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The new Netflix miniseries Eric asks one of the universal questions: What if Jim Henson was an emotionally abusive drunk, his son went missing in mid-Eighties New York City, the investigation involved crooked cops and a queer nightclub and an underground encampment for the unhoused, and Henson began hallucinating conversations with his newest Muppet as a way to cope with all of this?

You know, that old chestnut.

Technically, Benedict Cumberbatch is not playing Henson, but a fictional peer of the late, great puppet master: Vincent Anderson, creator and chief puppeteer of a beloved,...

British filmmaker David Yates, known for his extensive work across the “Harry Potter” universe, will be the 2023 recipient of the Raindance Icon Award.

Previous recipients of the Raindance Film Festival award include Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce, Gemma Arterton, Michael Caine, Sally Hawkins, Jude Law, Olivia Colman, Terry Gilliam, Guy Richie and Ken Loach.

Yates won his first BAFTA for BBC miniseries “The Way We Live Now” (2002) and the Directors Guild of Great Britain Award for “State of Play” (2003). In 2004, Yates directed “Sex Traffic,” winning another BAFTA.

The filmmaker then directed the the last four of the “Harry Potter” films, culminating in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.” In 2016, he directed the action adventure “The Legend of Tarzan” and then returned to J.K. Rowling’s world of wizards with “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” the same year. “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” in 2018 and “The Secrets of Dumbledore” in 2022 followed.

Exclusive: Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has boarded international sales on Goran Stolevski’s Housekeeping For Beginners starring top Romanian actress Anamaria Marinca as an unmaternal, gay woman who suddenly finds herself responsible for her partner’s two young daughters.

The drama is one of the buzziest productions to come out of Southeastern Europe this year and brings together a host of hot indie producers from three continents.

Australian-Macedonian director Stolevski’s star has been rising ever since Focus Features pre-acquired world rights to his debut feature, the Serbian mountains-shot horror You Won’t Be Alone, featuring Marinca, Noomi Rapace and Alice Englert in the cast.

After a Sundance debut, the film launched theatrically in the US in April 2022, via Universal. Focus Features also pre-acquired Stolevski’s Australia-set second feature Of An Age which opens in the U.S. on February 17.

Marinca plays the character of Dita, whose mansion in the...

Benedict Cumberbatch is in final talks to star in the Netflix limited series “Eric,” Variety has learned exclusively from sources.

The six-episode series was originally announced in November 2021. Set in 1980’s New York, the show would see Cumberbatch star as Vincent Sullivan, the lead puppet maker and puppeteer of America’s most popular children’s show, whose life begins to unravel when his young son, Edgar, disappears. Now homeless and dealing with substance addiction, Vincent finds his only companion is Eric, a seven-foot tall blue puppet, who leads him on a journey to find his son and to find a way home.

Netflix declined to comment.

The series hails from writer and executive producer Abi Morgan, whose past onscreen writing credits include shows like “Sex Traffick” and the Emmy-winning series “The Hour,” as well as films like “The Iron Lady,” “The Invisible Woman,” and “Suffragette.” Jane Featherstone, Lucy Dyke, and...

Exclusive: Netflix might have had a bumpy few weeks, but the streamer is poised to strike the first major Cannes deal on a hot market package.

We understand Netflix is closing up a 50M+ world rights deal for Pain Hustlers, with A Quiet Place star Emily Blunt attached for director David Yates (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

Pic, introduced to buyers at the Cannes Film Market by The Veterans and CAA Media Finance, is due to begin production in late August.

Pain Hustlers is said to be tonally similar to such films as The Big Short, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street. The film centers on Liza Drake (Blunt), a high-school dropout dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter, who lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Liza’s charm, guts and drive catapult...

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) is attached to star in the upcoming film Pain Hustlers, from director David Yates (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore). Pic will be introduced to buyers at the Cannes Film Market by The Veterans and CAA Media Finance, going into production in late August.

Pain Hustlers is said to be tonally similar to such films as The Big Short, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street. The film centers on Liza Drake (Blunt), a high-school dropout dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter, who lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Liza’s charm, guts and drive catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.

Wells Tower wrote the script. Lawrence Grey will produce under his Grey Matter Productions banner,...

Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone’s indie studio Sister has entered a first-look deal with the new production company Wychwood Media, from Harry Potter filmmaker David Yates and his producing partner, Lewis Taylor. Under the pact, the pair will develop and produce both scripted and unscripted film, television and documentary content for Sister’s offices in both the U.S. and UK. Yates will also have the option to direct projects coming together through the deal.

