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Who needs Netflix and Prime? BBC iPlayer has a terrific collection of films to watch – here’s our updated list of what to watch right now (and when they’re leaving the service).

Whilst all eyes tend to be on streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime when it comes to movie updates, on the quiet the BBC iPlayer service continues to play host to a limited, diverse selection of films. What’s more, a good number of them you can download to your tablet to watch on the move.

So, without further ado, welcome to the weekly updated iPlayer film list. This list will be updated every week with the test available data from the BBC, in order of how long you have left to watch (so you can prioritise your viewing pleasure)

New! – denotes all new movies this week!

Brand-new This Week: Romeo + Juliet, The Third Man,...

Tributes have poured in following the death of James Lee Williams, better known as RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. winner The Vivienne.

Williams’ publicist Simon Jones said that the performer, who also went on to compete in the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2022, died over the weekend at the age of 32. No cause of death was given.

“James was an incredibly loved, warm-hearted and amazing person,” Jones wrote. “Their family are heartbroken at the loss of their son, brother and uncle. They are so proud of the wonderful things James achieved in their life and career.

He added: “We will not be releasing any further details. We please ask that James’ family are given the time and privacy they now need to process and grieve.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage led tributes to Williams by calling the star “a beacon to so many.

Remember that iconic Calvin Klein ad from the ‘90s starring Kate Moss and Mark Wahlberg? While it might have been the cat’s meow in the world of fashion advertising, it turns out that not everything is as it seems.

Kate Moss in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Credits: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Indeed, Moss’ experience on that shoot wasn’t a walk in the park. In a candid moment during her appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, she opened up about the emotional toll the shoot took on her, revealing that she has lingering negative memories of working with Wahlberg.

At just 17, she found herself in the thick of things with the then-21-year-old actor, whom she described as “very macho” and surrounded by a large entourage, emphasizing how the focus was squarely on him.

The Uncomfortable Truth Behind Kate Moss’ Iconic Calvin Klein Shoot

In a 2022 episode...

Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, Makenzie Leigh, Lewis Pullman, and Jordan Preston Carter in ‘Salem’s Lot’ (Photo by Courtesy of New Line Cinema/Max)

Max’s October 2024 lineup includes a new adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling vampire novel Salem’s Lot and the premiere of the eight-episode comedy series The Franchise starring Himesh Patel. Jordin Sparks hosts and Johnny Weir and Terrell Ferguson judge the new competition series Roller Jam debuting on October 10th. And Dylan O’Brien stars in Caddo Lake, a mystery thriller premiering on October 10th.

The streamer’s October calendar of new series and films also includes the documentaries I Am Not A Monster: The Lois Riess Murders, Louder: The Soundtrack of Change, and Breath of Fire. Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap starring Josh Hartnett makes its streaming premiere on October 25th, and Maxxxine with Mia Goth debuts on October 18th.

The third and final...

Jennifer Saunders reunites with the cast of Absolutely Fabulous for a new documentary called Inside Out. Here are the details…

Following the huge success of Bottom: Exposed earlier this year, Gold have commissioned a similar feature length documentary about Absolutely Fabulous called Inside Out. While Bottom: Exposed featured many interviews and talking heads, Inside Out reunites most of the cast – Whitfield passed away in 2018.

Series co-star Jennifer Saunders said to the British Comedy Guide, “I loved making Ab Fab but I can’t remember a great deal, so much of this retrospective is a revelation to me. Thank you Gold for this kind and helpful programme”.

Its other co-star, Joanna Lumley, added: “It was a fabulous wander down memory lane by actresses who only have the faintest grip on reality. Really thrilling, and I hope vastly entertaining. I loved every second”.

Saunders, along with double act partner Dawn French, began...

Former Molinare CEO Steve Milne has joined post-production outfit Cinelab Film & Digital as vice-chairman.

Milne served as Molinare’s chief executive from 2003 to 2010 before returning to the company in 2012 as chairman until 2018.

At Cinelab, Milne will work closely with CEO Adrian Bull on corporate strategy and customer relations. The company is a full-service film laboratory, digital dailies and post-production facility, and has worked on recent features All Of Us Strangers, Poor Things and Society Of The Snow.

In addition to post-production services, Milne also set up his own production outfit British Film Company in 2010. Here, he produced and exec...

British comedy icon Jennifer Saunders has vowed that by the end of 2023, she will have completed a new Absolutely Fabulous script based on the beloved BBC sitcom.

