Weekly Round-Up: New ‘Tenet’ Trailer, Imelda Staunton Hosts Charity Quiz

Summer is around the corner for much of the globe and things are heating up in the Wizarding World. This week Playbill announced the popular off-Broadway Harry Potter parody Puffs will broadcast on their streaming service, the Wizarding World released chapters five and six of Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone read aloud by Evanna Lynch, Bonnie Wright, Simon Callow and the cast of Cursed Child and Universal Orlando announced that their gates would reopen on June 5!

This week in our Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Actors Round-Up Rupert Grint was seen out with his new daughter and received congratulations from Daniel Radcliffe, Imelda Staunton hosts a virtual Harry Potter and Downton Abbey quiz, Goblet of Fire and Chamber of Secrets alum feature in Tenet’s second trailer, Eddie Redmayne announces the latest AFI Movie Club pick, David Tennant stars in a new lockdown-themed comedy and supports Royal Mental Health campaign, Jason Isaacs talks Scoob and much more!

Daniel Radcliffe Congratulates Rupert Grint on His New Arrival

On Monday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live Radcliffe told host Andy Cohen that he had texted Grint, to congratulate him on the arrival of his baby daughter with longtime girlfriend, Georgia Groome.

I texted him the other day, actually, Radcliffe said. I’m so happy for him. It’s very, very cool. It is also like super weird for me to think that we are all of the age where we’re having children, but we definitely are.

Grint and Groome confirmed their daughter’s birth May 7, and were spotted out this week for the first time with their baby this week – face masks and all!

Imelda Staunton Hosts Online Harry Potter Quiz

Virtual quizzes have become a quarantine social necessity, but this Marie Curie celebrity edition is certain to be spellbinding!

Husband and wife super duo Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter are teaming up for a charity quiz with a joint Harry Potter and Downton Abbey theme.  It has been titled, Mr. Carson & Prof. Umbridge’s Ultimate Pub Quiz after their respective characters from the two franchises.

Head to Marie Curie UK’s Facebook events page to sign up!

The quiz is being hosted in aid of Marie Curie, a U.K. charity which offers support to people and families living with terminal illnesses. The quiz can be found on the Marie Curie Facebook page at 8:15 pm GMT on Thursday, May 28th!

Harry Potter Alum Feature in New Trailer for Tenet

A new trailer for Tenet, starring Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh and Clemence Poesy, made its debut in Fortnite this week. The film remains a mystery, but is set within a world of international espionage. It is directed by Christopher Nolan.

Watch the trailer below:

Eddie Redmayne Reveals Latest AFI Movie Club Film

Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne announced AFI Movie Club selection this week, REDS.

The movie club is a free program bringing artists and audiences together and sharing iconic movies each day, helping people get through lockdown with art. Featured movies can be found at AFI.com/MovieClub. Watch Redmayne’s announcement below:

A New Lockdown Themed Comedy and a Mental Health Campaign for David Tennant

David Tennant helped launch Mental Health Awareness Week this week, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, singer Dupa Lipa, boxer Anthony Joshua and England captain Harry Kane. The radio broadcast highlights the importance of talking about mental health – especially during Covid-19. Read more here.

Georgia Tennant also shared some exiting news for Good Omens fans: stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen will lead the cast in a new BBC One comedy, Staged:

“Starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, Staged (6×15) features the cast of a play – the cream of the crop of British acting talent – who are furloughed when their upcoming West End production is suddenly brought to a halt. The series follows the cast as they try their best to keep the rehearsals on track in lockdown.

Absurd and humorous in equal measure, Staged takes on the challenges of creating a drama in lockdown, on stage and off, with a line-up including Georgia Tennant, Lucy Eaton and Anna Lundberg. The show will also have a selection of guest stars including Nina Sosanya, with more to be confirmed in due course.”

