September 25th
Pride & Prejudice will premiere on Sky Movies in the UK on October 15th. Keira is on the cover of the October Sky magazine and there's an interview inside, but nothing new in the words or pics. The premiere will also be broadcast with the behind-the-scenes programme which you can still see on the P&P Promo Page, and also the option to watch the entire film with Audio Commentary, as per the DVD. See the TV Guide on the right for details.

September 5th
It's hard to believe it's already a year ago today since I was on the red carpet with Dame Keira Knightley at the London premiere of Pride & Prejudice. It seems like last week.

And it's still being nominated for awards. The European Film Academy (no, I'd never heard of it either) has shortlisted it for its People's Choice Award. Winners will be announced on December 2nd and you can vote here.

August 25th
I continue to be astounded by the creativity present on YouTube.com, as these two Pride & Prejudice videos show. The audio is from the two Focus Features trailers, but the video is from, well, elsewhere. Fantastic stuff, here and here.
Thanks Mags at AustenBlog

May 5th
The glorious P&P soundtrack has finally won an award, as composer Dario Marionelli picked up the Classical Brit Award for Best Soundtrack yesterday. The ceremony can be seen on ITV this Sunday from 4.45pm.

April 9th

This page has a number of P&P related files, including an apparent shooting script from 2004, when the film was recorded.
Thanks StarsButterflies

March 23rd

Costumes and props from Pride & Prejudice are on display at Basildon Park, in Berkshire, which was used as Netherfield in the movie. More.

P&P will be one of the first ever batch of movies to be made available for legal permanent download from Universal. Article.

March 15th

You must read Joe Wright's acceptance speech for his Empire Award, Best British Movie. This is the story he told to those of us at the P&P world premiere in London last September. Very funny.

March 13th

Pride & Prejudice won Best British Movie at the Empire Film Awards tonight, and Kelly Reilly won Best Newcomer for her role as Caroline Bingley. Keira was nominated for Best Actress but was beaten by Thandie Newton for Crash. Keira did not attend.

March 12th

Pride & Prejudice was the most searched for Oscar-nominated movie the day before the ceremony, statistics company HitWise reveals.

P&P has now opened in most countries and finished its run in the US. Its global tally is now over $107m, including $38.4m in the US.

March 2nd

Keira is nominated for Best Actress for Lizzie Bennet at the Empire Magazine Film Awards. The ceremony will be held on March 13th.

February 23rd

P&P is still playing in 35 countries and is yet to open in nine. Latest figure is $66.3m internationally.

There's a good article on the Oscars 'new blood' here. And even Sky News have a decent one too.

Tuesday's Variety had this to say in its critique of Best Actress Oscar nominees:
Though Keira Knightley is no less British, she is 51 years younger than Dench. Yet her youth, which can sometimes work against a performer vying for Oscar, seemed to play to her advantage here. The latest incarnation of "Pride & Prejudice" got solid reviews and Knightley was noted for her charm, which, in a year such as this where the actress field was lean, was more than enough to put her over the top. Her smile, it seemed, proved irresistible. "This is one of my favorite characters in English literature, and I couldn't bear it if I ruined it," Knightley says of Lizzie, who falls for Mr. Darcy.

February 19th

Of six nominations, Pride & Prejudice won one award tonight at the BAFTAs. Joe Wright won 'The Carl Foreman Award for special achievement by a British Director/Producer or Writer in their first feature film'. He paid tribute to Keira, gave a dig to BAFTA for not nominating her, and wished her well for the Oscars. 1.4Mb

February 17th

Focus Features celebrated P&P's breaking of its $100m worldwide box office with a very expensive double-page ad in Thursday's Variety.
Thanks AF

February 13th

Pride & Prejudice continues to open healthily around the world. ScreenInternational has some figures today:
Spain: $850,000 from 194 screens; $250,000 from 163 screens in Brazil; $155,000 from 73 screens in Mexico. It also climbed to $835,000 in its second week in Italy, playing on 160 screens.

February 12th

P&P has taken another estimated $157,000 at US cinemas this weekend, and is still playing at 219 screens, in its 14th week of release.

