We have new images as well as clips and the trailer in from BBC Films and the Weinstein Company's "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," starring Jill Scott, Anika Noni Rose, Lucian Msamati, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Desmond Dube, Tumisho Masha, Bongeka Mpongwana, David Oyelowo, John Kani, Vusi Kunene, Harriet Manamela, Colin Salmon and Idris Elba. The show airs on March 29th on HBO. Trailer and clips (same player): See more images from the show here. With nine novels published to date, "The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" book series chronicles the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the eminently sensible and wise proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Aided by her highly-efficient yet rather peculiar secretary Mma Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe investigates cases, helps people solve problems in their lives, and begins a special friendship with the highly respectable owner of a garage. More on "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" on MovieJungle.
- 3/25/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Anika Noni Rose, who received an Obie Award for her work in the musical Eli's Comin' at The Vineyard, won a Tony Award for her performance in Caroline, Or Change, and co-starred with Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson in the film version of "Dreamgirls," stars along with Jill Scott in the upcoming HBO series The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
- 3/2/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
The annual end of year promo from HBO that displays their transition from the year 2008 to 2009 has been released. Beside recalling flashes of their last year's programs, the network also give a sneak peek on what to expect in the new year.
Closing on TV programs such as "John Adams", "True Blood", "Recount" and "Little Britain USA", HBO will open the door for the new ones such as "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency", "Flight of the Conchords" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm". They will also welcome new shows like made for TV movie, "Taking Chance" and "Grey Gardens", the former which stars Kevin Bacon and the latter which features Drew Barrymore.
"Agency" will proceed with a second season, while "Curb" takes on seventh cycle. "Flight" will begin a second season on January 18 , around the same time "Big Love" will get a third season premiere. Complete midseason schedule by HBO can...
Closing on TV programs such as "John Adams", "True Blood", "Recount" and "Little Britain USA", HBO will open the door for the new ones such as "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency", "Flight of the Conchords" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm". They will also welcome new shows like made for TV movie, "Taking Chance" and "Grey Gardens", the former which stars Kevin Bacon and the latter which features Drew Barrymore.
"Agency" will proceed with a second season, while "Curb" takes on seventh cycle. "Flight" will begin a second season on January 18 , around the same time "Big Love" will get a third season premiere. Complete midseason schedule by HBO can...
- 1/12/2009
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
London -- Relations between Britain's two government-owned broadcasters, the BBC and Channel Four, just got a lot testier.
The tiff escalated Tuesday night after a news report on Four's flagship newscast accused the BBC of wasting public money on program launches.
The report said the BBC had spent 45,000 pounds ($70,000) launching the show "Merlin" to press and buyers at a top London venue and had spent 118,000 pounds ($183,000) launching three other shows: "Little Dorrit," "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and "The Passion" this year.
Four's news arm requested the figures under the Freedom of Information act, which allows info to be sought from public organizations.
BBC insiders have reacted with outrage at the report, which they say is "par for the course" and "something you have to do" when it comes to promoting major drama.
"We do it, ITV do it, Channel 4 do it," a senior BBC source said. "When you are...
The tiff escalated Tuesday night after a news report on Four's flagship newscast accused the BBC of wasting public money on program launches.
The report said the BBC had spent 45,000 pounds ($70,000) launching the show "Merlin" to press and buyers at a top London venue and had spent 118,000 pounds ($183,000) launching three other shows: "Little Dorrit," "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and "The Passion" this year.
Four's news arm requested the figures under the Freedom of Information act, which allows info to be sought from public organizations.
BBC insiders have reacted with outrage at the report, which they say is "par for the course" and "something you have to do" when it comes to promoting major drama.
"We do it, ITV do it, Channel 4 do it," a senior BBC source said. "When you are...
- 12/16/2008
- by By Mimi Turner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
London -- Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack will receive posthumous executive producer credits as the BBC moves forward with its six-part TV series based on Alexander McCall-Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency."
The series, officially announced Monday, continues the vision of Minghella, whose feature-length adaptation of the first book premiered to huge success in the U.K. shortly after his death in March. Pollack, whose Mirage Enterprises -- a co-venture with Minghella -- co-produced the telefilm, died two months later.
Filming has begun on location in Botswana on six 60-minute episodes, which will chronicle the poignant and amusing adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana.
