We’re always trying to track what historical costume movies and TV shows are coming up. I always feel like we’ve Just Posted one of these, and then I go check and it’s been months. So, yay, we get some new stuff! As always, you can keep an eye on what’s forthcoming on our Upcoming Movies page! Editor’s note: Due to the ongoing pandemic, some theatrical releases are being rescheduled and some theater chains are temporarily closed, so please be patient as we update our Upcoming Movies page. Note that all dates for the U.S.
There’s not a ton of upcoming frock flicks with actual trailers out right now, but let’s look at the few that are and then any images I can find from other forthcoming productions!
Trailers
Oppenheimer (July 21)
Movie about American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb. Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon; costumes by Ellen Mirojnick.
Last Voyage of the Demeter (Aug. 11)
Based on a chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, set aboard a ship from Carpathia to London. Costumes by Carlo Poggioli.
A Haunting in Venice (Sept. 15)
Kenneth Branagh takes on another Poirot mystery, now in post-World War II Venice. Michelle Yeoh and Tina Fey also star; costumes by Sammy Sheldon.
The Three Musketeers (already released in France; will it be released in the US/UK?)
The story of one of the Three Musketeers. Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Louis Garrel, and Eva Green star; costumes by Thierry Delettre.
Jeanne du Barry (sometime this year?)
Biopic of the last official mistress of Louis XV. We’ve already snarked it and incurred the wrath of the Depp stans! Johnny Depp stars; costumes by Jürgen Doering.
Other Upcoming Movie/TV Productions
Napoleon (Nov. 22)
A Napoleon Bonaparte biopic directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Joaquin Phoenix; costumes by Janty Yates. Check out this article at the Daily Mail for images of Vanessa Kirby as Empress Josephine.
The Bastard
Set in 1755 about Ludvig Kahlen who cultivated the wild heath of Jutland; starring Mads Mikkelsen.
Chief of War (Apple TV)
From the indigenous point of view, this TV series tells the story of the unification and colonization of Hawaii in the 18th century. Starring Jason Momoa; costumes by Caroline Eselin.
Clicquot
Drama about the the Veuve Clicquot champagne family and business that began in the late 18th century. Costumes by Marie Frémont.
The Diary
“In the early 1930s, a young man leaves Shanghai to come to Europe and reunite with the love of his life.” Directed by Jackie Chan.
Firebrand
A film about Queen Catherine Parr and Henry VIII‘s marriage. Starring Alicia Vikander.
The Gallows Pole (BBC)
Miniseries set at the start of the industrial revolution in 18th-c. Yorkshire and based on the novel by Benjamin Myers. Starring Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey), costumes by Emma Rees.
Seacole
The story of Mary Seacole, a Jamaican nurse who sought to work with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War. Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw; costumes by Luminita Lungu.
Know of any other Frock Flicks we should be looking at, trailer- or photo-wise? Let us know in the comments! (Note links get held in our spam checker, but we’ll try to approve things as quickly as possible).
Damn those bastard…gardeners? Farmers? Botanists?
When I first saw the poster for the Finnish movie ‘Sisu,’ out now, I thought it might star Mads Mikkelsen. From what I’ve read, the film probably doesn’t merit much excitement on a wardrobe level, but is quite interesting on a Nazis being exploded level.
And speaking of Danish actors, Connie Nielsen is in a series about the post ‘Out of Africa’ life of Karen Blixen / Isak Dinesen, called ‘Drommeren.’ I’m not sure if/when it will be out on US tv.
Please tell me I’m not the only person who looks at the title THE GALLOWS POLE and realises they have an imagination fit only for dirty jokes …
On a more serious note, THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER is the film that I’m most interested in at the moment (I’m a DRACULA man, though my favourite characters are the goodies, rather than the Villain); my reaction to A HAUNTING IN VENICE was a slightly panicked “Poirot will be getting his moustache back?” (HE WILL! Also, the trailer looks quite good); NAPOLEON looks reasonably promising; it’s interesting to see Ms. Hailey Bennett show up in another period drama after starring in that Cyrano de Bergerac adaptation (Clearly she’s made peace with the fact she has a ‘Period Drama’ surname!); and that picture from FIREBRAND has me moderately intrigued (As does the casting of Mr Jude Law as Henry VIII – he’s an actor I have a soft spot for since his performance as Doctor Watson).