Saunders, 65, promised her long-time writing partner and friend Dawn French that she would have an early draft of the project done in the next two months. French previously revealed that she regularly challenges Saunders to work when she can see her friend needs encouragement.

Dawn established a prior deal with Saunders that if Saunders was unable to complete the Absolutely Fabulous script, she would have to pay French £10,000.

When French asked Saunders what she wanted to be “forced to do” in a recent interview, Saunders responded, “I need to write a film or a series based on AbFab, because everyone wants another AbFab movie. I can’t do that, I just don’t have a thing. I want to do something related.”

French...

Barry Humphries, the Australian entertainer whose gladioli-waving alter ego Dame Edna charmed and roasted celebrities, all with a Cheshire grin, outrageous eyewear, a “Hello, Possums!” greeting and a flurry of caustic wit, died Saturday. He was 89.

Humphries died at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney of complications from hip surgery, his family announced.

“He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit,” they said. “With over 70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be.”

He portrayed Dame Edna Everage — whom he called a “gauche, garrulous Melbourne housewife with a very shrill voice who was obsessed with interior decoration” — for more than six decades across cabarets, clubs, stage and screen as one of the world’s oldest continual comic creations.

Tributes from across the entertainment industry are flooding in following the death of Barry Humphries.

The Australian comedy legend died aged 89 in a Sydney hospital surrounded by his loved ones on Saturday.

His family said in a statement that Humphries “was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit”.

The star’s death follows reports earlier this week that he had been admitted to hospital with “serious health problems” following complications with a recent hip replacement surgery.

Across his seven-decade career, Humphries became best known for his creations Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna Everage.

His other credits include appearances in Bedazzled (1967), Spice World (1997), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016) and Finding Nemo (2003).

Matt Lucas, Carol Vorderman and Rob Brydon are among the industry figures to have paid tribute to Humphries.

Scroll down for live updates...

Barry Humphries, the comic actor behind Dame Edna Everage, has passed away. The iconic star was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1934. His drag character Dame Edna, a caricatured "Housewife Gigastar," originally debuted onstage in the late 1950s and has since gone on to appear in a wide-ranging variety of television series and films, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Howling franchise sequel Howling III: The Marsupials, and her final film appearance in 2016's Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

Per Deadline, Humphries passed away at the age of 89, as confirmed by his family. The star had complications after a hip surgery the previous month. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Spender and his four children.

Barry Humphries' Legacy Will Live On

Humphries' comic characters were a huge part of his creative contribution to the world. In addition to Dame Edna, he also frequently played characters like the unrefined Sir Les Patterson.

Australian comedian Barry Humphries, best known for his comedic character Dame Edna Everage, has died at age 89, his family has confirmed.

The veteran entertainer had been unwell in a Sydney hospital, suffering complications following hip surgery last month.

Humphries’ most celebrated creation Dame Edna became a star in the 1970s in the UK, getting her own chat show on ITV a decade later. She was known for her quick wit, smiling-assassin putdowns to even the most lauded guest, and for throwing gladioli out among the audience.

Humphries had been inspired to create the character after watching his mother and other suburban housewives as a child in his native Australia. He was born in Melbourne, and moved to the UK in 1959, where he appeared on the West End stage.

Other characters created by Humphries included drunken diplomat Sir Les Patterson and the always grumbling Sandy Stone.

He also voiced the shark...

Australian comedian Barry Humphries has died aged 89.

Humphries – best known for his comedy characters, including Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson – died in hospital on Saturday (22 April) surrounded by his family.

Earlier this week, reports emerged that the comedian had been admitted to a Sydney hospital with “serious health problems” following complications arising from a recent hip replacement surgery.

A spokesperson for St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney confirmed that the entertainer had died on Saturday at around 7pm Aest.

A statement from his family read: â€.“He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit. With over â€.70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be.”

It continued: “His audiences were precious to him, and he never took them for granted.

The films charts the birth of British Women’s Football during World War I.

London-based WestEnd Films has boarded Mandie Fletcher’s An Unsuitable Game starring Sian Clifford, Jessica Barden and Jessica Brown Findlay.

Fletcher, whose credits include Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, writes and directs this biographical drama about a group of female friends who set up an amateur football team during the first World War and kick-start the birth of British Women’s Football.

The film begins shooting in the UK in spring 2023 and is hoping for a release in line with the Women’s World Cup in the...