February 10th

There's a great new batch of articles in Variety about various aspects of P&P, including the score, costumes, the screenplay and the DVD release. I've posted them in full on the newsletter.

February 9th

Pride & Prejudice did well at the London Film Critics' Circle Awards on Wednesday, with Joe Wright finally winning an award, for Best British Director. The movie itself was Best British Film and Tom Hollander was voted Best Supporting Actor. Article.
Meanwhile, the ballot papers have now been sent to the Academy Awards voting committee. The deadline for casting and returning of votes is February 28th.

February 7th

Here's another Oscar-push ad for P&P from Focus Features, this time from today's Hollywood Reporter.
Thanks AF

February 6th

The Pride & Prejudice DVD is out now in the UK, and it's selling like hot cakes, at least if online stores are anything to go by. HMV, sendit.com and Amazon UK have it as their bestselling DVD at the moment.

Here is the first P&P Oscar ad for the attention of the final voting committee. It appeared in Variety among other movie journals today.
Thanks AF

February 5th

Here is E! Entertainment's 'Behind The Scenes' show from the set of Pride & Prejudice. Presented by Keira herself, it's brand new online. 
Part One: 10Mb - Part Two: 10.5Mb - Part Three: 11Mb - Part Four: 7Mb

There's some lovely hi-res photos from the set of P&P at KKDaily.

Sunday night's box office estimates have P&P racking up another $217,000 in the US this weekend, for a new total of $37,766,000. Global box office now stands at $90.2m.

February 4th

Keira may be giving a live web chat with the LA Times on the 12th. More details if and when it's confirmed.
Thanks Ulrik

Here are some more caps from The Kiss in P&P. Not long to wait now before it can be viewed frame by frame, if you so desire :-)
Thanks Christina

Here's the two TV commercials for Monday's release of P&P DVD in the UK. I'd have thought they'd have mentioned the nominations, but still... 1Mb

In her column in today's Daily Mirror, Fiona Phillips has this to say about Keira's Lizzie Bennet. Fiona is the anchor of breakfast show GMTV in the UK, and interviewed Keira at the Savoy on the same morning I saw Keira myself, September 5th, the day of the P&P UK premiere. Interestingly, Fiona comments about Oscars being forthcoming right at the beginning of the interview (12Mb). What a psychic !

February 3rd

The North American release of the Pride & Prejudice DVD has been pulled forward from March 14th to February 28th. The UK DVD will be out on Monday.
Thanks Scott

February 2nd

The Times of London had an article today by P&P screenwriter Deborah Moggach, putting forward her case for Keira to win the Best Actress award.

February 1st

More Oscars reaction and news:
- To celebrate Keira's Academy Award nomination, KeiraWeb will be uploading ALL of the profiles of Keira currently on file, including a brand new 30-minute  'Extreme Close-Up' from E! which has not been seen online before. Files will be uploaded before the weekend, so check back regularly.
- Keira's nomination made the front page of today's edition of The Hollywood Reporter. Scans coming soon.
- The people cheering Keira's nomination at yesterday's announcement were reps of Focus Features, obviously as surprised as the rest of us!
- Keira was asleep when the nomination came through, she said today. Cheers from her mum and assistant woke her up, but not for long! Article.
- Working Title chairman Tim Bevan said he felt vindicated for Keira's nomination after BAFTA's snub. Article.
- The BBC, surprisingly, have come out with the inevitable Judi v. Keira comparison regarding their nominations.
- Keira is the third youngest Best Actress nominee, after Keisha Castle-Hughes (13 in 2003) and Isabelle Adjani (a younger 20 in 1975).

The BBC also have online their video interview with Keira from the Golden Globes nomination press call.
Thanks KKDaily

January 31st 

Keira Knightley today silenced the critics by being awarded a Best Actress nomination at the 2006 Academy Awards. Her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice received almost universal acclaim and now the organisers of the biggest movie event of the year have recognized her too. While it's certain either Reese Witherspoon or Felicity Huffman will win the Oscar, just being nominated WILL open doors for Keira. If she wasn't in the 'big league' of movie stars before today (and few would say she wasn't), she most definitely will be now. Even if she never receives another accolade in her entire career, she will forever be 'Academy Award nominated actress Keira Knightley'. 