The series is written and directed by Simon Evans, based on an original idea by Evans and Phin Glynn. Staged will air in June 2020 on BBC One and will be offered on BBC iPlayer following live airing. Find out more here.

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#whatcouldpossiblygowrong #staged @bbcone #michaelsheen #davidtennant @anna_lundbergs

A post shared by Georgia Tennant (@georgiatennantofficial) on May 22, 2020 at 3:23am PDT

Jason Isaacs on His Latest Villain

Jason Isaacs spoke to Screen Rant recently about playing Dick Dastardly in Scoob!, released via Video on Demand by Warner Bros. due to Covid-19.

Isaacs speaks about his love of Scooby-Doo and Wacky Races, as well as his love of voice acting and finding the right voice for this role. watch the video below:

Bonnie Wright Joins Digital Climate Summit

Bonnie Wright recently took part in the first ever Digital Climate Summit by YEA (Young Entertainment Activists) and NYU Los Angeles, broadcast on Twitch and reaching thousands. The full-day line-up educated and empowered attendees on using media to spread the word about the need to protect the environment and promote sustainability.

Wright shared importance messages on sustainability in a “Sustainable Storytelling” workshop:

“The way we consume and shift so many perspectives is through the culture of television and film,” she shared. “This is the best place I can be pushing policy and campaigning.”

Read more about the event here, which also featured writer and producer Scott Z. Burns (producer on An Inconvenient Truth), The Handmaid’s Taleshowrunner Bruce Miller, Jane Magolin (Zero Hour), Heidi Kindberg (Director of Sustainability, WarnerMedia – HBO & HBO Max), Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali (VP of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization, National Wildlife Federation), and more. 

Tom Felton to Appear at Newly Confirmed Tampa Comic Con

Tom Felton will reportedly still be attending Tampa Bay Comic Con, which confirmed this week that it will be taking play July 10-12.

“After nearly two months of agonizing uncertainty, we have received confirmation from the Tampa Convention Center and Tampa Fire Marshal that TBCC 2020 will move forward with numerous health measures enacted by the venue and various levels of government, to keep attendees, exhibitors, guests, and staff as safe as possible.”

The website does not state if any celebrity appearances have changed due to the pandemic. The event will take place at Tampa Convention Center. Read more here.

Luke Youngblood on the Latest Episode of Double Trouble

The Weasley twins were most close with their partner-in-crime Lee Jordan, and this week Luke Youngblood, who played Lee Jordan in the Harry Potter series, joined James and Oliver Phelps on their series Double Trouble to talk about Potter and more during lockdown.

Watch the video below:

Zoe Kravitz Talks Resuming Production on Batman

Zoë Kravitz (Leta Lestrange in Fantastic Beasts) will play Catwoman opposite Robert Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and recently spoke on Covid-19 suspending production on the movie. She told Variety part of her is “hoping to wake up every day to an email or a phone call saying, ‘We’re ready to go.”

However, there has not been a decision made on when this will be safe yet, as we previously reported on. Kravitz confirmed with Variety that the issue is, as we posited, that larger scale productions like The Batman and Fantastic Beasts 3 have so many people moving around set, as well as costume departments, and hair and makeup, and scenes requiring less actors break the 2m distancing guidelines:

“I’m in touch with everybody, and everyone’s ready to go when it’s safe,” she says. “But no, we have no idea.”

“You have people just touching your face, touching your body all day long. I need help getting into the catsuit. I can’t do it on my own. I was probably touched more than any job, just because of the clothes and the combat and all of that.”

Read the full story on the U.K. film industry here.

An Interview with the Cast of Barkskins Starring David Thewlis

David Thewlis recently appeared in a talk with the cast of new National Geographic show Barskins, launched May 25. The interview, for The Knockturnal. The cast discuss their time on the 8 episode series, adapted from the novel of the same name. The series tells the story of French colonizers landing on new territory, which they name New France. Thewlis stars as Claude Trepagny, and Marcia Gay Harden as Mathilde Geffard. The series also stars Aneurin Barnard, Thomas Wright, Kaniehtiio (Tiio) Horn, Zahn McClarnon, Tallulah Haddon, Lily Sullivan and David Wilmot.