Grammy winner Jill Scott will reprise her role as Botswana's first female sleuth and be joined by Anika Noni Rose, Desmond Dube, Lucian Msamati and Paterson Joseph.
The series was commissioned by outgoing head of BBC Fiction Jane Tranter...
The series, officially announced Monday, continues the vision of Minghella, whose feature-length adaptation of the first book premiered to huge success in the U.K. shortly after his death in March. Pollack, whose Mirage Enterprises -- a co-venture with Minghella -- co-produced the telefilm, died two months later.
Filming has begun on location in Botswana on six 60-minute episodes, which will chronicle the poignant and amusing adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana.
Grammy winner Jill Scott will reprise her role as Botswana's first female sleuth and be joined by Anika Noni Rose, Desmond Dube, Lucian Msamati and Paterson Joseph.
The series was commissioned by outgoing head of BBC Fiction Jane Tranter...
- 12/1/2008
- by By Mimi Turner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- More than 6 million viewers tuned in to Anthony Minghella's final television project, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, when it aired Easter Sunday on BBC1.
Agency, which attracted 6.3 million viewers and a 27% share of the audience in its 9 p.m. slot, next airs as a backdoor pilot on HBO.
Before Minghella's death last week, the U.S. cable network ordered 13 episodes of the potential series from the Weinstein Co. Whether the project will move forward as a series without the director's participation remains up in the air.
The decision to maintain the Easter airdate for the 105-minute film, co-written with Richard Curtis and based on the book series by Alexander McCall Smith, was supported by Minghella's family.
Starring R&B singer Jill Scott, the drama centers on Precious Ramotswe, who sets up Botswana's first all-ladies detective agency after the death of her father.
The broadcast attracted almost twice the viewing of the nearest competitor, the ITV1 crime thriller He Kills Coppers, which attracted 3.8 million viewers and a 15% audience share.
Agency, which attracted 6.3 million viewers and a 27% share of the audience in its 9 p.m. slot, next airs as a backdoor pilot on HBO.
Before Minghella's death last week, the U.S. cable network ordered 13 episodes of the potential series from the Weinstein Co. Whether the project will move forward as a series without the director's participation remains up in the air.
The decision to maintain the Easter airdate for the 105-minute film, co-written with Richard Curtis and based on the book series by Alexander McCall Smith, was supported by Minghella's family.
Starring R&B singer Jill Scott, the drama centers on Precious Ramotswe, who sets up Botswana's first all-ladies detective agency after the death of her father.
The broadcast attracted almost twice the viewing of the nearest competitor, the ITV1 crime thriller He Kills Coppers, which attracted 3.8 million viewers and a 15% audience share.
- 3/25/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writer-director Anthony Minghella, who died early Tuesday in London of an apparent brain hemorrhage, leaves behind a legacy of acclaimed work and a wide range of projects.
At 54, the British filmmaker known for his adaptations of literary material was, in many respects, in the prime of his career.
Minghella and the Weinstein Co. recently concluded a deal with HBO and the BBC to air the adaptation of the literary franchise The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as a movie and 13-episode television series.
The filmmaker also was attached to write and direct the adaptation of Liz Jensen's France-based psychological thriller The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, in development at the Weinstein Co., and had served as a producer on the recently wrapped The Reader, the adaptation of the Oprah Winfrey-blessed German novel from the Weinstein Co. and Scott Rudin that's set for release in the fall.
Minghella had written but not yet cast or shot his segment of New York, I Love You, the follow-up to the city-centric set of romantic vignettes Paris, je t'aime that was set to shoot in Upper Manhattan in April. A rep for the film said the producers were waiting for Minghella's family to respond about how they wanted to proceed with the segment but indicated that they likely would carry on with the segment with another director.
"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of Anthony Minghella," the producers said. "His highly visionary work will continue to live on through the segment he wrote for New York,' I Love You.' "
They also said that they would dedicate the film to Minghella.
The BBC plans to air the two-hour pilot of Detective -- which, like the series, Minghella created and wrote with feature scribe Richard Curtis -- next week. HBO said it still plans to air the movie as a kickoff to the series next year.
At 54, the British filmmaker known for his adaptations of literary material was, in many respects, in the prime of his career.