There has been no public reaction so far from Keira, in quotes or TV interviews, but I'm sure they will appear fairly soon. Working Title Films have issued a press release about the film's nominations tonight. There were cheers from the assembled crowd at Academy headquarters in Los Angeles - but only at Keira's name - as its new president Sid Ganis read out the nominations - see the Announcement clip below. Credit must be given to Focus Features, distributor of Pride & Prejudice, who pulled out all the stops to push the movie under the Oscar committee's noses. The company leads the field of independent movie companies, with a total of 16 nominations (Brokeback Mountain and The Constant Gardener are also from the Focus stable). 

Personally, as someone who believed in the talent of that young girl as 'one to watch' when I first saw her superb, natural and mesmerising performance in Coming Home, way back in 1998, this almost feels like a graduation day for me. That may sound sickly sweet, but I am so happy for her, and I would like to hope that she is aware of how proud and pleased her fans around the world are tonight. 

Incidentally, should Keira defy the critics and win the Academy Award (and let's face it, she defied them today by being nominated), she will become the youngest ever recipient of the Best Actress Oscar. That record is currently held by Marlee Matlin, who won the award in 1986 aged 21. 

Video Clips: 
Announcement 800kb - Sky News reaction 800kb - BBC British angle 2Mb 

Media Reports: 
BBC - Reuters - Daily Mail - The Sun - Sky News 

Nominations for Pride & Prejudice: 
Best Actress - Keira Knightley 
Original Score - Dario Marianelli 
Art Direction - Sarah Greenwood (art direction); Katie Spencer (set decoration) 
Costume Design - Jacqueline Durran 

January 29th

Pride & Prejudice opened in Taiwan this weekend and will see its overseas box office top $50m. It is still playing in the US in its 12th week, although it's now down to less than 300 screens. Estimates are for another $300,000 this weekend, taking its US tally to $37.4m. The film is still to open in at least 25 countries in February, including Italy, Eastern Europe and South America.

January 17th

Thanks to the original source, the complete P&P Press Conference in Toronto from September is now back online. Click here, then click the Free button at the bottom of the page and wait until prompted to download.

January 15th

Another nomination for P&P has come from ACE, the American Cinema Editors, in their annual awards nominations. It's up against Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Walk The Line and Wedding Crashers in its Comedy or Musical category. Winners will be announced on February 19th.
The BAFTAs will be held on the same date, and their nominations will be announced this Wednesday 18th.

P&P has now topped $80m worldwide, $35.5m in the US and $45.5 internationally.

January 13th

Bit of confusion over this Variety P&P press book. Some eBay descriptions say it's 92 pages, others say 30+. Some say it was published in December, some say last week. I know some of you already own it/them, so please let me know for clarification what you have ! Thanks.

Today's Variety has a movie-by-movie guide to the Golden Globe nominees. For Pride & Prejudice it says:
Pride & Prejudice
How it got here: This is the first theatrical version of the classic Jane Austen novel since 1940. Filmed with a light touch by first-time feature helmer Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley alongside such vets as Judi Dench, Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland, the movie gained surprising box office traction, generating more than $75 million worldwide. "They saw it in London, and I know quite a few who went to see it more than once or twice. They loved it. This is a real contender to win," says an HFPA source.
HFPA is the Hollywood Free Press Association, the organisers of the Globes.

January 12th

There's quite a few of those P&P promotional books I mentioned yesterday on the US eBay already (do a search for P&P Variety promo etc.) . It's a hefty 92 pages apparently with previously unseen pics, and quotes, reviews etc. With such a limited print run it's sure to become a Keira collectible.
Here's part of one of the large ads in the magazine featuring The Kiss.
Thanks Carolina, Gigi.

AOL Moviefone have a rather snazzy Golden Globes mini-site, with 143 pics from P&P.