The new pact strengthens Sister and Wychwood Media’s existing relationship, which includes a commitment to a feature film adaptation of New York Times bestselling author Rory Power’s contemporary horror-thriller, Burn Our Bodies Down, penned by Moira Walley-Beckett.

“David Yates is one of the most versatile filmmakers working today. His films are visually stunning and deeply human,” said Sister’s Co-Founder and CEO, Stacey Snider. “David and Lewis are passionately committed...

A trailer for Romanian director Radu Muntean’s eighth film and the fourth to be selected for Cannes has dropped ahead of its screening at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight.

“Întregalde,” the first acquisition of Romanian distribution company Voodoo Films’ sales arm, is a tense and mud-splattered affair that explores the true nature of altruism.

The film follows a trio of Millennials on their end-of-year mission to deliver parcels to a series of remote villages in rural Transylvania: there’s earnest Maria (Maria Popistasu), sociable Ilinca (Ilona Brezoianu) and SUV petrolhead Dan (Alex Bogdan).

The tone is set early on in an argument between a volunteer couple that Maria gets a lift with: Radu (the director in a cameo role) and Cristina (Carmen Lopazan), who chastises her boyfriend for feeling pleased with himself that an eight-year-old girl that he handed a tablet to remembered him from an earlier mission. She...

Louisa Mellor Nov 18, 2016

Director David Yates on Fantastic Beasts, Harry Potter, what took the most takes, and the late, great Alan Rickman...

Five years after the Potter circus closed its doors with Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Part 2, the old gang is back with a new film about magical creature conservationist Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne.

See related American Horror Story: Roanoke might be its best season yet American Horror Story season 6: Roanoke finale speculation American Horror Story season 6: Roanoke Chapter 9 review American Horror Story season 6: Roanoke Chapter 8 review

The first of five planned pictures set against the the backdrop of dark wizard Gellart Grindelwald’s rise to power, a sequel to Fantastic Beasts has already been written by Jk Rowling. It’s reported to take place in Paris and will feature a young Albus Dumbledore alongside Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald.

Paddington producer David Heyman has spoken about the "unfair" controversy surrounding the film's BBFC rating.

It emerged last week that the BBFC had awarded a PG rating to Paddington partially on the basis of "mild sex references", which prompted a dismayed response from original creator Michael Bond.

"When I first heard, it was with a little bit of disbelief," Heyman told Digital Spy. "There's nothing in the film that is more inappropriate, or has more innuendo, than panto.

"They're doing their job, and I understand, but I think this time they were a little unfair. It's good old fun, and it's playful."

The scene in question shows Hugh Bonneville's character dressing up as a woman, and flirting with a security guard.

The BBFC has since backtracked on its description, now labelling the film as containing innuendo rather than sex references.

Speaking about the choice of The Mighty Boosh's...

You knew it was only a matter of time. After Netflix scored with original programming like "Orange Is the New Black" and "Arrested Development," Amazon quickly jumped into the game -- and now Xbox is, too. Pretty soon, look forward to new shows from your microwave and blender. Xbox will launch Xbox: Originals this June with 12 projects. They will be available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and other Microsoft devices, and, of course, the shows will offer "interactive capabilities." To prove they're not kidding around, Xbox Entertainment Studios has attracted names like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott, who are attached to two separate scripted projects based on the “Halo” franchise. Because hey, you can never get enough "Halo." Other shows in production include an unscripted series about international street soccer, an original drama about robotic servants in a dystopian world, and a documentary about the search for discarded Atari games in...

Long-time Film4 head Tessa Ross is stepping down from her role later this year to become chief executive of the National Theatre.

Ross will remain in the post until September 2014, and will stay on as chair of the Growth Fund Advisory Council.

She has been on the board of the prestigious Theatre for the past three years.

Her 13-year tenure at the broadcaster began in 2000. She became Head of Film4 in 2003, followed by her current position of Controller of Film and Drama in 2008.

Her exit follows deputy head of film Katherine Butler’s departure from Film4 in January.

Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham will look to fill Ross’ role in the next months.

Abraham said: “Tessa has made as big a contribution to Channel 4 as anyone in its history. I would like to personally thank her for her extraordinary commitment, talent and leadership over 13 remarkable years. I am looking forward to working with her over...

