CinÉireann / June 2018 13
RTÉ and Spiral Pictures has announced that brand new crime drama Taken Down (working title) has rolled into production.
The creative team behind Love/Hate, Spiral Pictures' Stuart Carolan (writer/ executive producer), Suzanne McAuley (executive producer) and David Caffrey (director) are joined by best-selling novelist Jo Spain to bring this brand new crime series to RTÉ and international audiences.
The series centres on Detective Jen Rooney (Lynn Rafferty) who investigates the violent death of a young Nigerian migrant found abandoned close to a Direct Provision Centre, where refugees wait for political asylum. Her investigation brings us into a twilight world of the new Ireland where slum landlords and criminals prey on the vulnerable.
The cast includes Aissa Maiga (Anything for Alice, Bianco e Nero), Brian Gleeson (Resistance, Phantom Thread), Lynn Rafferty (Love/Hate), Orla Fitzgerald (The Young Offenders,) Jimmy Smallhorne (Love/Hate, Clean Break), Barry Ward (End of The F*cking World, The Fall,), Enoch Frost (Skyfall, The Desert) and Slimane Dazi (A Prophet, Rengaine).
The shoot began on Monday 25th June, and the cast and crew will film for 10 weeks at various locations across Dublin.
"This new series from Spiral Pictures has the promise of something special. The story of Taken Down brings us into a world where opportunism meets the forces of Irish and globalised crime. This story is very much of the moment and I'm looking forward to introducing Taken Down to RTÉ's audiences."
Jane Gogan, Head of Drama - RTÉ Television
We have set out to create a world of unique characters in a modern Ireland but in the context of the globalisation of crime.To tell this story, we have brought together a team of highly talented cast and crew from Ireland and across the globe and we are excited to see our stories come to life.
Suzanne McAuley, Executive Producer
Taken Down is produced for RTÉ by Spiral Pictures with funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and Section 481.
RTÉ will announce further details on Taken Down at its new season launch in August.
Irish actress Jenn Murray has been cast in Disney sequel Maleficent 2.
The story picks up several years after “Maleficent,” in which audiences learned of the events that hardened the heart of Disney’s most notorious villain and drove her to curse a baby Princess Aurora, “Maleficent II” continues to explore the complex relationship between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen, as they form new alliances and face new adversaries in their struggle to protect the moors and the magical creatures that reside within.
Murray joins Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning, as well as Michelle Pfeiffer, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Ed Skrein. The film will be directed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales director Joachim Ronning.
Joe Roth is producing the film. Original screenwriter Linda Woolverton returns, alongside Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster (Transparent) .
Filming is underway at Pinewood studios in the UK
Murray most recently starred as Chastity Barebone in Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Brooklyn, and Love and Friendship.