It’s only a teaser trailer but it’s enough to get Salem fans excited about the upcoming second season of the WGN America horror series. Salem‘s second season kicks off in April 2015 with Janet Montgomery back as Mary Sibley, Shane West returning as John Alden, and Seth Gabel back as Cotton Mather. The series also stars Ashley Madekwe as Tituba, Tamzin Merchant as Anne Hale, Elise Eberle as Mercy Lewis, and Iddo Goldberg as Isaac Walton.
Season two will consist of 13 episodes.
The Plot [Courtesy of WGN America]:
In the first season, Captain John Alden returned home after seven years at war only to discover that his true love, Mary, wed his old (and wealthy) nemesis George Sibley. During his years on the battlefield, Mary has emerged as a true power broker in a Puritan town fully immersed in witch panic.
Throughout a fiery first season, filled with wicked deceit and shocking revelations, John and Mary found themselves navigating a supernatural world where paranoia, revenge, evil and hysteria reign. Ultimately, John risks his life for Mary, even after learning that she is the ruling witch of Salem who is at the center of all the mayhem plaguing the embattled village.
In Salem season two, the Grand Rite triggered at the end of last season is now underway and death is in the air. In order to bring her plan to completion, Mary must not only control Captain John Alden and the citizens of Salem, but also those lurking in the shadows who seek the power she wields.
The Bazillion Dollar Club is moving forward at Syfy, with the Silicon Valley based docu-series set up to search for the next big idea. Filming’s expected to get underway later this year and Syfy’s planning to premiere The Bazillion Dollar Club sometime in 2015.
“The Bazillion Dollar Club gives our audience of imaginative thinkers the opportunity to literally invent the future by bringing to life their visionary ideas and dreams,” said Syfy president Dave Howe. “This show is important to Syfy’s unscripted strategy to engage fans with entertaining and informative real-world drama that taps into their curiosity, passion and creativity.”
Details on the People Behind The Bazillion Dollar Club [Courtesy of Syfy]:
The show follows Dave McClure, a relentless drill sergeant who founded software accelerator 500 Startups, and Brady Forrest, the quirky and creative mind behind the hardware accelerator Highway1. Their companies offer two of the world’s most aggressive accelerator programs that mentor startups leading up to the launch of their billion dollar idea.
McClure has invested in over 800 companies worldwide including 3D printing company Makerbot, which was acquired by Stratasys for 400 million dollars; the social media startup Wildfire, acquired by Google for 350 million dollars; financial monitoring service Credit Karma, recently valued at over one billion dollars; and telephony innovator Twilio, which has raised over 100 million dollars in venture capital. In just five years, his venture capital firm has funded thousands of entrepreneurs and helped them raise over two billion dollars. McClure is regarded as an innovator and influencer in social networking, and he was also an early employee at PayPal, working with the infamous “PayPal Mafia,” a group of tech entrepreneurs who later founded multiple billion dollar startup companies including LinkedIn, YouTube, Yelp and Yammer.
Forrest is a technology evangelist, obsessed with opening doors for makers, entrepreneurs and inventors looking to launch the world’s next game-changing product. Forrest is currently vice president at Highway1, the hardware accelerator that is part of PCH, and is responsible for some of the hottest names in the hardware renaissance including: CUE, the mobile medical testing kit; Navdy’s iPhone HUD for cars; Drop’s connected baking assistant; and Ringly’s fashionable connected rings. Under his leadership, PCH & Highway1 have funded over 35 companies with a focus on innovative consumer products. Forrest also co-founded Ignite, the worldwide global talk series that has been embraced by geeks in over 200 cities.
Could Jennifer Aniston snag a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role in Cake? Aniston’s performance is generating a lot of attention, and the just-released trailer makes good use of quotes from critics to make a case for Aniston’s place in the Oscar race. Directed by Daniel Barnz, Cake also features Sam Worthington, Anna Kendrick, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, and Adriana Barraza.
Cake opens in limited release on January 23, 2015.
The Plot:
Claire Simmons (Aniston) is in pain. Her physical pain is evident in the scars that line her body and the way she carries herself, wincing with each tentative step. She’s no good at hiding her emotional pain either. Blunt to the point of searing insult, Claire’s anger seethes out of her with nearly every interaction. She has driven away her husband, her friends – even her chronic-pain support group has kicked her out.
The only one left in Claire’s otherwise solitary existence is her housekeeper-cum-caretaker, Silvana (Barraza), who barely tolerates her boss’ need for liquor and prescription pills. But the suicide of Nina (Kendrick), one of Claire’s fellow chronic-pain group members, prompts another fixation. In pursuing questions about the death of a woman she barely knew, Claire explores the boundaries between life and death, abandonment and heartbreak, danger and salvation. As she inserts herself into the lives of Nina’s husband (Worthington) and the son Nina left behind, Claire just might find salvation.