January 11th

Sky News have good and bad on Keira today. They give her a special mention in their Golden Globes preview, although Keira's comments in the clip appear to refer to a premiere rather than the Globes as the interview seems to be from before the nominations were announced. 1Mb

The LA Times have a Golden Globes preview today with Keira in their Gallery. 

Last week's printed edition of Daily Variety had a glossy pull-out supplement from Focus Features dedicated entirely to Keira and Pride & Prejudice, available in all of its 27,000 print run. This could go some way towards the Oscars committee's decision on the 31st, at least in terms of nominations.
Thanks Geoff

January 9th

E!'s Behind The Scenes episode from the set of Pride & Prejudice comes to E! UK on Saturday 21st at 8am.

January 8th

Final figures for UK box office receipts in 2005 put Pride & Prejudice at No.13, with £14,562,448. The UK bucked the trend of a global decline in attendances with a rise of 1%, more if Ireland's decline is taken out of the figures.

January 7th

The Broadcast Film Critics Awards (also known as the Critics Choice Awards), for which Keira has received a Best Actress nomination, will have its ceremony on Monday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. It will be shown live on the WB channel in the US and also on E! at 7pm EST, midnight UK.

Keira has also received a Best Actress nomination from the Chicago Film Critics Awards, alongside Reese Witherspoon (the clear favourite among awards committees so far), Felicity Huffman, Joan Allen and Naomi Watts. Joe Wright has received a nom for Most Promising Director. Winners of those awards will also be announced on Monday.
Not surprisingly, 2005 has surpassed any other performance year for Keira award nominations. The full list can be seen on the Awards page.

January 6th

The cover and screen menus of the US P&P DVD can be seen here, but no mention of Deleted Scenes - perhaps they're saving them for a Christmas re-release. It does have the HBO First Look show, which you may already have seen on the KeiraWeb P&P promo page.

January 5th

Neither the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, Producers Guild or Writers Guild provided any nominations for Pride & Prejudice or its cast and crew today.

January 4th

A camcorder copy of The Kiss scene from P&P is now online. Picture quality is not fantastic but at least those outside of the US now know the dialogue of the scene. 3.2Mb
Thanks kreidy

Here is the UK cover for the Pride & Prejudice DVD. Hopefully it will be updated with some 'award-winner' text, or at least a sticker, by the time it comes out on February 6th.
Thanks Adam

January 3rd

The UK E! channel has an Extreme Close-Up on Keira in P&P and Domino on January 16th at 11.30am. They did one for King Arthur and was basically just a behind-the-scenes show with more interviews with Keira than anyone else. In the US, The Jacket premieres on Cinemax on January 28th to 30th. See TV Guide, left.

January 2nd

Pride & Prejudice has now withdrawn from more than half the US cinemas it was playing this time last week - 556 instead of 1141. However, it still packed them in this holiday period, with an average $4000 per cinema according to the latest figures. The per-theatre figure for Walk The Line is barely half that. The latest chart has P&P at No.9 taking another $1.15m for a US total of $32.7m. It opens in Denmark, Greece, Sweden and Malaysia this week.

January 1st

ScreenInternational has a look at Oscar contenders in the Best Actress category this week, with the following:
Leading the pack is the indomitable Judi Dench, giving an outstanding performance in Mrs Henderson Presents. But she is, ironically, competing with several actresses under the age of 30 - Reese Witherspoon, Claire Danes, Keira Knightley (who shared scenes with Dench in Pride & Prejudice), Zhang Ziyi and Q'Orianka Kilcher among them.

In its Top 10 shortlist it has:
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Few would have thought the sexy star of King Arthur and Pirates Of The Caribbean could see awards talk this year, but that is exactly what the 20-year-old English actress is generating for her surprising performance as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice. Knightley brought contemporary vibrancy to the part but was never out of keeping with the period milieu or the Austen drama itself. If the film wins favour with voters as it has with audiences, recognition for Knightley could be part of the equation.

The newsletter has a more detailed look at SI's analysis of Pride & Prejudice's chances in other categories.
 

December 20th
Pirates DMC was the biggest film of the year at the UK box office, taking £52m. Article.

