto and based on the 2000 film directed by Liv Ullman and written by Bergman himself.

“This is his most autobiographical work. Ever. He started writing it several times and couldn’t finish, because he was so tormented by guilt. There was something in this material I felt could tackle in a different way. It would be different if I remade ‘The Seventh Seal’ or ‘Fanny and Alexander,’ but this? It was open for reinterpretation.”

Alfredson, of “Let the Right One In” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” fame, made a show that’s “very free from the original,” he underlines. Even though Lena Endre returns to the role of Marianne,...

The story of Faithless, the new six-part TV series from director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is familiar to European arthouse fans. Renowned director David Howard, 73, is reunited with the great love of his life, the actress Marianne Vogler, 75, and forced to reflect on the painful consequences of their affair decades earlier when Marianne was married to David’s best friend, Markus. In 2000, actress-director Liv Ullmann (Cries and Whispers), muse and frequent collaborator to the legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal), adapted the story from Bergman’s previously unproduced screenplay. The tale of lust, adultery, and the damage wrought by desire, premiered in Cannes and has been hailed as a modern-day classic.

For his limited series adaptation, Alfredson teamed with screenwriter Sara Johnsen (July 22) to reexamine and expand Ullmann and Bergman’s original story. The basics of the plot are the same.

A sequel to blockbuster John Le Carre adaptation Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was in the works, until the author’s estate blocked development.

Anybody not watching Apple TV+’s Slow Horses is not only missing one of the most well written, wittiest spy series on television, but also what is arguably Gary Oldman’s greatest ever screen performance as unkempt, uncouth head of Slough House Jackson Lamb. The fourth series with begin imminently, with series 5 already commissioned.

Before turning to television, Oldman gave another masterclass in acting when he took on the role of George Smiley in the 2011 adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Directed by Tomas Alfredson and adapted from John Le Carre’s classic novel by Peter Straughn and Bridget O’Connor, the film followed Smiley as he attempted to unravel a complex web of misinformation and corruption to catch a Soviet double agent at the top of the secret service.

Director Edward Berger, who made one of the best movies of 2022 with a vivid adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front, shifts gears rewardingly to a movie set almost entirely inside the Vatican. Conclave, adapted from the popular novel by Robert Harris, demonstrates Berger’s versatility and also offers one of the best roles of his career to Ralph Fiennes, who is supported by an expert ensemble.

The recent Oscar-nominated movie The Two Popes also took us inside the Vatican to examine the true story of the ascension of Pope Francis (played by Jonathan Pryce). That was essentially a docudrama, whereas this film is pure fictional speculation about the behind-the-scenes machinations involved in choosing a new pope after the death of the previous pontiff. Fiennes plays the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who is charged with overseeing the election.

Screenwriter Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) keeps the story moving swiftly.

Edward Berger surprised the industry last year with Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” an unexpected awards sensation that landed nine Oscar nominations at the 2023 ceremony and won four: Best International Feature, Best Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design. So perhaps the nerves Berger expressed while introducing the world premiere of his follow-up film, “Conclave,” at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday night should have been anticipated. After all, what are the chances that lightning strikes twice?

But based on the response inside the Werner Herzog Theater, maybe it will. “Conclave,” already a strong contender in the Gold Derby odds in these nascent days of the Oscars race, lived up to those lofty expectations and could land several nominations at next year’s Academy Awards.

“If my gut reaction to the film, and that of industry insiders with whom I consulted after it ended, are any indication,...

If you think the American presidential election has been unpredictable, wait’ll you see how capricious things get at the Vatican when the cardinals assemble to choose a new pope in “Conclave.” Adapted from the Robert Harris novel by Edward Berger, who assumes a very different challenge after “All Quiet on the Western Front,” this thinking man’s thriller unfolds like a murder mystery behind the locked doors of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where the College of Cardinals is cloistered, except no one suspects foul play in the previous pontiff’s death.

Still, intrigues abound as the papabili — those considered next in line for the job, played by such formidable actors as Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow — pull whatever levers they can to be elected. But “Conclave” obviously concurs with Plato’s adage, “Only those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it,” featuring a host...

Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman’s iconic film “Faithless” is now being remade into a limited series, continuing the trend of TV reimaginings of past Bergman features like “Scenes From a Marriage.”

“Faithless” is directed by “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “Let The Right One In” helmer Tomas Alfredson. Sara Johnsen wrote the script adapted from Bergman’s original screenplay for the 2000 feature. The official first look trailer is debuted by IndieWire below.