A new season, a return of an old enemy, a dramatic change to a relationship, and a very surprising casting choice made the premiere episode of Doctor Who quite the rollicking ride. Keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times, mind the spoilers, hang tight to your jewelry (especially bracelets), mind the spoilers and here we go…

Asylum Of The Daleks

By Steven Moffat

Directed by Nick Hurran

The Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams are all captured by Dalek sleeper agents and taken to their main fleet, home of their Parliament. Rather than Exterminate him, they beg for his help. Their Asylum, a combination hospital and prison for Daleks so damaged or insane they can no longer be controlled, is in danger of being breached after a lost spaceship crashes on it. The Doctor. Amy and Rory are sent down to the surface to shut down the planetary force field defense,...

Director Phyllida Lloyd has revealed that Margaret Thatcher's family turned down an invitation to an early viewing of the biopic

Margaret Thatcher's family refused an invitation to see The Iron Lady, the biopic of the former prime minister, from the film's director, Phyllida Lloyd.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 programme World at One, Lloyd revealed that the film-makers had invited the Thatcher family to an early viewing of the finished film, but had been turned down.

"They were the first people we invited to see the finished film," said Lloyd. "They didn't take up our offer … so we are not actually sure whether they have seen it or not."

Lloyd defended The Iron Lady's controversial portrayal of Thatcher by asserting that much of the film was "pure imagination". The Thatcher family's lack of involvement in the film was underscored by the fact that the script, by Sex Traffic writer Abi Morgan,...

He's been linked to "Cicero," "Fables", "Maleficient", "The Stand" and most recently a possible "Doctor Who" movie. Now it seems David Yates, the director behind the last four "Harry Potter" films, has finally decided on his next project says The Press Association.

Yates is set to helm an adaptation of Emma Forrest's memoir "Your Voice In My Head" which explores the personal crisis she faced when a romance fell apart and her psychiatrist died. The story is set in New York, London and Istanbul and Forrest has adapted the screenplay herself.

"It's a small film, hard-hitting and with elements of magic realism. Compared to Potter it would cost tuppence ha'penny, and for that reason it would be incredibly liberating to make" he tells Variety.

Before taking on the Potter films Yates carved out a name for himself with award-winning British television movies like "The Girl in the Cafe" and...

He's been linked to "Cicero," "Fables", "Maleficient", "The Stand" and most recently a possible "Doctor Who" movie. Now it seems David Yates, the director behind the last four "Harry Potter" films, has finally decided on his next project says The Press Association.

Yates is set to helm an adaptation of Emma Forrest's memoir "Your Voice In My Head" which explores the personal crisis she faced when a romance fell apart and her psychiatrist died. The story is set in New York, London and Istanbul and Forrest has adapted the screenplay herself.

"It's a small film, hard-hitting and with elements of magic realism. Compared to Potter it would cost tuppence ha'penny, and for that reason it would be incredibly liberating to make" he tells Variety.

Before taking on the Potter films Yates carved out a name for himself with award-winning British television movies like "The Girl in the Cafe" and...

"No matter how hard I've tried, I know I will never be truly one of them." The Weinstein Co. has debuted the second official Us trailer for Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, the film starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher. Unlike the last British trailer, this one is all serious, all drama, and damn does it look excellent. I think it really hit me with the scene where all the UK flags can be seen on display, this looks riveting. Jim Broadbent co-stars as her husband Denis Thatcher, and the cast includes Anthony Head, Roger Allam and Nick Dunning. I really think this looks like it could be fantastic, give it a chance, check it out below. Watch the second official trailer for Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, via Apple: You can also download The Iron Lady official trailer in High Def over on Apple Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic,...

To celebrate the release of The Iron Lady, in cinemas January 6th, we have teamed up with Pathé to offer you the chance to win tickets to the Premiere in London on Wednesday 4th January.

The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher, a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and intimate portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman.

The film stars Academy Award-winners Meryl Streep as Lady Thatcher and Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher. Their young selves are played by Alexandra Roach and Harry Lloyd. The rest of the cast of family and friends, politicians and advisers, is made up of the very best of British acting talent, including: Olivia Colman, Anthony Head, Richard E Grant, Iain Glen, Susan Brown,...