Minghella and the Weinstein Co. recently concluded a deal with HBO and the BBC to air the adaptation of the literary franchise The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as a movie and 13-episode television series.
The filmmaker also was attached to write and direct the adaptation of Liz Jensen's France-based psychological thriller The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, in development at the Weinstein Co., and had served as a producer on the recently wrapped The Reader, the adaptation of the Oprah Winfrey-blessed German novel from the Weinstein Co. and Scott Rudin that's set for release in the fall.
Minghella had written but not yet cast or shot his segment of New York, I Love You, the follow-up to the city-centric set of romantic vignettes Paris, je t'aime that was set to shoot in Upper Manhattan in April. A rep for the film said the producers were waiting for Minghella's family to respond about how they wanted to proceed with the segment but indicated that they likely would carry on with the segment with another director.
"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of Anthony Minghella," the producers said. "His highly visionary work will continue to live on through the segment he wrote for New York,' I Love You.' "
They also said that they would dedicate the film to Minghella.
The BBC plans to air the two-hour pilot of Detective -- which, like the series, Minghella created and wrote with feature scribe Richard Curtis -- next week. HBO said it still plans to air the movie as a kickoff to the series next year.
- 3/19/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director Anthony Minghella, who won an Academy Award for directing the 1996 epic The English Patient, has died at age 54, his agent announced today. Variety reports that a spokesman for Mr. Minghella said he suffered a brain hemorrhage on Tuesday morning at Charing Cross Hospital in London, while in for a routine neck operation. A director who worked in theater and television (most notably for the series Inspector Morse and the lush, haunting The Storyteller series), Minghella made his feature film directorial debut with the ghost story/romance Truly, Madly, Deeply, which starred Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman. The film won Minghella a BAFTA award for his screenplay and effectively launched his film career. The little-seen indie romance Mr. Wonderful followed in 1993, but it was three years later that Minghella had his biggest success with The English Patient, an adaptation of the novel by Michael Ondaatje. Aggressively marketed by Miramax and arriving near the height of the independent film movement (though the film, with its epic scope, pushed the definition of indie filmmaking), the film became a surprise success, ultimately taking in $78 million in the US and winning a whopping nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture as well as Director for Minghella. Three of the film's stars, Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliette Binoche, were Oscar-nominated, with Binoche taking home the Best Supporting Actress award in a shocking upset over Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall.
Minghella followed up that success in 1999 with the moody thriller The Talented Mr, Ripley, another book-to-film adaptation based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. Though the film starred high-profile actors Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, it was the then little-known Jude Law who walked away with the film with his role as a callow, rich playboy. The film earned Law a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Minghella another Adapted Screenplay nod. Minghella tried to replicate his successful literary adaptation formula with Cold Mountain, a high-profile version of the bestselling Civil War novel that, ironically, was filmed partly in Romania. Despite another big (and some said, overly aggressive) push by Miramax and a cast that included Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Natalie Portman and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the movie was considered a major under-performer, though it did earn $95 million in the US alone and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Zellweger. Major nominations for Best Picture or Director, however, failed to materialize. Minghella worked on a smaller scale with the London-based drama Breaking and Entering, which reteamed him with both Law and Binoche, and had just completed filming on The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the pilot for a TV series based on the novel by Alexander McCall Smith. Beginning in 2000, Minghella also became a producer, with credits including The Quiet American, The Interpreter, and the recent Oscar winner Michael Clayton. In 2005, Minghella also staged an acclaimed version of the opera Madame Butterfly, which played at the English National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.
Minghella is survived by his parents, his siblings in the entertainment industry Dominic Minghella and Edana Minghella, two other sisters, his wife, choreographer Carolyn Choa, and two children, Max Minghella and Hannah Minghella. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff...
