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Steven Knight may not be a name everyone recognizes, but odds are you are familiar with his resume. Having written films ranging from Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises, Pawn Sacrifice, Spencer, and Maria, the writer is best known for his run of small-screen projects, including Peaky Blinders, Taboo, Rogue Heroes, Great Expectations, and The Veil. His penchant for British period dramas has resulted in some great shows, and his latest project is the Hulu series A Thousand Blows, starring Stephen Graham and Malachi Kirby.

A Thousand Blows follows Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), two best friends from Jamaica who travel to London to seek a new and better life. Finding themselves in the violent area of London’s West End, the pair come across Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), the leader of the all-female criminals known as the Forty Elephants. They also meet Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham...

Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller of 1958, Vertigo, is considered one of the greatest films in cinema history. The movie starring James Stewart and Kim Novak is often hailed as the director's unparalleled masterpiece, despite the mixed reception it had when it was released. As decades passed, it received a complete reevaluation until achieving the status it still holds today. Remaking it seems as pointless as remaking The Godfather, but it does seem to be happening - and even the movie's writer is aware of how ridiculous it is.

Steven Knight, the screenwriter behind films like the thriller Dirty Pretty Things, the biopic Spencer and the 2024 Angelina Jolie film Maria, jokingly agrees that he is "an idiot" for attempting the impossible in taking on remaking the classic thriller. However, it hasn't stopped him from thinking about remaking Hitchcock's Technicolor classic. "It's swirling around in my head as we speak," he...

Since first collaborating on 2021’s Spencer, Steven Knight and Pablo Larraín have developed what the former calls “a very Elton John/Bernie Taupin sort of relationship.” Knight, who wrote Spencer and scripted this year’s Larraín-directed Maria, recently spoke with Deadline about his approach to the story thatt reimagines American-Greek soprano Maria Callas in her final days as she reckons with her identity and life.

The movie — Knight eschews the term “biopic” — world premiered to great acclaim at the Venice Film Festival in September, led by a committed performance from Angelina Jolie as the titular opera star.

An Oscar nominee for 2004’s Dirty Pretty Things and creator of global phenomenon Peaky Blinders, Knight, as he explains in the Q&a below, relied on firsthand accounts of people who knew Callas, as well as her performances and interviews with the formidable woman who often was treated harshly during her lifetime before...

Paramount has announced the lineup of movies, TV shows and live sports coming to the Paramount+ streaming service in January. The Paramount Plus January 2025 schedule includes CBS winter premieres, Henry Danger: The Movie, the NFL on CBS, Star Trek: Section 31, and more.

Get ready for an exciting lineup of CBS winter premieres this January. Paramount+ subscribers can stream the new series Hollywood Squares and Watson, plus the return of The Price Is Right at Night, Raid the Cage and NCIS: Sydney.

Star Trek: Section 31

The new year brings new adventures on Paramount+, including the premiere of the action-packed original movie Star Trek: Section 31, starring Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, and Henry Danger: The Movie, based on the hit Nickelodeon live-action series.

Football fans can also catch all the action on the field with the NFL on CBS‘s coverage of the NFL Playoffs, including Super Wild Card and AFC Divisional Round matchups,...

Sophie Okonedo will be honoured with the Richard Harris award at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas).

The actor will receive the award at the Bifas ceremony held this Sunday, December 8, at the Roundhouse in London.

Okonedo is best known for her Oscar-nominated performance in 2004’s Hotel Rwanda while her other film credits include The Secret Lie Of Bees, Christopher Robin, Wild Rose, Death On The Nile and Catherine Called Birdy.

She was previously nominated for two Bifas - in 2002 for Stephen Frears’s Dirty Pretty Things and in 2009 for Anthony Fabian’s Skin.

On the TV side, Okonedo is...

Sophie Okonedo is set to receive the Richard Harris Award at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) on Sunday 8 December.

The prize is given for an outstanding contribution by an actor to British film. Previous recipients include Samantha Morton, Riz Ahmed, Kristin Scott Thomas, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent and in 2023, Stephen Graham.

Stage and screen star Okonedo was Oscar-nominated for Hotel Rwanda in 2005 and won a Tony for A Raisin In The Sun in 2014. She has twice previously been nominated for a BIFA for roles in Skin and Dirty Pretty Things.

She made her way into acting at the Royal Court’s youth theatre in London, before going on to develop her craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada). She made her big-screen debut in Isaac Julien’s enduring 1991 East-end drama Young Soul Rebels.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the scripts behind the year’s buzziest awards-season films continues with Maria, the Maria Callas snapshot-biopic starring Angelina Jolie. Pablo Larraín directed the screenplay penned by Steven Knight.