Oh, and my excitement on learning (via the Upcoming Movies page and a visit to IMDB) that Ms, Christina Hendricks was going to be in a Costume Drama (A Buccaneers adaptation) was INTENSE.
…
Well she has a face for Period Drama and it’s a very, very pretty face!
Actual french hoods!!! Worn in the right position!!! Somebody researched the contemporary documentation, controlled their egos, and didn’t make it “relatable”!!!
I checked IMDb for the costume designer for FIREBRAND, and they just have a list of people who worked on the costumes, without anyone designated as having been in charge of the department or designing the costumes. No idea what that means.
Interestingly, FIREBRAND was based on a book titled “Queen’s Gambit”– which obviously had to be tossed after the success of the Netflix series THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT (adapting a Water Tevis novel).
I too am excited by those French hoods! I saw one article that credited Michael O’Connor as Firebrand’s costume designer — he did The Duchess, among many other excellent productions. But I’ve also seen other names floating around, so until it shows up on IMDB, not sure.
Accurate French hoods FTW? I’m excited! As for the Galows Pole, lack of fichus and hair pins alert!
Also,, was off the shoulders a thing in the 1930s? Maybe the CD was going for exotic?
The milliner Josephine Willis created the French hoods for Firebrand. She does lovely work, most notably Kate Winslet’s iconic hat in Titanic, among others.
Maybe because I’m starved for content, MOST of these films look really promising. Like ED above, I’m a huge Dracula fan, so I’m the most excited about The Demeter and have been ever since I learned of it. (I despair for the dog and am so curious to see who the screenplay will make a “survivor” who washes up ashore elsewhere.) Haunting in Venice looks so atmospheric; I just hope Branagh pulls this one off. I never realized until looking at the pic for The Gallows Pole how much Michael Socha and Oliver Jackson-Cohen can favor each other. And the actress from Clicquot reminds me so much of Emilia Clarke. I know that’s not her, but man, I had to look at that pic for a long time!
Technically speaking the survivor who washes up ashore elsewhere is Count Dracula – the bit where he comes ashore in the guise of a wolf and comes perilously close to being adopted by the Whitby SPCA is one of those bits that make me truly sorry that Mr Mel Brooks didn’t bother to read the book before making DEAD AND LOVING IT (His take on Van Helsing and the immortal scene in which Mr Harker refuses the ample charms of a Lysette Anthony at Full Vamp makes me suspect he could have really nailed scenes like Doctor Seward completely refusing to accept that he’s in a Dracula story*, empty tomb or no empty tomb).
I’m particularly interested in seeing whether they’ll save Count Dracula’s more human form for the final scene (Not to mention supremely interested in finding out if this is the DRACULA adaptation that finally, finally gives us Count Dracula scored to ‘Night on Bald Mountain’**).
*In all fairness he DOES have a lunatic asylum to run and he’s clearly not keen on lunatics running the asylum …
**Just because it’s painfully obvious doesn’t make it any less Awesome!
Another Brannagh-butchers-Christies coming at us…
Otherwise, you could add Le Déluge to your list, a French-Italian production on the last years of the royal family during the French Revolution, starring Guillaume Canet and Melanie Laurent. It is to be released in 2023 but there is only one prom pic so far.
There is no book by Christie called a Haunting in Venice so at least he’s not mangling an actual Christie this time.
BTW there’s a Wilkie Collins mystery/ ghost story set in Venice called The Haunted Hotel that would make a terrific horror movie.
I think this is the Poirot novel ‘Hallowe’en Party’ with the plot transfered from England to Venice so…
I saw Poirot in the trailer so it must be loosely based on one of her stories, « enhanced » certainly :)
I usually think I’m pretty up on movie trailers but I hadn’t heard of a lot of these.