December 18th
ILM's work on Pirates DMC has been shortlisted for the Visual Effects Award at February's Oscars, Variety anounced Friday.

December 17th
The Pirates DMC DVD sold 10.5m units in its first week in the US, and looks set to beat the current bestselling DVD of 2006, The Chronicles of Narnia. A re-release of Pirates CBP in the US this week has also come in at No.9.  It has repeated its British record-breaking performance in Japan where it has become the biggest selling DVD of all time. Meanwhile, Pirates DMC has greatly contributed to a successful box office year in US cinemas, with admissions forecast to be 2.6% up on last year. 2005 was 8% down on 2004.

December 9th
Disney appear to be pushing Keira for the Best Actress category at the Golden Globes, rather than Supporting Actress. There was a full page ad in the LA-area Backstage West magazine this week. Nominations announced Thursday 14th. See scan.
Thanks AF, JDR

December 6th
The DVD of Pirates DMC has sold nearly 5 million copies on its first DAY of release in North America, according to this article, becoming a hot contender for the biggest selling live-action DVD of all time.

December 3rd
Regarding the Variety feature on Golden Globe hopefuls, the feature inside had this to say about Pirates DMC:
- Why it will be nominated: It's no stretch to imagine Globes will be in the same boat as the millions who made the pic the year's top grosser. As one of the rare mega-franchises to compete in this category, it has an advantage with profile and excitement that few competitors can match. 
- Why it won't: Despite its financial success, the charm and nimbleness of the original may have dimmed too much between installments. With the original pic failing to earn a nom, it's unlikely the sequel will fare better.

December 2nd
It's time to dig out the old awards icon again, although it won't be used quite as often as I did this time last year, sadly. However, Disney are pushing Keira, Johnny and Orlando for Golden Globe nominations for Pirates DMC right now, and Johnny was on the cover of Variety this week, in an attempt to catch the eye of the voting panel (what they call 'For Your Consideration'). 'Best Actress In A Supporting Role' would be a nice addition to the CV/resume for Dame Keira, though, don't you think ? Nominees will be announced on December 14th, with the ceremony on January 15th.
Thanks AF, JDR

November 28th
Pirates DMC has become the biggest-selling DVD in the UK ever. It's sold 1.5m since going on sale November 20th, that's a quarter of all the DVDs sold during that time. Article.

November 26th
With this weekend marking the end of the fiscal year in the US movie busines, Pirates DMC came out as the top-grossing film of 2006. Article.

November 22nd
Here'a an article on Zizzle's lucrative tie-in with Disney to sell Pirates DMC merchandise this year.

November 14th
Disney has reported a doubling of profits for its last fiscal quarter (July-August 06), thanks mainly to its studio entertainment section, including box office hits cars and of course Pirates DMC. Article.
And Disney has recently made available Pirates DMC for iPod download from Apple's iTunes store. Article. You can download it directly from this link (US iTunes store required).

November 8th
What appears to be the 'blooper reel' feature from the Pirates DMC DVD has appeared on YouTube. Watch.

November 7th
Keira and Johnny are up for Best Match-Up at the People's Choice Awards. The ceremony will be on January 9th. Article. Vote here.

October 30th
Here's a couple of snippets of Pirates news: Niagara Falls filming - JB interview

October 24th
Pirates DMC has been nominated for Best Feature Film and the Public Award at the Children's BAFTAs. The ceremony will be on November 26th in London. Article.

September 28th
You can see the cover of the Pirates DMC DVD here, and I've just spotted a 2007 calendar too.
Thanks Adam Reed

September 24th
Pirates DMC is now the fourth biggest movie ever at the International (ie. non-US) box office, with $617.3m, knocking Harry Potter And The Chambr of Secrets down to fourth place. Italy's late release of DMC continues to pull in the crowds as the film had taken $15.5m by last Wednesday. The global figure is now $1.036bn.
Source: Variety

September 19th
Here's the official press release announcing the arrival of the Pirates DMC DVD(s) on December 5th.