For Larraín and Knight, the Netflix movie reteams them after 2021’s Lady Di biopic Spencer, which earned Kristen Stewart a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Larraín’s 2016 movie Jackie, about Jackie Kennedy, also earned its star, Natalie Portman, an Oscar nom.

Jolie, already an Oscar winner, here plays the famed opera star as she retreats to Paris after a glamorous and tumultuous life in the public eye. The pic reimagines the American-Greek soprano in her final days as the diva reckons with her identity and life. In real life, Callas died of a heart attack at her Paris home in 1977 at age 53.

Related: ‘Maria’ Venice Film Festival Red Carpet: Angelina Jolie, Pablo Larraín & More

For Knight,...

“My goal was to recreate and reach perfection in what the clothing was,” declares two-time Oscar-nominated costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini (“Pinnocchio” and “Cyrano”) about “Maria.” For our recent webchat he adds, “Let’s not forget that Maria Callas is still an icon, and music lovers adore her, they love her, so my goal was also not to disappoint the audience,” he says, adding that it was “a huge responsibility, because I was going to take to the screen the clothing that Maria Callas wore during her performances in her operas, and I have to say that I am maniacal about details. I have to make sure that every single detail is taken care of. So I studied the proportions, the cuts the fabrics very, very closely.” Watch our video interview above.

See 2025 Oscar contenders: Watch all of our video interviews

“Maria” is directed by acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín...

Chiwetel Ejiofor has long been one of the most underrated actors of his generation, as he emerged from low-key character dramas like Dirty Pretty Things and Children of Men to deliver an Academy Award-nominated performance in 12 Years a Slave as Solomon Northup. While he still managed to pop up in franchises like Venom and Doctor Strange, Ejiofor has also proved to be a talented director in his own right following the release of his theatrical feature film debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind in 2019. Ejiofors second directed film, Rob Peace, is a powerful twist on the typical coming-of-age story that speaks to important themes about paternal relationships and racial dynamics in the United States.

It is entirely possible to have a captivating thriller without chase scenes, shoot-outs, explosions, or high-octane action. That's what Stephen Frears' 2002 bold British social thriller Dirty Pretty Things with its impressive 94% nod on Rotten Tomatoes clearly demonstrates. Set against the still globally relevant subject of overlooked immigrants with London at its epicenter, the film is a statement about the inhumanity of immigration procedures, castigating how people have become secondary to processes. Through his picture, Frears confronts nationalism and argues that people's nationality, whatever that may be, should not precede humanity. He weaves this argument through a narrative that is heart-pounding and full of tension; about survival, morality, and exploitation. This boldness is not surprising coming from a director who isn't afraid to explore different genres, including helming projects like High Fidelity and The Queen as well as some of the most memorable TV series, such as the historical drama A Very English Scandal and Quiz.

Last year, it was reported that Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight was tapped to pen the screenplay for the untitled Rey-centric Star Wars movie with Ms. Marvel‘s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attached to direct. The new cinematic Star Wars installment is the same one that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson originally penned before they departed. Knight is best known for creating Peaky Blinders, the period crime drama starring Cillian Murphy, but he is also known for his work on Eastern Promises, Dirty Pretty Things, Locke, Allied, Spencer, Taboo, See, Sas: Rogue Heroes, and more. It’s said that this new Star Wars movie will mark the franchise’s return to the big screen following the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.

Variety is now reporting that Steven Knight has also left the proposed Star Wars project for undisclosed reasons. This comes long after production was expected to kick off earlier...

Netflix has announced that production commenced today on the highly anticipated Peaky Blinders movie, an epic continuation of the multi-award-winning gangster saga, set in the lawless streets of Birmingham in the 1900s.

Cillian Murphy reprises his role as the iconic Tommy Shelby in the film written by the show’s creator, Steven Knight, who produces alongside Patrick Holland, Cillian Murphy, and Guy Heeley. The film will be made in association with BBC Film.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

“I’m thrilled to see the cameras rolling on this new chapter of the Peaky Blinders story, set during World War II. The country is at war, and so, of course, are our Peaky Blinders,” said writer and producer Steven Knight.

Director Tom Harper added: “There’s a great feeling of anticipation and excitement amongst our outstanding cast and crew. We’re grateful to the fans for getting us to this point and...

Angelina Jolie’s critically acclaimed portrayal of famed opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” is set to take the fall awards season by storm.

