Role Call: Trailer-ific!

You may still be smiling from the adorable video of our staffer Madison singing a Potter-centric version of this Christmas classic, but she isn’t the only one who loves the song! Potter director Chris Columbus has used “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” as the background for his latest project, an advertisement for Esselunga, an Italian supermarket. In addition to being directed by Columbus, the commercial was filmed on hallowed ground: Pinewood Studios, where the Potter movies were filmed. Check it out!

American Potter fans now have one more reason to be pea-green with envy of our British cousins. Next February, fans in the London area could attend a very special event featuring Dame Maggie Smith! Jim Carter (husband of Imelda Staunton, who portrayed Dolores Umbridge), perhaps best known for his role alongside Smith in the popular Downton Abbey series on PBS, will host a conversation with Smith (Minerva McGonagall) and Dame Judi Dench at the Tricycle Theatre. To learn more about this event taking place on February 26, visit the Tricycle Theatre’s website here.

Speaking of Imelda Staunton, it was announced this week that the award-winning actress will star alongside Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail) in a new romantic film – Finding Your Feet. The production is currently filming around London and Rome. We have our first look at the pair together, below, courtesy of Screen Daily:

 

 

Here’s a brief synopsis of the film, which does not yet have a release date announced.

The film follows Lady Sandra Abbott (Staunton) who, after discovering that her husband of forty years is having an affair, takes up a community dance class with her sister, where she finds a new lease of both fun and romance.

A sincere congratulations goes to Spall for his recent Edgeware Outstanding Achievement Award! Spall won the accolade for his performance in Stanley – A Man of Variety, which premiered at the UK Film Festival last month.

The film tells the story of Stanley, a passionate admirer of classic British comedy, who has been sent to prison for a crime he believes he didn’t commit. After years in solitary, the increasingly delusional Stanley begins to talk to his comedy heroes from the past. What ensues is an intriguing psychological mystery in which Spall plays an astonishing 16 different parts.

 

Embed from Getty Images

 

It’s a great time to be a Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) fan! His new eight-part series, The OA, was released Friday on Netflix. Much is unknown about the series, as Netflix refused to give any details or allow cast or crew to discuss the series, but here is a brief summary courtesy of the official trailer:

. . . a powerful, mind-bending tale about identity, human connection and the borders between life and death. The Netflix original series ‘The OA’ is an odyssey in eight chapters.

Isaacs plays Dr. Hunter Hap, but don’t worry! We won’t spoil the series for you by telling you anything you don’t already know – that he plays an excellent villain! Of course, if you are the type of person who enjoys a good spoiler, then click here before you check out the trailer below!

 

 

Also debuting this week is the trailer for Dunkirk, a war drama starring Sir Kenneth Branagh (Gilderoy Lockhart). The film is set to release next July and follows historical events surrounding the evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II. Watch the trailer below:

 

 

David Tennant (Barty Crouch, Jr.) is taking on a well-to-do character from the late 80s, and he’s enlisted a few famous friends to spread the news about his new role. Take a look!

 

 

The animated Disney series Duck Tales, following the adventures of Donald Duck’s three spirited nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, is returning with some serious star power! Tennant will voice the old Scottish tightwad Scrooge McDuck in this new incarnation of the series. Duck Tales is set to premiere next summer on Disney XD.

The Sense of an Ending, starring Jim Broadbent (Horace Slughorn), finally has a trailer! The film boasts an all-star cast, including Charlotte Rampling and Michelle Dockery, and is set for a March release in select theaters. Enjoy a summary of the film and view the trailer here:

Tony Webster (Broadbent) leads a reclusive and quiet existence until long buried secrets from his past force him to face the flawed recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love (Rampling) and the devastating consequences of decisions made a lifetime ago.

 

 

Another trailer, featuring Broadbent’s voice acting skills, also hit the net this week. Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Raymond Briggs, Ethel & Ernest tells the story of a couple who live through 40 years of world events together, including World War II and the invention of the television.

 

 

Broadbent voices Ernest, a milkman who meets and romances Ethel in 1920s Britain. Pam Ferris (Aunt Marge) is also featured in Ethel & Ernest, voicing two characters: Mrs. Bennett and Aunt Betty. The feature is scheduled to air on BBC1 December 28.

We’ve discussed Sir Michael Gambon‘s (Albus Dumbledore) new film Viceroy’s House previously, but this week, we finally get a look at the period drama. A dramatic account of the end of British rule in India, Viceroy’s House will be released March 3, in time for the 70th anniversary of India’s independence and the formation of Pakistan. Gambon portrays a key civil servant in the film, General Hastings Ismay.

Viceroy’s House in Delhi was the home of the British rulers of India. After 300 years, that rule was coming to an end. For 6 months in 1947, Lord Mountbatten, great grandson of Queen Victoria, assumed the post of the last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people.

 

 

The latest Potter alumnus to be featured on the British version of Who Do You Think You Are? is Warwick Davis (Filius Flitwick/Griphook)! His episode will feature sometime in the new year, the show’s 13th season, according to the Sun. We’ll let you know more as information becomes available.

Davis can next be seen in the Jonathan Creek Christmas special, where he will portray Reverend Wendell Wilkie.

 

 

His character is described:

A devotee of the impossible crime puzzle and ‘Jonathan Creek’ fan, Wilkie becomes drawn into the mystery when he’s called in to perform an exorcism.

The 90-minute special, titled “Daemons’ Roost,” is set to air December 28 on BBC1.

Stephen Fry (British audiobook narrator for the Harry Potter series) was recently announced as part of the cast of Margery Booth: The Spy in the Eagle’s Nest. Fry will portray the founder of the Gestapo, Nazi Hermann Göring, in the production based on the true story of Margery Booth, an opera singer and World War II spy who performed for Hitler. Filming is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2017.

Our last trailer features Emma Thompson (Sybill Trelawney) and Brendan Gleeson (Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody) in Alone in Berlin, ahead of the US premiere of the film. Check out the synopsis and trailer here:

How did an ordinary, middle-aged couple become a symbol of defiance against Nazi brutality? This true-life tale of courage unfolds against the tumultuous backdrop of Berlin in 1940. Otto and Anna Quangel (Brendan Gleeson & Emma Thompson) are a working class husband and wife doing their best to ride out the war. When their son is killed fighting on the frontlines, however, everything changes. They begin pouring their rage and grief into postcards emblazoned with anti-Nazi slogans, risking everything to disseminate their messages of protest across the city. But this seemingly small act of subversion rattles the regime, including a police inspector (Daniel Brühl) who will not rest until the culprits have been caught. Based on the bestselling novel ‘Every Man Dies Alone’ by Hans Fallada, ‘Alone in Berlin’ is both a gripping thriller and a stirring ode to resistance.

 

 

That wraps up MuggleNet’s weekly Casting News! Let us know how you feel about the many projects ahead of us in the new year by commenting below!