Jack Thorne Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Sam Mendes has cast Johnny Flynn (Emma, Beast), Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey, Mank) and Sherlock’s Mark Gatiss to portray legendary stars Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and John Gielgud in The Motive and the Cue, a mouth-watering new play by Jack Thorne that explores how acting giants Burton and Gielgud staged Hamlet on Broadway in 1964.

Millie Bobby Brown is hoping that in the future she has an opportunity to play a “real person” and she revealed she would like to portray Britney Spears.

In Enola Holmes 2, a new game is afoot! And this time, it’s ripped straight from the history books. Following the theme of female empowerment from the first film in 2020, director Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag), writer Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials) and actress Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) felt it was important to highlight real stories about female oppression and liberation against the backdrop of the real-life matchgirls’ strike of 1888.

K.J. Yossman The Royal Television Society’s annual RTS Programme Awards have been set for March 28, 2023. The awards ceremony, which is held at Grosvenor House every year, always attracts a sea of bold-face names from the world of television. (Pictured above: Jodie Comer attending in 2019). Last year’s winners included “Help” writer Jack Thorne, “It’s a Sin” showrunner Russell T. Davies and comedian Graham Norton, who was honored with an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Television. Entries have now opened for next year’s awards, which include three new categories — Comedy Drama, Supporting Actor – Female and Supporting Actor – Male — in recognition of the supporting performances from the acting community over the past 12 months.

Manori Ravindran International Editor British TV industry leaders are set to convene at an event in celebration of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent talent that will address their lack of representation on screen and commit attendees to specific action points. Created by Bridge06 and Hot Coals Productions, the event — entitled About Time! — is positioned as a “call to action” for broadcasters, commissioners, casting agents, producers and agents — key roles that are central to improving the opportunities for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent creative communities. Taking place on Oct. 28 at BAFTA, the event will feature 10 working deaf, disabled and neurodivergent actors, musicians and performers and will be hosted by the BAFTA-nominated “Don’t Take My Baby” actor Ruth Madeley and “Coronation Street” star Cherylee Houston.

Jack Thorne has said he wanted to be involved in a film about a Syrian refugee who competed at the Olympics because there needs to be a change in attitudes. Netflix film The Swimmers is based on the inspirational true story of the Mardini sisters, who fled their war-torn home of Damascus in 2015 by boat and helped save the lives of their fellow refugees. The film will show how just a year after their treacherous journey, younger sister Yusra competed in swimming events at the 2016 Rio Olympics as part of the Refugee Olympic team.

Narcos: Mexico has picked up two nominations at the International Emmy Awards 2022 and will battle with Lupin, Vigil and South Africa’s Reyka for the coveted Drama Series prize.

Netflix has released a new trailer for Enola Holmes 2 starring Millie Bobby Brown – check it out above.The actor reprises her role as the teenage sister of Sherlock Holmes in the sequel, alongside other returning cast members Henry Cavill as Sherlock, Louis Partridge as Viscount Tewkesbury and Helena Bonham Carter as Eudoria Holmes.New cast members include Adeel Akhtar (Utopia) as Lestrade, Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Bad Girls) and David Thewlis (The Sandman).Original director Harry Bradbeer has also helmed the sequel, from a screenplay penned by Jack Thorne.A synopsis for the sequel reads: “Enola’s newest adventure begins after a young girl working in a match factory hires her to locate her missing sister.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic At the end of “The Swimmers,” you could be excused for thinking that Syrian refugee Yusra Mardini won an Olympic gold medal. She didn’t. That’s not to detract from everything she and her older sister, Sara, went through to escape the Syrian civil war and reclaim their dreams of competitive swimming. It just means that director Sally El Hosaini and co-writer Jack Thorne didn’t know how else to wrap this inspirational true story, which is ideally suited for one of those 40-minute Oscar-grubbing documentary shorts but is stretched over three times that length (and then some) in this feel-good Toronto Film Fest opener. At a bloated 134 minutes, it’s not enough that co-leads (and real-life sisters) Nathalie and Manal Issa have great chemistry on-screen, or that the story reminds you of last year’s “Flee” and a dozen other true-life refugee stories. The gratuitous running time tells you something right off: There’s more than enough movie here even without the trip to the Rio Olympics, where Yusra placed 41st out of 45 in the 100-meter butterfly. But stretching it out this long is still liable to make your brain start to prune, the way fingers do when they spend too much time in water.

Variety’s top takeaways from the three-day festival:

Making its European premiere, Sally El Hosaini’s The Swimmers has been set as the opening film of the 18th Zurich Film Festival. Based on the inspirational true-life story of the Mardini sisters, it will screen on September 22 at Zurich’s Convention Center. It will earlier world premiere as the opening night gala presentation in Toronto.

Veep and The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci is still angry. In fact, he told delegates here at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday that he is “angrier than ever” at the direction of the UK’s politics and broadcasting, seven years after his blistering MacTaggart lecture urged the BBC to fight back against its critics and railed against a sale of Channel 4 — both topics now back on the agenda.

