Filming’s underway on Patient Zero starring Game of Thrones‘s Natalie Dormer and Doctor Who‘s Matt Smith. The cast also includes Dormer’s Game of Thrones co-star John Bradley as well as Stanley Tucci and Agyness Deyn. The zombie thriller was written by Mike Le and is directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, with Screen Gems aiming for a 2016 theatrical release.
Patient Zero‘s shooting at Shepperton Studios and in and around London.
The Plot: “In Patient Zero, an unprecedented global pandemic of a super strain of rabies has turned the majority of humankind into highly intelligent, streamlined killers known as ‘The Infected.’ One victim, Morgan (Smith), who is asymptomatic and can communicate with the infected, leads the last survivors on a hunt for Patient Zero and a cure.”
Fox has revealed the 2015 summer premiere dates for returning shows Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, So You Think You Can Dance, and Masterchef as well as the premiere date of Boom!, a new game show hosted by Tom Papa. And, as previously announced, the event series Wayward Pines will kick off the summer season on May 14th at 9pm ET/PT.
The network also confirmed season finale air dates for its current slate of shows. Backstrom will end on April 30th, Gotham‘s season finale is set for May 4th, and Weird Loners ends this season on May 5. American Idol XIV will announce the winner on May 13th and The Simpsons‘ current season finishes up on May 17th. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Family Guys‘ season finales air on May 17. The Following will finish out this season on May 18th, Bones is set to end on June 4th, and Hell’s Kitchen will crown this season’s winner on June 9th.
Along with revealing the premiere dates, Fox also released descriptions of each of the series airing this summer:
Masterchef: Host and award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot welcome judge Christina Tosi, renowned pastry chef, owner and founder of New York City’s Milk Bar, to Season Six of Masterchef, when it premieres with a special two-hour event Wednesday, May 20 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). The culinary smash hit moves into its regular time period the following week on Wednesday, May 27 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The three celebrated food experts will put the latest group of contestants through a series of challenging elimination rounds, in order to turn one home cook into a culinary master.
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?: Popular quiz show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? returns for a brand-new season, beginning Tuesday, May 26 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Unlike the typical game show that measures intelligence, this show tests adults’ lack of knowledge – as revealed by how much they’ve forgotten since their grammar school days, proving that older doesn’t always mean wiser. Executive-produced by Mark Burnett, and featuring returning host Jeff Foxworthy, as well as a top-notch group of grade schoolers to assist the adult contestants, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? will include new twists and fun elements for a new generation of viewers.
So You Think You Can Dance:So You Think You Can Dance enters its 12th season on a new night and with a new twist: the series will showcase America’s most talented dancers from the stage and the street, beginning with the audition rounds on Monday, June 1 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). Hosted by Cat Deeley, and featuring returning judge Nigel Lythgoe and new judges Paula Abdul and Jason Derulo, the new season of the Emmy Award-nominated hit dance competition series once again will include awe-inspiring performances, as well as nail-biting eliminations, as the contestants compete to be named America’s Favorite Dancer.
Boom!: “Combining high drama and high stakes with high comedy in a fun-filled, trivia-charged, slime-soaked, entertainment explosion, new quiz show Boom!, hosted by comedian Tom Papa (“The Marriage Ref”), premieres Thursday, June 25 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). From Keshet DCP, Boom! is a general knowledge quiz show that challenges teams of three players to defuse a series of ticking slime-bombs, by dramatically cutting the wires relating to the correct answers and leaving the wrong answers untouched. Get it right – and the players win big money. Get it wrong or run out of time – and, after a tense countdown, the players – and portions of the audience – are showered with anything from “guacamole” to “mashed potatoes,” forcing the players out of the game.
Wayward Pines: As previously announced, Thursday, May 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) marks Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) and Fox International Channels’ global premiere of the 10-episode, intense psychological thriller Wayward Pines. The highly anticipated event series, based on Blake Crouch’s international best-selling series of books and adapted for television by Chad Hodge, is brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan, and executive-produced by Shyamalan, Donald De Line, Hodge and Ashwin Rajan. The event series stars Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon as a Secret Service agent on a mission to find two missing federal agents, whose investigation only turns up more questions. Debuting simultaneously in more than 125 countries, it will be the world’s largest day-and-date launch for a scripted series ever.