Netflix is set to release the film in U.S. theaters on Nov. 27 before it debuts on the streaming platform on Dec. 11, Variety can reveal exclusively. Additionally, the streamer has shared a new image from the film featuring Jolie as the influential musician.

“Maria” received an eight-minute standing ovation at its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, held at the Sala Grande Theatre. Moved by the reception, Jolie was seen wiping away tears. Netflix secured the film soon after winning a bidding war with at least one major distributor in the lead-up to the festival.

Larraín’s biographical drama follows the American Greek soprano Maria Callas as she retreats to Paris after a glamorous yet tumultuous life in the public eye. The...

The talented cast of Netflix's 3 Body Problem is talented and consists of both new and familiar faces. Created by the men behind Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with Alexander Woo, the sci-fi thriller is the second live-action adaptation of the Chinese novel, The Three-Body Problem, following a Chinese version in 2023. So far, reviews for 3 Body Problem have been largely positive; the movie sits at 74% on Rotten Tomatoes.

3 Body Problem tells one epic story across multiple points in time. The show begins in 1960s China with a lonely woman's decision, going on to track how her choice impacts future events. It also focuses on a band of scientists in the present day known as the "Oxford Five," who make it their mission to solve why the laws of nature are beginning to unravel. The threat to humanity that emerges is unlike any seen before.

Angelina Jolie received a thunderous, eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival following the world premiere of Pablo Larraín’s “Maria.” The reception moved the Oscar-winning actress to tears and left her contemplating the legacy of Maria Callas, the opera diva she brings so thrillingly to life on screen.

“I thought about her a lot in that moment,” Jolie said during an interview at the Telluride Film Festival, where “Maria” screened last week. “It’s strange when you feel so close to this real human being. I know that applause was for her life. Often, we don’t, as artists, know if our work resonates, or we don’t expect kindness. You walk out expecting not to be supported or not to connect. But ‘Maria’ did.”

“Maria” is part of Larraín’s trilogy of iconic, often misunderstood women, one that began with “Jackie” (2016), starring Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy,...

As I sat through the North American premiere of Pablo Larraín’s biopic of Maria Callas at the Telluride Film Festival, which stars Angelina Jolie as the famed opera singer, I couldn’t help but recall a line from Al Pacino in “The Godfather Part III” (1990): “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”

It’s been an awfully long time since Jolie was contending for a statuette — her last acting nomination was for 2008’s “Changeling” and she’s spent the time since then starring in popcorn movies like “Salt” and “Maleficent” or directing films like “Unbroken.” But if you needed a reminder of what a formidable acting talent Jolie is, it’s on display in her transformative portrayal of one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. It’s a chameleonic turn that can best be described as a a kind of cinematic possession.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has shared how his encounter with US rapper Snoop Dogg changed his view of the drama he had created as a love letter to his native Birmingham, a city in the middle of the UK.

The prolific writer and producer can count A-listers including Barack Obama, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt among the fans who have expressed their love for the show, which ran for six seasons until 2022. But it was meeting Snoop that made him realise just how big the show really was – and that it had brought home to him the universal nature of the show “with people from Eastern Europe to Buenos Aires getting it and feeling the same thing.”

Peaky Blinders was inspired by Knight’s own childhood in Birmingham, where his mother worked for local bookmakers at a time when betting was illegal. The drama was based on stories Knight learned about local gangsters,...

Netflix’s House of Guinness has brewed its cast.

James Norton and Jack Gleeson have been named among the cast for Steven Knight-penned Guinness factory drama series.

Joining them are Niamh McCormack, Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air, Manhunt), Louis Partridge (Pistol, Enola Holmes), Emily Fairn (The Responder, Black Mirror: Demon 79), Fionn O’Shea (Normal People, Dance First), Seamus O’Hara (Blue Lights, An Irish Goodbye), Dervla Kirwan (True Detective: Night Country, Smother), Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones, The Long Shadow), Danielle Galligan (Shadow and Bone, Obituary), David Wilmot (Station Eleven, Bodkin) and Hilda Fay (The Woman in the Wall, Spilt Milk).

The series, from Banijay UK’s Kudos, is billed as an epic story inspired by The Guinness family, a European dynasty made famous by the drink they brew.

UK actor-filmmaker Chiwetel Ejiofor and filmmaker Michael Winterbottom will receive honorary Raindance Icon awards at this year’s Raindance Film Festival (June 19-28).

Ejiofor will receive his award at the festival’s opening gala, the UK premiere of Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo on June 19.

Winterbottom will be presented with his award during the jury awards ceremony on June 27.

Ejiofor is known for his work as an actor in 12 Years A Slave – for which he won the best actor Bafta and was nominated for the Oscar – Dirty Pretty Things, Children Of Men and Marvel’s Doctor Strange franchise.