As principal photography begins on the historical comedy, ‘Seize Them! a lead cast of Aimee Lou Wood, Nicola Coughlan, Nick Frost, Lolly Adefope and Jessica Hynes has been announced.

Directed by Curtis Vowell (Baby Done, Fantail), the female-led comedy is set in the dark ages of Britain. Queen Dagan (Aimee Lou Wood) is master of all she surveys, with an ego to match – until she’s toppled by a revolution led by the charismatic Humble Joan (Nicola Coughlan). The Queen becomes a fugitive in her own land, a hefty bounty on her head. With the help of Shulmay (Lolly Adefope), a former servant with a lot of secrets – and Bobik (Nick Frost), a shit-shoveller who wants more out of life – Queen Dagan must face every conceivable hardship and danger as she embarks on a voyage to win back her throne. She also has to face up to the very worst parts of herself.

Principal photography commenced Monday at U.K. locations on historical comedy “Seize Them!,” directed by Curtis Vowell (“Baby Done”).

The cast includes BAFTA winner, Aimee Lou Wood (“Sex Education”), Lolly Adefope (“Shrill”), Nicola Coughlan, Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz”) and Jessica Hynes (“W1A”).

Written by Andy Riley (“Ron’s Gone Wrong”), “Seize Them!” is a female led comedy set in dark ages Britain where Queen Dagan (Wood) is toppled by a revolution led by Humble Joan (Coughlan). The Queen becomes a fugitive in her own land, a hefty bounty on her head. With the help of Shulmay (Adefope), a former servant with a lot of secrets and Bobik (Frost), a shit-shoveller who wants more out of life, Queen Dagan must face hardship and danger as she embarks on a voyage to win back her throne.

The film is produced by Damian Jones (“Absolutely Fabulous The Movie”) and Matthew James Wilkinson (“Yesterday”) and executive produced by Nigel Green,...

Sadie Frost has been tapped for the lead role in “Boxed-Up,” a short film about mental health.

Frost will play Eileen, a dysfunctional mother who is processing the grief of losing her husband at the same time as exploring her fractured relationship with her daughter.

“After a devastating loss, a distant mother has 24 hours to connect with her daughter in a new age world where soul-devouring spirits use dreams to hunt the weak,” reads the logline. “The film explores the implications of losing a loved one in the heightened reality of its world.”

The short, which is written by Jamie L. Tree, is intended as a proof of concept for a feature in the manner of “Lights Out” and “Saw,” both of which began life as shorts.

Tree, who set out to make something different from a “typical mental health film,” is co-directing alongside Vlad-Paul Ghilaş[/link], who also produced the short.

Focus Features has taken global rights to Jim Archer’s feature directorial debut Brian and Charles.

They will release domestically with Universal handling offshore territories.

Movie follows Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who spends his days building quirky, unconventional contraptions that seldom work. Undeterred by his lack of success, Brian attempts his biggest project yet. Three days, a washing machine, and various spare parts later, he’s invented Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and has an obsession with cabbages.

Film4, which developed and co-funded the pic, will retain free TV rights to the film in the United Kingdom. BFI awarded funds from the National Lottery to the project directed and edited by Archer.

David Earl and Chris Hayward wrote and produced by Rupert Majendie for Mr Box Productions.

EPs are Damian Jones, Mary Burke for the BFI,...

Propagate Behind Deepa Mehta-Directed ‘Burnt Sugar’

Ben Silverman’s Propagate Content is to produce Deepa Mehta’s adaptation of Avni Doshi’s novel Burnt Sugar, in a deal which was negotiated by Anna Soler-Pont at the Pontas Literary & Film Agency. Based on the story of a dysfunctional mother and daughter in Pune, the book has sold 150,000 copies and was submitted for prominent awards such as the Booker Prize. A London stage adaptation for 2023 is also in the works. Mehta, the Academy Award nominated Indian-Canadian filmmaker has helmed book adaptations previously such as Midnight’s Children and Funny Boy, and is known for trilogy Fire, Earth and Water. For TV, she directed the pilot for acclaimed Apple series Little America and Showtime’s upcoming Yellowjackets. “Depicting complicated human connections are what drive most of my projects and I look forward to delving into the complex, layered and at times surprisingly dark...

Searchlight Pictures announced today the full cast and crew for the recently completed feature production See How They Run, directed by BAFTA award-winning director Tom George (This Country) from producers Damian Jones and Gina Carter, based on an original screenplay by Mark Chappell. Shot in historic London locations earlier this year including the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road, St. Martin’s Theatre in the West End, and the Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo,

See How They Run features Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody and David Oyelowo as part of an ensemble of acclaimed stage and screen talent.

