As previously reported, Helen Mirren attended Saturday’s opening night of Puglia’s new ORA! Film Fest, attending a Q&A with colleagues Matthew Modine, Marisa Tomei and John Turturro, who will be all honored during the festival’s run this week. Chances are good we will be seeing more of Helen during the festival. For now, pictures from the opening night have been added to the photo gallery.

Since being a frequent resident and visitor to Puglia, it feels only natural that Helen Mirren has been announced to open the first ever Now! Fest, an international film festival dedicated to the environment, sustainability and social justice. It’s scheduled in Monopoli, Puglia from 3 to 7 June. Mirren joins the numerous national and international stars who will parade on the red carpet of the Kermesse such as: Marisa Tomei, member of the Honorary Committee of Ora!Fest, chaired by John Turturro. Now! Fest wants to be a new cultural event that aims to enhance cinema as an instrument of artistic expression and reflection on the most urgent issues of our time such as social sustainability and environmental culture. The soon-to-be-launched festival website can be found here. Edit: Turns out that Helen has been quite active in the Puglia region as well, attending a couple of events between the promotion for “Fast X” and the Cannes Film Festival. Pictures from a benefit concert for “Save the Olives” and an appearance at the Artigianato d’eccellenza Market Exhibition have been added to the photo gallery.

After an on-demand release a couple of weeks ago, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States, yesterday. The early home-video release is most probably strategic to make up for the very disappointing box office revenue, which stayed way behind expectations for a DC film. But while we talk about money, “Fast X” has already brought in over $344 milion since its release last Friday. “Shazam” can be found on all retailers and can be streamed everywhere as well. Screencaptures from the Blu-Ray have been added to the photo gallery.

Helen Mirren was a vision in blue at tonight’s opening night of the 76th Cannes Film Festival in France. For the “Jeanne du Barry” screening, the L’Oréal ambassador opted to arrive in a monochromatic look that was bound to turn heads. She paired her pale blue, off-the-shoulder gown with an undeniably blue head of hair. Pictures from the opening night premiere have been added to the photo gallery.

Yesterday, the first official premiere for “Fast X” was held at The Colosseum in Rome, Italy. The choice of the Italian capital as the first city in the world where the 10th installment in the “Fast & Furious” saga would screen honored the fact that some of the film’s most high-octane action scenes were shot in Rome and its surrounding cities. The film releases theatrically worldwide next week, so I’m sure there’ll be much promotion in the coming week. Also added is a press junket interview with Helen that was conducted in Rome on Friday as well, and a lovely behind-the-scenes featurette on the film, in which Vin Diesel and Helen Mirren are interviewed on the set during filming in July of last year.

As per Deadline, there is nothing like this Dame, as in Helen Mirren, of course. She is the Oscar/Emmy/Tony-and everything else-winning acting icon who never seems to slow down. Now, with the Yellowstone prequel, 1923, she has also done her first western, and signed up for a second season as well. She visits my Deadline video series, The Actor’s Side, this week, and talks about it and working with Harrison Ford as they not only conquer the West, but also the small screen. But Dame Helen also talks about working wherever the roles take her, and in addition to 1923, her upcoming work includes summer releases The White Bird, Golda, Fast X, Barbie (she’s the narrator), and most recently, her first superhero movie, with DC’s Shazam: Fury Of The Gods. As for playing the role of Israeli legend Golda Meir (which looked fantastic in the footage shown at CinemaCon last week), she received some blowback on the internet when the casting was announced, with some complaining that she wasn’t Jewish. She has interesting things to say about that, as well as her final meeting with Queen Elizabeth just a month before she died, and why the memory of that brings tears to her eyes. There is so much more, and wait until you see her reaction to the 23-page wikipedia list of her awards and nominations I present to her, as well as her statement that the one she still doesn’t have is a Grammy. That could be coming too, as I point to her recent music video with Kendrick Lamar on “Count Me Out.” This four-time Oscar, 12-time Emmy, and 3-time Tony nominee is always changing it up and doing surprising things.

Some fantastic pictures and behind-the-scene video has been released for Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren’s upcoming Emmy Magazine cover story (on newsstands May 04, 2023). In the video, they got cheecky on what they are most grateful for in the modern world. “What have we got now that we didn’t have in 1923?” Mirren pondered while sitting next to her co-star. “Oh you know what I’m very appreciative of? Spanx,” she said as Ford laughed heartily. “And I appreciate your loaning them to me on the occasional basis,” he teased. Pictures and screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

Earlier today, Helen Mirren made a surprise visit on “The Drew Barrymore Show” to promote “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”, which is still in theatrical release, as well as the already released “1923”, for which she is currently on a FYC promotional tour in hindsight of 2023’s upcoming awards season. Clips and screencaptures have been added to the archives. An interview with Entertainment Weekly’s The Awardist has been added to the video archive as well.

On Tuesday, the cast of the Paramount+ “Yellowstone” prequel series (Helen Mirren, Brandon Sklenar and Aminah Nieves) were joined by members of the show’s crafts team (including editor Chad Galster, production designer Cary White and assistant costume designer Samantha Pavlat) for a discussion with TheWrap. They gathered for the event (which is part of our 2023 Awards Season Screening Series) and shared stories about the making of the first season, working with creator Taylor Sheridan and the complexities of a historical drama that stretches across three storylines. They also contemplated what could be in store for the show’s second season, which is currently in the works. As it turns out, they couldn’t speculate much because nobody has seen a script and Sheridan isn’t letting anything slip. But they’re all very excited to return. Sklenar joked that he is ready to (finally) be back on the ranch and share some scenes with Ford.

Lionsgate has released a new trailer for “White Bird” (formerly distributed as “White Bird – A Wonder Story”), based on the graphic novel of the same name. Directed by Marc Forster, with a screenplay by Mark Bomback, the film follows a boy named Julian who meets his French grandmother, played by Helen Mirren, who tells him the harrowing story of her upbringing as a young jewish girl in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II – and how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her saviour and best friend. The film also stars Gillian Anderson, Bryce Gheisar, Ariella Glaser, and Orlando Schwerdt. “White Bird” will be released in theatres on August 25th, 2023.