Sally Hawkins Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

K.J. Yossman The first image has been released of Bill Bailey and Adjoa Andoh’s characters in upcoming BBC short film “The Smeds and The Smoos.” Based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture-book of the same name, it tells the story of two warring families whose children, Bill and Janet, fall in love and run away together. Hotly pursued by their grandparents, Grandfather Smed (Bailey) and Grandmother Smoo (Andoh), the two young aliens lead their families on a chase across space, giving them the opportunity to find out they have more in common than they think. Rounding out the cast are Ashna Rabheru as Janet, Daniel Ezra as Bill, Rob Brydon as Uncle Smoo, Meera Syal as Aunt Smed and Sally Hawkins as the narrator.

Among the floral tributes and well-wishes shared to mourn the tragic passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II, an unlikely figure has emerged as a symbol to mark the monarch’s life. As people across the world reflect on the Queen’s best moments as Britain’s longest serving monarch, many have remembered the sketch she took part in with Paddington Bear to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.

Leonardo DiCaprio.The actor, known for his breakout roles in Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird and Dune, first met DiCaprio in 2018, where he shared some advice for his future career.As revealed in an interview with Vogue, DiCaprio told Chalamet: “No hard drugs and no superhero movies.”Speaking to Time in October last year, Chalamet previously said that he received the advice from “one of my heroes” without revealing his identity. “One of my heroes – I can’t say who or he’d kick my ass – he put his arm around me the first night we met and gave me some advice.“No hard drugs and no superhero movies,” he told the outlet.Chalamet has reunited with Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino for his next film, Bones And All, a coming-of-age romantic horror road film based on the novel of the same name.Alongside Chalamet, the film stars Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlberg, Andre Holland, Chloe Sevigny, Jessica Harper and David Gordon Green.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic If you’re a fan of “The Trip” and its sequels, those semi-improvised road comedies in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play slightly exaggerated versions of their real-life selves, you’ll know that they’re about more than just two men driving through the European countryside, eating fabulous food, trying to top each other with their Al Pacino impersonations. Coogan, in particular, comes off as a fellow who, for all his larkish narcissism, is so steeped in history that it’s literally alive for him. And that’s the feeling that courses through “The Lost King,” the new movie written by Coogan and Jeff Pope and directed by Stephen Frears. They’re the team that gave us “Philomena” (2013), the sharp-tongued heart-tugger that cast Judi Dench as a real-life Irishwoman tracking down the son she’d been forced to give up for adoption 50 years before. That movie was fine (a tad too sentimental in my book), but “The Lost King” is a growth ring, a richer, stronger, and more moving piece of work, a historical detective story that carries the kick of a true-life “Da Vinci Code.”

William Shakespeare rather definitively defined Richard the Third as a deformed, conniving, duplicitous and altogether unsavory monarch in his 1485 play, and the man’s image as such has persisted ever since.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pascal Breton’s European banner Federation Entertainment (“The Bureau”) has acquired a majority stake in Vertigo Films, the U.K. production company behind the hit TV shows “Britannia” and “Bulletproof.” The London-based company is also the producer of B.O. films such as “StreetDance 3D,” “The Sweeney” and award-winning titles including Gareth Edwards’s “Monsters” and Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Bronson.“ Founded 20 years ago by executive producers Allan Niblo and James Richardson, Vertigo is currently in post-production with Jez Butterworth’s new comedy-drama series “Mammals,” starring James Corden and Sally Hawkins for Amazon, and the 1980s-set gangster epic “A Town Called Malice” by Nick Love for Sky Max. The banner just wrapped principal photography on a new film for Sky Cinema, with further details to be announced at a later date.  

Federation Entertainment has hit the M&A trail once again by taking a majority stake in Britannia, Bronson and Bulletproof producer Vertigo Films, its first British acquisition.

The Lost King, will reduce their role in the extraordinary historical find. One member of the University of Leicester team, Professor Turi King, carried out key DNA studies, providing conclusive evidence and spending hours in the laboratory. “I had to start from scratch, both on the historic work and the modern-day samples from Richard’s living relatives,” said the Canadian-British geneticist.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterIFC Films nabbed North American rights to “The Lost King,” which will have its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.Directed by Stephen Frears, the feel-good true story stars Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley, an amateur historian who uncovered the remains of King Richard the III after they had been lost for 500 years. Langley spent years researching — and searching — for the remnants, even when family, friends and academics openly doubted her.Steve Coogan (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pope) is playing Philippa’s husband, John Langley.

IFC Films is acquiring North American rights to Stephen Frears’ drama The Lost King, starring Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) and Steve Coogan (The Trip), ahead of its world premiere at the 47th Toronto Film Festival.

King Richard III’s remains in 2012 after the monarch had been lost for 500 years. TIFF, which runs between Sept. 8-18, will screen “The Lost King” in its World Premiere as part of a special presentation.

EXCLUSIVE: Tomorrow Studios has lined up its next project: It will adapt the novel I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness for TV.

James Corden is set to make his UK TV return after quitting The Late Late Show in a new series based on ‘a relationship drama but also a whodunit. ’The Gavin and Stacey actor, 43, announced last month that the last instalment of his American talk show would come to an end next year, as he plans to move back to the UK after spending nearly a decade in the US with his family. After much speculation on his next UK project, with some fans convinced of a Gavin and Stacey reboot and others concerned about him appearing in Doctor Who, James will actually be starring in Jez Butterworth’s Mammals, which began filming last year.