"One's life must matter." A brand new full-length UK trailer for The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has hit the web on The Daily Mail (via The Playlist), and it's definitely something to see. It starts very serious, then takes a rather amusing break with some "Our House" by Madness tossed in, and ends on a very powerful note, but it definitely looks intriguing, and of course Streep seems tremendous as Thatcher. I'm not particularly fond of this trailer, but it does make me very interested in seeing it. Jim Broadbent also stars as her husband Denis Thatcher. Take a look below! Watch the full UK trailer for Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, originally via The Daily Mail: Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane), directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia), The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher,...

In the midst of the 55th BFI London Film Festival, writer Abi Morgan sat down with a group of festival goers to deliver a master class, offering insight into her craft. Who is Morgan, you might ask? Across theater, television and film, she is quite prolific in the UK, from plays like Laurence Olivier Theater Award nominated "Tender," to television series like 2004's "Sex Traffic" and continuing "The Hour" (which ...

Thanks to The Hour, playwright Abi Morgan has enjoyed an incredibly prolific year. Next up, a Thatcher biopic starring Meryl Streep, a Steve McQueen film about sex and a play about God

Abi Morgan shows up late, full of apologies, to a cafe on the corner of Exmouth Market in London's Clerkenwell. I tell her it would have been understandable if she had failed to turn up at all. For she is Mrs British Screenwriter and it is daunting even to try and imagine her workload. This has been, as she says, an "extraordinary" year in which "it is all happening at once".

She has a hasty look as she bustles in, wrapped in a black shawl – part Mediterranean peasant, part human dynamo. The minute she sits down, we both start talking at once, as you do with people who, for some reason you cannot as yet explain, you instantly like.

Chicago – “The Hour” recently finished its run on BBC America and was very quickly released on Blu-ray from BBC and Warner Bros. The quick turnaround is a brilliant move on the part of the company, striking while the iron is hot if you will. If they released “The Hour” in 6 to 9 months it wouldn’t have the same impact. Now, people talk about having watched the show to their friends and they can go out and see what the buzz is about for themselves. I’m surprised more studios don’t follow the same pattern.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

So, what Is the buzz about? It’s easy to point to the show and claim it as another “Mad Men” clone but, especially in light of the canceled “The Playboy Club” and the soon-to-be canceled “Pan Am,” the accomplishments of “The Hour” seem more notable. We’re learning that cloning “Mad Men...

We've already gotten a first look at Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady with the actress fully transformed into Margaret Thatcher, a woman who rose to become the first woman to lead a major Western democracy. She won three successive General Elections and served as British Prime Minister for more than eleven years, a record unmatched in the 20th century. The teaser trailer gave us a taste of her promising, and likely Oscar-worthy performance, and now we have a cool poster for the film which juxtaposes an image of Streep as Thatcher along with Big Ben and the United Kingdom's Parliament in London. See it below . Here's the teaser poster for Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady via Yahoo! Movies (click for a larger version): Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane), directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia), The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of...

In case you didn’t know, the last Harry Potter film is coming out on July 15th. In countdown to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, I will be doing a bi-weekly series called “Harry Potter as Cinema”, starting with the first film in the series and working my way up to the final film. I will take an academic approach to the Harry Potter films as pieces of cinema, examining not only their quality but also what they are saying thematically.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Written by Michael Goldenberg

Directed by David Yates

USA, UK/2007

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix might be the best and most fascinating film in the Harry Potter franchise. Up to this point, it was by far the bleakest and and most mature film in the series while also being one of the best allegories for...

As the Harry Potter series draws to a close this month with the release of Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on July 15, we're taking a look back at the previous seven movies in the series to chart the rise of Jk Rowling's boy wizard. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix marked David Yates's debut as a Harry Potter director, and he's the only person in the series who has been honoured with a 'Best Director' award - from Empire magazine - for his role. It was this movie - the first in the series to receive an IMAX 3D release - that won him the accolade. Producer David Heyman praised Yates's track record delivering critically-acclaimed British TV dramas like State of Play and Sex Traffic, saying that he thought the director would push the film's young cast to deliver top-notch performances. Steve Kloves, who has penned the screenplays (more...

"The pearls, however, are absolutely non-negotiable!" Amidst some early Oscar buzz from Deadline's Pete Hammond, the first teaser trailer for Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, has hit the web. It comes from HeyUGuys but it looks as if it were debuted during a talk show in the UK. In addition to an amusing and unforgettable introduction to Streep as Thatcher, we get a glimpse at Roger Allam and Anthony Head in the film, but not Jim Broadbent, who plays her husband Denis. It's also a great use of some of Clint Mansell's score for Moon. This teaser definitely has me intrigued, that's for sure. Watch the first teaser trailer for Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady via HeyUGuys: Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane), directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia), The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher,...

