Roland Emmerich Gladiator Series ‘Those About to Die’ Starts Shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios, New Cast Announced

Russell Crowe is feeling some sort of way about the upcoming Gladiator sequel.

We’re just a week away from the return of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!

While a lot of the “Star Wars” television projects have been entry points to bring back established characters from canon to the small-screen or live-action, it’s also been exciting to see Lucasfilm developing a handful of possible original projects with “The Acolyte” and “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” giving room for creatives to develop their own corners of the universe. “Skeleton Crew” had been pitched to Lucasfilm as a take on the beloved Richard Donner-directed 80s adventure film “The Goonies,” but set within the “Star Wars” franchise giving the impression we’ll be seeing the show focus on space pirates that recently got highlighted on this season of “The Mandalorian.” READ MORE: ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’: David Lowery Directs An Episode Of The Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Disney+ Series Jude Law (“Captain Marvel“) is leading the project and will be surrounded by a group of young actors, said to be around 10 years old (not all of those characters are expected to be human).

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A series version of the comic book “Hellicious” is in development at TBS with “Red Hot Chili Peppers” frontman Anthony Kiedis attached to star and executive produce, Variety has learned exclusively. In addition to starring, Kiedis will executive produce along with Bob Forrest and Ron Burkle via their newly formed production company, Said and Done Entertainment. The series is inspired by the comic book series created by Mina Elwell, Alan C. Medina, Kit Wallis, and Simon Oré. Per the official logline, the show “follows Cherry, the Devil’s precocious 7-year-old granddaughter, who steals the Heaven-bound soul of rock-goth icon Briggy Bundy (Kiedis). The unlikely duo stumble upon forgotten realms of the afterlife while evading Cherry’s mother and an agent from heaven sent to reclaim Briggy’s soul.”

The entire cast for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” film has just been unveiled, and the star power is off the charts.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rome’s Cinecittà Studios are generating a profit for the first time in years amid a radical upgrade, overhaul, and expansion of the filming facilities where Hollywood productions are now flocking on a scale that is starting to be comparable with its glory days. Roland Emmerich last month started shooting his gladiator series “Those About to Die” starring Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian; Joe Wright is in the midst of production on TV series “M,” about Benito Mussolini’s rise to power; and in January cameras started rolling in the “City of Cinema” on Netflix’s period soap “The Decameron.” These are among the biggest international productions lured by the storied studios in recent years, also thanks to Italy’s 40% cash back tax rebate.

Peace have surprised fans by announcing the release of their new album – as well as revealing line-up changes and sharing some intimate UK shows.The band, whose last release was was their acclaimed 2018 third album ‘Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll’, teased their comeback back in December with magazine ads calling upon fans who were “energetic, amused and happy to support Peace” to come forward as “perfect supernumerary for the new live show”.Now, the Birmingham indie veterans have taken to social media to mark their return – directing fans to their website to enter a password to be able to hear their surprise fourth album, as well as sharing more info on their current status after the departure of guitarist Doug Castle and drummer Dom Boyce.“You can listen to our new album in full right now on our cool new website peaceforeverever.co.uk,” they wrote. “We will email you a password with every ticket to these shows. The record will be commercially released later this year but for now this is how we are going to share our music with the people that it means a lot to.”They continued: “Also, as some of you have noticed, we are no longer a four-piece band.

David Cronenberg returned to filmmaking after an eight-year hiatus with “Crimes Of The Future” last year. And the body horror maestro, now 80, hasn’t lost a step, with critics loving the film at its world premiere at Cannes.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Shooting is underway in Italy on Indian action thriller “Salaar” starring Prabhas, who is playing a dual role in the film according to sources. The hotly-anticipated blockbuster written and directed by Prashanth Neel – and produced by Vijay Kiragandur via his Hombale Films shingle – has been filming since mid-March in Matera, the ancient southern Italian town known for its prehistoric whitewashed caves. Matera is the location where, among other international titles, the prologue action sequence for James Bond film “No Time to Die” was shot. The film’s cast also includes Prithviraj Sukumaran, Shruti Haasan and Jagapathi Babu.

Sydney Sweeney looks effervescent as she films her latest project in Sydney, Australia.

It’s official – Grey’s Anatomy will be back for a 20th season!