James Frain (Photo by Richard Chavez / ShowbizJunkies)
Justin Chatwin, James Frain, Ksenia Solo, Kyra Harper, and Earl Pastko have joined the cast of the upcoming season of the critically acclaimed BBC drama series Orphan Black starring Tatiana Maslany. The third season will air in 2015 and is currently in production in Toronto.
According to the official announcement, the third season will plunge “the clone sisterhood into unexpected territory with the realization that they’re not alone.” Series co-creator Graeme Manson writes and co-creator John Fawcett directs the compelling show, which has a large, passionate fanbase.
Per BBC America, here are the descriptions of who the new cast members will be playing:
– Justin Chatwin joins in a recurring role as Jason Kellerman. With rugged good looks and street-smarts, Jason is a savvy drug-dealer in the guise of a charismatic businessman.
– James Frain guest stars as Ferdinand, a well-educated, “cleaner” who is both charming and intimidating. Ferdinand is a powerful player in a secretive, multi-national political faction that operates with questionable ethics and a ruthless approach.
– Ksenia Solo is Shay, a soulful and compassionate holistic healer with a great sense of humor destined to become a new friend to Cosima Niehaus (Tatiana Maslany).
– Kyra Harper will play Dr. Coady, a ruthless doctor and advisor to the military. Coady is outwardly the soul of reason, but her maternal, nurturing manner conceals an agenda that even her superiors do not suspect.
– Earl Pastko is Bulldog, Ferdinand’s silent, imposing and violent personal bodyguard. Communicating with his boss by looks only, Bulldog carries out the dirty work of his shady employers.
Warner Bros Pictures’ Pan has unveiled the official trailer for the action adventure tale, Pan, directed by Joe Wright (Hanna, Atonement). The origin story is based on J.M. Barrie’s characters and stars Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard, Garrett Hedlund as Hook, Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily, Adeel Akhtar as Smee, and Levi Miller as Peter Pan. The cast also includes Taejoo Na as Kwahu, Nonso Anozie as Bishop, Kathy Burke as Mother Barnabas, Kurt Egyiawan as Murray, Lewis MacDougall as Nibs, Leni Zieglmeier as Wendy Darling, and Jack Charles as The Chief/Tig.
Pan will open in theaters on July 17, 2015.
The Plot:
Offering a new take on the origin of the classic characters created by J.M. Barrie, the action adventure follows the story of an orphan who is spirited away to the magical Neverland. There, he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny—to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.
ABC hasn’t issued an official press release announcing it, but the Twitter account for Cristela says it’s official. The half hour comedy series starring Cristela Alonzo has been given a full season order.
Cristela kicked off its first season run on Friday, October 10, 2014 and has posted good but not outstanding ratings. ABC already cancelled Manhattan Love Story and Selfie, and Cristela could really have gone either way. Fortunately for fans, the series has been saved by the network – at least for its first season – even though it’s only drawing in around 5 million viewers each week after opening to 6.5 million viewers.
Michael Keaton and Edward Norton in ‘Birdman’ (Photo Courtesy of Fox Searchlight)
Birdman earned six nominations while Nightcrawler, Boyhood, and Selma each picked up five nominations as just announced by the Film Independent Spirit Awards – the Oscars of the independent film world. The 30th Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2015, one day prior to the Oscars. And unlike the Academy Awards ceremony, the Spirit Awards are a more casual affair, taking place in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.
“As we celebrate 30 years of great independent film,” said Josh Welsh, President of Film Independent, “this year’s nominees are an astonishingly strong group of films and filmmakers which demonstrate the uniqueness of vision we honor at this show.”
Although neither film was eligible to receive individual nominations based on the Spirit Awards rules, Inherent Vice and Foxcatcher were singled out to receive special awards, with Inherit Vice earning the Robert Altman Award for its ensemble cast, casting director, and director. Foxcatcher was chosen to receive the Special Distinction Award for “its uniqueness of vision, honesty of direction and screenwriting, superb acting and achievement on every level of filmmaking.”
2015 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST FEATURE
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Love is Strange
Selma
Whiplash
BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
David Zellner – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski – Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor – A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias – Love is Strange
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
Dear White People
Director/Producer: Justin Simien
Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
Nightcrawler
Director: Dan Gilroy
Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
Obvious Child
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Producer: Elisabeth Holm
She’s Lost Control
Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt
Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Desiree Akhavan – Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo – Little Accidents
Justin Lader – The One I Love
Anja Marquardt – She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien – Dear White People
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.
Blue Ruin
Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
It Felt Like Love
Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman
Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
Land Ho!