Naman Ramachandran “Moss & Freud,” a film about supermodel Kate Moss and famed British artist Lucian Freud will be the next feature film for James Lucas.Lucas won an Oscar for live action short film “The Phone Call,” starring Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent. “Moss & Freud” is a dramatized account of supermodel Moss who, at the peak of her fame, made the decision to sit for British artist Freud. It was a decision that deeply impacted and transformed both of their lives.

K.J. Yossman Julia Donaldson’s “Romeo and Juliet”-inspired story “The Smeds and The Smoos” is set to be adapted for a BBC Christmas special starring Oscar-nominee Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”), “Bridgerton’s” Adjoa Andoh and comedian Bill Bailey.Oscar-nominated production company, who have previously adapted nine of Donaldson’s children’s books for the BBC, will once again take the helm on the project, which will also be based on Axel Scheffler’s original illustrations, with Blue Zoo Animation Studio providing animation services.Donaldson and Scheffler are the duo behind iconic children’s stories including “The Gruffalo.”Daniel Snaddon (“The Snail and the Whale”) and Samantha Cutler will direct based on a screenplay by Julia Smuts Louw.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticSPOILER ALERT: The following review contains spoilers.In “Ex Machina” director Alex Garland’s latest, “Men,” the leaves are so green, the tone is so ominous, and the men are so … Rory Kinnear-y that audiences are all but guaranteed to leave this folk-horror bizart-house offering feeling disturbed, even if no two viewers can agree on what bothered them about it. There’s that shocker of an ending, of course, but we’ll postpone discussion of that till the penultimate paragraph of this review, so as not to spoil the fun — even if, by the time you see it, “Men” is already likely to be defined by its over-the-top finale.Kinnear, who comes across as a chummy enough fellow — albeit one who might chase you into a back alley and murder you if given the chance — impressively embodies eight different characters: basically, all the men, plus one particularly creepy boy, in a rural English village.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterWilly Wonka is in the business of treats, and Warner Bros. took a cue from the candyman for its 2022 CinemaCon presentation — showing a trailer for Timothée Chalamet’s new film some 20 months away from its official release.The annual convention of movie theater owners got a nearly two-minute look at the prequel — which imagines the lead character of Roald Dahl’s classic novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” as a young man looking to build his empire.Though iconically portrayed as a quirky (bordering on perverse) magnate by Gene Wilder, Chalamet stakes his own claim at the iconic brown velvet top hot worn by Wonka.

Typically studios will only show off their current year wares at CinemaCon, but Warner Bros. went deep in the calendar showing off the first fresh footage from Paul King’s Wonka, the feature musical about the candymeister. The movie doesn’t come out until Christmas 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: Screen Media has acquired North American rights to the psychological thriller Cordelia, starring Antonia Campbell-Hughes (It Is In Us All) and Johnny Flynn (Emma), from Great Point Media, which holds world distribution rights outside the UK. The Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company plans to release the title from director Adrian Shergold (Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman) day-and-date in at least 10 cities in May.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that its golf film The Phantom of the Open, starring Academy Award winner Mark Rylance, Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins and BAFTA Award nominee Rhys Ifans, will open in New York and Los Angeles on June 3, with a wider release in additional markets set for the following weeks.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” continued its sway over the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second weekend in a row with £7.4 million ($9.6 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The dark brooder starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz now has a total of £26.5 million.In second place, Sony’s “Uncharted” collected £1.05 million on its fifth weekend and has a total of £21.7 million.

Warner Bros made a slew of release-date moves for some high-profile movies today. Deadline hears that the changes are due in part to Covid-related delays.

For Neon and Topic Studios’ film Spencer, screenwriter Steven Knight and director Pablo Larraín used elements from various genres to craft a not-so-biographical drama about Princess Diana. 

wrote Bonneville, whose message on Twitter attracted more than 37,000 likes.Along with his tribute Bonneville, 58, shared a Ukrainian language promotional trailer for “Paddington 2” featuring then-actor and comedian Zelensky.“Hello to my darling friends. I, Volodymyr Zelensky, will lend my voice to the wonderful, charismatic, friendly bear Paddington,” the 44-year-old politician can be heard telling viewers in the two-minute trailer, according to a report by Variety.“Paddington’ [is a film] you can go to see with your whole family, and everyone will enjoy it regardless of your age,” he adds.

Great Expectations has cast its Miss Havisham. Oscar winner Olivia Colman will star as the wealthy, wedding dress-wearing spinster in the FX and BBC limited series adaptation of the Charles Dickens’ novel, which comes from Steven Knight.

The Santa Barbara Film Festival on Thursday revealed the lineup for its 37th edition, which is set to run March 2-12 in-person in its customary spot in the heat of Oscar season.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) has announced the full programming slate for its upcoming 2022 edition, consisting of 48 world premieres and 98 U.S. premieres.“It brings us an unbridled joy to share our slate for this edition of SBIFF,” the festival’s executive director Roger Durling said in a statement. “After two years of incertitude, it feels good to know we can continue to count on film and the festival to give us a sense of comfort and continuity.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaRowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Sally Hawkins are rounding out what is shaping up to be a delicious cast of “Wonka,” the new film that dares to probe how the world’s most famous chocolatier and confectioner first developed his sweet tooth.Timothée Chalamet is set to play Willy Wonka, following in the daffy footsteps of Gene Wilder (a gem) and Johnny Depp (don’t feel obligated to recreate the Anna Wintour bob and wispy voice that Depp sported in