See How They Run will debut in theaters in 2022.

In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered. When world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and eager rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) take on the case,...

DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas, two longtime executives at Searchlight Pictures, have been set to jointly oversee all film development and production at the studio. Nguyen and Goodson-Thomas will serve as Heads of Production for the studio, effective immediately. All production executives will report to Nguyen and Goodson-Thomas.

“DanTram and Katie are exemplary executives with incredible taste and deep talent relationships.” said Presidents, Searchlight Pictures Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum. “They are proven leaders who we know will continue the legacy of Searchlight as we expand our global production and development slate.”

Nguyen, based in Searchlight’s U.S. office, has been with the studio since 2009 and Goodson-Thomas, based in Searchlight’s U.K. office, has overseen U.K. production and development operations for nearly a decade. Together, the two will oversee all areas of development and production through an eclectic, diverse array of projects including Untitled Murder Mystery, from director Tom George,...

Studio presidents Matthew Greenfield, David Greenbaum hail “proven leaders”.

Searchlight has promoted DanTram Nguyen, and Katie Goodson-Thomas to heads of film production, effective immediately.

The longtime company executives will jointly oversee all film development and production, and all film production executives will report to them.

Nguyen, based in Searchlight’s US office, has been with the studio since 2009. Goodson-Thomas, based in Searchlight’s UK office, has overseen UK production and development operations for nearly a decade.

The studio’s upcoming slate includes Untitled Murder Mystery from Tom George starring Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell; Chevalier de Saint-Georges from Stephen Williams starring Kelvin Harrison,...

Exclusive: Saoirse Ronan, Sam Rockwell and David Oyelowo have signed on to star in a new untitled murder mystery thriller from Searchlight Pictures. This Country director Tom George is on board to helm from a script by Mark Chappell. Iron Lady producer Damian Jones will produce following his work with Searchlight on films like Belle and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

The story is set in 1950s London, where a desperate Hollywood film producer sets out to turn a popular West End play into a film. When members of the production are murdered, world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell) and overzealous rookie Constable Stalker (Ronan) find themselves in the midst of a puzzling whodunit within London’s glamorous Theatreland and sordid underground.

A production start date has yet to be set. Katie Goodson-Thomas, Head of Development & Production for Searchlight Pictures UK, will oversee for the studio along with Director of Production Richard Ruiz...

Mary Queen Of Scots director plots feature with Damian Jones producing.

Mary Queen Of Scots director Josie Rourke has boarded This Nan’s Life, an origins story of UK comedian Catherine Tate’s character Nan based on her TV series.

Mathew Horne is reprising his role from the series and subsequent TV spin-offs and will be joined by Katherine Parkinson (Pirate Radio) in the cast.

The feature will explore the origins of the profanity-laden pensioner Joannie Taylor, played by Tate, who first appeared in BBC sketch series The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series between 2004 and 2006. It was nominated for six BAFTA Awards,...

Apparently there will always be movies to remake, even as we start to enter an era when everything has already been remade. Next up for a redo is the Julia Roberts 1991 thriller Sleeping with the Enemy, which was a modest hit and followed in the wake of Pretty Woman. It will be reimagined for modern audiences.

UK producer Damian Jones is behind this new iteration. The original followed an abused woman named Laura Burney. After faking her death in order to flee from her violent husband, Martin (Patrick Bergin), Laura (Julia Roberts) leaves Cape Cod and moves to Iowa, where she adopts a new identity and starts dating a local teacher, Ben Woodward (Kevin Anderson). Martin, meanwhile, unearths evidence suggesting that she isn't dead, and when her mother confirms this, he tracks her to Iowa. He finds Laura and Ben and confronts them, forcing her to fight for her life once again.

Fox Searchlight is planning to remake “Sleeping With the Enemy,” the 1991 film starring Julia Roberts, as part of a new overall producer deal with Damian Jones and his DJ Films Limited, the company announced Tuesday.

Jones, who first partnered with Fox Searchlight in 2016, is developing a reimagining of “Sleeping With the Enemy” with writer and director Nia DaCosta. The original film is about a woman (Roberts) who fakes her own death in an attempt to escape a nightmarish marriage, only to find she can’t evade her controlling husband.

