Latest news with #Morticia
BBC News
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Alien: Earth to Wednesday: 10 of the best TV shows to watch this August
From the first ever Alien series to the new run of Netflix's Addams Family spin-off and a true-crime drama about Amanda Knox. 1. Chief of War Jason Momoa used his Aquaman clout to get this colourful historical epic made. He co-created and co-wrote the series, and plays Ka'iana, a warrior in 18th-Century Hawaii who is trying to unify the islands before colonists take control. If the subject is unexpected from the star of mainstream commercial films including the recent hit The Minecraft Movie, the action is on brand. Combining large-scale battle scenes with history is a formula that worked for Shogun, and Chief of War has a similar dynamic, and a grounding in authenticity. The cast is mostly Polynesian, and Momoa, who has born in Hawaii, had to speak the Hawaiian language, Olelo, for some scenes. Learning it, he told GQ, was "The hardest thing I have done in my life." The series co-creator, Thomas Pa'a Sibbett, has said, "We actually had this idea a good 10 years ago," but, he added, "We knew that in order to pull off something like this, Jason needed to bring his star power up". Chief of War premieres 1 August on Apple TV+ internationally 2. Eyes of Wakanda Black Panther director Ryan Coogler's production company is behind this latest Marvel animated series, which fits neatly into that film's universe as it follows Wakandan warriors at various points in history. Traveling the world, they put themselves at risk to retrieve artifacts containing the rare, powerful metal vibranium – that energy-absorbing material that has caused such a fuss in so many Marvel movies – stolen from Wakanda. Each of the four episodes has a different story and setting. The one set in ancient Greece has a disgraced former member of Wakanda's all-female army, the Dora Milage, tracing a man known as the Lion, who attempts to build a kingdom on the strength of stolen vibranium treasure. Todd Harris, the series' showrunner, told EW that his ambition was to create "a giant spy-espionage story that reverberates through time". Eyes of Wakanda premieres 1 August on Disney+ internationally 3. Wednesday In the second season of Jenna Ortega's breakout hit, young goth Wednesday Addams, returns to Nevermore Academy, and there are some starry additions to the cast. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman are back as Wednesday's loving parents, Morticia and Gomez. Among the added characters, Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) plays Morticia's mother, who has the Dickensian name Hester Frump (she is not a frump; she's glam). Billie Piper plays a music teacher, Isadora Capri, who is mentor to Wednesday's best friend, Enid (Emma Myers) – appropriate since they are both werewolves. And Steve Buscemi plays the school's oddball new headmaster, Barry Dort. He is featured in the show's best teaser, which plays off Buscemi's classic meme from 30 Rock, "How do you do, fellow kids", so you can see that the show's mordant wit is intact. Tim Burton directed several episodes. The season's second half drops in September and you'll have to wait until then for Lady Gaga's guest appearance. Wednesday premieres 6 August on Netflix internationally 4. Outlander: Blood of My Blood The wildly popular Outlander is heading toward its eighth and final season soon, but the series is also moving backwards in time – and keeping the franchise alive – with this prequel, which tells the stories of the parents of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan). In the early 18th-century Jamie's father, Brian (Jamie Roy) courts Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater). During World War I, Claire's mother, Julia (Hermione Corfield) falls for Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine). But, like parents like daughter, the 20th-century couple can time travel and they land in the 18th Century, where they are separated and have to find each other again. Whatever the show turns out to be, you can already see that the casting and makeup people did a terrific job. Roy is a virtually a Heughan lookalike, and Corfield convincingly looks like she passed her profile on to her daughter. TV Insider writes that, true to the original and the Diana Gabaldon novels it's based on, the series is full of "sexy fun and clan intrigue". Outlander: Blood of My Blood premieres 8 August on Starz in US and 9 August on MGM+ in the UK 5. Alien: Earth Noah Hawley, who pulled off the unlikely feat of turning the Coen brothers' beloved Fargo into one of the best television series of recent years, has another go at a film adaptation with this prequel to the Alien franchise. The show is set in 2120, two years before the events of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), when a spacecraft that that has been collecting samples of life forms from other planets crashes on Earth. Deadly creatures including, but not limited to, the drooling xenomorph that likes to leap out of humans' chests are let loose. As if that's not creepy enough, the heroine, Wendy (Sydney Chandler), is a young girl with a terminal illness whose consciousness has been transferred into a humanoid robotic body, and Timothy Olyphant plays her synthetic mentor, a robot with artificial intelligence. The power plays of competing tech companies comprises one theme, but Hawley has also said of the style, "If we want to make Alien something's got to be dripping. Something's got to be rusty". Alien: Earth premieres 12 August on Hulu in the US and 13 August on Disney+ in the UK 6. Butterfly Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) stars in this spy thriller as David Jung, a former US intelligence agent who has returned to South Korea to save the grown daughter, Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), who has believed him to be dead for nine years. She is now a trained assassin, just like her dad, and works for a nefarious private intelligence company called Caddis. David actually founded Caddis but the company is now run by the lethally ambitious, mercenary Juno (Piper Perabo), who wants him dead. The cat-and-mouse game of loyalties includes some sardonic lines from Rebecca, always ready to undercut her father's sentimentality. Much of the series is set in South Korea, and when the production was announced Kim, who is also one of the series' producers, called it "the realisation of a lifelong dream to bring together American and Korean storytellers and create a show that bridges two cultures that I love deeply". Butterfly premieres 13 August on Prime Video internationally 7. