PICTURED: Hayley Atwell is Edwardian chic in a brown full-length coat with patterned red scarf as she joins dapper Matthew MacFadyen on the London set of Howards End

DAILY MAIL
By Ryan Smith and Emily Chan For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 09:14 EDT, 17 March 2017 | UPDATED: 09:17 EDT, 17 March 2017

With a black velvet hat resting atop her chestnut brown tresses, the actress got into character as she filmed with Matthew, who cut a dapper figure in a top hat and black waistcoat under a midnight blue coat. 

Over the past week, they've been busy getting into character for their latest - and highly anticipated - project, which transports them back to Edwardian London.

And on Thursday, things appeared to be going swimmingly for Hayley Atwell and Matthew MacFadyen as they shot scenes along London's River Thames for the glamorous BBC adaptation of E.M. Forster's 1910 novel Howards End.

Hayley, 34, was appropriately dressed the era, stepping before cameras in a full-length brown coat, teamed with a red patterned scarf and flowing blue skirt.

The dark TV drama - already dubbed by some as the next Downton Abbey - explores the changing landscape of social and class divisions in turn of the century England through the tales of three families.

These are the intellectual and idealistic Schlegels, the wealthy Wilcoxes from the world of business, and the working class Basts.

British actresses Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson previously starred in the 1992 film adaptation of the novel.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4323804/Hayley-Atwell-Matthew-MacFadyen-shoot-Howards-End.html#ixzz4bcH8KLj7 
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Kenneth Branagh Says 'Cinderella' (with Lily James and Sophie McShera of Downton Abbey) is 'Not About a Man Rescuing a Woman' (Q&A)

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
by Alex Ritman 2/5/2015 10:00pm PST

Cinderella’s rags-to-riches fairy tale is not the sort of project many might expect to be helmed by someone with the more Shakespearean skill set of Kenneth Branagh, recently seen flitting between Norse gods (Thor), Chris Pine-fronted Tom Clancy actioners (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit) and Swedish TV dramas (Wallander). But 64 years after Walt Disney’s animated version of the tale won the Berlinale’s very first audience award in 1951, Branagh, 54, is about to unveil the world premiere of his live-action retelling, with Downton Abbey’s Lily James in the title role and Cate Blanchett doing her best wicked stepmother.

THR caught up with the five-time Oscar-nominated actor-director, who lives with his film art director wife just outside London, to find out how a filmmaker noted more for his Henry V and Hamlet has taken on Cinderella and her ugly stepsisters.

Was making Cinderella something of a departure for you?

The fairy tale element was a surprise to me in that, although I’ve read them and enjoyed them, I didn’t ever think this was a subject I was likely to make a film about. But when you go back to the original source material, you become aware of how all-pervasive this Cinderella myth is. How many times do you read about “the Cinderella story,” the story of the underdog, the story of the ordinary human being, often subjected to cruelty and ignorance and neglect, who somehow triumphs?

How much did you deviate from the original Disney cartoon?

The animation actually took a number of liberties with the original story, which of course has been told and retold across every type of culture, with different names and even different types of cruelty. There are some in which the stepsisters cut their toes off in order to force their feet into the slipper. What we put front and center was a level of reality and psychological truth in the performances that would be surprising in the context of a fairy tale.

Did you feel much pressure when dealing with one of Disney’s prized characters?

Anybody who goes into the Disney world and takes on one of these live-action versions of an animated classic is always up against that kind of ancestry. But my entire filmmaking career and indeed my entire career has been in and around classics. Probably 90 percent of the stuff I make has inevitably been done before. … Whether it’s playing Hamlet, which has been on the go for 400 years, or pieces from the cinematic world that also have been essayed before, I feel released by that. What I think it confirms when people come back to the stories again is not that they’re tired, but that the themes and the stories and the character are ageless, and that they have a different kind of resonance for each passing generation.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinderella-trailer-watch-a-very-750238

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS: Downton Abbey nominated for a Golden Globe

HELLO DAILY NEWS

Downton Abbey is in the running for a prestigious Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series.

Nominations for the Golden Globes, one of Hollywood's annual highlights, were announced on Thursday morning.

Leading lights from the industry will gather for the 71st annual ceremony on 12 January 2014 which will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the second year running.

