Studiocanal, Netflix and Blueprint Pictures have begun production on live-action family movie A Boy Called Christmas. Gil Kenan (Monster House) will direct the feature whose starry cast includes Jim Broadbent (Paddington 1 & 2), Zoe Colletti (Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark), Toby Jones (Infamous), Sally Hawkins (The…

The Grantham estate had its fair share of high-profile guests over the six years it aired on ITV and PBS, but stakes are ratcheted up a notch in Focus Features’ big-screen adaptation of period epic Downton Abbey. Focus chairman Peter Kujawski introduced the first trailer at CinemaCon today where we learned that the…

Maggie Smith is returning to the London stage for the first time in 12 years. The legendary actress will star in A German Life, a new play by Christopher Hampton at the Bridge Theatre. The story is drawn from the life of Brunhilde Pomsel, a one-time personal secretary to Joseph Goebbels. Smith, alone on stage, plays…

EXCLUSIVE: It’s official, the Downton Abbey movie is a go. Focus Features has set production with Carnival Films to begin this summer for a return to all things Crawley. The original principal cast, including Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville and more, are set to reprise their upstairs/downstairs roles…

Kew Media Group has picked up international rights to six non-fiction films for Cannes including documentary Nothing Like A Dame, about the lives and careers of Brit actresses Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith. Directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill) and produced by Sally Angel (Night Will Fal…

As part of a new series of arts programming, the BBC has set a one-off program of insights and revelations from Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins. The four old friends will reflect on their lives and careers in BBC Two's Nothing Like A Dame, directed by Roger Michell, as they spend a weekend…

Maggie Smith scored her third Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy last night for her indelible portrayal of Downton Abbey‘s Dowager Countess. She also took some repeated ribbing from host Jimmy Kimmel. He noted at the top of the show this was the ninth career Emmy nomination for Smith and the ninth time she was a…

For her swansong as the acerbic Dowager Countess with a caring heart underneath all that period garb, Maggie Smith won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Emmy tonight. This is the third time Smith has taken the statue for Downton Abbey, and the fifth time she was nominated for what has become an…

Last year's Lead Actress in a Drama Series winner Viola Davis is back for a second go-round, nominated opposite category regulars Claire Danes, Taraji P. Henson, Tatiana Maslany and Robin Wright, making this year's lineup look like a carbon copy—with one welcome addition. In her fourth year of eligibility, The American…

SPOILER ALERT: This story includes details about tonight’s Downton Abbey series finale After six years of drama, upstairs and down, Downton Abbey has shuttered its massive doors. While fans in the UK saw the finale on Christmas Day, U.S. audiences had to wait until tonight. That's been a frustration for many…

Behold, The Lady In The Van‘s official trailer. The film tells the true story of Mary Shepherd, an eccentric homeless woman who lived in her van and, after meeting playwright Alan Bennett in the 1970s, kept it parked in his driveway for 15 years. Over the years their relationship grew from one of grudging assistance…

Sony Pictures Classics literally has taken the 40th Toronto International Film Festival by storm in the past 24 hours.  Not even a steady downpour could dampen the spirits of SPC as they threw their annual Saturday night dinner at Creme Brasserie here to celebrate no less than three major world premiere Oscar…