He has...

Renée Zellweger will don the English accent for the revisit to Bridget Jones’ world. In the upcoming fourth movie in the franchise, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the plot is said to “pick up with Bridget in her early fifties, as she navigates the challenges of modern life while juggling the responsibilities of motherhood.” Along with Zellweger, returning players from the past films are set to include Hugh Grant, and Emma Thompson.

Variety has now reported that the new installment has added some notable names to the cast. Isla Fisher will be joining the comedy along with Nico Parker (How to Train Your Dragon), Josette Simon (Anatomy of a Scandal) and Leila Farzad (Black Mirror: Joan is Awful). Additionally, Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones are set to return as Bridget’s mum and dad. Sarah Solemani, Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson and James Callis will be coming back to reprise...

Hugh Grant has been expanding on his career beyond his famous rom-coms, having starred in last year’s special effects-laden big-budget films Wonka and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Grant will be returning to his popular franchise with Renée Zellweger for the recently announced upcoming fourth film in the Bridget Jones movies, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. The plot is said to “pick up with Bridget in her early fifties, as she navigates the challenges of modern life while juggling the responsibilities of motherhood.”

Grant recently spoke with the publication People as he teases the next installment in the series. The English actor stated,

It is very moving as well as funny. It’s partly based on Helen Fielding’s experiences of bringing up two children by herself after her husband died. And so Bridget is bringing up two kids and wondering whether she should ever go back to dating.

It’s finally happening! Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Emma Thompson are returning for another chapter in the Bridget Jones saga with Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Universal Studios and Working Title are the studios, with Michael Morris, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) joining the cast.

Inspired by Helen Fielding’s popular novels and a previous column she wrote as the title character for The Independent, the Bridget Jones film series revolves around Zellweger’s Bridget Jones, a hapless single woman lost in love who explores a complex web of relationships. The series began in 2001 with Bridget Jones’s Diary, followed by the sequels Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’s Baby, debuting in 2004 and 2016. The trilogy was a surprising box office banger with $760 million worldwide in ticket sales.

According to Deadline, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy “picks up with Bridget in her early fifties,...

Bill Murray and Naomi Watts are ready to activate their Wonder Twin powers again for The Friend, a new dramatic comedy from director/writer duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel (Montana Story). Murray and Watts lead the project inspired by Sigrid Nunez’s New York Times bestselling novel, with Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd, and Noma Dumezweni filling out the primary cast.

According to Deadline’s exclusive report, The Friend “follows a New York writer in the aftermath of her lifelong friend and mentor’s unexpected death. Thereafter, she’s left to deal with his complicated literary legacy, three eccentric ex-wives — and a massive, brokenhearted Great Dane named Apollo.”

For a more detailed description, check out the book’s synopsis:

When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is...

Gas up your hog and prepare to ride alongside Tom Hardy because 20th Century Studios is ready to announce The Bikeriders release date. The motorcycle club drama hits the road in theaters on December 1, 2023, just in time for Oscar season. Jeff Nichols directs from a script he wrote inspired by the Danny Lyon novel. The Bikeriders is an original story set in the 1960s following the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.

Produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, The Bikeriders features a cast that would make any Sons of Anarchy fan drool with envy. Tom Hardy, Boyd Holbrook, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Austin Butler, and Norman Reedus lead the cast. Damon Herriman, Mike Faist,...

British-Australian film director Tom Hooper's résumé is long and impressive. Since breaking into film and TV in the late 1990s, Hooper has bagged a startling number of accolades, including a Primetime Emmy for Elizabeth I (2005), a Golden Globe for his HBO miniseries on the famous American president, John Adams (2008); and an Academy Award and BAFTA for The King's Speech (2010).

And although, more recently, Hooper has made headlines for the wrong reasons – his work on the 2019 box office bomb Cats puts him alongside Kevin Costner as one of only two people to have won both an Oscar for Best Director and a Golden Raspberry for Worst Director – there's no denying his dedication to the craft.

But while mainstream audiences will be familiar with his work on Cats, The King's Speech, Les Misérables, and Michael Sheen's sports drama The Damned United (2009), Hooper's first movie is arguably his best. Red Dust (2004) was a taut,...

The programme is back after a nine-year hiatus.

UK screenwriting talent incubator The Script Factory is re-launching after a hiatus of nine years, with upcoming courses set to kick off later this year.