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox In this fact-based fiction, Grace Van Patten (Tell Me Lies) plays Amanda Knox, the young woman at the centre of an especially high-profile crime and punishment saga. "Many people think they know my story, but now it's my turn to tell it," the fictional Amanda says in the trailer. The real Knox has told her story before, cooperating with a 2016 Netflix documentary and writing two books, and it is full of twists and turns. Knox, then an American student in Italy, was convicted of the 2007 murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, only to have the verdict overturned, then to be tried again in absentia, convicted and exonerated again. The fictional approach allows the series to heighten that already dramatic tale. Sharon Horgan plays Knox's mother in the series, which was created by KJ Steinberg. She was a writer on This Is Us, and so must know something about portraying emotional trauma. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox premieres 20 August on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK 8. Hostage Suranne Jones (Vigil, Gentleman Jack) is the British Prime Minister, Abigail Dalton, and Julie Delpy (Richard Linklater's Before trilogy) is the President of France, Vivienne Toussaint – a satisfying alt-history in itself. The series becomes a political thriller when the PM's husband is kidnapped and held hostage during Toussaint's state visit to London. To complicate matters, the French president is being blackmailed. The two world leaders, wary rivals, have to work together to get out of this mess, which comes to include an explosion at 10 Downing Street and the PM saying on television, "I will not negotiate. My loyalties are to my country. I will not allow it to be held for ransom." The series was created and written by Matt Charman, who also created the Netflix espionage series Treason and co-wrote Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, similarly themed thrillers in which the political becomes intensely personal. Hostage premieres 21 August on Netflix internationally 9. Long Story Short Bojack Horseman, the animated satire about a has-been TV star who happens to be a horse, was both popular and critically acclaimed, with Rolling Stone calling it one of the best television shows of all time. That means there are high expectations for this series from the same creator, Raphael Bob-Waksberg. This time he's dealing with humans, the Schwooper family of three siblings, in a show that moves back and forth in time between their childhood and adulthood. The comedy reveals how little some grown-ups have changed from the kids they used to be, especially when they are squabbling in the back seat of a car. Max Greenfield is the voice of Yoshi, Ben Feldman is Avi, and Abbi Jacobson is Shira, their purple-haired sister. Paul Reiser and Lisa Edelstein play their parents. "This show is not going to be as cartoony or as bleak" as Bojack, Bob-Waksberg has said, although "there are certainly cartoony elements". Long Story Short premieres 22 August on Netflix internationally 10. The Terminal List: Dark Wolf Like Jack Ryan and Reacher, The Terminal List is a Prime Video series that has never become a cultural touchstone but has definitely drawn an audience of fans, with Chris Pratt as James Reece, a US Navy Seal commander coming to grips with an operation gone wrong. A second season of that original show is already in the works. This new military drama is a prequel about Ben Edwards, played by Taylor Kitsch, who in the original was a Seal turned CIA agent. He came to a bad end there, but he had his reasons, which the prequel explores. Set seven years earlier, the story follows Edwards as he is discharged from the Seals and drawn into the shadowy CIA world. Pratt has a supporting role, as Edwards and Reece train troops in Iraq and develop a bond. To say the friendship eventually frays is understating things, but in Dark Wolf that is far in the future. The Terminal List: Dark Wolf premieres 27 August on Prime Video internationally -- For more Culture stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Daily Mirror
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Catherine Zeta-Jones gives rare insight into ‘tearful' moment with kids ahead of Wednesday season 2
