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Steven Knight has described the cast for his TV film of smash Netflix hit Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy as Birmingham gangster boss Tommy Shelby, as “mindblowing.”

The film follows a six-season series met with critical acclaim after dropping on the streaming platform, with Oscar winner Murphy, Paul Anderson, Helen McCrory, Tom Hardy, and Joe Cole leading the cast. So far confirmed for the movie, set to start filming soon, are Saltburn‘s Barry Keoghan and Dune‘s Rebecca Ferguson.

“We’ve announced Rebecca Ferguson, we’ve announced Barry Keoghan, we’ve got some more announcements coming,” Knight, who also revealed he originally wanted to write Peaky Blinders as a novel, told BBC Culture Editor Katie Razzall at The Royal Television Society’s London Convention. He was tight-lipped about the upcoming project, but told the audience: “It’s set in the second world war and it’s really good.”

Steven Knight,...

Writer Steven Knight has revealed he thought “Game of Thrones” was a kids show until he cast one of its actors in his own series.

Knight, who’s perhaps best known for creating Cillian Murphy-starrer “Peaky Blinders,” was speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in London, in conversation with BBC journalist Katie Razzall when he made the admission.

He recalled how his young son was obsessed with “Game of Thrones,” asking for a DVD boxset for Christmas, which Knight was happy to provide having seen it featured dragons. It was only when he came to cast “Game of Thrones” alum Aidan Gillen in “Peaky Blinders” he realized the George R. R. Martin-created series had more adult themes.

When someone suggested Gillen for “Peaky,” they told Knight that he plays the brothel keeper in “Game of Thrones.” Knight responded in shock: “What are you talking about? It’s a kid’s show!

Exclusive: The BBC has been accused by insiders of double standards over Huw Edwards’ salary after it emerged that the British broadcaster’s freelance presenters are not paid if suspended and under police investigation.

Edwards, a news anchor at the peak of his powers until last year, pleaded guilty to child pornography charges on Wednesday and the BBC admitted that it was aware of his arrest as far back as November 2023.

The BBC is facing questions over its decision to keep Edwards on the payroll from November until his resignation in April 2024, during which time he was suspended from presenting duties. Edwards took home £480,000 in the year to the end of March 2024, meaning he was paid more than £200,000 during the five months after the BBC was made aware of his arrest.

The BBC is funded by the license fee, a household levy that means it is in receipt of public...

David O. Russell is once again in the conversation for his controversial approach towards fellow Hollywood associates. The filmmaker behind critically acclaimed films such as American Hustle and The Fighter has a history of clashes with his fellow directors and actors. And this time, a Sony executive found himself on the receiving end of a blow from the filmmaker, as reports suggest that Russell punched the executive at an Oscar party following an accidental trip over him.

David O. Russell on the set of Silver Linings Playbook

David O. Russell Punched Sony Executive at an Oscar Party

According to a recent report from Puck, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker, David O. Russell lost his temper when the Sony executive Sanford Panitch accidentally tripped over his leg during an Oscar party. The Fighter director got furious and punched Panitch hard in the stomach.

David O. Russell (image via The Hollywood Reporter | YouTube)

The Sony executive,...

Christopher Nolan has made some of the best movies in the history of Hollywood cinema in all the years that he has been working as a filmmaker. He has made some rather big-budget movies and luckily, all of them have been more or less successful at drawing profits.

Although he has only been making movies with big budgets, he has proved his proficiency as a director with his independent film Memento, which proves that he is capable of good movies on a smaller scale. He does not make franchises unless he finds it relevant.

Case in point: The Dark Knight Trilogy, which is considered one of the best superhero movie series to date. However, he once admitted that he could not have directed another great trilogy, namely The Lord of the Rings (Tlotr).

Christopher Nolan on the sets of Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan Claimed He Would Not Have Been Able to...

What comes to your mind when you think of Christopher Nolan? Unique and mind-blending narratives and some breathtaking action sequences, most likely. He is someone who constantly pushes the limits of filmmaking and his latest project Oppenheimer is just another proof of that. There’s however another thing to which Nolan is obsessed with. His love for using IMAX cameras.

Christopher Nolan | Credits: BBC Interview with Katie Razzall

But, while trying to deliver clever, original action scenes in his movies, he broke many IMAX cameras during his film’s shooting. Be it Dunkirk or Tenet, or the Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan always has done something stunning that must be watched on the big screen. And it seems like he never learns from the mistake of breaking such expensive things.

SUGGESTEDReal Physicist Proved Christopher Nolan’s Depiction of a Black Hole in ‘Interstellar’ Could Be Backed By Real Data Anne Hathaway...

Newsnight, the BBC’s flagship daily current affairs show, is to be shortened to 30 minutes and relaunched as a forum for interviews and debate.