The Script Factory was launched by Charlotte Macleod and Lucy Scher in 1996, to equip new writers and script developers with knowledge of the film industry, with Justine Hart joining the team in 2000. it presented performed readings of unproduced screenplays such as Steven Knight’s Dirty Pretty Things and held masterclasses with filmmakers including Kathryn Bigelow, Andrea Arnold, Charlie Kaufman, Spike Lee and Wes Anderson.

The original incarnation...

Steven Knight, the creator of the FX on Hulu limited series “Great Expectations,” was hit with sharp criticism when the show premiered March 26. Critics blasted the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of “Dirty Pretty Things” (2002) for taking liberties with Charles Dickens‘ classic, and he responded in a recent interview Radio Times.

“I would say it’s like there’s this beautiful mountain, which is the novel, it’s a beautiful thing, it’s fantastic,” Knight said. “It will endure long after we’re all gone. Then someone sets up an easel and does an impressionistic painting of the mountain. It’s not saying ‘This is the mountain,’ it’s saying ‘This is my version. This is my impression of what this mountain is.’ I think that’s exactly what this process is. And I think if you sat down and said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna paint the mountain’ and at the end it looks exactly like the mountain,...

April on Prime Video is stacked with returning favorites, the launch of one of Amazon’s biggest shows ever and a bevy of great movies to watch. The fifth and final season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” launches on April 14, while Amazon will premiere the globe-trotting action-thriller series “Citadel” – starring Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and Richard Madden – on April 28. The show hails from “Avengers: Endgame” filmmaker Joe and Anthony Russo.

Noteworthy movies arriving on April 1 include the “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” movies, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Looper,” “Vanilla Sky” and “Top Gun.”

You can also stream the Billy Eichner rom-com “Bros” starting April 4 and the George Clooney/Julia Roberts rom-com “Ticket to Paradise” on April 11.

Check out the full list of what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in April 2023 below.

Also Read:

The 41 Best Movies on Amazon Prime (April 2023)

April 1

American Gigolo

At the Gate...

As befitting its status as one of the world’s biggest companies, every now and then Amazon likes to take a big swing with its Prime Video originals. With its list of new releases for April 2023, the streamer is taking one of its biggest swings yet.

Though it’s not quite as vast or expensive as fellow Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Citadel (premiering April 28) is a massive, massive undertaking. Starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, this spy series is described as “an expansive and groundbreaking global event comprising a mothership series and several local language satellite series.” This means that the Russo Brothers-produced project will eventually feature several spinoffs in multiple countries and languages around the world. Neat-o!

The only other major TV original of note this month is Dead Ringers, based on the 1988 David Cronenberg film of the same name,...

Prime Video is hoping to launch its own extended franchise universe in April with the premiere of international spy series “Citadel” from the minds of the Russo Brothers. The show stars Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra, and Stanley Tucci, and is intended to be the first block of an interconnected story with different spinoffs in countries and regions around the world. The first version will begin streaming on April 28. In the show, the world is in the grips of Manticore, a criminal organization, and several former spies are recruited to restore order despite having their memories erased.

Watch the trailer for “Citadel”:

Beloved young adult author Judy Blume opened the door to discussion about difficult subjects for generations of kids. Now, the writer is the subject of a new documentary, “Judy Blume Forever,” coming to Prime Video on April 21. The doc looks at her trajectory — from a scared kid to...

Never tell “Star Wars” the odds!

Things are moving faster than a Mos Espa podrace over at Lucasfilm. On Wednesday, we wrote that heavyweight writer-producer Damon Lindelof and his new partner (padawan?) Justin Britt-Gibson had walked away as writers of the upcoming (and untitled) “Star Wars” film. The project, currently more shrouded in more mystery than Emperor Palpatine, is set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a “Ms. Marvel” vet and director-producer on a long list of documentaries.

But the Kathleen Kennedy-led production shingle has found its new scribe. Steven Knight, the writer-director of Tom Hardy vehicle “Locke” and creator of “Peaky Blinders,” is currently suiting up to travel to that galaxy far, far away. The British Knight has also written the screenplay for the Steven Frears film “Dirty Pretty Things,” the David Cronenberg film “Eastern Promises,” and the underrated Robert Zemeckis spy thriller “Allied.”

In addition to “Peaky Blinders,...

One impending Star Wars film has acquired a new screenwriter. The project, which is set to be directed by Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, is currently untitled. It is one on a slate of future Star Wars film projects that are in development while the franchise continues to thrive in television form on the streaming service Disney+ with popular series like Andor and The Mandalorian.

Per Variety, originally attached screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson have officially exited the upcoming Star Wars movie. Taking over screenplay duties is Steven Knight, who was nominated for an Oscar for his 2004 film Dirty Pretty Things. His writing credits also include Locke starring Tom Hardy and Spencer starring Kristen Stewart, but he is perhaps best known for creating the long-running BBC crime drama Peaky Blinders.

