“There are unscrupulous people in Russia – fortunately, I am one of them,” declares a formidable Helen Mirren in full regalia as Catherine the Great in the first trailer of the Sky series based on the Russian empress, which will be on HBO in the U.S. Mirren is joined by Jason Clarke, Gina McKee and Rory Kinnear in the series, which bows on the Sky Atlantic channel in the U.K. this fall. HBO has “Catherine the Great” for the U.S. The series is the latest out of its drama partnership with Comcast-owned Sky. The trailer shows scenes in palaces, battlefields and the bedroom, with glimpses of the life and loves of one of the most powerful female monarchs in history, including her passionate affair with general Grigory Potemkin. “I have survived for half a century in a world that does not want me,” she says in a more reflective moment. “Catherine the Great” is produced by Origin Pictures and New Pictures. Nigel Williams (“Elizabeth I”) penned the show. It is directed by BAFTA- and Emmy Award-winning Philip Martin (“The Crown”).

Let’s hope Helen Mirren has seen her performance in The Fast & Furious 8 in the meantime, because she has another one coming up. In the latest trailer for Universal’s Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham come out swinging. The trailer then pivots to a widescreen introduction of Idris Elba’s Brixton Lore, a cyber-genetically-enhanced criminal mastermind, who announces he’s coming for the duo and Shaw’s sister, Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby). The latter stole from Lore a catastrophically deadly virus, and Lore wants it back. In line with previous Fast & Furious films, the world-saving mission becomes part family business, with Helen Mirren’s red-lipsticked Magdalene Shaw even making a brief appearance in a red jumpsuit behind a glass partition. “Look after your sister,” she says before Hobbs and Shaw buckle up to take down a slew of international baddies. A barrage of punches, car chases, explosions and airplane ejections follow, as Lore re-appears, announcing himself as “black Superman” before going head-to-head with the leading duo. However with Hobbs and Shaw seemingly unable to slow the genetically altered villain and his army of mercenaries, the two go off the grid to Hobbs’ home turf. Written by Chris Morgan, a regular scribe for the Universal franchise, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters on Aug. 2.

Lionsgate’s Summit label has decided to give Luc Besson’s Anna a high-profile summer release. The crime-thriller, starring Russian supermodel and actress Sasha Luss opposite Helen Mirren, will open in theaters on June 21. Anna’s opening was put on hold last year when Belgian-Dutch actress Sand Van Roy filed a complaint in May 2018 accusing the director of drugging and raping her at a Paris Hotel. In November, five more women came forward in a report in French investigative magazine Mediapart, alleging sexual misconduct. In total, at least nine separate women have accused the director of sexual assault and harassment. In late February of this year, the Paris prosecutor’s office dismissed the rape charges after an investigation failed to turn up evidence to support Roy’s allegation. Nevertheless, promoting Anna could prove problematic in terms of putting Besson in front of the press. Lionsgate and Summit acquired domestic rights to the movie before the rape charge and other allegations. The movie is his first directorial effort since Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets — which featured Van Roy — hit theaters in 2017, grossing $225 million globally. Anna also stars Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Eric Godon and Anna Krippa. The story follows former model who turns government assassin (Luss). Mirren plays her boss. Toy Story 4 and Child’s Play also open nationwide over the June 21-23 weekend. Edit: An international teaser trailer, which features completely different scenes, has been added as well.

The 91st Annual Academy Awards are happening in Hollywood as we speak and Helen Mirren – who will be presenting an award tonight – has been photographed on the red carpet. Have a look at the first additions to the photo gallery below and check back later for more updates. Edit: Helen Mirren and Jason Momoa were the second presenters of the evening, handing out Oscars for the Best Documentary. Lots of pictures from both the red carpet and the ceremony have been added to the photo gallery.

Besides the photo additions, three video clips have been added to the video archive. ABC has interviewed Helen twice on the red carpet – both interviews have been added, as well as her presentation of the best documentary feature alongside Jason Momoa.

Can you imagine a Helen Mirren film being released and no one – literally no one – notices? Nope, me neither. But this is the case with “Berlin, I Love You”, the latest (and most probably final) installment of the Cities of Love series, following “Paris, je t’aime”, “New York, I Love You” and “Rio, Eu Te Amo”. It was released on February 8 on-demand, without any kind of promotion. Described as a “collective feature-film”, 12 stories are told, directed by 12 different directors – and not one of the stories feels anything like Berlin. One of the first segments, starring Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren, has been directed by Iranian director Massy Tadjedin. Their story features solid performances, but it’s nothing more than a short subject in a 100 minute bore. After “Collateral Beauty” and “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”, it seems Knightley and Mirren are not each other’s lucky charm 🙂 You’ll find “Berlin, I Love You” on various on-demand platforms. Screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

After a less-than-successful November release on the big screen, Disney has launched “The Nutcracker the Four Realms” on home video and on-demand earlier last January. You’re probably in for a good ride if you enjoy Disney movies. Helen’s Mother Ginger is little more than a cameo towards the end of the film. Screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

USA Today has an exlusive first look in “The Good Liar”: If online dating wasn’t already treacherous enough, it’s getting extra-hairy courtesy of a Hitchcock-style spin in “The Good Liar.” An adaptation of Nicholas Searle’s 2016 novel, the upcoming thriller (in theaters Nov. 15) finds Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen sharing the big screen for the first time: He plays an aging British con man looking for one last score and she’s a well-off widow he woos through email. Director Bill Condon (“Gods and Monsters,” “Beauty and the Beast”) promises suspense, mystery and “behavior that we’d probably disapprove of in real life, that great Hitchcockian thing of forcing you to be conflicted about how you’re feeling about certain events.” Betty McLeish (Mirren) is a quiet English woman who’s lost her husband and is “vulnerable in the sense that she has great empathy with people,” the actress says. “She’s not wealthy but she’s very comfortably off, and there’s a gap in her life that is to do with companionship and having someone to go to the theater with or the cinema and go out to dinner with.” She goes online and finds Roy Courtnay (McKellen), a charming, funny and self-deprecating guy who is, unbeknownst to her, “actually a double-dealing sort of character,” Mirren says. “He has various mysteries in his life, various people hanging around who we’re not quite sure who they are, so there’s obviously something going on.”

