Emilia Clarke’s new movie released under the radar, and the director is angry

Emilia Clarke has a new movie out there, and Sean Bean is revealed as the villain for the second season of Snowpiercer on TNT.

It’s a tough time for movies right now. The coronavirus is making it hard to shoot new ones, and films that are already finished can’t exactly get released into theaters since so many are shut down. We’ve seen a rash of movies get released straight to digital, which is what just happened with Above Suspicion, where Game of Thrones veteran Emilia Clarke plays an FBI informant.

According to the Daily Mail, the movie was released in the UK this week with no prior warning to the cast and crew, and Australian director Phillip Noyce is none too pleased about it. “The news came on top of discovering, by chance, that the Australian release was also imminent,” he said. “I myself feel like a parent who has lost a child in the chaos of war. The thought that the movie I’ve loved is not even being respected with the dignity of us all being informed in advance of its release just sickens me. The British digital debut is insulting to all of us. It’s illogical from an artistic, psychological and PR point of view.”

"Not to try to promote the film’s release in [Emilia Clarke’s] home territory is not smart business for any of us. Obviously in this time of pandemic, streaming is king. But I’m at a loss to understand why no one seems interested in helping the movie to find its audience. I would assume the decision was made by the distributor, which I guess is a logical choice, if cinemas are closed. Unfortunately, again maybe due to pandemic-induced chaos, no one associated with the film was informed of UK release plans."

Yeah, to release the movie without so much as a courtesy call isn’t cool, but a lot of people in the industry seem at a loss for what to do with the coronavirus out and about. Not that our inability to see movies is the biggest problem facing the world right now, but still, y’know…wear a mask.

TV fans have had an easier time, since you don’t have to go anywhere for that. Has anyone been watching Snowpiercer on TNT? The sci-fi show imagines a world where the world has entered a new ice age, and all that remains of humanity is trapped aboard a continuously moving train where class divisions have gotten stark and explosive.

And speaking of stark, it ends it ends up that Sean Bean will be joining the show for its second season, which features…a second train!

Bean plays Mr. Wilford, the guy who invented these specialized locomotives, and it sounds like he means business. “I’m back and I’ve come to take what’s mine,” Wilford says. Ned Stark is not here to play.

“That was an earlier idea, something we decided we wanted to work towards,” showrunner Graeme Manson said of the second train twist. “It felt like a great door opening on the series, something unexpected. And to set ourselves up at the top of Season 2 with two trains was unexpected. It gave us the opportunity to meet the reason for all of these machinations — Melanie’s nemesis, great Mr. Wilford, assuming he is on that train. It’s fun to pull back that curtain, be it Oz or Willy Wonka or whatever kind of psychopath might be behind that door.”

And the best part is that much of Snowpiercer season 2 is already shot, so fans won’t have to wait until coronavirus restrictions ease to see it. I’ll take any upside at this point.

And finally, look at this guy’s luck:

"Look who my friend just met from freefolk"

Photobomb-slayer!

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h/t The Hollywood Reporter