The “Faithless” series will premiere at TIFF 2024. Fremantle is handling the worldwide sales. The show is a six-part TV series.

The official synopsis reads: “In the present day, renowned director David Howard, 73, is reunited with his former great love, actress Marianne Vogler, 75 (Lena Endre). Their encounter forces them to confront the painful repercussions of their past relationship, not only for themselves but also for their families. 40 years prior, a young David (Gustav Lindh) and Marianne (Frida Gustavsson...

“Slow Horses” star Gary Oldman is the frontrunner to win Best Drama Actor at the upcoming Emmys. Oldman earned his first and only Oscar six years ago for his portrayal of World War II-era British prime minister Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.” That win was sandwiched between two other lead bids for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2012) and “Mank” (2021). His sole Emmy nomination to date came in 2001 for his guest appearance in the two-part seventh season finale of “Friends”; he lost to Derek Jacobi (“Frasier”).

On Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses,” which is based on a series of novels by Mick Herron, Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, a particularly uncouth MI5 officer saddled with the responsibility of supervising a group of service rejects. This constitutes his very first regular role on a continuing series and his first live action TV performance at all in over two decades.

Oldman would be the 12th...

The series adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s Faithless from Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson will debut in competition as part of the Primetime & Short Cuts line up at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list.

The series will screen on Wednesday 11th September at TIFF before hitting Svt and Arte France in 2025. Fremantle is handling international sales on the series. We shared the first look at the project and interviewed Alfredson back in February. You can check that out here.

Billed as a “searing tale of love and betrayal,” the project is a six-part TV series based on the 2000 feature Faithless, which Ingmar Bergman penned for his former partner Liv Ullmann. The original film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and starred Lena Endre and Erland Josephson. The entire series is directed by Alfredson from scripts adapted by Norwegian writer Sara Johnsen.

New episodic series from Alfonso Cuarón, Thomas Vinterberg, Joe Wright and Janicza Bravo will screen in the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s Primetime program, TIFF organizers announced Friday.

Cuarón will be at the festival with his Apple TV+ psychological thriller series “Disclaimer,” starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline; Vinterberg with “Families Like Ours,” a six-episode series set in a future when Denmark must be evacuated because of rising sea level; Wright with “M: Son of the Century,” a limited series about the rise of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini; and “Zola” director Bravo with “The Listeners,” starring Rebecca Hall.

Other projects in Primetime include “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” director Tomas Alfredson’s “Faithless,” an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical 2000 film written by Ingmar Bergman and directed by Liv Ullman; Australian director Dylan River’s “Thou Shalt Not Steal”; and two projects from Canadian filmmakers, Courtney Montour and Tanya Talaga’s “The Knowing...

The TIFF 2024 TV lineup is full of buzzy world premieres and screenings from beloved auteurs venturing into the episodic space.

The Primetime lineup includes eight new series, with five world premieres. For one, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” director Tomas Alfredson reimagines Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman’s iconic 2000 film “Faithless” as a six-part limited series.

The show’s synopsis reads: “In the present day, renowned director David Howard, 73, is reunited with his former great love, actress Marianne Vogler, 75 (Lena Endre). Their encounter forces them to confront the painful repercussions of their past relationship, not only for themselves but also for their families. 40 years prior, a young David (Gustav Lindh) and Marianne (Frida Gustavsson) find themselves entwined in a passionate love affair which they must keep a secret, as Marianne is married to David’s best friend, Markus (August Wittgenstein).”

Other highlights include the world premiere of Janicza Bravo’s sci-fi series “The Listeners,...

“All Quiet on the Western Front” took the 2023 Oscars by storm, racking up nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The German film won Best International Feature, Best Score, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design, but its BAFTA-nominated director, Edward Berger, was snubbed despite the Best Adapted Screenplay bid he shared with Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell. Now Berger seeks redemption with his 2024 thriller “Conclave,” which looks like an early Oscar favorite according to our current Gold Derby odds.

“Conclave” is a psychological thriller based on Robert Harris‘ 2016 novel of the same name. In the film, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with leading one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, where he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of The Church. It was scripted by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Straughan (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”).

See...

(L to R) Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence and Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini in director Edward Berger’s Conclave, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024 All Rights Reserved.

“The throne is vacant.”

Focus Features has debuted the first trailer for the upcoming drama Conclave.

From director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) Conclave follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting a new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and discovers a secret that could shake the very foundation of The Church. Written for the screen by Peter Straughan, Conclave is based on the 2016 book by Robert Harris.

