While Hollywood has proven that magicians may look cool, they definitely don’t always rake in the big bucks across the globe. It’s been shown time and time again with films like The Prestige, The Illusionist, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Though, for that last one, we blame Nic Cage.

It looks like Working Title films, the company behind the series The Tudors and the film Hot Fuzz, are now working on a brand new adaptation of the classic Merlin tale, which will take the old wizard to modern day.

The script comes from historical novel author Jay Basu, who plans on rebooting King Arthur’s spiritual wizard in a “contemporary setting.” Expect to see the film to keep a prominent British cast, as most of the films from Working Title are done out of the UK.

Not much is known about the script or what we can expect from the film, but you can expect to see plenty of respect paid to the character, as legendary actors like Sam Neill, Ben Kingsley, and Donald Pleasence have donned the robe and pointy hat at one point.

Keep it here for more news on this film as it develops.

During The Flickcast’s set visit to USA Network’s new series Covert Affairs we spoke with Executive Producer Doug Liman about the origins of the show.  Following that we had the opportunity to speak with three of the show’s regulars, Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Harper’s Island), Anne Dudek (House, Mad Men) and Piper Perabo (The Prestige, Coyote Ugly).  All the interviews took place on the Covert Affairs sets in Toronto, Canada.

One thing every good television show needs is a lead character that can be relatable to viewers yet embrace the hyper-real world of fiction.  Piper Perabo, as Annie Walker, on Covert Affairs blends these two elements seamlessly.  While thoroughly convincing as a rookie CIA Officer she’s equally well-rounded as a down-to-Earth friend to Christopher Gorham’s Auggie and sister to Anne Dudek’s Danielle.  In short, Perabo effortlessly draws the audience into her world of intrigue, action and drama on Covert Affairs.

As easy as Perabo makes her performance on the series look there is a significant amount of reality behind the character of Annie Walker.  While the scripts themselves carry with them a healthy dose of real world exposition, Perabo was fortunate enough to actually do her own research for the role at the Central Intelligence Agency itself in Langley, Virginia.

Interestingly enough, it was the day-to-day details of the people that worked for the CIA that became more relevant than work specifics as Perabo explained:

“…I went and I met agents who are my age who work in the field, women, and got to talk to them.  Not just about—the funny thing is the things that they can’t talk about aren’t really the things that I, you know, I don’t need to know where your stationed or what you’re doing.  But my questions were more like, ‘What kind of car do you drive?  Does your boyfriend know what you do? Do your parents?’

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