So I have a plan that every week I will do a bit of a round up of the big Film and TV stories from the past 7 days, as well as highlighting some the smaller stuff that grabbed my attention.  My aim is to post The Weekly Round Up every Tuesday if I can (I know this one is late, sorry!)

R.I.P Sir Christopher Lee

A towering star of both stage and screen, Sir Christopher Lee passed away on Friday 7th June. I first saw Lee in The Fellowship of the Ring and while I disliked the character of Saruman, I  quickly came to admire Lee as an actor. A true acting legend he will be missed by both filmmakers and audiences alike.

Shaking Things Up…

In an earlier post I discussed the first promotional videos for Ridley Scott’s The Martian which were released last week and it appears that the rest of world liked them as much as I did. This excitement surrounding the film has led Fox to play around with its schedule and move The Martian’s release date forward to the 2nd October 2015, at least in the US. This means that it is taking the slot previously held by the Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy film Victor Frankenstein which now moves to the 25th November 2015. Personally I’m in favour of this decision as I won’t have to wait so long to see the film and it means that there is more time between it and this other space movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Big film studios aren’t the only ones playing around with dates, the US TV networks are also at it. NBC has announced that they are bringing forward the air date for its third Chicago series, Chicago Med to September, swapping with Heartbreaker which will take its place in NBC’s mid-season line up. This has been done to allow Heartbreaker to film around star Melissa George’s pregnancy.  I, for one, am not complaining. As a huge fan of Dick Wolf’s other Chicago based programmes, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD I am glad that it is not too long a wait to find out what is happening with the doctors and nurses in Chicago Med.

Let’s take a look…

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two has released its first teaser trailer, and while it gives little away, it does confirm that there will be plenty of action in this film, apparently keen to make up for the quieter Mockingjay Part One.

With Sam Claflin’s, Finnick, uttering the trailer’s ominous final line, The Hunger Games series is certainly going to go out with a bang in November!

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the 76th Hunger Games”

Guy Ritche released the second trailer for latest in this year’s list of  spy movies, a remake of the classic TV series, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as an American and Soviet spy, respectively,  who have to put aside their Cold War differences and work together to bring down the films villainous organisation. I was already looking forward to this film, and the new trailer’s mix of action, romance and comedy has only made me more excited. Cavill and Hammer, clearly have chemistry and it should be good fun to watch as these two enemies attempt to work together for the greater good.

And We Have A Lead…

One of the biggest pieces of casting news this week was that the Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has found its female lead. Katherine Waterston, best known for her role in Paul Thomas Andersons’ Inherent Vice, will star opposite Eddie Redmayne. The film which follows the adventures of Newt Scamander is set 70 years before the events of Harry Potter, and will potentially introduce audiences to the American version of Hogwarts. While I like Eddie Redmayne, I am still not convinced that the world needs a Harry Potter prequel, but I am willing to be proved wrong.

That’s all for this week, catch you next time!

E