I saw the trailer for Oppenheimer earlier today and I am definitely looking forward to it most of this listing. Nolan is a really interesting director and it looks like an interesting story. The Ridley Scott Napoleon movie is also interesting, and I’d be interested in Firebrand as well.
I guess the industrial revolution meant no hairpins in Yorkshire? :-)
I have mixed feelings on Dracula stuff. I read and was captivated by The Historian and then read and also liked Stoker’s Dracula. But I don’t know if I’d like fully visualized horror, even if it’s mostly suspense (my horror threshold is basically A Quiet Place and Stranger Things). On a similar vein seances and stuff like that I find quite unnerving, so I’m not sure I’d go for a Haunting in Venice, either, even though I did enjoy Murder on the Orient Express (David Suchet remains my Poirot but Christie’s stories are just perpetually enjoyable for me).
If I still have AppleTV+ by the time Chief of War comes out I’ll probably give it a look. I haven’t explored much because I kind of don’t know what to make of AppleTV’s original stuff; a number of times I’ve looked up things that I saw ads for that looked good the reviews make it seem likely to be a letdown. I hope they’ve done this story well.
I saw Louis Garrel’s name, and went to look for photos of Three Musketeers. I have seen Louis in a period piece before, but this is a period that I love. The photos made me excited. I might actually put my butt in a theater seat to watch it (I hate spending $17+ for a ticket), but only for Louis. Now I shall watch the trailer.
Oh, Colleen! The world does not deserve the male beauty that is Louis Garrel!!! That said, HIS beauty is definitely worth $17!!! All for one… and all that!! ;)
Someone tell Branagh to take off the stupid mustache and let David Souchet reign supreme as the one and only Poirot.
You may slander Sir Kenneth at discretion – he’s a big boy, he can take a little critique or perhaps more than a little – but you slander that magnificently absurd and absurdly magnificent set of moustaches at peril of my displeasure: they are, by far, one of my very favourite things about these adaptations (Which is why DEATH ON THE NILE lost my favour by removing them!).
Mr David Suchet has been and shall remain the Best Poirot, but his moustache unquestionably fails to live up to the descriptions given in the novels … because it’s only a moustache, rather than full-blown Moustaches (In all seriousness I do feel that the Branagh adaptations are good in their own right, but only unquestionably superior when it comes to Poirot’s facial hair).
Napoleon looks interesting, but the ageism in casting is off the charts: Josephine was six years older than Napoleon but Vanessa Kirby is thirteen and a half years younger than Joaquin Phoenix 🤯
This bugged me too! Josephine actually being older than Napoleon (especially later in their marriage, as his need for an heir became an obstacle) is such a fascinating dynamic. It changes their story quite a bit to change that.
Since the first actress considered was Jodie Comer, sadly my first reaction was to be relieved that they went with a slightly older actress, if only by a few years.
But yeah it sucks…
I wonder how much of Napoleon’s life they intend to cover, especially considering the actor’s age (nearly as old as Napoleon when he died).
Oppenheimer, looks amazing, like all of Nolan’s movies….
But, for me, Nolan’s movies feel like catching fog. In all of the ways that exist.
Which is a pity when you see the cast he has…
I’m very grateful that the Poirot films take so long to make.
Really late addition to the comments here, but ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY just revealed that Jude Law had a special perfume made to play Henry VIII in FIREBRAND– composed of the aromas of “pus, blood, feces, and sweat.”
While researching the role, he read that the stench of Henry’s gangrenous leg made him difficult to be near, and he wanted to have a sense of that while playing him, so he found a perfumier who could produce “creative” scents.
Unfortunately, director Karim Ainouz decided to take it beyond just the little subtle touch Law was applying for himself to smell, to get into character– to liberally spraying it around the room like air freshener, and according to Law and Alicia Vikander, the crew was having dry-heaves at times.