The season's changing, with spring giving us all plenty of reasons to be cheerful. We've compiled a few cheering casting highlights for you this March.
🎥 1,088 projects in pre-production or development in the UK 🎥
This year has already seen a huge amount of investment in UK studios. That's already beginning to translate into a treasure trove of opportunities. Here are our top four this month.
The Gentlemen – remember Guy Ritchie's romping 2019 film of the same name? Netflix liked it so much they're adapting it into a TV series, full of Ritchie's trademark humour.
Inversion – a huge blockbuster by the looks of things, about a world that's about to run out of gravity. PoPing AuYeung and Roger Mussenden are on the casting.
Persuasion – another adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, this time from BBC Films. Regency period regulars to the front.
The Brontes – another Regency drama? Why not. This one's about that most famous of literary families, featuring plenty of windswept moments on the moors.
And here's a reminder of what we got all excited about last month:
Hippie Hippie Shake – a drama revisiting London's countercultural movement from the 1960s. Expect a very flamboyant costume department. Jina Jay's handling the casting.
Hercules – the man, the myth, the legend, Hercules is set to return in yet another big project from Disney. This one's in early pre-production, with an A-lister team of writers and directors.
The Diplomat – with Netflix behind the production, this forthcoming series seems to be following in the footsteps of political comedies like Veep and The Thick of It. It'll be a strong, sharp script from writer Ben Richards.
Rio – Benedict Cumberbatch is among the producers for this forthcoming thriller, set on Brazil's picturesque beaches. The story sounds brilliant.
📣 Open Casting Calls on FlairBox 📣
As always, do fire up the FlairBox app to view our latest UK casting calls, including a feature film and a contemporary TV drama.
🐦 Casting Tweet Sheet 🐦
We've noticed a definite uptick in the number of open casting calls on Twitter in 2022. March has seen another surge – including a trio of royal roles as well as BBC and Film4 productions.
Kicking us off is Kate Bone with what we've all been waiting for: The Crown is now looking for young-ish Harry and Wills. Rosy cheeks essential one would imagine.
Sticking on the royal theme, Nina Gold's still looking for her Prince Edward, aged 9-10 years.
A great opportunity for someone with South Asian heritage for this role from Isabella Odoffin.
Andy Pryor's shared this recent casting call far and wide – a chance to work on a BBC production.
A role in a feature film up for grabs here – Shakyra Dowling's looking for an Iranian-British actress.
Amy Jackson's started her own casting firm. Here's her first open call – for a feamle wheelchair user, to feature in a pilot for Channel 4.
Multiple roles (!) being cast by KRJ Casting this month. It's worth taking a look at all of them to see if you're a fit for any of them.
We reminded you last month, but the BFI's Short Film Fund, and its Early Development Fund, are now open for applications.
Finally, it's difficult not to mention the unfolding situation in Ukraine this month. Here's a message from The Casting Directors' Guild on how you can donate to help Ukrainians in need.
📙 Last month in FlairBox Magazine 📙
In the past month, film buff Marie Johnson took a deep dive into the Ghost Busters franchise, asking why the 2016 reboot felt so wrong and why the 2021 re-reboot got the casting spot-on.
We also learned about cinema's strangest first jobs. Can you guess which A-lister was once a lion tamer? And for International Women's Day 2022, Anita Markoff wrote a brilliant piece for us on the liberating genre of the girls' trip – and how it has changed since the iconic Thelma and Louise (1991).
That's all for March. We'll be back with some fresh new casting highlights in April.