In what’s sure to open during this year’s Oscar season, The Weinstein Company has emerged with U.S. distribution rights to The Iron Lady, the Pathe pic that stars Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher. According to Deadline, The Weinstein Company partnered with Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Company on aquiring the rights, with Alliance distributing the film in Canada.

Weinstein was executive producer on The King’S Speech. The film won 4 Oscars at the 83rd Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane, White Girl), directed by Phyllida Lloyd Cbe (Mamma Mia) and produced by Damian Jones (The History Boys, Adulthood). The film will be executive produced by Francois Ivernel and Cameron McCracken for Pathe, by Tessa Ross for Film4 and by Adam Kulick for Goldcrest.

The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher, a woman who smashed through...

In what looks reminiscent of when Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, have a look at the latest still from The Iron Lady. (via Thompson on Hollywood and DailyMail). Looking forward to a first trailer, but considering Thatcher’s accent, will Streep sound more like Julia Child (Julie And Julia) than Great Britain’s first female prime minister? I think there’s maybe a octave or two difference between these women’s voices. What do you think?

Pathé© announced in February that principal photography has begun on The Iron Lady. Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane, White Girl), directed by Phyllida Lloyd Cbe (Mamma Mia) and produced by Damian Jones (The History Boys, Adulthood). The film will be executive produced by Francois Ivernel and Cameron McCracken for Pathé©, by Tessa Ross for Film4 and by Adam Kulick for Goldcrest.

The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher,...

From an unflinching portrayal of the life of a Victorian prostitute in The Crimson Petal to a comically dreadful wife in the film adaptation of One Day, Romola Garai is set for stardom. But while she is uninhibited in her work, don't try asking about her private life...

Ker-flunk, ker-flunk. Romola Garai thumps across the wooden floor of the photography studio with the grace of a flat-footed Cyberman. She seems unable to control her shoes – a pair of Christian Louboutin platform heels. She looks so elegantly beautiful from the ankle up that her clod-hopping progress is particularly amusing. In the end the photographer comments.

"Yeah," says Garai and stares dispassionately at her feet. "I can't really do shoes."

Garai, it transpires, has very firm ideas about what she does and doesn't do; the way life should be lived, what's important and what she can really do without, thank you very much.

Biopic about Britain's first female Pm by Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd also stars Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher

Last week, the new Man of Steel was revealed. Today, it's the turn of The Iron Lady, the Margaret Thatcher biopic that marks the latest collaboration for Meryl Streep and her Mamma Mia! director, Phyllida Lloyd.

The film, written by Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane), started shooting at the end of January. Jim Broadbent plays Denis Thatcher, with Olivia Coleman as their daughter, Carol, and Alexandra Roach and Harry Lloyd as the couple in younger days. Anthony Head is Geoffrey Howe, Richard E Grant plays Michael Heseltine, Julian Wadham is Francis Pym and Michael Pennington Labour leader Michael Foot. Roger Allam rounds off the cast as television journalist-turned-political strategist Gordon Reece.

The film is billed as the story of "a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class...

Pathé have announced that principle photography has begun on the big screen political biopic based on the life and career of Britain’s only female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. The film, The Iron Lady, stars Meryl Streep in the historic role and to celebrate, Pathé have sent us the first official image of Streep in character!

Beginning life as a grocer’s daughter, Margaret Thatcher was one of a new wave of politicians when she became a member of Parliament in 1955. Little did people know that over the next 35 years, Margaret Thatcher, or The Iron Lady as she was known, would rise to the top of the ranks in the Conservative party, become this country’s one and only female leader, take us into war with Iraq (for the first time) and into another war with Argentina. Love her or hate her, Margaret Thatcher was firmly embedded into the history...

Back in 2009 she transformed herself into the gifted and charming cook Julia Child for the split story of Julie & Julia. Now the amazing Meryl Streep is back as another iconic woman in The Iron Lady, the story of Margaret Thatcher who rose to become the first woman to lead a major Western democracy. She won three successive General Elections and served as British Prime Minister for more than eleven years, a record unmatched in the 20th century. Fox has sent us the first look at Streep in full wardrobe and make-up, and it's clear that this will be yet another role she'll disappears into like a chameleon. See the photo below! Here's or first look at Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady: Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane), directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia), The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of...