Jones is also planning a film adaptation of “One Man, Two Guvnors,” the stage play starring James Corden. The play’s writer, Richard Bean, is executive producing the project along with Oli Refson and Nicholas Hytner. “One Man, Two Guvnors” is itself an English adaptation of “Servant of Two Masters,” an 18th-century Italian play. The play opened in the UK in...

The Favourite backer Fox Searchlight is lining up a reboot of Julia Roberts’ 1991 hit Sleeping With The Enemy and a feature version of smash James Corden stage play One Man, Two Guvnors as part of a new producing deal with The Iron Lady and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie producer Damian Jones.

Prolific UK producer Jones is in development on a strong new slate of movies with Searchlight and they have set emerging US filmmaker Nia DaCosta as writer-director of the Sleeping With The Enemy “reimagining.” DaCosta’s 2018 feature debut Little Woods starred Lily James and Tessa Thompson as sisters driven to work outside the law to better their lives.

Based on Nancy Price’s 1987 novel of the same name, thriller Sleeping With The Enemy saw Roberts – then at the height of fame just after Pretty Woman – play a woman trying to escape her abusive husband. The film was a...

Dame June Whitfield, the actress known for her work as Edina’s snarky mother on the British ’90s sitcom “Absolutely Fabulous” and as Minnie the Menace on “Doctor Who,” has died. She was 92.

Whitfield passed “peacefully” on Friday night, her agent told BBC.

Born in London, the actress’ career stretched back to the 1940s and included roles in the “Carry On” film franchise and the sitcom “Terry and June,” which ran from 1979-1987. Whitman also had appearances in 2016’s “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie,” “Friends,” “East Enders,” and was featured in more more than 1,300 radio and television shows.

Also Read: Ringo Lam, Hong Kong Director of 'City on Fire,' Dies at 63

Fellow “Absolutely Fabulous” actresses lead the tributes to the late actress, who was made a Dame — a title equivalent to the rank of knight — in 2017.

Joanna Lumley, who played Whitfield’s daughter, told ITV News: “I am...

Dame June Whitfield, best known to television audiences for her supporting role in Absolutely Fabulous, has died at the age of 93, the BBC reports. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Whitfield’s career in British entertainment spanned six decades. In 1992, she was cast in Absolutely Fabulous as the mother of Jennifer Saunders’ Edina Monsoon. The sitcom ran for a total of five seasons, then returned for a series of three 20th anniversary specials in 2011 and 2012. Whitfield last reprised her role in 2016’s feature-length film Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

Prior to AbFab, Whitfield co-starred as Rose Garvey in the British comedy Beggar My Neighbour,...

Sony Pictures International Productions and Film4 have wrapped production on Michael Winterbottom (The Killer Inside Me) comedy Greed, starring Steve Coogan, Isla Fisher and David Mitchell.

Also starring are Sophie Cookson, Shirley Henderson, Asa Butterfield, Sarah Solemani, Shanina Shaik, Dinita Gohil, Asim Chaudhry, Pearl Mackie, Jonny Sweet, Ollie Locke and Stephen Fry. Sony has also released some fun first-look images.

The satire, whose lead cast we revealed in September, is co-written by Winterbottom and two-time Emmy Award winner Sean Gray (Veep), and is produced by Melissa Parmenter (The Trip) for Revolution Films and DJ Films’ Damian Jones (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie).

The film tells the fictional story of a retail billionaire, and is set in the glamorous and celebrity-filled world of luxury fashion, with a build up to a spectacular 60th birthday party in an exclusive hotel on the Greek island of Mykonos. Many believe the film’s subject was...

British FIlm Company founder to focus on producing full time.

Steve Milne, the executive chairman of London post-production house Molinare, has left the company to focus full time on his production outfit British Film Company.

Milne was previously Molinare’s chief executive for seven years but left in 2010 to found his own production company and has since backed UK features including Journey’s End, Dad’s Army and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

He returned to Molinare in 2012 after it had been placed into administration, partnering with Julie Parmenter and Next Wave to buy the company’s assets and relaunch it,...

MaryAnn’s quick take… A tart, sharp, life-affirming dramedy, one that is slightly more edgy and far less predictable than it probably has any right to be. Celia Imrie and Imelda Staunton are magnificent. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for movies about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film

(learn more about this)

When snooty, stick-up-her-butt Sandra discovers that her husband is cheating on her just as they were about to retire — something Sandra has been planning for the past 35 years — she escapes from her English countryside manor to London, to the cosy, cramped public-housing flat of the freespirited sister, Bif, she hasn’t seen in decades. Sandra seems pretty awful at first, just plain horrible and rude even as she busts her way into Bif’s life uninvited, and precisely as we’re about to grumble,...