The Oscar winner opened up about her family Wednesday star Catherine Zeta-Jones has shared a rare insight into her personal life while making season two of the Netflix hit, reports WalesOnline. The forthcoming season, which will controversially be split in half, sees Pugsley Addams (played by Isaac Ordonez) heading to Nevermore Academy to join his older sister Wednesday (Jenna Ortega), and 55-year-old Oscar winner Zeta-Jones admitted it was an emotional affair both for her character and herself as she drew parallels to her own children. Opening up about shooting the moment, The Chicago and Crash actress said: 'I have a lovely scene with Pugsley where I say, 'Good luck,' as he embarks on his first day. And Morticia sees in him all those nervous things about it being your first day at school, which is always traumatic for the person going to school, and also for the parent. 'But on a personal level, I don't think I ever didn't cry when I dropped off my kids for the first day of school. Each year, it was something, another challenge for them.' Zeta-Jones is married to Hollywood icon Michael Douglas with the couple sharing two children Carys Zeta Douglas, 22, and Dylan Douglas, 24. Watch Wednesday on Netflix for free with Sky from £15 Sky Get the deal here Product Description She went on to say how the scene not only reminded of her seeing her children off to school, but also reminded her of being a maternal older sister to her younger brother Lyndon Jones. The actress explained: 'So it's wonderful. In the writing, you see the dynamic of Wednesday having a sibling at school. 'I remember that, too, in my personal life. I remember my little brother coming to the school. I was a little bit parental.' But the parallels between Zeta-Jones' personal life and Wednesday don't end there after she opened up about the mother-daughter dynamic between Wednesday and Morticia in season two. Zeta-Jones detailed: 'Mother-daughter relationships are varied. Some of them are at loggerheads during certain times in their life. 'Wednesday Addams and Morticia Addams' relationship is beautiful, it's encouraging, it's contentious, it's fraught. It's all those things a mother-daughter relationship goes through, which is a wonderful experience as a mother and not so much as a daughter. I speak from experience.' Adding: 'To be able to play those in Wednesday is something that's very important and something that's very real.' Season two has been split into two parts and sees Wednesday trying to unravel another deadly mystery and face new foes in the twisty corridors of Nevermore. There will be some fresh faces, with the likes of British icon and Absolutely Fabulous' Joanna Lumley joining the cast as Wednesday's Grandmother Hester Frump, Back to the Future and The Addams Family star Christopher Lloyd as Professor Orloff, Westworld 's Thandiwe Newton as Dr. Rachael Fairburn, Hollywood legend Steve Buscemi as Principal Dort, and Doctor Who actress Billie Piper as Isadora Capri. Further new cast members include Devs' star Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nayo as Sheriff Ritchie Santiago, Owen Painter as Slurp, Noah B. Taylor as Bruno, and Evie Templeton as Agnes DeMille.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Wednesday season 2 bosses open up on Joanna Lumley's unrecognisable transformation
A whole host of new characters have been added to season two of Wednesday and fans were left stunned by Joanna Lumley's transformation in the Netflix show Wednesday season two will premiere on Netflix on August 6 and the show has been renewed for a third season. For the latest outing, a whole host of new characters have been added alongside Jenna Ortega, who has opened up on the pressures of filming the new season. Whilst the star-studded cast welcomes the likes of Lady Gaga and Steve Buscemi, the hit series will also see Joanna Lumley as Morticia's (Catherine Zeta-Jones) mother. The Absolutely Fabulous star and former model has collaborated with Tim Burton on two previous film projects - James and the Giant Peach and Corpse Bride. Wednesday showrunner Miles Millar said she was at the top of their list to play Hester, sharing: "The idea of bringing Hester, Morticia's mother, into the fold was something we were so excited about. "In the first season we introduced Fester, and then this season we thought, 'Let's introduce Grandmama.' "At the top of our list was Joanna Lumley. Joanna just inhabited this role. And the hair and makeup - she has this extraordinary wig." "Colleen Atwood, our incredible costume designer, designed these amazing costumes. "The first day on set when Joanna walked on, she just was Hester, and she nailed every single line, and it's just so delicious. "The Wednesday-Hester relationship is unique and different; you see a twinkle in both their eyes when they're together on-screen. I think everyone is going to fall in love with Hester." The 79 year old sent fans into a frenzy with her jaw-dropping transformation as she appeared in the show's trailer. The footage triggered a wave of reactions from supporters across social media platforms, with remarks describing her look as "perfect" and "fabulous". Writing on X, previously known as Twitter, one admirer commented: "Grandmama got a makeover." A second person posted: "Absolutely Fabulous! !" making reference to the performer's legendary Patsy Stone character. Alfred Gough, who co-created the programme, revealed that for the second series they were keen to explore a contrasting mother-daughter dynamic. He explained: "We see Hester and Morticia's relationship, and how there are similarities and differences between Morticia and Wednesday's relationship. "And of course, Wednesday and Hester get along great. Other than Fester, Grandmama is probably Wednesday's favorite person and the one she feels the most kinship with. "It's also somebody she can use against her mother. So it's a delicious family triangle to set up." Wednesday season 2 will premiere on Netflix on August 6
Daily Record
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Wednesday bosses hint at 'treacherous relationships' ahead of season 2