Once Betty opens her life to him, Roy becomes quite taken with the mark he’s supposed to be swindling, things are revealed about his past, and from there, “it’s twisty,” Mirren teases with a laugh. Two other characters add to the overall intrigue: Jim Carter (“Downton Abbey”) stars as Roy’s longtime partner Vincent (“The kindly one, the one who has more of a moral compass,” Condon says), and Russell Tovey (“Quantico”) plays Betty’s grandson Stephen, who’s wary of her new suitor. The last time Mirren worked with McKellen was 17 years ago on a Broadway revival of August Strindberg’s play “Dance of Death.” Although she knows McKellen well, doing the new thriller “was like meeting a new Ian, the film Ian, and likewise he was meeting the film Helen, which are in a way different creatures,” Mirren says. “Good Liar” gave McKellen a chance to play a villain far afield from “the great charm and twinkle” of his real-life persona, Condon says. “It was fun to move him out of twinkle mode and get back in touch with that side that he is able to present so brilliantly.” And Mirren is a foil “who can really go toe to toe and certainly match him in intelligence and in power,” Condon adds. As much as Mirren enjoyed her character, she also loves the construction of a mystery and the idiosyncrasies required in her performance: “You sort of need to lead the audience by the nose, in a way.” Although much of the mystery genre has “been taken over” by TV, Condon feels “it’s right for re-examination in cinema.” And he’s bringing it into modern times: While “The Good Liar” is a bit of a period piece – it’s set in 2008 (“There are websites but no apps”) – he says technology is integral to its puzzle and reveals. “Although there are mountains and mountains of information out there, it’s still very easy to pull the wool over people’s eyes, as you can see by the recent election in America,” Mirren says. “Concealing becomes more prevalent and easier to do simply because everyone thinks that they’re reading the truth.”

“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is released today in US theaters after a release yesterday in most European countries. An adaptation of the German fairy-tale and the Tchaikovsky ballet, the story signifies the studio’s further attempts to expand their live-action output beyond remakes of their classic cartoons and Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. Unfortunately, the reviews have been less than exciting, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 34% and a Metacritic number of 37. Most reviews criticize the lack of an altogether story. The Los Angeles Times writes: “The visual allure of this production is undeniable, but having the nerve to be simple and nice all the way through is, even for Disney, verging on being a lost art.” According to Rolling Stone, the “wretched attempt to turn the famous fairy tale/ballet into a blockbuster gives a bad name to family entertainment. There’s not much positive being written about the actors – Morgan Freeman in paycheck mode and Helen Mirren, reduced to mugging – oh well. Maybe it’s better received among its target audience – children, who do not yet participate in the Tomatometer 🙂

The first-look photo above captures Helen Mirren in all her glory as the famous Russian ruler, Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, aka Catherine II, aka “Catherine the Great.” You can view the picture in full resolution in the photo gallery. HBO has partnered with Sky to produce the four-part limited series, which is currently shooting across Russia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Directed by Philip Martin (who helmed Mirren’s last Emmy-winning performance in “Prime Suspect: The Final Act”) and written by Nigel Williams (who wrote and produced “Elizabeth I,” which won Emmys for both he and Mirren), “Catherine the Great” also stars Jason Clarke (“Zero Dark Thirty”) as Grigory Potemkin and Joseph Quinn (“Howards End”) as Paul, Catherine’s son and heir. New cast members have also been announced, including: Gina McKee as Countess Bruce, Catherine’s lifelong friend and confidante; Rory Kinnear as Minister Panin, a skillful politician, advisor and governor to Catherine’s son; Richard Roxburgh as Grigory Orlov, one of Catherine’s former lovers, who helped orchestrate the coup that brought Catherine to power; Kevin R. McNally as Alexei Orlov, who, with his brother Grigory, helped orchestrate the coup that brought Catherine to power; and Sam Palladio as Alexander Vasilichikov, Catherine’s young lover. Focusing on the final years of her three-plus decades in power, “Catherine the Great” is produced by Origin Pictures and New Pictures and is an HBO/SKY co-production. No release date has been set. Here’s the official synopsis, courtesy HBO:

Set against the politically tumultuous and sexually charged court of Russian empress Catherine the Great, who wielded supreme power throughout Russia for nearly half of the 18th century, the limited series follows Catherine towards the end of her reign during her passionate affair with Grigory Potemkin. Amid scandal, intrigue and immense conflict, they develop a unique and devoted relationship, overcoming their adversaries and together serving as the architects of modern-day Russia.

“The Leisure Seeker” has been released on Blu-Ray earlier this month in Germany and various European countries. I’d recommend it to everyone who enjoys seeing two acting greats – or a film that takes its time to tell a story. While it was running a bit long with 2 hours and its pace is off-putting at times, this is a charming, sometimes funny and otherwise deeply moving story. While it might be missing the brilliant magic of “The Straight Story” or the wit of “Little Miss Sunshine”, “The Leisure Seeker” has its heart at the right place, and a truly outstanding acting duo in Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren, whose Golden Globe nomination for the role was fully deserved. Over 1.500 screencaptures from the Blu-Ray have been added to the photo gallery. Please be aware they might contain spoilers.