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) will be honoring Kevin Hart with the CinemaCon Comedy Star of the Year award during this year’s event in Vegas. The 2015 gathering of theatre owners runs April 20 through April 23 and will feature presentations from the major studios (showing off their upcoming releases) as well as an awards gala.
The studios also usually bring their biggest stars to the event to help build up the buzz on their slate of films, with celebs including Sandra Bullock, Chris Hemsworth, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, and Ben Stiller making the trek to CinemaCon in previous years to promote their movies.
Announcing Hart’s award, Mitch Neuhauser, Managing Director of CinemaCon Mitch Neuhauser stated, “With a tireless work ethic and comedic timing that is unlike no other, Kevin Hart has become box-office gold, with his films drawing moviegoers to the theaters in droves. An outstanding comedic talent and one of the most entertaining comedians in film today, Kevin has brought laughter to audiences around the world, cementing himself at the top of the box office. We could not be more thrilled than to honor him with the ‘CinemaCon Comedy Star of the Year Award.’”
Hart was most recently seen in The Wedding Ringer with Josh Gad and has Get Hard with Will Ferrell coming to theaters this month. In early 2016 Hart will be co-starring along with Ice Cube in Ride Along 2 for director Tim Story.
Carla Gugino has to run for her life in the official trailer for the action thriller San Andreas directed by Brad Peyton. Dwayne Johnson’s doing the rescuing in Warner Bros Pictures’ first real look at the disaster film which reunites The Rock with his Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director. The cast also includes Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, and Art Parkinson.
San Andreas opens in theaters on May 29, 2015.
The Plot: After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot (Dwayne Johnson) and his estranged wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter. But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning. And when they think the worst may be over…it’s just getting started.
Lucy Lawless has signed on for another TV series. Lawless, who recently joined the cast of WGN America’s Salem, has landed the role of Ruby on Starz’s Ash vs Evil Dead. According to Starz, Ruby is “a mysterious figure who is myopic in her quest to hunt down the source of the recent Evil outbreaks. The only problem: she believes that Ash (Bruce Campbell) is the cause of it all.”
Lawless joins a cast led by Campbell and featuring Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, and Jill Marie Jones. Ash vs Evil Dead is based on the Evil Dead world created by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert (Lawless’ hubby), and Bruce Campbell. Sam Raimi will be directing the first episode which he co-wrote with Ivan Raimi, Craig DiGregorio, and Tom Spezialy. Raimi, DiGregorio, Tapert, and Campbell are executive producing, with DiGregorio also involved as the showrunner.
Filming is taking place in New Zealand and Starz is aiming for a late 2015 premiere.
The Plot: “Ash vs Evil Dead will be 10 half-hour episodes. Bruce Campbell will be reprising his role as Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead. When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons -personal and literal. Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its ‘Evil’ grip.”
Kim Dickens as Miranda and Cliff Curtis as Sean in ‘The Walking Dead’ companion series (Photo Credit: Justin Lubin / AMC)
AMC has so much faith in the potential for The Walking Dead companion series that they’ve announced the new show will air for at least two seasons. The still untitled companion series will be executive produced by The Walking Dead series creator Robert Kirkman as well as Dave Erickson and The Walking Dead‘s Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, and David Alpert. Kirkman and Erickson co-wrote the pilot, co-created the series, and Erickson is on board as showrunner.
The new Walking Dead series is set to star Cliff Curtis, Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, and Alycia Debnam Carey. According to AMC, season one will be made up of six one-hour episodes airing this summer. Season two will air in 2016. The show will be set in LA and will center around new characters.
“We take incredibly seriously the notion of building a satisfying companion series to the number one show on television. From the beginning of The Walking Dead on AMC, we’ve been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did ‘turn.’ Through this new series, we’re going to find out,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson and their writing team, along with an incomparable set of producers, cast and crew have created something remarkable and clearly distinct. We respectfully follow the request of Monty Python as we bring out (the latest of) our Dead.”
“We feel empowered by this two-season commitment, a serious show of faith from our network partner AMC,” added Kirkman. “I personally take it as a sign that they believe, like we do, that we’ve accomplished our goal of developing something original that can pay tribute to the original show and expand the world I created while at the same time having something new to say with this story. I’m very grateful that we now have the opportunity to tell this amazing story and show the fans that we really haven’t scratched the surface yet when it comes to The Walking Dead.”