Cast is lead by Stranger Things’ Noah Schnapp.

Jean Reno has joined the cast of Waiting For Anya, the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s 1990 novel that started principal photography today.

Reno (Léon) is one of several new cast announcements alongside Josephine de la Baum (Madame) and Sadie Frost (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie).

As Screen exclusively revealed last month, the cast is lead by Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp and includes Anjelica Huston (The Witches), Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), Elsa Zylberstein (I’ve Loved You So Long) and Tomas Lemarquis (X-Men: Apocalypse).

Ben Cookson (Almost Married) will direct the film, which...

Ab Fab veteran Joanna Lumley has been set as the host of this year’s BAFTA Film Awards, following the departure of Stephen Fry who said last week that he was stepping down after fronting the ceremony 12 times. The announcement was made at this morning’s unveiling of nominations for Britain’s biggest movie prizes, with Lumley in attendance. The actress, author and activist who starred in 2016’s Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, also features in Heyday Films/Studiocanal’s Pad…...

Previous host Stephen Fry fronted the ceremony 12 times.

Source: BBC

Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lumley has named as the new host of the Bafta Film Awards.

She will be the first female host since Mariella Frostrup co-presented with Stephen Fry in 2001.

“Honestly, how exciting is this?” she said. “It’s just so unbelievably thrilling. Who thought I’d turn into Stephen Fry?

“I want to thank Bafta so much for asking me to do this. I said yes indecently quickly.”

Lumley is an actress, activist and former model, and has won two Bafta TV awards for Absolutely Fabulous. In 2017, she received the Bafta Fellowship award.

Her film roles include Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, James And The Giant Peach and The Wolf of Wall Street.

She is taking over from Stephen Fry, who has stepped down after fronting the ceremony 12 times.

Fry said it was “only right to stand down and let others...

London-based festival to open with Oh Lucy! with Josh Hartnett.

The 25th Raindance Film Festival (Sept 21 -Oct 2) has revealed the majority of its line-up and jury members.

The international premiere of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! (USA), starring Josh Hartnett, is the opening night film of the London-based event. The closing night film will be announced later this month.

The competition jury includes ex-bifa director Johanna Von Fischer, Spanish producer Rosa Bosch and actors Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), Sean Bean (Game Of Thrones), Christopher Eccleston (Dr Who), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Celia Imrie (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Training Day), Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda), Josh Whitehouse (Northern Soul), Neil Marshall (Game Of Thrones) and Rachel Portman (Chocolat).

They will preside over awards for a competition line-up that features the European premiere of Koichiro Miki’s Noise and the world premiere of Evald Johnson’s High & Outside: A Baseball...

MaryAnn’s quick take… Edgar Wright used to send up cinematic clichés with gusto and with huge humor. Here he just embraces them — and his sullen, unengaging hero — unironically. I’m “biast” (pro): love Edgar Wright’s early work

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Baby Driver is so hot, so cool, so exciting! Well, the opening sequence is, at least, the one bit in the movie that actually feels like Edgar Wright directed it. Fresh-faced getaway driver Baby waits in the car and we do too while a bank heist is happening in the background. Haha! A heist movie that isn’t about the heist at all! This is the driver’s movie, and he’s only about the driving, and nothing else. Except the music. He is also about the music — the classic rock and pop and soul...

MaryAnn’s quick take… Edgar Wright used to send up cinematic clichés with gusto and with huge humor. Here he just embraces them — and his sullen, unengaging hero — unironically. I’m “biast” (pro): love Edgar Wright’s early work

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Baby Driver is so hot, so cool, so exciting! Well, the opening sequence is, at least, the one bit in the movie that actually feels like Edgar Wright directed it. Fresh-faced getaway driver Baby waits in the car and we do too while a bank heist is happening in the background. Haha! A heist movie that isn’t about the heist at all! This is the driver’s movie, and he’s only about the driving, and nothing else. Except the music. He is also about the music — the classic rock and pop and soul...

Financier also backed Journey’s End, Elstree 1976 and Swallows And Amazons.

Christian Eisenbeiss, business mogul and film producer, has died at the age of 61.

As chairman of British Film Company, Eisenbeiss was an executive producer on Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Dad’s Army, the Bafta-nominated documentary McCullin and Star Wars documentary Elstree 1976.