Wow! With the mouthpiece and hair, Meryl Streep looks just like former British Prime Minister, Lady Margaret Thatcher. Uncanny resemblance.

From Pathe’:

“The prospect of exploring the swathe cut through history by this remarkable woman is a daunting and exciting challenge. I am trying to approach the role with as much zeal, fervour and attention to detail as the real Lady Thatcher possesses – I can only hope my stamina will begin to approach her own!”

Meryl Streep

Pathé announces that principal photography has begun on The Iron Lady. Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane, White Girl), directed by Phyllida Lloyd Cbe (Mamma Mia) and produced by Damian Jones (The History Boys, Adulthood). The film will be executive produced by Francois Ivernel and Cameron McCracken for Pathé, by Tessa Ross for Film4 and by Adam Kulick for Goldcrest.

The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher,...

Pathe have just sent me the first look at Meryl Streep convincingly resembling former U.K. prime minster Margaret Thatcher in the forthcoming biopic The Iron Lady, which began filming a week ago in London. Streep is on the left, and you could be mistaken for thinking otherwise!

Since the very first day the film was announced, The Iron Lady has been looked upon as Streep’s “The Queen” – i.e. the political minded movie biopic of a fascinating and controversial figure, during a tumultuous time, that will see the veteran, almost peerless actress, be dominant on the Awards stage.

Streep has been nominated a whopping Twelve times since her second Oscar win 29 years ago and if I were a bookie, despite filming not yet complete, I would stop taking bets a whole year early on Streep winning her third next year for this, fittingly ending 30 years of being overlooked.

Pathé have released the first image of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, from the biopic The Iron Lady.

The two-time Oscar winning actress has admitted that playing the former Prime Minister is an intimidating task: "The prospect of exploring the swathe cut through history by this remarkable woman is a daunting and exciting challenge.

As for preparing for the role, Streep added that she aims to approach the part “with as much zeal, fervour and attention to detail as the real Lady Thatcher possesses - I can only hope my stamina will begin to approach her own!"

Written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic, Brick Lane) and directed by Phyllida Lloyd Cbe (Mamma Mia), The Iron Lady tells the compelling story of Margaret Thatcher, a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power,...

The first still of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady has been unveiled. The movie will centre on "power and the price that is paid for power" and be directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) from a script by Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic). "The prospect of exploring the swathe cut through history by this remarkable woman is a daunting and exciting challenge," said Streep. "I am trying to approach the role with as much zeal, fervour and attention to detail as the real Lady Thatcher possesses - I can only (more)...

All of David Cameron's wishes are about to come true, as beloved icon Meryl Streep lends her likeability and considerable acting talent to The Iron Lady, a story in the life of Margaret Thatcher, set just before she took the UK to war in the Falklands. And here's Streep in costume as the lady-who's-not-for-turning herself.The film casts Jim Broadbent as Maggie's husband Dennis, with Anthony Head as Geoffrey Howe, Richard E. Grant as Michael Heseltine and Roger Allam as Gordon Reece. Alexandra Roach and Harry Lloyd play the young Maggie and Dennis.Streep's Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd is directing the film. It's probably too much to hope for musical numbers, however, which is a shame because singalong DVDs full of songs like 'Die, Trade Union, Die' would probably be extremely popular with the current administration. Abi Morgan, of Brick Lane and Sex Traffic, wrote the script.The Iron Lady...

Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender will star in Steve McQueen’s “Shame,” reports The Playlist.

McQueen (the young director of the Ira movie, not the dead actor from the car chase movie) worked with Fassbender on his previous film “Hunger.” Apparently all went well.

The plot of “Shame” seems to require the two to explore some dark and taboo topic matter: Brandon (Fassbender) is a sex-addict who is visited by his blues-singing sister.

According to The Playlist, Mulligan could play the artistic sister or one of Brandon’s flings.

McQueen penned the script with “Sex Traffic” writer Abi Morgan.

Excited as we are to see a pair of young, talented actors partner with an up-and-coming director, it’s difficult for us to divorce Mulligan from her role as Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrman’s soon-to-be-filmed “The Great Gatsby,” the anticipated saving grace of bored freshman year English students across the nation.