FILMS

Best Motion Picture – Drama
12 Years A Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Rush

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Wolf Of Wall Street

Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Joaquin Phoenix, Her

Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Kate Winslet, Labor Day

Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams, American Hustle
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl, Rush
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
David O. Russell, American Hustle

Best Screenplay
Spike Jonze, Her
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years A Slave
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, American Hustle

Best Original Score
All Is Lost
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Gravity
The Book Thief
12 Years A Slave

Best Original Song
Atlas, Coldplay (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
Let It Go, Idina Menzel (Frozen)
Ordinary Love, U2 (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
Please Mr. Kennedy, Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Adam Driver (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Sweet Than Fiction, Taylor Swift (One Chance)

Best Foreign Language Film
Blue is the Warmest Color
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
The Wind Rises

Best Animated Feature Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen

TV

Best Drama Series
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
The Good Wife
House of Cards
Masters of Sex

Best Actor in a Television Drama Series
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
James Spader, The Black List

Best Actress in a Television Drama Series
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black
Kerry Washington, Scandal
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn 99
Girls
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation

Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series
Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Michael J. Fox, The Michael J. Fox Show
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Andy Samberg, Brooklyn 99

Best Actress in a Television Comedy Series
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
American Horror Story: Coven
Behind the Candelabra
Dancing on the Edge
Top of the Lake
White Queen

Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
Idris Elba, Luther
Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
Rebecca Ferguson, The White Queen
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Corey Stoll, House of Cards
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Jacqueline Bisset, Dancing on the Edge
Janet McTeer, White Queen
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
Monica Potter, Parenthood
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family


READ MORE HERE: http://www.hellomagazine.com/film/2013121216126/golden-globe-2014-nominations-downton-abbey/

Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Day Lewis - A ROOM WITH A VIEW (entire) 1985

Helena Bonham Carter: 25 Things You Didn't Know About the British Actress Posted July 5th, 2013 1:00PMby Erin Whitney TAGS (MOVIEFONE)

14. Johnny Depp is the godfather of her child, Billy Ray.

15. She is a distant cousin of Kate Middleton.

16. Helena McCrory, who played Narcissa Malfoy in "Harry Potter," was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange. However, after McCrory became pregnant, she was unable to shoot all of Lestrange's scenes, so Bonham-Carter got the part.

17. She wore fake teeth in "Planet of the Apes" (2001), "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005), and the the "Harry Potter" films.

18. While filming "Terminator Salvation" in New Mexico in 2008, her relatives were involved in a tragic bus accident in South Africa. Helena's cousin Fiona Bonham-Carter survived, but four of her family members died.

19. Why is Bonham-Carter so great as Mrs. Lovett in "Sweeney Todd"? Because she underwent extensive vocal lessons and studied baking in preparation for her role in the 2007 musical f Let's hope she practiced with the normal kind of meat pies...

20. Bonham-Carter was originally set to play a cyborg in "Terminator Salvation" (2009). However, after the script was leaked online her character was rewritten, a move that significantly cut down her screen time.

21. During the shooting of "Fight Club," Bonham-Carter insisted that her makeup artist (Julie Pearce) apply all of her eye makeup with her left hand, because the actress felt that Marla was not a person who would be particularly skilled at (or concerned with) correctly applying makeup.

22. She's a believer in "multiple drinking," which she described in an interview with the Guardian as drinking more than one drink at a time to sustain a balanced diet. While she admitted this wasn't a scientific fact, Bonham-Carter still enjoys having options when it comes to quenching her thirst.

23. She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2012 Queen's New Years Honors List for her services to drama.

24. She was considered for the role of Sarah in "Labyrinth" (1986), but lost out to Jennifer Connelly.

25. She grew up dreaming of becoming one of the "Charlie's Angels."

Sources: IMDb, Wikipedia, Digital Spy, The Guardian

READ 1 THRU 13 HERE: http://news.moviefone.com/2013/07/05/helena-bonham-carter-25-things-you-didnt-know/

Helena Bonham Carter to Play Fairy Godmother in Disney's 'Cinderella' (Exclusive) 3:56 PM PDT 6/20/2013 by Borys Kit (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

Kenneth Branagh is directing the live-action fantasy, which already has Cate Blanchett playing the role of the wicked stepmother.

Helena Bonham Carter has nabbed the plum role, or perhaps it’s the pumpkin role, of the fairy godmother in Disney’s live-action version of Cinderella.

Kenneth Branagh is directing the movie project, which sees Lily James in the title role, Cate Blanchett as the wicked stepmother and Game of Thrones' Richard Madden as the prince. Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey) and Holliday Granger (The Borgias) are playing the stepsisters.