Ralph Fiennes takes the pulpit in Edward Berger’s new thriller “Conclave,” the upcoming Focus Features release that stands among the early awards favorites this year. On Thursday, the studio released the first trailer for “Conclave,” Berger’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Based on the best-selling book of the same name by Robert Harris and adapted for the screen by Peter Straughan, “Conclave” focuses on Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) who is tasked with leading the selection process for a new pope after the current church leader dies unexpectedly. “Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and discovers a secret that could shake the very foundation of The Church,” reads a synopsis by Focus.

Fiennes, a previous Oscar nominee who has never won an Academy Award,...

Exclusive: Gary Oldman says that that the nine Emmy nominations, including for Outstanding Drama Series, received by the wry spy drama Slow Horses “puts an added boost and a spotlight on the show.”

Slow Horses first trotted onto Apple TV+ in April 2022, gathering audiences as it cantered into second and third seasons. Now it’s galloping into a fourth season launching September 4.

A fifth season is in its final weeks of shooting in London, and there are strong hints of Slow Horses returning for a sixth series that would go before cameras later in the year.

Seasons seven and eight are also at the starting gate, though obviously in very early stages of preparation.

The series’ Oscar-winning star Oldman was recognized in the Lead Actor In A Drama category for his sly turn as shambolic-looking British intelligence officer Jackson Lamb for the third season of the show, which debuted last November.

Colin Firth is the latest addition to the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming series “Young Sherlock,” Variety has learned.

The series is inspired by Andy Lane’s “Young Sherlock Holmes” novels and was ordered to series in May with Hero Fiennes Tiffin in the lead role. Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, and Zine Tseng also star. Firth will play Sir Bucephalus Hodge, with further character details currently under wraps.

Firth is primarily known for his film roles, including his Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning turn in the 2010 film “The King’s Speech,” in which he played King George VI. He has also starred in films like “A Single Man,” “The English Patient,” the “Bridget Jones” films,” the “Kingsman” films, the “Mamma Mia” films, and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” In television, he had his breakout role playing Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice.” He recently starred in the Max limited series “The Staircase.

Benedict Cumberbatch burst into the Hollywood scene after a ridiculously successful stint in the BBC series, Sherlock. Soon after, his successive roles as a dragon in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, one of the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a villainous Khan in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot turned him into a pop culture icon.

Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

But beyond the popular franchises and iconic IPs, it is his work in dramatic pieces of theater, film, and television that established Cumberbatch as one of the finest actors of this generation. Through projects such as The Imitation Game, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Hawking, The Power of the Dog, Hamlet, Patrick Melrose, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – Cumberbatch has carefully curated a career that is worthy of his 2 Oscar nominations.

Avengers Actor Puts a Journalist in His Place

Benedict...

Tom Hardy — the actor without a single flawed performance in his career (with the humble exception of Capone) — brings something new to the table every time he steps into a frame. Be it film or television, the individuality of Tom Hardy is captivating, inevitable, and wholly exceptional.

Tom Hardy at the 2018 Sdcc [Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons]

The physicality that the actor brings to his roles coupled with his trademark voice modulations make him an undefeated champion of modern cinema. Hardy’s legacy will live on in every character he brought alive on the screen, unlike that of actors who will always be remembered by one franchise or one role.

Tom Hardy’s Path Success Began With Warrior

The 2008 film, Bronson, stapled Tom Hardy as a name to look out for in Hollywood. But before the Nicolas Winding Refn classic made him one of the best and most fearsome talents in the industry,...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Roxy Cinema

Fellow Roxy programmer Charli Xcx presents Project X, To Die For, and Velvet Goldmine on 35mm, as well as Party Girl; a puppet program plays on Saturday, as does City Dudes.

Anthology Film Archives

Prints of Citizen Kane, L’Atalante, and Andy Warhol play in “Essential Cinema.”

Museum of the Moving Image

“See It Big at the ’90s Multiplex” includes Hoop Dreams and Bound; a Marx Brothers double-feature takes place on Saturday.

Museum of Modern Art

A career-spanning Powell and Pressburger retrospective continues.

Film Forum

Powell and Pressburger’s The Small Back Room begins playing in a new restoration; Vittorio De Sica’s Shoeshine continues playing in a new restoration; Yankee Doodle Dandy shows on Sunday.

Metrograph

Films by Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo, Jia Zhangke and more play in an mk2 retrospective; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Pitfall, and...