September 18th
Pirates DMC continues to break records. Its late opening in Italy on Friday saw it break through the $600m threshold at the International box office (non-US), only the sixth film ever to do so. It's total of $612m places it at No.5 on that chart, but is within days of becoming the No.4. Global box office is now $1.03bn. In italy itself, the movie brought in $12.8m in just five days, more than double the performance of Pirates CBP there. It was enough to return DMC to the No.1 movie currently showing at the international box office, a position it lost to Cars last week.
Source: ScreenInternational

September 16th
Pirates DMC is now available for pre-order, and will be out on November 20th. Amazon UK has a limited edition with artwork postcards, and a saving of £11 too. Please click the the link to Pre-order.
Thanks Adam Reed

September 12th
Pirates DMC took a further $7.7m at the international box office this week, giving a new total outside the US of $592.4m. US total is now over $416m, meaning the global total is now 54% higher than the final figure of the first Pirates movie. With Italy still to debut DMC this Friday, it should climb from 6th to 4th most successful movie of all time at the international box office. Britain continues to bring in the highest non-US total, $94.7m, with Japan second on $81m. 
Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's Motion Pictures Group, said today: "We feel there are really no bounds for the worldwide appeal of the stars -- Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom -- particularly with the popularity of the first two films."
Source: Variety

September 10th

It's official ! Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is now the third biggest movie of all time. Disney made the announcement yesterday. The all-time chart now looks like this.

So what, exactly, has brought in the booty for this movie ? I have my theories. It's not the promotion as that seems to have been spent on action figures, lunch boxes and Kellogg's cereals; it's not the overwhelming praise from the critics because half of them panned it; it's not the special effects or even the continuation of a popular storyline. The reason DMC has become the third biggest movie in cinema history is because of the bringing together of not one but three massive fanbases - star power, but more importantly the supporters of those stars, has made this film the success it is. 
Since Black Pearl, Johnny Depp's already large fanbase has likely more than doubled since he gave us Jack Sparrow in 2003. Orlando Bloom's growing fanbase from Lord of the Rings exploded after his appearance as Will Turner, and Black Pearl was truly Keira's breakout movie (Bend It Like Beckham became big worldwide, but only very slowly and only in limited theatres - Pirates CBP put her on the map globally). 
I wonder if the cast, crew and companies involved will acknowledge that it's primarily the power of us, the fans, who have made this movie a 10-figure Box Office blockbuster ? Sadly, I think we all know the answer to that question.
Still, we must congratulate Keira on being part of the third biggest movie ever made. It's her second in the Top 10, along with Phantom Menace.

September 6th
It's nearly there - Pirates DMC has now totalled $993.7m around the world, just a few days away from being the third biggest movie of all time. The US total is currently $414.2m, providing a non-US total of $579.5m. It is still packing out cinemas in countries where it opened several weeks ago - France $2.4m in this, it's fifth week, and Japan another $1.6m in its seventh week. The UK has the biggest non-US tally for DMC, coming in at $93.9m. It has still to open in Italy next Friday.

August 28th
- Pirates DMC is now within days of passing Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone to become the third biggest movie ever, and is within seven days of breaking the $1billion global box office figure, only the third movie ever to do so. This week raked in another $17.8m outside of the US, giving a new international total of $554.7m. Added to the US domestic figure, DMC has now achieved $962.3m (Harry Potter peaked at $976.5m). 
- In the US, it is the sixth biggest movie ever, and will remain so as the number of theatres now playing the movie decreases, so that figure is unlikely to pass the current No.5 movie, The Phantom Menace. US tally is now $407.6m.
- Internationally, DMC is now the biggest movie this century, due to it being the No.1 movie for eight consecutive weeks. The previous record of seven weeks was the first Pirates movie.
- Around the world this week, DMC debuted in Greece, breaking the Greek box office record for any movie. A $2.6m debut there was 25% above the previous record holder. Even in war-torn Lebanon, where people have more important things on their minds right now, DMC was the year's biggest movie, taking $100,000 on 65 screens. It remained the No.1 film in France and Germany. France took a further $3.2m, Germany $2.3m, Japan $2.2m, Spain $2.1 and the UK $1.1m. British tally is now $91.5m, almost £50m.
Source: Variety