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
Man From Reno
Writer/Director: Dave Boyle
Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman
Producer: Ko Mori
Test
Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson
Producer: Chris Martin
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive
BEST MALE LEAD
André Benjamin – Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
John Lithgow – Love is Strange
David Oyelowo – Selma
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo – Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz – Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Alfred Molina – Love is Strange
Edward Norton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji – The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young – Selma
BEST EDITING
Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Tom Cross – Whiplash
John Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Ron Patane – A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard – The Guest
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
20,000 Days on Earth
Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
CITIZENFOUR
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Stray Dog
Director: Debra Granik
Producer: Anne Rosellini
The Salt of the Earth
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders
Producer: David Rosier
Virunga
Director/Producer: Orlando von Einsiedel
Producer: Joanna Natasegara
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Force Majeure
(Sweden)
Director: Ruben Östlund
Ida
(Poland)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan
(Russia)
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mommy
(Canada)
Director: Xavier Dolan
Norte, the End of History
(Philippines)
Director: Lav Diaz
Under the Skin
(United Kingdom)
Director: Jonathan Glazer
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon
SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum
18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 18th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson
21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 21st annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
H.
Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia
The Retrieval
Director: Chris Eska
20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.
Approaching the Elephant
Director: Amanda Rose Wilder
Evolution of a Criminal
Director: Darius Clark Monroe
Apparently no one learned anything from Jurassic Park as once again scientists have unleashed dinosaurs there’s no way to contain in Jurassic World, the fourth film of the franchise. Universal Pictures has released the official trailer for Jurassic World and it features a new female hybrid dinosaur who we don’t get to see a full shot of but what we do see confirms that creating this creature was a terrible idea.
Jurassic World was directed by Colin Trevorrow and will open in theaters on June 12, 2015. The cast is led by Chris Pratt and features Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, and Judy Greer.
Steven Spielberg executive produces and Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley produced the action adventure film.
Gina Torres and Gabriel Macht in ‘Suits’ (Photo by: Shane Mahood / USA Network)
Both Suits and Sirens will return to USA Network in January 2015. The network announced Suits‘ fourth season will continue on January 28th at 10pm ET/PT and Sirens‘ second season will kick off on January 27th at 10pm. The fourth season of Suits, thus far, has a total audience of 14.1 million viewers. The half-hour comedy Sirens averaged 1.62 million over its first season and ranked as one of the best basic cable new comedy series in 2014.
In addition to announcing the premiere dates, USA Network also released details on the shows’ upcoming seasons:
Suits: The mid-season premiere of Suits picks up from the stunning cliffhanger, with Louis gaining the leverage needed to finally achieve his ultimate goal — becoming a partner of the firm. Meanwhile, the team at Pearson Specter is dealing with the major fallout of Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) learning Mike’s (SAG Award nominee Patrick J. Adams) secret. With six episodes remaining, Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Jessica (Gina Torres) are faced with critical changes at the firm and defending one of their own.
Sirens: Season two of the popular comedy series Sirens, from executive producers Denis Leary and Bob Fisher, returns Tuesday, January 27 at 10/9c with two back-to-back episodes. The season reunites Chicago’s best EMTs Johnny (Michael Mosley), Hank (Kevin Daniels) and Brian (Kevin Bigley) as they navigate their way through professional and personal drama. Together the comedy-trio discusses and debates its way through life issues, including chance versus coincidence, white knights versus nightingales and strippers versus magicians. Sirens also stars Jessica McNamee, Bill Nunn and Josh Segarra. Guest stars appearing in the 13 episode season include Lenny Clarke, Nora Dunn, Loretta Devine, John Scurti, Steve Schirripa, Jonathan Sadowski, Nikki DeLoach, Aya Cash, WWE Superstar Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Brian Doyle Murray, Wayne Knight and Andy Kindler.
Kurt Cobain performing at MTV “Unplugged.” (Photo Credit: MTV)
The first-ever authorized documentary on Nirvana’s front man Kurt Cobain is currently in production and will air on HBO in 2015. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is, according to HBO, a “fully authorized” look into the life of singer/guitarist/songwriter Cobain. Set up with HBO Documentary Films and Universal Pictures, Crossfire Hurricane‘s director Brett Morgen is writing, directing and producing the documentary. Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean Cobain is executive producing.
Cobain’s family is cooperating on the documentary and have provided access to his archives which contain recordings, photos, journals, songbooks, and demos. Morgen will be including unheard Cobain recordings as well as Nirvana songs and performances in Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.
“I started work on this project eight years ago,” said Morgen. “Like most people, when I started, I figured there would be limited amounts of fresh material to unearth. However, once I stepped into Kurt’s archive, I discovered over 200 hours of unreleased music and audio, a vast array of art projects (oil paintings, sculptures), countless hours of never-before-seen home movies, and over 4000 pages of writings that together help paint an intimate portrait of an artist who rarely revealed himself to the media.”