The fairy godmother will be getting more screen time in this version than in Disney’s classic animated movie, with the character disguised as an old beggar who watches over Cinderella before revealing herself as the magical being she truly is.

READ MORE:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/helena-bonham-carter-boards-cinderella-572595

Helena Bonham Carter goes glam to play Elizabeth Taylor (NEW STRAITS TIMES)

British actors Helena Bonham Carter (R) and Dominic West are pictured in this undated handout photo released by BBC. Carter and West play Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, respectively, in BBC's production "Burton and Taylor", a TV movie that will explore Taylor's tempestuous relationship with actor Burton which captivated audiences and headlines. REUTERS/BBC/Gustavo Papaleo/Handout via Reuters

The first photograph of Bonham Carter as Taylor and British actor Dominic West as Burton was released by BBC on Wednesday, ahead of the premiere of “Burton and Taylor” on BBC America in fall this year.

The film’s central focus will be on Taylor and Burton’s appearance as co-stars in a 1983 Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s 1930 risque comedy play “Private Lives.”      In the play, which brought Taylor and Burton together seven years after their second divorce from each other, the former couple portrayed a man and woman having an affair while married to other people.

Taylor, who died from heart failure in 2011 aged 79, became one of the most recognisable Hollywood actresses in the 1950s, famed for her beauty and violet eyes. She was married eight times, twice to Burton.

Read more: Helena Bonham Carter goes glam to play Elizabeth Taylor - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/helena-bonham-carter-goes-glam-to-play-elizabeth-taylor-1.294870#ixzz2VRKBhMTc

COLIN FIRTH to star in "King's Speech" sequel (Youtube)

The Vancouver Sun On-line

Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West to Star in BBC America’s 'Burton and Taylor'(DEN OF GEEK)

According to published reports Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West will play cinema’s iconic couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the upcoming “Burton and Taylor” that will be produced by BBC America. The hour-and-a-half TV movie is said to be set at the 1983 stage revival of Noel Coward’s “Private Lives,” which ran at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and was directed by Milton Katselas. The movie will air in the network’s Dramaville block. The movie was written by William Ivory and directed by Richard Laxton. The film will premiere in 2014

READ MORE: http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/bbc-america%E2%80%99s-burton-and-taylor-to-star-helena-bonham-carter-and-dominic-west/84399/bbc-america%E2%80%99s-burton-and-taylor-to-star-helena-bonham-carter-and-dominic-west

Colin Firth's Leading Ladies (FEMALE FIRST)

To celebrate the release of Gambit starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, and Alan Rickman out on DVD and Blu-Ray 4 March 2013 courtesy of Momentum Pictures we are going to examine the on-screen romances of Colin Firth and the most powerful women in Hollywood who Firth has co-starred next too.

Gambit follows Harry Deane (Firth) an Art curator for media tycoon Lord Lionel Shahbandar (Rickman). In a devious plan to con his boss Deane partners with the beautiful rodeo star PJ Puznowski (Diaz) but things go awry when Lord Lionel Shahbandar begins to fall for Puznowski.

Watch the brilliant performances by Firth and Diaz in this deceitful, lovely, charming comedy.

Cameron Diaz is not the first beautiful woman to star along Colin Firth.

Colin Firth has played in a plethora of different roles and always seems to be lucky enough to star amongst the greatest actresses in Hollywood. Here are a few of our favourite Firth on-screen romances!

- Renee Zellweger - Bridget Jones's Diary

Colin Firth’s most famous on screen romance is in the hilarious British romantic comedy, Bridget Jones's Diary starring Oscar winner and Oscar nominated (for her part in this role) Renee Zellweger.

Bridget Jones's Diary follows Zellweger’s character Bridget Jones as she falls in love with her boss (played by Hugh Grant) who is ex-friends with family friend (played by Colin Firth).

Her boss’s playboy attitude makes their relationship not work in the end but her relationship with Firth proves opposites attract and that it is for the best. They both deliver an excellent and hilarious performance.

READ MORE: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/movies/colin-firth-and-his-leading-ladies-282418.html

Les Miserables - Comedy or Musical - best actor, best supporting actress, best picture

'Les Miserables'
( Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times )
WINS:

Actor: Hugh Jackman
Supporting actress: Anne Hathaway
Best picture: Comedy or musical

NOMINATIONS:

Best picture: Comedy or musical
Actor: Hugh Jackman
Supporting actress: Anne Hathaway
Original song: "Suddenly," Music by: Claude-Michel Schonberg.