The new trailer for Disney’s Tomorrowland finally reveals more about not only the story but the setting of this sci-fi adventure tale directed by Brad Bird. The new trailer focuses on George Clooney and Britt Robertson’s characters and sets up how it’s possible to travel to ‘Tomorrowland’. The cast also includes Hugh Laurie, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Judy Greer, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, and Thomas Robinson.
Tomorrowland opens in theaters on May 22, 2015.
The Plot: “From Disney comes two-time Oscar® winner Brad Bird’s riveting, mystery adventure Tomorrowland starring Academy Award® winner George Clooney. Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as “Tomorrowland.” What they must do there changes the world—and them—forever.
Featuring a screenplay by Lost writer and co-creator Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird, from a story by Lindelof & Bird & Jeff Jensen, Tomorrowland promises to take audiences on a thrill ride of nonstop adventures through new dimensions that have only been dreamed of.
Emilia Clarke in ‘Game of Thrones’ season five (Photo: Helen Sloan / courtesy of HBO)
HBO just announced it’s bringing a new streaming service called HBO NOW to Apple this April, just in time for the premiere of season five of Game of Thrones. The agreement between HBO and Apple gives subscribers the opportunity to watch HBO programs using the HBO NOW app on iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV for a subscription fee of $14.95. During the announcement at the Apple Live event, HBO revealed a brand new trailer for Game of Thrones season five featuring new clips of all the key players.
The nearly two minute trailer features Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), and kicks off with Daenerys calling out her enemies: “Lannister, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell…they are all just spokes on a wheel. This one’s on top and then that one’s on top, and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground. I’m not going to stop the wheel, I’m going to break the wheel.”
Game of Thrones season five premieres on April 12, 2015 at 9:00pm ET/PT.
Matthew McConaughey in ‘The Free State of Jones’ (Courtesy of STX Entertainment)
STX Entertainment reports filming has begun on Free State of Jones starring Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keri Russell And Mahershala Ali. The action drama is directed by Gary Ross (The Hunger Games) who also wrote the script and is producing the film. Also on board as producers are Scott Stuber and Jon Kilik.
“I am thrilled to be continuing a relationship with Gary Ross that began with Seabiscuit. He’s an incredible filmmaker with a unique visual style, and with The Free State of Jones he brings a compelling and impactful untold story that is gritty and thrilling while also being heartfelt and intelligent,” said Adam Fogelson, Chairman of STX Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group. “We are extremely proud that this is one of the first films STX Entertainment will be bringing to audiences.”
Filming’s taking place in and around New Orleans. STX Entertainment is eyeing a March 11, 2016 theatrical release.
The Plot: “Set during the Civil War, The Free State of Jones tells the story of defiant Southern farmer Newt Knight and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers, and with the assistance of local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. His marriage to a former slave, Rachel, and his subsequent establishment of a mixed race community was unique in the post-war South. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, which distinguished him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.”
The soundtrack to the animated alien movie Home will feature songs by Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Charlie XCX, Kiesza, and Jacob Plant. The DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox release will be hitting theaters on March 27, 2015 with the soundtrack dropping on March 24th.
Directed by Tim Johnson (Antz, Over the Hedge), Home is based on the book The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex and features the voices of Lopez, Rihanna, Jim Parsons, and Steve Martin.
The Plot: “Home is the story of Oh (voiced by Jim Parsons), a loveable misfit from another planet who lands on Earth to find himself on the run from his own people. He forms an unlikely friendship with an adventurous girl named Tip (voiced by Rihanna) who is on a quest of her own to find her mother Lucy (voiced by Jennifer Lopez). Through a series of comic adventures with Tip, Oh comes to understand that being different and making mistakes is all part of being human. And while he changes her planet and she changes his world, they discover the true meaning of the word HOME.”
Home Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Track List
“Towards The Sun” – Rihanna
“Run To Me” – Coffee
“Cannonball” – Kiesza
“As Real As You And Me” – Rihanna
“Red Balloon” – Charli XCX
“Dancing In The Dark” – Rihanna
“Drop That” – Jacob Plant
“Feel The Light” – Jennifer Lopez