Big Screen Star Wars Has Become a Revolving Door

This new development is just one in a series of personnel...

Just when you thought Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight couldn't get more prolific, he's gone and snagged himself a Star War. To be specific, the untitled Star Wars movie that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson had been writing until recently.

According to Variety, Knight is now on board to script the mysterious movie, which still has documentarian and Ms. Marvel director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on board to film.

This would mark yet another shift for Knight, who has shown himself able to script everything from Dickens to Dirty Pretty Things to Diana. And while he's tackled sci-fi with See, the idea of his brain unleashed on the galaxy far, far away is quite the prospect to consider.

We're expecting more news on this (assuming the Lucasfilm is ready to announce) at Star Wars Celebration, this year running 7-10 April in London at ExCeL.

Knight's latest work, a new adaptation of Great Expectations,...

One of Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars features has found a new writer, with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight stepping in. Knight will work on a script for the project from Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who also helmed episodes of Ms. Marvel.

The move comes after the departures of Lost’s Damon Lindelof and up-and-coming writer Justin Britt-Gibson from the project. Lindelof began work on the film in July 2022, secretly holding a two-week session with writers to break a story before he and Britt-Gibson went off to write the script that sources say will take place after 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Rise of Skywalker was a turning point for Star Wars, as it concluded the Skywalker Saga that began with the 1977 original film. Rise of Skywalker unfurled just weeks after the Disney+ era of Star Wars began with The Mandalorian, the breakout hit that helped power the...

Lucasfilm has had difficulty getting a new Star Wars movie off the ground, but perhaps Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will have better luck. Variety has reported that Steven Knight is set to pen the screenplay for the untitled Star Wars movie with Ms. Marvel‘s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attached to direct. The Star Wars movie is the same one that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson originally penned before they departed.

Steven Knight is best known for creating Peaky Blinders, the period crime drama starring Cillian Murphy, but he is also known for his work on Eastern Promises, Dirty Pretty Things, Locke, Allied, Spencer, Taboo, See, Sas: Rogue Heroes, and more. It’s said that this new Star Wars movie will mark the franchise’s return to the big screen following the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. Production is slated to kick off next February with an official announcement...

“Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight is set to write the screenplay for the untitled “Star Wars” movie that Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is attached to direct, as original screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson have departed the project, Variety has confirmed.

The movie is widely expected to be among Lucasfilm’s first “Star Wars” films since 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” More information about the movie, including a possible title, is expected to be announced at the Star Wars Celebration in London in April. (A representative for Lucasfilm did not respond to a request for comment.)

Knight is a veteran screenwriter who launched his career specializing in gritty crime dramas like 2002’s “Dirty Pretty Things” and 2007’s “Eastern Promises,” eventually branching out to lighthearted dramedies (2014’s “The Hundred-Foot Journey”), war thrillers (2016’s “Allied”), and biopics (2021’s “Spencer”). He also created and executive produced the BBC period crime drama “Peaky Blinders,...

FX released the haunting trailer for its lavish new limited series, “Great Expectations,” set to premiere March 26 on Hulu. The six-part adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel stars Fionn Whitehead as Pip, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella and Oscar and Emmy winner Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham. It was created by Academy Award nominated screenwriter Steven Knight (“Dirty Pretty Things”), with Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker and Kate Crowe serving as co-executive producers. Watch the trailer below.

“When I was young, I was blinded by love,” we see Colman’s cold-hearted Miss Havisham declare with animosity. “Now look at what remains of me.” The series tells the coming-of-age story of Pip, an orphan who yearns for a greater life, until a twist of fate and a mysterious benefactor opens a dark world of possibilities. Under the great expectations placed upon him, Pip must weigh the true...

During a virtual press conference Tuesday morning to promote the lavish new FX Productions/BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic “Great Expectations,” Oscar and Emmy winner Olivia Colman talked about how she didn’t begin acting until her mid-teens and the fact that being able to work consistently in the profession rescued her from a life of perpetual mediocrity.

“I was 16 when I did my first play at school, which was the first time I was able to do anything because I was so rubbish at school,” admitted Colman, who plays the iconic role of Miss Havisham in the hotly-anticipated limited six-part rendition of the Dicken novel from “Peaky Blinders” creator-showrunner Steven Knight that streams exclusively over Hulu in the United States and BBC One in the UK beginning with a pair of episodes on March 26. “It was a few years before I realized I could really be an...