Minghella followed up that success in 1999 with the moody thriller The Talented Mr, Ripley, another book-to-film adaptation based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. Though the film starred high-profile actors Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, it was the then little-known Jude Law who walked away with the film with his role as a callow, rich playboy. The film earned Law a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Minghella another Adapted Screenplay nod. Minghella tried to replicate his successful literary adaptation formula with Cold Mountain, a high-profile version of the bestselling Civil War novel that, ironically, was filmed partly in Romania. Despite another big (and some said, overly aggressive) push by Miramax and a cast that included Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Natalie Portman and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the movie was considered a major under-performer, though it did earn $95 million in the US alone and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Zellweger. Major nominations for Best Picture or Director, however, failed to materialize. Minghella worked on a smaller scale with the London-based drama Breaking and Entering, which reteamed him with both Law and Binoche, and had just completed filming on The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the pilot for a TV series based on the novel by Alexander McCall Smith. Beginning in 2000, Minghella also became a producer, with credits including The Quiet American, The Interpreter, and the recent Oscar winner Michael Clayton. In 2005, Minghella also staged an acclaimed version of the opera Madame Butterfly, which played at the English National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.
Minghella is survived by his parents, his siblings in the entertainment industry Dominic Minghella and Edana Minghella, two other sisters, his wife, choreographer Carolyn Choa, and two children, Max Minghella and Hannah Minghella. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff...
- 3/18/2008
- IMDb News
HBO has retained the services of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
It had been rumored for months that Anthony Minghella's adaptation of the best-selling books by Alexander McCall Smith could wind up as a TV series, though nothing was official until now.
HBO has partnered with the Weinstein Co. and the BBC on the drama series, ordering 13 hourlong episodes to begin filming in the summer. That's in addition to the two-hour pilot that Minghella recently shot in Botswana from a script he wrote with Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral).
HBO has obtained U.S. and Canadian television and home video rights, and the BBC
has taken U.K. television distribution. TWC, which controls all other international territories, is planning to take the project to MIP in April.
Agency stars Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe, the proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Anika Noni Rose plays her quirky secretary, Mma Makutsi, and Lucian Msamati stars as Ramotswe's devoted suitor, JLB Matekoni.
It had been rumored for months that Anthony Minghella's adaptation of the best-selling books by Alexander McCall Smith could wind up as a TV series, though nothing was official until now.
HBO has partnered with the Weinstein Co. and the BBC on the drama series, ordering 13 hourlong episodes to begin filming in the summer. That's in addition to the two-hour pilot that Minghella recently shot in Botswana from a script he wrote with Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral).
HBO has obtained U.S. and Canadian television and home video rights, and the BBC
has taken U.K. television distribution. TWC, which controls all other international territories, is planning to take the project to MIP in April.
Agency stars Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe, the proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Anika Noni Rose plays her quirky secretary, Mma Makutsi, and Lucian Msamati stars as Ramotswe's devoted suitor, JLB Matekoni.
- 3/10/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dreamgirls co-star Anika Noni Rose has joined Jill Scott in Anthony Minghella's adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Rose is set to play the role of Grace Makutsi, the secretary/assistant detective to Precious Ramotswe (Scott), who owns a Botswana-based detective agency run by women. Lucian Msamati also is set to play Ramotswe's fiancee in the film.
Agency is being produced by the Weinstein Co. and Mirage Prods., the production company run by Minghella and Sydney Pollack. Minghella is directing from a script he wrote with Richard Curtis.
It's likely that a TV series based on Agency will follow the movie, but no deals are in place.
Rose, a Tony winner in 2004 for her role in the Broadway musical Caroline, or Change, is on the small screen in USA Network's limited series The Starter Wife and next appears in the film One Part Sugar opposite Danny DeVito. She also recently signed on to voice Princess Tiana in the Walt Disney Co.'s musical animated feature The Princess and the Frog (HR 5/24).
Rose is set to play the role of Grace Makutsi, the secretary/assistant detective to Precious Ramotswe (Scott), who owns a Botswana-based detective agency run by women. Lucian Msamati also is set to play Ramotswe's fiancee in the film.
Agency is being produced by the Weinstein Co. and Mirage Prods., the production company run by Minghella and Sydney Pollack. Minghella is directing from a script he wrote with Richard Curtis.
It's likely that a TV series based on Agency will follow the movie, but no deals are in place.
Rose, a Tony winner in 2004 for her role in the Broadway musical Caroline, or Change, is on the small screen in USA Network's limited series The Starter Wife and next appears in the film One Part Sugar opposite Danny DeVito. She also recently signed on to voice Princess Tiana in the Walt Disney Co.'s musical animated feature The Princess and the Frog (HR 5/24).
- 6/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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