L A TIMES

Eddie Redmayne so happy about $100m Miserables

By BAZ BAMIGBOYE

The cast includes Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Samantha Barks and Eddie Redmayne — who has become a big screen heart-throb thanks to his performance.

Redmayne told me recently that the film was tricky, from an actor’s point of view, because of its blend of theatricality and realism.

One particularly troublesome scene involved his lovestruck character, Marius, singing A Heart Full Of Love.
‘In the script, Marius goes: “In my life, she has burst like the music of angels! The light of the sun!!”,’ he told me.

‘It’s so florid and metaphorical — beautiful, but very difficult to make that sound spontaneous.

‘And I remember trying, and it wasn’t working, and Tom said: “For all this grisly realism that we’re doing, this is an old-school, West Side Story, movie musical moment. And in order to make it work, you have to run down the street, swinging from lampposts, singing till your heart’s content.” ’

With that in mind, Redmayne nailed it, and the resulting scene is full of yearning.

Several of the actors playing students at the barricade had come from the stage show and a few had played Marius.

Redmayne asked them how they had handled certain scenes, and one of them said he’d imagined Marius as a bit of a dreamer, who probably wrote poetry.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2256844/Damian-Lewis-Cockney-swagger-Me-My-Girl.html#ixzz2H2igCjAJ 
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Helena Bonham Carter connected to Victor Hugo through ancestors (TELEGRAPH)

By Cosima Glaister

6:37PM GMT 18 Dec 2012

A study by ancestry.com has shown that Hugo was a colleague of French financier and politician Achille Fould, Bonham Carter's first cousin five times removed. The two men served together, Hugo in the constitutional and legislative assembly, Fould as minister of finance, in the postrevolutionary French government of the 1840s.

Fould was a great supporter of Louis-Napoleon III who seized power through a coup d'état in 1851, whereas Hugo declared him a traitor.

Whilst Bonham Carter's ancestor rose through the ranks of the new regime, Hugo relocated to Brussels then Jersey, finally settling in Guernsey where he wrote contemptuously about the treachery of his former colleagues, including Fould.

READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9754001/Helena-Bonham-Carter-connected-to-Victor-Hugo-through-ancestors.html

Beautiful Les Miserables - Amanda Seyfried is in love in new TV spot - watch Published Wednesday, Nov 7 2012, 4:15am EST | By Hugh Armitage |(DIGITAL SPY)

The character is the daughter of a prostitute (Anne Hathaway) who is adopted by reformed ex-con Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman).

Director Tom Hooper's adaptation of the long-running musical also stars Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Unusually, the cast were required to sing live during the filming of Victor Hugo's classic tale of 19th century France.

READ MORE: http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a436277/les-miserables-amanda-seyfried-is-in-love-in-new-tv-spot-watch.html

Helena Bonham Carter gets better with age Updated: 06:19, Monday October 29, 2012 (SKY NEWS)

Helena Bonham Carter thinks her acting gets better with age.

The 'Great Expectations' star is happy with being offered film roles for older women and thinks it proves how versatile her skills are, despite feeling like a "fraud" when she first started out because she felt so inexperienced.

Helena said: "Mother and granny parts? I'm up for them. Fine by me. I think that most people in the industry know that I have a range, you know. Actually, I do truly believe that ageing has made me a far better actor.

"When I was in films with people who had so much experience, I felt a total fraud. I was waiting to be exposed. I was bluffing it."


READ MORE:http://www.skynews.com.au/showbiz/article.aspx?id=810528 

Colin Firth: We’re Quite Looking Forward To ‘The King’s Speech’ Sequel [PHOTOS] (SOCIALITE LIFE)

Can you really blame Livia Firth for staring at her husband?  Damn it, that man gets better with age.  Seems like only yesterday he was standing like a fool in Mrs. Jones’ sitting room, wearing a reindeer jumper and sticking his nose up at the turkey curry buffet.

Colin Firth walked the red carpet tonight at the BFI London Film Festival, looking dishy as hell in his suit.

Did you know that Firth will reprise his Oscar-winning role as King George VI in a sequel to The King’s Speech?  The UK Press Association (via Moviefone), confirms that the film is in the “very early stages,” but that Firth and co-stars Helena Bonham Carter (who played the Queen Mother) and Geoffrey Rush (who played Lionel Logue) are likely to return.