Studiocanal announce a superb new restoration of Night Of The Eagle, as part of the Cult Classics Collection. Dare you believe in the existence of witches in this nerve-shattering, atmospheric horror starring Peter Wyngarde (Jason King) and Janet Blair (I Love Trouble)? The film will be available on 1st July 2024 on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital, with the striking original UK poster artwork featuring on the sleeve

Based on the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber – a story so good it’s been filmed three times – Night Of The Eagle (also known as Burn, Witch, Burn) is a taut and terrifying film that provides genuine chills, as well as a horrifying twist, and remains a much-loved cult classic to this day. Directed by Sidney Hayers (Circus of Horrors), with a screenplay by three masters of the macabre, Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), Charles Beaumont (The Premature Burial) and George Baxt (Vampire...

Exclusive: BAFTA winner Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Dark star Lisa Vicari and International Emmy winner Christiane Paul (FBI: International) are among series regulars joining Idris Elba in season two of Apple thriller Hijack, which is currently filming in the UK.

Elba stars in and is an exec producer on the show whose popular first season followed an airline hijacking. Plot details on season two are being kept under wraps.

The second season is executive-produced by Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta and Tom Nash at 60Forty Films, alongside executive producers George Kay and Jim Field Smith, with Field Smith’s own production company Idiotlamp Productions.

Season one is rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and landed on the Nielsen Streaming Originals Top 10 list. The show is created by George Kay and Jim Field Smith, and Field Smith also serves as lead director.

Jones is coming off widespread acclaim for his starring...

The BBC and Masterpiece PBS have revealed a first look at ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’, based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi-award-winning trilogy, as filming comes to a close.

The new pictures show Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII, Kate Phillips as Jane Seymour, Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Harriet Walter as Lady Margaret Pole, Harry Melling as Thomas Wriothesley, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler, Timothy Spall as the Duke of Norfolk, Alex Jennings as Stephen Gardiner and Charlie Rowe as Gregory Cromwell.

Eagerly awaited and years in the making, the series will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from a self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a diplomat and a father,...

Masterpiece PBS and the BBC have released first-look photos from Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, an adaptation of the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning trilogy.

Mark Rylance is reprising his role as Thomas Cromwell, while Damian Lewis is back as King Henry VIII. Also returning are Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Kate Phillips as Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour and Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.

The drama also stars Harry Melling as Thomas Wriothesley, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler, Timothy Spall as the Duke of Norfolk, Alex Jennings as Stephen Gardiner and Charlie Rowe as Gregory Cromwell.

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time.

Mantel died in 2022 at...

The long-awaited adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novel “The Mirror and the Light” has wrapped.

In the first images from the production, released by the BBC and Masterpiece PBS, Kate Phillips can be seen reprising her role as King Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour, while Mark Rylance returns as the king’s chief advisor Thomas Cromwell and Damien Lewis as the king himself.

Based on the final novel in Mantel’s award-winning “Wolf Hall” trilogy, which follows the rise and fall of Cromwell, the new images come some 18 months after Mantel’s sudden death at the age of 70.

Kate Phillips as Jane Seymour in ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’

“Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, and no private army,” reads the logline. “Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time,...

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman will star in Searchlight Pictures’ The Roses, a reimagining of the 1989 dark comedy The War Of The Roses to be directed by Jay Roach.

Tony McNamara, whose credits include Poor Things and The Great, wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Warren Adler.

The Roses centres on the seemingly perfect family life of Theo and Ivy, whose private competition and resentments are exposed when Theo’s professional dreams come crashing down.

Cumberbatch is producing through his SunnyMarch with Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland, who have been in development on the project since 2017. Colman is...

Set dressers organized the scene by setting props in a field for a TV drama about the aftermath of the bombing in Lockerbie starring Colin Firth in Bathgate, Scotland, last week.

The miniseries Lockerbie examines the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The bombing took 270 lives: 259 of them were on the flight and 11 lives were lost as the wreckage damaged their homes.

Props were set up to look like the aftermath of the bombing. The crew is carrying the parts of the plane parts including seats and parts of a wing.

In 2016, Firth sat down with uInterview to talk about relating to his character, Bill Haydon, in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

When asked about his connection to the character, Firth exclusively told uInterview that, “[Haydon] handles things with great authority and great aplomb, and I’m not saying I am capable of doing that, but I do find those things attractive.

Actor Michael Weatherly made the transition from NCIS agent to psychologist in the hit series Bull. And although his character was based on a real person, Weatherly looked towards Gary Oldman for inspiration.