Wednesday season 2 is just weeks away and bosses have opened up on the new season Warning: May contain spoilers for Wednesday Season 2. Wednesday Season 2 will witness various relationships taking centre stage as producers reveal they "didn't want to disappoint" fans. The brand new series is merely weeks away, following an extended wait for devotees. It's been three years since Wednesday initially appeared on our screens and became a sensation with audiences globally. The debut series tracked Wednesday Addams (portrayed by Jenna Ortega) as she manoeuvred through her existence at Nevermore Academy, an institution for outcasts and misfits, reports the Express. From werewolves and vampires, to sirens and gorgons, the boarding establishment witnessed everything. Eventually, Wednesday adapted to her fresh circumstances, whilst becoming immersed in a huge mystery, having saved Nevermore Academy from significant dangers. And now, showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough have revealed what supporters can anticipate for this latest instalment of the beloved programme, as they could be "more daring" and "have bigger scope". And fans will see more of certain relationships as they evolve on screen. Wednesday will need to "navigate a lot of relationships" as Miles Millar explained they will be: "Primarily with her mother and with Enid. She discovers that those relationships are treacherous and it's not easygoing. "It's always important for characters to have challenges in terms of those relationships, and that's what audiences really gravitate toward. The emotional heart of the show are those relationships." Viewers will witness the entire family at Nevermore this series, which creates additional tension for Wednesday as Millar continued: "And the mother-daughter relationship between Wednesday and Morticia is really the central relationship this season." As Wednesday's psychic visions alter throughout the programme, audiences will watch her battle to regain her abilities. Millar explained: "It becomes her goal (Wednesday) over the course of the season to recover her ability, and it brings her right into Morticia's orbit. "Morticia is desperately trying to help Wednesday recover her power, but Wednesday is resisting. We are always building conflict and putting the mother-daughter relationship front and center in the episodes." Morticia serves as chairwoman of the gala committee, so the entire family travels to Nevermore as producers acknowledged that "bringing the whole family to Nevermore felt like a no brainer." Audiences will witness that tension as Morticia tries to assist Wednesday. Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Morticia, also teased what viewers can anticipate with the mother-daughter pair as she revealed: "This season, what unfolds are these three dynamic relationships: Me with my daughter, me with my mother, and Wednesday and my mother. "I'm a little bit jealous of what unfolds in Wednesday's relationship with my mother, because when we're a little strained, she gravitates toward my mother, and she knows that would really annoy me."
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Wednesday season 2 will see Enid and Morticia relationships 'take centre stage'
Wednesday is just weeks away and bosses have said they "didn't want to disappoint" Warning: May contain spoilers for Wednesday Season 2. Wednesday Season 2 will witness various relationships becoming the focal point as producers reveal they "didn't want to disappoint." The eagerly anticipated new season is merely weeks away, following an extended wait for devoted viewers. It's been three years since Wednesday initially appeared on our screens and captured the hearts of audiences globally. The first season saw Wednesday Addams (portrayed by Jenna Ortega) as she adjusted to life at Nevermore Academy, an institution for outcasts and misfits. From werewolves and vampires to sirens and gorgons, the residential school accommodated them all. Eventually, Wednesday adapted to her fresh surroundings, whilst becoming immersed in a mysterious new puzzle, having saved Nevermore Academy from significant dangers. Now, showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough have revealed what supporters can anticipate from this latest instalment of the beloved programme, as they could be "more daring" and "have bigger scope", reports the Express. Particular relationships will become the main focus. Wednesday must "navigate a lot of relationships" as Miles Millar explained they will be: "Primarily with her mother and with Enid. She discovers that those relationships are treacherous and it's not easygoing. "It's always important for characters to have challenges in terms of those relationships, and that's what audiences really gravitate toward. The emotional heart of the show are those relationships." Fans are set for a family reunion at Nevermore this season, which spells more trouble for Wednesday, as Millar revealed: "And the mother-daughter relationship between Wednesday and Morticia is really the central relationship this season." As Wednesday grapples with her evolving psychic visions, viewers will watch her battle to regain her powers. Millar explained: "It becomes her goal (Wednesday) over the course of the season to recover her ability, and it brings her right into Morticia's orbit. Morticia is desperately trying to help Wednesday recover her power, but Wednesday is resisting. We are always building conflict and putting the mother-daughter relationship front and center in the episodes." With Morticia leading the gala committee, the entire family descends on Nevermore, as showrunners confessed that "bringing the whole family to Nevermore felt like a no brainer." The ensuing drama sees Morticia striving to aid Wednesday amidst their conflicts. Catherine Zeta-Jones also teased insights into the mother-daughter dynamics, stating: "This season, what unfolds are these three dynamic relationships: Me with my daughter, me with my mother, and Wednesday and my mother." She divulged her character's feelings, saying: "I'm a little bit jealous of what unfolds in Wednesday's relationship with my mother, because when we're a little strained, she gravitates toward my mother, and she knows that would really annoy me."