READ MORE: http://socialitelife.com/were-quite-looking-forward-to-the-kings-speech-sequel-photos-10-2012

First Les Miserables TV Spot – Dream SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 BY RICHARD LENNOX (FILM ORIA)

Anne Hathaway looks like she’s on dynamite form.  I’m going out on a limb here to say I bet she will earn an Oscar nomination from her performance. It’s certainly a bold statement to make, especially without seeing the film, but, wow, her performance seems very powerful indeed.

Of course, Hathaway is amongst good company. She’s joined by Amanda Seyfried, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter and Samantha Barks.  Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) has also been in charge of helming the picture. Now, that’s some serious talent.

http://www.filmoria.co.uk/2012/09/first-les-miserables-tv-spot-dream/

Colin Firth, Helen Mirren: Colin Firth And Helen Mirren To Reprise British Monarch Roles In Separate Gigs (MOVIE LINE)

NEWSWIRE || BY: BRIAN BROOKS || SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 03:25 PM EDT


Colin Firth won an Oscar playing Britain's King George VI in the 2010 historical drama The King's Speech. And Dame Helen Mirren won her Academy Award playing the current U.K. monarch Queen Elizabeth II back in 2006 for her role in The Queen. Now both are set to wear their crowns again in two separate projects.

Firth played Elizabeth II's father, George VI in the Tom Hooper-directed feature about the WWII-era king who ascended the throne after his more dashing older brother abdicated in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson in a scandal that rocked the British Empire even as the clouds of war gathered in Europe. Also starring Helena Bonham Carter as his wife, Elizabeth, the film focused on the shy George VI, known to relatives and close friends as Bertie, who overcame a severe speech impediment to help lead his country to face the Nazi threat.


Mirren, meanwhile, will take on the role of George VI's heir, Queen Elizabeth II in a new stage play written by The Queen author Peter Morgan, according to The Guardian. Stephen Daldry will direct The Audience, which will explore her confidential meetings with her long line of British Prime Ministers from her first as a young Queen, Winston Churchill, to the current office holder, David Cameron. In The Queen, she meets with '90s-era P.M. Tony Blair (played by Michael Sheen) around the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales capturing a period of great tumult for the British royal family.

Read More at: http://movieline.com/2012/09/24/colin-firth-helen-mirren/

Colin Firth is back for P-p-p-part II of The King’s Speech Actor to return to royal role (THE SUN) EDITED BY GORDON SMART Colin Firth is back for P-p-p-part II of The King’s Speech Actor to return to royal role In talks for another Speech ... Colin Firth and on-screen wife Helena Bonham Carter By GORDON SMART

IT’S good Colin Firth doesn’t fumble his lines at awards dos.

He’s agreed to return as stammering monarch George VI for a sequel to The King’s Speech – the role that earned him a stack of trinkets including a Best Actor Oscar.

Stars of the original — Helena Bonham Carter, who played George’s wife Queen Elizabeth, and Geoffrey Rush, who was the king’s speech therapist — have also said they are desperate to return, along with director Tom Hooper.

A movie source said the sequel will be set during the carnage of World War Two’s Blitz.

Amazingly it will not focus on how George struggled to control his stammer as bombs rained down on London. The insider said: “The sequel is going to be about the experience of families during the Blitz. It will focus on how the privileged Royal Family was hit by the crisis, compared to the more ordinary family of George VI’s speech therapist.

“The focus will be on George but it will also show how the whole royal household was affected. There’s still amazing interest in the Blitz. The movie is still in the very early stages but everyone’s keen to get going soon.”


Read more:  http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/4553589/Colin-Firth-to-star-in-The-Kings-Speech-sequel.html

Ralph Fiennes, Helen Bonham Carter: Great Expectations trailer (INDIEWIRE)

Mike Newell's take on Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" makes its world premiere at TIFF in September, and the first international trailer for the movie has dropped giving a rather substantial peek at what's in store. Featuring a pretty strong cast with veterans Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane starring alongside rising talents like Jeremy Irvine and Holliday Grainger, the David Nicholls' penned film will hopefully do something to make it stand out from the countless versions that have come before. Certainly, the strong ensemble is a good way to start, and while it looks compelling, we'll see if its one worthy of distinction soon enough. There is no stateside distributor for this yet, but it will open in the U.K. on November 30th. Watch below.

 


http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-international-trailer-for-great-expectations-starring-ralph-fiennes-helena-bonham-carter-20120813#