The cast of Neighbours has announced that a new series of the Australian show will start filming next month. Alan Fletcher, Jackie Woodburne, Stefan Dennis, Ryan Moloney, Annie Jones, and April Rose Pengilly told the audience of Neighbours – The Celebration Tour at the London Palladium that production will start in April.The six actors including Fletcher, 65, who played Karl Kennedy, and his on-screen wife Susan, portrayed by Woodburne, 67, were also confirmed for a new chapter of the long-running soap.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Susanna Nicchiarelli, whose trilogy of female biopics, “Nico, 1988,” “Miss Marx,” and “Chiara” all launched from the Venice Film Festival, is set to direct the TV series “Fireworks” depicting the struggle of Italy’s partisans against Nazis and Fascists through the point of view of a twelve-year-old girl named Marta. Shooting is set to start on May 8 in the Piedmontese Alps on “Fireworks,” which is being produced by Domenico Procacci’s Fandango and Rome shingle Matrioska. Fandango, who is the show’s lead producer, is in advanced talks with Italian state broadcaster RAI to come on board. Fandango is also talking up the six-episode limited series at the Series Mania confab in Lille, France, where they are seeking prospective international partners.

Black Country, New Road have announced a new live album and their biggest headline show to date – find all the details below.The six-piece band are due to release ‘Live At Bush Hall’ on streaming platforms this Friday (March 24) ahead of physical versions arriving on April 28 via Ninja Tune (pre-save/pre-order here).Comprising nine songs, the forthcoming record captures the set from BCNR’s three sold-out concerts at Bush Hall in west London last December.NME wrote in a four-star review that the album “offers a remarkable snapshot of a band in transition, one willing to push on and not let circumstances stand in the way of what they love doing most”.The full tracklist for ‘Live At Bush Hall’ is as follows:1. ‘Up Song – Live at Bush Hall’2. ‘The Boy – Live at Bush Hall’3. ‘I Won’t Always Love You – Live at Bush Hall’4. ‘Across The Pond Friend – Live at Bush Hall’5. ‘Laughing Song – Live at Bush Hall’6. ‘The Wrong Trousers – Live at Bush Hall’7. ‘Turbines/Pigs – Live at Bush Hall’8. ‘Dancers – Live at Bush Hall’9. ‘Up Song (Reprise) – Live at Bush Hall’On Friday, we are releasing the audio for ‘Live at Bush Hall’ on all digital platforms – it will also be released on vinyl on April 28th. You can pre-save and pre-order a physical copy of the performance now – https://t.co/MQUrOtHUcQ …………………………………….

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Influential Italian auteur Francesco “Citto” Maselli who worked with Lucia Bosé, Claudia Cardinale, Shelley Winters and Valeria Golino on films that combined his political passion with his bent for female-centered dramas, has died in Rome. Maselli, who was known for making left-wing militant cinema, was 92. The director’s death was announced to Italian news agency ANSA by Maurizio Acerbo, leader of Italy’s small Communist Refoundation Party, the group of die-hard Italian leftists that Maselli championed, and confirmed by the director’s wife. The exact cause of Maselli’s death was not revealed.

Game of Thrones star Iwan Rheon is one of nine joining the cast of Peacock’s epic gladiator drama Those About to Die, as principal photography on the Roland Emmerich show kicked off at Rome’s historic Cinecittà Studios.

It appears that acclaimed filmmaker Drake Doremus is set to make his debut on the TV side of things with a new series coming to Netflix, “One Day in December.” And he has a great leading lady already signed up for the job. According to Deadline, Drake Doremus is set to write, direct, and executive produce “One Day in December,” a new romantic drama series coming to Netflix.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s 40% tax rebates for international film and TV series are a magnet that has been crucial to luring lots of shoots to the country. These incentives are behind the current contemporaneous presence on the Cinecittà Studios lot of Oscar-winner Edward Berger’s new film “Conclave,” Netflix period soap “Decameron,” and Roland Emmerich’s Peacock gladiator series “Those About to Die,” to name a few examples.  That’s why Italian Deputy Culture Minister Lucia Bergonzoni on Oscar week travelled to Los Angeles to meet with Hollywood studio and streamer chiefs. Her mission: to dispel fears swirling in the global film community ever since Italy’s new right-wing government was installed in October 2022 regarding the prospect that the Italian rebates could be pulled or in some way watered down. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has acquired global rights to Italian rom-com “Era Ora” (“Still Time”), marking a rare instance in which an Italian comedy is set to gain worldwide visibility. “Still Time” is directed by Alessandro Aronadio, a Los Angeles Film School graduate whose first work “One Life, Maybe Two” launched from Berlin’s Panorama section. The concept comedy stars Edoardo Leo (“Perfect Strangers”) as a workaholic named Dante who is perpetually late to everything important and Barbara Ronchi, soon to be seen in Marco Bellocchio’s “La Conversione,” as his girlfriend Alice with whom Dante winds up leaping ahead a year every few hours, just as he wants to slow down.

Earlier this week, the UK Government launched a dedicated ‘Cost of Living Payments 2023 to 2024’ page on its official website. The new microsite is similar in detail to last year’s support page which was regularly updated with qualifying periods and payment windows for all cost of living payments.