FX announced today (Charles Dickens’ birthday) that it has set a premiere date of March 26 for “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight’s hotly anticipated six-part adaptation of the classic Dickens novel “Great Expectations” starring Fionn Whitehead as Pip, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella and Oscar and Emmy winner Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham, with the first pair of episodes showing back to back at launch. The series will stream exclusively on Hulu in the United States and over BBC One in the UK.

Produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, the production is expected to be an Emmy dynamo in the limited series category later this year, poised for likely nominations in series, lead actor (Whitehead), lead actress (Brune-Franklin) and supporting actress (Colman) as well as for its writing and direction. Knight, the prolific British-born writer-director and an original screenplay Academy Award nominee in 2004 for “Dirty Pretty Things,” serves...

Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, creators of the new Showtime series The Man Who Fell to Earth, talk to hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante about the movies that inspired them.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary

Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

Amistad (1997)

Love Actually (2003)

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)

Blazing Saddles (1974) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s Blazing Saddles Thanksgiving

Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Bad News Bears (1976) – Jessica Bendinger’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Airplane! (1980) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Bambi (1942)

Singin’ In The Rain (1952) – John Landis trailer commentary

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Boy Friend (1971) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Yellow Submarine (1968) – George Hickenlooper...

The best movie involving a boat since “Titanic” with the best vomiting sequence since “Team America: World Police,” Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” is an energetic and wacky examination of class, gender norms and culture, woven into a dynamite script. After debuting at Cannes, Östlund’s English-language debut will finally introduce the Swedish writer and director to more mainstream American audiences, and possibly even Oscar voters.

The film tells the story of Carl (Harris Dickenson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), two fashion models and a celebrity couple who in three narrative chapters explore their roles in each other’s lives — following a dinner date, a luxury cruise and a shocking x-factor that presents an interesting turn of events.

There are two noteworthy aspects to the dark comedy that are low-hanging fruit for Academy Awards attention. The original script by Östlund, with its whimsical premise, harnesses the type of engaging qualities...

In the first episode of 90s-set ITV drama Quiz, a group of men are devising a game show. Provisionally titled Cash Mountain, it involves players doubling their money with each correct answer on their way to the summit. Concerned that the concept’s too old-fashioned, a Birmingham accent comically suggests, “We could set it on an actual mountain. Like, a little one? Wales?”

Cash Mountain didn’t go down the Welsh Outward Bound route but stuck to its questions-and-cash simplicity to become global smash hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? That Brummie voice belonged to Steve Knight (played in Quiz by Keir Charles). He was one of the three creators credited with devising the quiz show that was later struck by the “Coughing Major” cheating scandal so brilliantly dramatised in James Graham’s play and TV adaptation.

In the nineties, Knight and his writing partner Mike Whitehill worked at TV production company Celador.

For the past 25 years, Variety editors and staff have compiled annual lists of industry talent to look out for, stretching various capacities, including directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and comics. When looking back on the lists from each year, it’s striking to see how many impactful names have blossomed with hugely successful careers within Hollywood, and with some of the individuals taking a surprising route to stardom. It also underscores the innate ability of the Variety team to discover and take early note of the many talented people who have become entertainment icons over several generations.

The first 10 Actors to Watch list was released in 1998, with Luke Wilson (“Rushmore”), Sarah Polley (“Go!”), Adrien Brody (“The Thin Red Line”), Patricia Clarkson (“High Art”), Larenz Tate (“Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”), and Samantha Morton (“Under the Skin”) finding inclusion. It’s interesting to note that Polley would later be selected for...

For Variety‘s Writers on Writers, Emma Forrest pens a tribute to “Spencer” (screenplay by Steven Knight).

I’ve always enjoyed Steven Knight’s work because it’s so outside my own wheelhouse. Having created the taut, broken-machismo of “Peaky Blinders” and written the urban thrillers “Eastern Promises” and “Dirty Pretty Things,” the 62-year-old Birmingham-born Knight is who you would not pick to map the interior emotional landscape of a damaged young woman from the upper classes.

Then, after watching “Spencer,” I remembered how moved I’ve been by the way Springsteen writes about women, and the tenderness Tarantino evoked for “Jackie Brown.” Like them, counterintuitive as it may seem, Knight knocks it out of the park.

With no disrespect to the other depictions of Diana, if you weren’t actually there to witness what transpired and must therefore imagine, use your imagination. Diana being talked down from suicide by the ghost of Anne Boleyn?...

When Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín reached out to meet Steven Knight, he had never met the virtuosic British screenwriter behind Oscar-nominated “Dirty Pretty Things,” series “Peaky Blinders,” Tom Hardy vehicles “Locke” and “Taboo,” and most recently, Doug Liman’s pandemic drama “Lockdown.” Inspired by a photo of the filmmaker’s mother from the ’90s when she was the same age as Princess Diana, Larraín wanted to dig into why this famously unhappy royal touched so many people around the world. “I wondered why Diana had created such a level of empathy,” Larraín told IndieWire. “It’s a very complex answer.”

The filmmaker met the screenwriter for breakfast at the Covent Garden Hotel. “It hadn’t been a subject that preoccupied me at all previously,” Knight told me in a Zoom interview. “And it isn’t the sort of thing I would normally do, which made me attracted to it immediately.

When Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín reached out to meet Steven Knight, he had never met the virtuosic British screenwriter behind Oscar-nominated “Dirty Pretty Things,” series “Peaky Blinders,” Tom Hardy vehicles “Locke” and “Taboo,” and most recently, Doug Liman’s pandemic drama “Lockdown.” Inspired by a photo of the filmmaker’s mother from the ’90s when she was the same age as Princess Diana, Larraín wanted to dig into why this famously unhappy royal touched so many people around the world. “I wondered why Diana had created such a level of empathy,” Larraín told IndieWire. “It’s a very complex answer.”

The filmmaker met the screenwriter for breakfast at the Covent Garden Hotel. “It hadn’t been a subject that preoccupied me at all previously,” Knight told me in a Zoom interview. “And it isn’t the sort of thing I would normally do, which made me attracted to it immediately.

Every year, the Telluride and Venice film festivals overlap and on Saturday, two top titles built anticipation in Venice before making their way to the American Rockies. Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer” (Neon) and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix) played to packed crowds — and delivered on their promise. Their Oscar fates will play out against intense competition over the next few months, but one thing is certain: Benedict Cumberbatch’s surly cattle rancher in “The Power of the Dog” and Kristen Stewart’s caged Princess Diana in “Spencer” will be in the running for their first Oscar wins.

Cumberbatch, who will receive his own tribute award at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, presented the Telluride silver medallion to Campion. She watched a sizzle reel of her movies, from “Sweetie” through her Oscar-winning “The Piano” and “The Portrait of a Lady” to the more recent “Top of the Lake...

Every year, the Telluride and Venice film festivals overlap and on Saturday, two top titles built anticipation in Venice before making their way to the American Rockies. Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer” (Neon) and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix) played to packed crowds — and delivered on their promise. Their Oscar fates will play out against intense competition over the next few months, but one thing is certain: Benedict Cumberbatch’s surly cattle rancher in “The Power of the Dog” and Kristen Stewart’s caged Princess Diana in “Spencer” will be in the running for their first Oscar wins.

Cumberbatch, who will receive his own tribute award at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, presented the Telluride silver medallion to Campion. She watched a sizzle reel of her movies, from “Sweetie” through her Oscar-winning “The Piano” and “The Portrait of a Lady” to the more recent “Top of the Lake...

The news that Kristen Stewart would be portraying Princess Diana raised a few eyebrows initially. Now, the first trailer for “Spencer” has the K-Stew fans feeling vindicated and the skeptics minding their tea and crumpets.

Neon dropped the first official look at “Spencer” on Thursday, which showcases an almost wordless yet nonetheless compelling peek into Stewart’s performance as the beloved royal.

“Spencer,” which was Diana’s maiden name before she wed the British royal, will center on the weekend in which Princess Di decided to leave her marriage to Prince Charles during Christmas 1991.

She was always Diana Spencer.

Spencer, a fable starring Kristen Stewart.

Directed by Pablo Larraín.

In Theaters Nov. 5 pic.twitter.com/U5TANpu2uQ

— Neon (@neonrated) August 26, 2021

Despite consistently turning in critically-lauded work for the last decade, some audiences still can’t seem to shake Stewart’s “Twilight” past, thus contributing to the question marks surrounding...

The colors are lavish and the gowns are magnificent, but there’s a sense of anguish and mystery in the first trailer for “Spencer,” the much-anticipated biopic about Princess Diana starring Kristen Stewart.

This first look shows Stewart struggling and drifting through these vast palace corridors, but there’s secrets she’s not showing, responding when one of her aides say, “They know everything” by calmly confiding, “They don’t.”

“Spencer” focuses on the one weekend when Princess Diana decided to leave her marriage to Prince Charles during Christmas 1991. Spencer was her maiden name before she wed the British royal. Here’s the full synopsis for the film:

December, 1991: The Prince and Princess of Wales’ marriage has long since grown cold. Though rumours of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game.