He was also an executive producer on upcoming projects including Saul Dibb’s First World War drama Journey’s End and Amma Asante’s Where Hands Touch, which are both in post-production, and Spitfire, a documentary about the famous British military aircraft currently in production.

Another project, Trautmann, about the famed German goalkeeper who played for Manchester City, is scheduled to commence shooting in June.

Born in New York City on September 11, 1955, Eisenbeiss earned a master’s degree in mathematics at Columbia University before embarking on a career as an investment banker.

After becoming the chairman of German beer company Holsten Brewery, succeeding...

The 19th Costume Designers Guild Awards kicked off Tuesday at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, honoring the best in film, television and short-form costume design.

Hosted by This Is Us star Mandy Moore, the night was a star-studded fête, with Meryl Steep, who was honored with the prestigious Distinguished Collaborator Award, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Pierce Brosnan and James Corden all in attendance. Additional honorees included Lacoste Spotlight Award recipient Lily Collins, Career Achievement Award recipient Jeffrey Kurland, and Lois DeArmond, who received the Distinguished Service Award. Emmy Award-winning costume designer Ret Turner, who died at age 87 last May, was posthumously inducted into the Guild's Hall of Fame.

And while we certainly enjoyed seeing the aforementioned stars on the red carpet at the soiree, all eyes were on the night's nominated costume designers, who created the beloved looks we saw in Oscar-nominated films like La La Land, Jackie and [link...

Chris Colfer is conjuring up the perfect role for his return to television.

The former Glee star, along with Sonar Entertainment, is developing Indigo, a sci-fi drama about “indigo children” who are misdiagnosed as having mental or physical illnesses — when they really possess supernatural abilities, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (Naturally, baddies will arise who intend to use the children’s powers for their own dark purposes.)

VideosGlee‘s Ryan Murphy Reveals His Least Favorite Performance — Watch It!

In addition to starring in the project — which will be shopped around to broadcast networks, cable channels and streaming services — Colfer...

Screen considers potential runners and riders.

The BBC is likely to announce its new head of film within the next two weeks, according to sources close to the process.

Scroll down for potential candidates and the original job spec

That timetable should come as a relief to those under consideration for the role and to wider industry who will want to begin building or growing their relationship with the new boss.

The job, which is considered one of the UK’s most prestigious posts, became vacant in autumn 2016 following the departure of long-time chief Christine Langan. BBC Films veteran Joe Oppenheimer has been serving as acting head of film since then.

The incoming head of film is expected to have an annual war chest of around £12m for production, cementing BBC Films’ position as one the three mainstays of public funding in the UK along with the BFI and Film4.

The organisation advertised the position (as ‘director...

After The Bad Batch debuted at the Toronto Film Festival this past fall, buyers sparked a bidding war for the film that was produced by Megan Ellison's Anapurna Pictures and Vice Media. Today we have the first trailer for The Bad Batch, which will be released by Neon, Tim League's new distribution venture, on June 23. This trailer showcases a dystopian world set within a Texas wasteland that has distanced itself from every aspect of society, with a cast lead by newcomer Suki Waterhouse and Jason Momoa.

The highly anticipated follow-up to Ana Lily Amirpour's acclaimed directorial debut, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, The Bad Batch follows Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) as she is unceremoniously dumped in a Texas wasteland fenced off from civilized society. While trying to orient her unforgiving environment, she is captured by a savage band of cannibals and quickly realizes she'll have to...

Exclusive: The Exchange has boarded international sales on Patrick, an upcoming family pic from Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie director Mandie Fletcher. Ab Fab‘s Jennifer Saunders co-stars with her daughter Beattie Edmondson. Vanessa Davies wrote the screenplay with Paul de Vos and Fletcher. Davies produces with de Vos and Sue Latimer. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has taken UK distribution rights under the Buena Vista International banner. The story, based on…...

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK has picked up the comedy that reunites Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie director Mandie Fletcher with Jennifer Saunders and will distribute through Buena Vista International.

Vanessa Davies wrote the screenplay with Paul de Vos and Saunders’ daughter Beattie Edmondson will also star in the film about a young woman whose complicated life improves when she inherits her grandmother’s pug. Davies produces with de Vos and Sue Latimer. Hindsight is financing the project.

The Exchange also announced that it is selling worldwide rights to the UK graphic novel adaptation Brodie’s Law: Project Jameson, which John Pogue will direct.