August 23rd
The big numbers keep rolling in for Pirates DMC.
This week alone: $25.5m at 6,222 screens in 51 countries, notably Spain (second week): $5.1m on 758 screens; France (third week): $4.8m on 750 screens; Germany (fourth week): $3.5m on 1,380 screens; Japan (fifth week): $4.1m on 711 screens; UK (seventh week): $4.1m at 711 screens.
Global box office is now $923.8m and Variety says ""Dead Man's Chest" has a decent shot at becoming the third film after "Titanic" (with $1.8 billion) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" ($1.1 billion) to gross more than a billion dollars worldwide."
Source: Variety

Comic lovers will want to know that the new issue (No.103) of Archie & Friends is out on August 29th. It features a POTC-inspired story with characters based on Keira, Orlando and Johnny. See exclusive examples of the artwork by Andrew Pepoy here and here. For more info visit archiecomics.com
Thanks Andrew, Rik

August 21st
Keira's beach tantrum in Pirates DMC won her Choice Hissy Fit at yesterday's Teen Choice Awards, and DMC won seven surfboards in total. Details here.

As expected, Pirates DMC will be out on DVD in December, Buena Vista Home Entertainment confirmed today. Availability and 'featurette' content sounds much the same as CBP, according to this article. 

August 20th
Piraets DMC today becomes the first film this year to pass $400m at the US box office, having taken another $5m this week. It is now at No.8 after seven weeks. Overseas it has taken more than $463m making a global tally of $864m. It has now passed Finding Nemo in the all-time charts to become Disney's biggest ever movie, a No.7 placing, pushing Nemo down to No.8. It only needs another $7m to put it in the all-time Top 10.

August 15th
Pirates DMC has already won its first award - The Hollywood Film Festival will award it the Visual Effects trophy at the ceremony on October 23rd.

August 14th
Pirates DMC has now grosssed $855m worldwide, the 12th biggest movie ever made. By the end of August it will become only the seventh movie ever to pass the $900m mark. It debuted in Spain on 980 screens this week, bringing in $11.4m, a new Spanish record. Another $8.5m in France brings its total to £30m in 12 days. In Germany, $5.6m this week makes a total of $45.7m there, and another $2.3m in the UK makes a British total of $85m.
Source: Variety

August 11th
The latest global figure for DMC is $772m, with forecasts of it beating Finding Nemo to become Disney's biggest ever grossing movie. Its French debut this past week brought in $18m on 700 screens, and a still-impressive $3.4m on 485 UK screens, now in its fifth week in Britain, totalling $80.6m in the UK. In Belgium, ticket sales went UP in its second week, and fell only slightly in Japan, Switzerland, Brazil and Mexico. DMC is now the No.7 biggest film ever in the US, and 19th worldwide (Finding Nemo is currently 11th). It opens in Spain today, another strong market, with Greece (24th) and Italy (September 15th) still to come.
Source: Variety, BoxOfficeMojo

If you've been looking for the SUV that Volvo and Disney buried as part of the Pirates DMC promotions, you can stop looking - somebody's found it. Article.

August 7th
And here's another one with photos from the DMC premiere in London.

August 6th
Pirates DMC fell to third place at the US box office this weekend, but racked up another $11m in the process. Total US tally is now $380m, making it the No.8 biggest-grossing movie in US box office history. In the UK it is set to top the £50m mark ($93.5m). This week's total outside of the US is $55m, pushing the movie past $300m in foreign markets. The worldwide overall total is now $681m, making it the 23rd biggest grossing movie of all time.
Source: Variety, BoxOfficeMojo

August 4th
Pirates DMC opened in France on Wednesday to another record-breaking figure. It sold 693,023 tickets for the first day's screenings, beating the previous French record of 641,000 for Star Wars Episode 3. This gives the movie an opening of $4.4m en France.