British actors Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender are set to join Steve McQueen (the director!), for his sex addiction drama Shame which is due out next year. McQueen made his name by directing BAFTA winning Ira drama Hunger in 2008 with Fassbender in the lead role, and it looks like the pair are reuniting again for this project which will be set in New York.

The plot centres on Brandon (Fassbender), a man with sex addiction. Carey Mulligan could play one of two roles according The Playlist. There’s Marianne, a co-worker that Brandon begins a relationship with, but there is another character named Sissy, Brandon’s sister, who is a ‘blues singer’.

The actors will be joined by James Badge Dale who has starred in 24, The Departed and The Pacific. The script is written by both McQueen and Abi Morgan, who wrote Sex Traffic.

This is a project with potential...

As the fourth series of the Madison Avenue drama draws to a close - what will fill the gap it leaves behind?

Mad Men finishes its fourth] season tomorrow – the last on the BBC. Argh. What will Mad Men saddos like me do until season five starts on Sky Atlantic next autumn? What would Don Draper do? Probably start an ill-fated drunken affair, actually. Here are some more sensible, Peggy Olson-style suggestions:

• Boardwalk Empire Coming to Sky Atlantic in February, HBO's newest drama combines the period vigour of Mad Men and Deadwood (it's set in prohibition-era Atlantic City), the gangland violence of The Sopranos and The Wire, and a creative team including Martin Scorsese, Terence Winter and Steve Buscemi. It looks beautiful, and as immersive as Al Capone's gloopy moonshine.

• The Mad Men diaspora At the risk of puncturing the illusion that Jon Hamm is Don Draper, you can follow the gang in other enterprises.

As we edge ever closer to the Friday release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 in our look back at the Potter franchise, we’ve arrived at the beginning of what could be called the David Yates era. After Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell declined the invitation to helm Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Warner Bros. and producer David Heyman continued their streak of left-field choices, offering the job first to Mira Nair (The Namesake) and Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake). Finally, they decided upon a soft-spoken man best known for two British TV projects: Sex Traffic,...

Romola Garai is to star in a new drama which could be the BBC’s equivalent to Us TV hit Mad Men.

New six-part BBC2 series The Hour will bring to life 1950s London and take viewers behind the scenes of a topical news show as TV was finding its feet.

Romola recently starred in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma and will soon be seen in BBC2's four part adaptation of The Crimson Petal And The White.

The Hour, written by Abi Morgan and produced by Kudos Film and Television, is being billed as a sexy, stylistic period show, looking at gender politics but switching the action back a little earlier than Mad Men to 1956, when TV was still largely in its infancy.

Dominic West, the British actor who made his name in cult TV hit The Wire as Baltimore cop McNulty, will star as the news show’s upper crust,...

The Daily Mail tells us that Meryl Streep could take the lead in a biopic of the long-serving former Conservative Prime Minister which is being made by Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd. The film is based on a script by Abi Morgan, whose previous screenwriting has included Sex Traffic and Brick Lane. Movie companies Pathe and Film4, which will co-finance the production, confirmed Streep's involvement was under discussion with Meryl and her agent. Jim Broadbent is rumoured to be a favourite for the part of Dennis Thatcher, according to the Metro. The film will be set in 1982, chronicling the countdown to Britain's involvement in the Falklands War.  The war proved to be a pivotal moment in Thatcher's political career, the conflict eventually sent her popularity soaring in some areas and it helped her to win the second of her three general election triumphs. Streep has adapted herself to a number of movies and roles,...

Film4 biopic would feature Jim Broadbent as nm0857116 autoDenis Thatcher[/link] and be directed by Mamma Mia's Phyllida Lloyd

Meryl Streep is in talks to play Margaret Thatcher in a Film4 biopic.

Streep is being lined up to star in the film alongside Jim Broadbent as Thatcher's husband, Denis.

The Thatcher biopic would reunite Streep with Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd.

It was reported by Hollywood Reporter that BBC Films was developing the project with Pathé. However Film4, Channel 4's movie production arm, will be producing the film rather than the BBC.

The filim is based on a script by UK screenwriter Abi Morgan, whose TV drama credits include the recent Royal Wedding, White Girl, Brick Lane and Sex Traffic.

In a statement Pathe and Film4 said the story "concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and insightful portrait of an extraordinary and...