BBC News has today briefed staff about a £7.5M ($9.5M) savings plan, with BBC2’s Newsnight bearing the brunt of the cuts as the British broadcaster grapples with a funding freeze.

Reporter roles will be closed on the show, which has built a reputation for original investigative journalism during its 43 years on air. In total, more than half of Newsnight’s 60 jobs are expected to shut.

Sources said Newsnight, which currently runs for 40 minutes, was being “gutted.” The BBC argued that savings will be reinvested in a “BBC News Investigations Unit” that will serve all of the corporation’s news output.

BBC News CEO Deborah Turness said: “Audiences have told us how much they value Newsnight as an iconic BBC debate and discussion programme, and we...

Piers Morgan is again facing questions about his involvement in phone hacking as part of a High Court legal war being waged by Prince Harry and other celebrities.

On the first day of a trial against The Daily Mirror, the British tabloid newspaper Morgan edited for nearly a decade, it was alleged that he “must have known” about illegal voicemail interception. Morgan has consistently denied any knowledge of phone hacking at the Mirror, which he edited from 1995 to 2004.

The trial has reignited the phone hacking debate in the UK more than a decade after Rupert Murdoch shut down the News of the World amid revelations about unlawful activity.

The High Court was told that Morgan, a presenter on Murdoch’s TalkTV and Fox News, openly discussed phone hacking in front of colleagues on Mirror Group Newspapers premises, according to The Guardian.

Former Mirror political editor David Seymour told the court...

French president Emmanuel Macron has led the tributes to Jean-Luc Godard, after the revered filmmaker died at the age of 91.

News of Godard’s death was first reported by the French newspaper Liberation. It has since been confirmed by his lawyer that the director ended his life by assisted death.

Patrick Jeanneret told Afp that due to being “stricken with ‘multiple incapacitating illnesses’”, Godard “had recourse to legal assistance in Switzerland for a voluntary departure”.

Godard was known for directing a run of radical, medium-changing films throughout the 1960s, including his feature debut Breathless and Alphaville.

Along with contemporaries such as Éric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, and François Truffaut, the Paris-born Godard was a central figure in the Nouvelle Vague, an experimental film movement that emerged in France in the late 1950s.

Several of his films are frequently cited among the best movies ever made.

Alongside a black and white photograph of the “iconoclastic” Godard,...

French president Emmanuel Macron has led the tributes to Jean-Luc Godard, after the revered filmmaker died at the age of 91.

News of Godard’s death was first reported by the French newspaper Liberation.

Godard was known for directing a run of radical, medium-changing films throughout the 1960s, including his feature debut Breathless and Alphaville.

Along with contemporaries such as Éric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, and François Truffaut, the Paris-born Godard was a central figure in the Nouvelle Vague, an experimental film movement that emerged in France in the late 1950s.

Several of his films are frequently cited among the best movies ever made.

Alongside a black and white photograph of the “iconoclastic” Godard, Macron’s tribute read: “It was like an apparition in French cinema. Then he became a master.

“Jean-Luc Godard, the most iconoclastic of New Wave filmmakers, had invented a resolutely modern, intensely free art. We have lost a national treasure,...

BBC presenter Emily Maitlis has been reprimanded by the broadcaster for comments made on last night’s edition of flagship news and current affairs program Newsnight about a controversial lockdown trip taken by government aide Dominic Cummings.

Deadline has confirmed that Maitlis will not be hosting Wednesday’s edition of the program, which is due to go out at 22.45Pm UK time (2:45Pm Pt). UK Editor Katie Razzall will instead be in the main chair.

The BBC is denying that it has enforced the change. A tweet from an account claiming to be Newsnight editor Esme Wren stated that Maitlis “hasn’t been replaced in response to the statement” and that Razzall was “part of the team”, inferring that a shift in host was not out of the ordinary.

Razzall also tweeted saying, “Just for the record, Emily Maitlis has not been asked by the BBC to take tonight...

The BBC has announced two new appointments for Newsnight.

Channel 4 news reporter Katie Razzall and filmmaker Olly Lambert will both join the BBC Two news and current affairs programme.

Razzall joins the team as a special correspondent and will cover a wide range of topics including religion, legal affairs and disability issues.

Newsnight editor Ian Katz said: "Katie is one of the most versatile and compelling broadcast journalists in the business. I've long admired her distinctive voice and original reporting and am thrilled that she is joining the Newsnight team."

Meanwhile, Razzall said of her new role: "I have lived and breathed Channel 4 News for 14 years, a period of time and a programme of which I am immensely proud.

"However, the opportunity to join Newsnight at such an exciting time in the show's evolution was just too good to ignore. I'm greatly looking forward to a wide-ranging brief...