Naman Ramachandran Leading U.K.-based broadcasters have created the TV Access Project (TAP), a response to pressure group Underlying Health Condition’s (UHC) campaign to address disabled access across the TV industry in the U.K.

When His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne stepped up to the Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart podium last year in an audience-less room, he wanted to address an issue that had felt hopelessly ignored in the mainstream through past decades.

EXCLUSIVE: Britain’s major broadcasters and streamers are taking a stand on “clear and disturbing” access issues impacting the industry’s disabled population and have demanded change from studios and post-production facilities.

Millie Bobby Brown is back on Netflix with 2 as the streamer confirmed the film sequel will make its debut on the platform on Friday, November 4. The Stranger Things star will not be up against demogorgons but will be on the hunt to crack a mystery.

K.J. Yossman Veteran interviewer Emily Maitlis is set to deliver this year’s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival in Scotland.As a senior member of the BBC’s news team for over a decade, she has covered elections, interrogated Prime Ministers and interviewed numerous celebrities as well as anchoring evening news show “Newsnight” and hosting pdocast “Americast.” In her lecture she will address “the complex world of modern journalism where the threat to reporting the news and holding power to account across the globe, comes not just with intimidation and outright censorship, but in more nuanced ways with language and normalizing the extraordinary,” according to the festival.

In recent years, the global TV landscape has been shaken up by some of the most talented, British female auteurs to have braced this planet.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (1917) has linked up with acclaimed His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne on a new project for the stage that will explore how legendary acting figures Richard Burton and John Gielgud put Hamlet on Broadway in 1964, with a little help from Elizabeth Taylor.

Sally El Hosaini’s Netflix movie The Swimmers will be making its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival as the opening-night film on September 8 at Roy Thomson Hall.

Sally El Hosaini’s “The Swimmers” has been chosen as the Opening Night Gala Presentation for the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.Based on the true story of Yusra and Sarah Mardini, “The Swimmers” chronicles the journey of two sisters who flee Syria in the midst of war and eventually make it to the 2016 Rio Olympics. In August 2015, the Mardini sisters were on the third leg of their journey, a boat trip from Turkey to Greece, when the overcrowded vessel began to sink.

Naman Ramachandran Sally El Hosaini’s refugee drama “The Swimmers” will open the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.The film follows the journey made by swimming sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini who fled as refugees from war-torn Syria all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics.In 2015, after their house was destroyed in the Syrian Civil War, the Mardini sisters decided to flee the country. They made their way to Lebanon and then Turkey, where they arranged to be smuggled into Greece by dinghy.

EXCLUSIVE: We have learned that filmmaker Sally El Hosaini has signed with CAA.

HBO Max’s pandemic-delayed Friends: The Reunion and Channel 4/Peacock hit We Are Lady Parts were the big winners Monday as prizes were handed out at the Banff Media Festival’s Rockie Awards International Program Competition.

This autumn, audiences can get stuck into an inspiring mix of bold, contemporary plays, cast-iron classics and ‘Betty! - A Sort of Musical’ at the Royal Exchange Theatre.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran BBC producer Esther Springer has left after two decades to join fledgling creative indie Creators Inc.’s TV and film division.

This year’s Banff World Media Festival is set to be one of the most international yet and will go beyond TV trends to address some of the globe’s biggest topics, according to Executive Director Jenn Kuzmyk.

Brian Cox And Rose Matafeo Unveiled For Packed Edinburgh TV Festival Lineup

K.J. Yossman Some of the U.K.’s biggest TV and streaming stars are set to appear at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival.

First Disabled-Led Company Joins Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund

Jodie Comer had the night of her life on Sunday as she took home the Leading Actress gong at the BAFTA TV Awards in London.The 29-year-old actress beat the likes of Mare of Easttown star Kate Winslet and It’s a Sin’s Lydia West to win for her role in the Channel 4 Covid-set drama Help. Speaking to reporters ahead of accepting her award, the actress had admitted she was "very nervous" about the possibility of taking to the stage to receive a BAFTA. In her acceptance speech, Jodie paid tribute to Channel 4 for "believing in the script from the very beginning" before going onto thank the carers who helped those involved in the show with their research, saying they were "incredibly gracious" with their time.

Channel 4’s Help star Jodie Comer has beaten Kate Winslet and It’s a Sin’s Lydia West to the Leading Actress gong at the BAFTA TV Awards.

The James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan-starring single BBC drama Together has won the BAFTA TV Awards for Best Single Drama.

More than two-thirds (67%) of this year’s BAFTA TV performance nominees are nominated for the first time, according to the award’s organizers, who hailed the organization’s impact on new voices.

They're used to hanging out on the cobbles but a few of Coronation Street's favourite stars ditched Weatherfield for an awards bash on Tuesday night - and they looked stunning.

Russell T Davies’ It’s a Sin and Jack Thorne’s Help, two hard-hitting Channel 4 shows about societal issues, have dominated this year’s BAFTA TV Awards nominations, taking six and four nods apiece.