More Holiday Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]

[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]

On Demand

IFC Films (with whom, full disclosure, we obviously share a parent company) will be delivering new films all holiday season to homes across the country through their Festival Direct and Sundance Selects labels. These include the cross-cultural romantic dramedy "I'll Come Running" (Nov. 4), Josiane Balasko's farce "A French Gigolo" (Nov. 6), the Inuit tribal drama "Necessities of Life" (Nov. 11), the Brit crime thriller "Adulthood" (Nov. 18), the Indian love story "Return to Rajapur" (Nov. 25), the Christopher Masterson-Bijou Phillips celibacy satire "Made for Each Other" (Dec. 2), "Harry Potter" helmer David Yates' gritty two-part drama "Sex Traffic" (Dec. 2 and 9), the Korean comedy "Night and Day" (Dec. 23) and "The Ghost" (Dec. 30).

Meanwhile, in the newly launched Sundance Selects series, there's a pair of harrowing documentaries VOD premieres: Kief Davidson's coming-of-age boxing doc "Kassim the Dream" (Nov. 27) and the unvarnished biopic "Nick Nolte: No Exit" (Dec.

In a new interview with The Scotsman (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Interview-Helen-McCrory-actress.5444658.jp) Helen McCrory discusses her brief turn as Narcissa Malfoy in Half-Blood Prince. She describes her experience on set and talks about the role her character plays. ---Quote--- "Don't reach down for your popcorn, because by the time you do, I could be off the screen, in Half-Blood Prince I am literally like, whoa, there she goes! But everyone was like that. In our first scene, Helena Bonham Carter and I are rolling past this blue screen, and we knock on the door and Tim Spall comes out. "Tim pulls open the door and looks. That took about a day and a half of filming, and then it was, 'Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap on Mr Spall,' and you go, that's it? You have people like Tim, that most producers are killing themselves to work with,...

LONDON -- Sex Traffic writer Abi Morgan's take on the drama and destruction of the 2004 Asian tsunami tops BBC2's fall schedule, unveiled Thursday by channel controller Roly Keating. Tsunami -- the Aftermath, a co-production with HBO Films, boasts a cast including Tim Roth, Toni Collette, Sophie Okonedo and Hugh Bonneville and follows a group of fictional characters whose lives are overturned by the events of Dec. 26, 2004. The film is based on firsthand interviews and extensive research by the project's producers. "What this drama is able to do ... is to explore the cultural and personal fault lines that can be ruptured when catastrophe strikes," Keating said. "The intention is to mark the unique nature and scale of this tragedy and to pay tribute to the courage of the victims and survivors."...

TORONTO -- The Eleventh Hour, a Canadian newsroom drama canceled last season, led all comers at the unveiling Tuesday of nominations for the 20th annual Geminis, Canada's TV awards. Hour, which earned two Geminis on 12 nominations at the 2004 Geminis before being axed by the CTV network in the spring, will this year challenge in 15 juried categories, followed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s Fifth Estate and Sex Traffic miniseries, each with 14 nominations. The CBC drama This Is Wonderland came away with 12 nominations, as the public broadcaster continues to dominate the annual Geminis competition. Wonderland and another CBC drama, Da Vinci's Inquest, will challenge in the best drama category, facing competition from CTV's Degrassi: The Next Generation and Hour, Chum's Godiva's and Global Television's ReGenesis, which earned eight nominations.

LONDON -- Channel 4 swept the boards at this year's British Academy Television Awards, taking eight of the 18 prizes handed out at a ceremony held Sunday night at the Theatre Royal in London's Drury Lane. In total the BBC took seven awards: two for BBC1, BBC2 and BBC3 and one award for digital channel BBC4. ITV picked up three awards. Comedian Graham Norton anchored the awards, the premier night for British television program-makers, in a ceremony that also aired on BBC1. Sex Traffic, Channel 4's harrowing drama about two Moldovan sisters sold into prostitution, picked up two awards. Newcomer Annamaria Marinca took the best actress award and the Granada-produced show also was voted best drama serial.

CANNES -- French pay TV channel Canal Plus unveiled its latest acquisitions at a MIPTV dinner Tuesday, including Mark Burnett's boxing reality show The Contender and Sex Traffic, the U.K. miniseries about European prostitution networks, from Granada. The channel also has picked up the paranormal drama After Life, co-produced by the BBC for U.K. network ITN. The company also announced Monday that it had picked up the big-budget miniseries Speer and Hitler -- The Devil's Architect from Bavaria Media TV. It also confirmed that it has taken Over There, Steven Bochco's upcoming series about the war in Iraq.