Watch the interview below:

Depp and Pattinson Drama Gets U.S. Distributor

A U.S. distributor has been secured for new drama Waiting for the Barbarians, which stars Robert Pattinson and Johnny Depp, as well as Oscar winner Mark Rylance, Gana Bayarsaikhan (Ex Machina), and Greta Scacchi (The Girl in the Fog).

The movie will be available digitally in August, and is based on the novel of J.M. Coetzee, Nobel-Prize winning author, who also adapted the screenplay. Deadline summarizes:

“It follows a Magistrate (Rylance) of an isolated frontier settlement on the border of an unnamed empire who looks forward to an easy retirement until the arrival of Colonel Joll (Depp), whose task it is to report on the activities of the ‘barbarians’ and on the security situation on the border. Joll conducts a series of ruthless interrogations, which leads the Magistrate to question his loyalty to the empire.”

Read more here.

A Look at Harry Melling in Thriller The Old Guard

A first look at The Old Guard released this week with a new trailer for the Netflix thriller, with a cast featuring Harry Potter‘s Harry Melling and starring Charlize Theron.

The film is based on a graphic novel by Greg Rucka, and is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. It tells the story of Andy (Theron), a warrior leading a group of mercenaries who are unable to die, and have committed themselves to protecting the mortal world.

The series also stars KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Van Veronica Ngo, with Matthias Schoenaerts and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Read more here, and watch the trailer below.

A New TV Series for a Harry Potter Producer

David Barron, a Harry Potter producer, is teaming up with Enriched Media for new series Treachery of Spies.

The TV drama series is an adaptation of Manda Scott’s spy thriller book of the same name. Set in the present day, Detective Inspector Inès Picaut investigates a murder committed in 1940s WWII France.

Barron said on taking on the series:

“Seeing the impact of the crime through the eyes of Inès, an ordinary woman with unique skills, only highlights how extraordinary the events were.”

“During these increasingly challenging and difficult times, we’re more aware than ever of the importance of innovative storytelling,” Southworth added. “Manda Scott’s painstaking and thorough research has enabled her to create a gripping, thrill-packed drama with a unique female protagonist solving a crime through two distinct historical periods, and takes a close look at the world not dissimilar from our own through the history, the players, the victories and the spoils.”

Read more about the series here.

Brighton shop keeper’s Magical NHS Charity Walk

Brighton based wizard, Oliver Dall is walking 9 3/4 miles around his popular wizarding supply store Oliver’s this weekend to raise vital funds for the NHS.

Oliver began his walk at 9:00am today, May 24th, walking around in circles, as well as up and down steps. He is streaming the entire  9 3/4 mile walk via www.facebook.com/oliversbrighton

To donate, please visit Oliver’s JustGiving page here.

Helena Bonham Carter Co-Creates Quarantine-Inspired Film

Helena Bonham Carter dropped a short film this week with director Sam Neill. The film, Das Fone Hell is two minutes long and was shared on Twitter. The film stars Carter as Neill’s iPhone, who is upset to be left behind when Neill goes out to the shop. The film was recorded by the two artists in separate continents and edited together – genius!

Watch the short film below:

HELENA BONHAM CARTER stars in this groundbreaking Cinema Quarantino Production DAS FONE HELL. At vast expense, filmed on two continents over what (seemed like) five years , this profound and heartbreakingly candid insight into Modern Life will shake you to the core (Pilates 101) pic.twitter.com/aVXCfvAyfd

— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) May 23, 2020

As if all of that isn’t enough, this wraps up our Wizarding World Actors Round-Up for this week. Meet us back at the magical Pub next time and until then join us on Facebook for our Grawp-Sized Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Reread!