Go Back in Time with Eddie Redmayne, Fiona Shaw & Jack Thorne!

The actors who helped bring the Harry Potter series and Fantastic Beasts to the screen, and the writer who brought us Cursed Child will go back in time to tell the stories of a caveman, a prison and Ancient Greece in new films and exhibitions:

Eddie Redmayne, who recently starred in the audiobook of the updated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them reprising the role of Newt Scamander, will voice caveman ‘Dug’ in a new film from the people who brought us Wallace and Gromit, called Early Man. The trailer for this prehistoric comedy released its trailer today, telling the tale of a courageous caveman who leads his tribe in protecting their city.

Harry Potter‘s Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) as Chief Bobnar, as well as Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley). Tom Hiddleston (Thor, The Avengers, Kong: Skull Island), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones, iBoy) will also feature, and various other British talent.

Director Nick Park tells more about the film:

“Today we get to meet Dug’s tribe, a loveable bunch of misfits voiced by some exceptional British talent.

“They’re essentially a group of inept cavemen and women including Treebor, played by Richard Ayoade, a gentle giant scared of his own shadow; Magma, Treebor’s no-nonsense mother voiced by Selena Griffiths, and Mark Williams as Barry, whose best friend is a rock.

“Chief Bobnar, voiced by the brilliant Timothy Spall, leads the pack as their long-suffering leader, and father figure to his tribe of idiotic brutes.”

The film is set to release in January 2018. Watch the trailer above, and read more here!

Jack Thorne’s new musical Junkyard has had excellent reviews thus far, and his scriptwriting for Cursed Child has not gone unnoticed – the play is booked out until next year, and has been a huge success so far, and is set to move across the pond to the US. Thorne’s now set to work on the screenplay for Simon Mayo’s first adult novel, Mad Blood. The setting for the suspected major motion picture could be Dartmoor prison, reported in The Plymouth Herald as representing the ‘dramatic potential’ of the work. Bill Scott-Kerr, who whipped up the rights to the story before it was even published, commented on the potential of the project:

“From the moment we started talking about this project, its dramatic potential and contemporary relevance were instantly and emphatically evident.

He added: “Simon has unearthed an incredible true story and has brought his imagination brilliantly and empathetically to bear on it.”

Harry Potter’s very own Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) is excited about the movie too, and posted a pre-viewing / reading review on Twitter. Could we see him take up a role in the movie?

Just to irritate: Simon told me the story and it's going to be totes amazeballs. That's for the poster#wittermovieshttps://t.co/MO4H4vaogm

— Jason Isaacs (@jasonsfolly) March 16, 2017

Based on a true story dating back to 1815, a summary of the novel is as follows:

“In 1815, after Great Britain and the United States have declared peace in the so-called Second American War of Independence, a group of captured US sailors are delivered to the notorious Dartmoor Prison, a godforsaken spot in the far reaches of Devon, where they are immediately immersed in a stew of political and racial tension among the incumbent prisoners-of-war. Here there are seven accommodation blocks – six white, one black – where, with the war over, the situation within the prison walls is becoming ever more explosive, a powder keg waiting to blow…”

Read more from Deen of Geek here and Plymouth Herald here.

Actress and director Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley) will feature in the cross-disciplinary exhibition in conjunction with the major new exhibition A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD. The exhibition will be held at the Onassis Culture Centre in New York on March 29th, and Shaw will appear along with philosopher Simon Critchley.

They will be holding “peripatetic conversations in the gallery” as part of a variety of events, talks and music and art shows throughout the spring season, so be sure to take a look at the schedule over at Broadway World here. Entry to the exhibition and all programmes is completely free, so if you’re in the area be sure to go meet Fiona Shaw, and tell us all about it!