Universal has dated its Scarface remake for August 10, 2018. The project previously known as Untitled Universal Event Film.Rich Sullivan has been promoted to COO of STXdigital after serving as CFO at the company for two and a half years. The former deputy CFO at Dreamworks Animation will focus on building the company’s digital...

Author: Zehra Phelan

In 2015, Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel stuck two fingers up at the film industry with the Paolo Sorrentino directed Youth. It proved to the whole industry just because you’ve reached a certain age doesn’t mean you’ve lost your talent or appeal to the movie going public. In fact over the last few years we have seen actors such as Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Robert De Niro all prove they are all digging their heels in and not going anywhere.

Now it’s time for the ladies to get in on the act with Golden Globe-winner Dame Joan Collins – who we last saw make an appearance in last year’s Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie – Oscar nominee Pauline Collins (The Last Dragon Slayer, Albert Nobbs) and Italian heartthrob Franco Nero (Django, Django Unchained) all starring in the upcoming feel-good comedy, The Time of Their Lives...

2016 was a record year for inward investment but spend on domestic films was lowest level in three years.

BFI statistics released today reveal a record-breaking spend on film production in the UK last year.

Spend reached £1.6 bn in 2016 – the highest ever recorded.

That figure was largely supercharged by a record level of Us investment for films shooting in the UK.

In a boon for UK crews and facilities, inward investment for film production reached £1.35bn, an 18% increase on 2015.

Major inward investment films to shoot in the UK last year included Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Zack Snyder’s superhero movie Justice League.

The year’s top-three-grossing films at the UK box office - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (£64.3 million), Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (£54.3 million) and Bridget Jones’s Baby (£48.2 million) - were all made in the UK.

However, the picture was slightly less rosy for indigenous...

Us inward investment in film and TV fuels record but picture for domestic production is more patchy.

BFI statistics released today reveal a record-breaking spend on film production in the UK last year.

Spend reached £1.6 billion in 2016 – the highest ever recorded.

That figure was largely supercharged by a record level of Us investment in films and TV.

In a boon for UK crews and facilities, inward investment for film production reached £1.35bn, a 18% increase on 2015, while inward investment for high-end TV reached its highest level ever at £478m.

Major inward investment films to shoot in the UK last year included Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Zack Snyder’s superhero movie Justice League.

The year’s top-three-grossing films at the UK box office - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (£64.3 million), Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (£54.3 million) and Bridget Jones’s Baby (£48.2 million) - were all made in the...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actor Diego Luna knows exactly how to combat the winter blues.

The Mexican actor, 37, was spotted getting cozy with British model-actress Suki Waterhouse, 25, in Tulum, Mexico, on Saturday as they packed on the Pda during a leisurely stroll. Holding hands and keeping a close eye on each other, the casual couple took in the natural sights as they sipped on drinks and enjoyed the tropical weather.

The pair kept their look low-key, with Waterhouse opting for a see-through purple top and black shorts while the actor sported a blue button-down shirt with a pair of long beige shorts.

The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (Galeca), of which I'm a proud voting member, has revealed its nominees for the best in film and television of 2016. Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight" led the pack with 7 nods followed by Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" with 6. Winners will be announced on Thursday, January 26.

Complete List Of Galeca 2016/17 Dorian Awards Nominees:

Note: Categories with more than five nominees involved a tie)

Film of the Year

Jackie (Fox Searchlight)

La La Land (Summit/Lionsgate)

Manchester by the Sea (Roadside/Amazon Studios)

Moonlight (A24)

20th Century Women (A24)

Director of the Year

(Film or Television)

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight (A24)

Pablo Larraín, Jackie (Fox Searchlight)

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By the Sea (Roadside/Amazon Studios)

Park Chan-wook, The Handmaiden (Amazon Studios)

Damien Chazelle, La La Land (Summit/Lionsgate)

Film Performance of the Year . Actress

Annette Bening, 20th Century Women (A24)

Viola Davis, Fences (Paramount)

Isabelle Huppert,...

I couldn’t tell a well stitched dress from a beautifully designed gown, but that’s why the Costume Designers Guild are here. The group have looked over the year in television and film and nominated the cream of the crop when it comes to the attire we’ve seen on screens both big and small.

It’s a fascinating group of films that have been nominated together. The fashion forward comedy “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie” rubs shoulders with “La La Land” and “Nocturnal Animals” (note: Tom Ford did not design the clothes for his own film, that task went to Arianne Phillips).

Continue reading ‘La La Land,’ ‘Rogue One,’ And More Nominated For 2017 Costume Designers Guild Awards at The Playlist.