How a Gary Oldman movie helped Michael Weatherly’s ‘Bull’ performance Michael Weatherly | CBS via Getty Images

Weatherly’s Jason Bull couldn’t have been more different than his NCIS character. He played Jason Bull in the titular CBS series, a character loosely based on celebrity doctor Dr. Phil McGraw. Weatherly spoke to the Dr. Phil host personally, who he thought might’ve been underappreciated by certain audiences.

“People sometimes are very dismissive of Phil McGraw, and I think that’s a sort of narrow take on someone who has a talk show that you’ve watched and think you understand,” Weatherly said in a 2020 interview on Backstage. “I think Phil McGraw is a person worth having a conversation with.

It is a testament to his acting ability that it was years before I realized that Gary Oldman is British. With an ability to nail accents, the dedication to drastically change his appearance and the talent to convey the full spectrum of emotions, Oldman is one of the most eclectic and underrated actors of our time.

Born March 21, 1958, in London, Oldman began his acting career on the British stage in 1979, and made his film debut in “Remembrance” in 1982. In 1984, he reluctantly accepted the role of punk rocker Sid Vicious in “Sid and Nancy,” a performance which garnered him critical acclaim and launched a diverse and successful career that has spanned almost four decades, and includes everything from small indie films to blockbuster franchises.

Oldman is well-known for his portrayal of some of the most memorable villains in the history of the cinema, from the campy Zorg in “The Fifth Element...

Beware Frankenstein Legacy as director Paul Dudbridge (Fear the Invisible Man) reanimates the legend with a brand-new fear-filled period feature, that stars a stellar cast of acting talent and is brought to life on Digital thanks to 101 Films.

England, 1875. A century after Victor Frankenstein’s doomed experiment, his journals have traded hands for decades. Stolen at knifepoint, traded in shadowy back alleys and chased by a shadowy cabal who want them destroyed. Now, in the hands of gifted scientist Millicent Browning (Juliet Aubrey), what darkness is set the befall her?

Millicent’s beloved husband (Philip Martin Brown) is desperately ill with a degenerative disease and she will stop at nothing in her determination to find a cure before it’s too late. Their son William (Matt Barber), a doctor in the local asylum, voices his concerns but she pays no heed.

When her husband kills himself, she finally snaps, disappearing...

Oppenheimer continued its dominant awards season form on Sunday night at the American Society of Cinematographers’ ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards, with Hoyte van Hoytema taking the prize for theatrical feature film.

The win was Van Hoytema’s first ASC award, after previously being nominated for Dunkirk (2018) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2012).

On the TV side, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel‘s M. David Mullen won the ASC prize for an episode of one hour of television, Barry‘s Carl Herse won for an episode of a half-hour series and Boston Strangler‘s Ben Kutchins won for limited or anthology series or motion picture made for TV.

Also on the night, Spike Lee was awarded the ASC Board of Governors Award and Don Burgess, whose work includes Academy Award-winning best picture Forrest Gump, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Additionally, Steven Fierberg accepted the ASC Career Achievement in Television Award, and Amy Vincent...

“Oppenheimer” cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema won Feature Film at the 38th ASC Awards, March 3 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Oscar favorite beat the other four Oscar nominees: “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” Poor Things,” and “El Conde”.

This marked van Hoytema’s first ASC win after three nominations (including “Dunkirk” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) and positions the Dutch-Swedish cinematographer for his first Oscar win. Significantly, “Oppenheimer” represents the culmination of his experimental IMAX collaboration with director Christopher Nolan. The duo achieved a new kind of intimate spectacle with this psychological thriller about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Best Actor nominee Cillian Murphy), the “father of the atomic bomb.” Van Hoytema used the large-format IMAX camera to explore the landscape of faces; namely, Oppenheimer’s in color from his perspective and Salieri-like adversary Admiral Lewis Strauss’ (Best Supporting Actor nominee Robert Downey Jr.) in black-and-white from his.

What a...

Exclusive: Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson, now best known as the director behind beautiful, taut features like Let the Right One In and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, wrote to Swedish screen legend Ingmar Bergman sometime in the early 2000s with an idea. Bergman’s response was characteristically colorful.

“What the hell is this? What do you mean?” Bergman told Alfredson.

Alfredson had told the Persona filmmaker that he wanted to remake Faithless, the 2000 feature Bergman had written about an imaginary woman who recollects her painful experience of adultery to an aging filmmaker. The pic played in competition that year in Cannes and was directed by Bergman’s ex-wife, actress Liv Ullmann.

“This was long before everyone was producing remakes, so it was a very unusual question, especially for Bergman,” Alfredson said.

Fast forward to February 2024 and Alfredson is deep into an edit of a contemporary TV adaptation of Faithless he has...