August 1st
The worldwide box office for Pirates DMC is now in excess of $664m, beating the closing total of the first movie which was $653m, and DMC is yet to open in over a quarter of its countries. Here are the figures from debut countries last weekend: Germany $18.8m on 903 screens; Austria $2.8m on 105 screens; Belgium $2.2m at 125 screens. It raked in another $6.4m in Japan and $4.9m more in the UK, taking Britain's total box office to $72.4m. The movie opens this weekend in France, Hong Kong, South Africa and Colombia.
Source: Variety

July 30th
As expected, the resurrected Crockett & Tubbs have defeated Pirates at the US box office this evening, although Johnny & Co. still took another $20.5m, bringing its US takings to a new Disney record of $358.4m. Around the world the film has now passed the $200m mark at non-US box offices, and grossed $60m from 35 countries just last week. It took $17m of business in its opening week in Japan (four times the debut of Black Pearl there). Mexicans flocked to the film to the tune of $5.8m and in Brazil to $3.1m. The UK gross has now topped $62m with $80m expected before it leaves cinemas. German figures are still to come in, and it opens in France next week, with Spain and Italy two more big markets yet to open in August.
Source: Variety

July 25th
Pirates DMC opened in another 11 countries over the weekend, adding another $11m to its total takings, and debuting at No.1 in every country's box office. It took $7m in its third week in the UK, making the British tally now $62m in just 17 days. With the film still to open in major countries like Germany, Spain, Italy and France it looks set to surpass its predecessor in global box office (a target of $653m, DMC currently stands at $540m). At present it's the 37th biggest-grossing movie of all time and may well end up in the Top 20. This would be Keira's second movie to do so, after The Phantom Menace.
Variety, BoxOfficeMojo

July 23rd
The records continue to fall for Pirates. DMC is now the fastest movie to reach $300m. It's feat in 16 days beats last year's Star Wars Episode III by one day. It has taken another $35m at the US box office this weekend, making a new US total of $321m. Three new releases were expected to make a dent in DMC's takings this weekend, but Johnny and co. fought them all off easily. Worldwide tally is now in excess of $539m.

July 22nd
I've waited until now before I updated the Plaudits page with Pirates DMC criticism so as to allow the majority of reviews to be published. They're all now in but there wasn't a lot to say about Keira's performance among the critics. Most of the reviews had too much else to say, mostly about Johnny, and the duration, and the subplots. But having read as many as I have today, a pattern formed quite early on - critics hated this movie. Ironic really, considering it went on to break every box office record in the book. All they had to say about Keira was that she was under-used, gave a better performance than in the first film, and that her and Orlando were virtually superfluous, and were only there to help the box office. Ouch. Plaudits.

July 17th
DMC continues to make new records in almost every country it's opening in. ScreenDaily has the following figures from the current overseas performance of DMC:
Opening in Russia, the picture plundered the biggest industry debut in history on $10.4m from 530 screens. Sweden generated a top three all-time launch on $3.4m from 125, as did Denmark on $2.6m from 80. Pirates 2 took $2.3m from 114 in Holland, $2m from 100 in Norway, $1.5m from 150 in Turkey, $1.8m from 65 in Singapore, $1.4m from 49 in Finland, and $1.1m from 70 in Malaysia. $1m from 125 in the Ukraine was enough to set a new industry mark there. In its second weekend the picture added $12m from 514 in the UK for $50m, $5.5m for $17.2m in Australia, and $4.4m for just shy of $16m in South Korea.

July 16th
Pirates DMC has taken $62.2m at the US office this weekend, a drop-off of 54% but still enough to keep it at No.1. Its 10-day gross was another record, $258.2m.

July 15th
First week box office for DMC in the US was $196,019,502

Another UK premiere special is now online, with brand new interviews and different scene footage: Part One 14Mb - Part Two 14Mb

July 11th
Head of Disney Bob Iger issued a press release congratulating cast and crew on the record-breaking performance of Pirates DMC. He thanks Keira nightly, apparently. Lucky man. Read.

ITV's UpClose section has an interview with Keira, put together from the red carpet and the press conference.

July 10th
Pirates DMC took $46.6m outside of the US in its three-day opening, according to ScreenInternational. It says:
Pirates took $25m in the UK on 514 screens, some 258% better than the 2003 original; $9m in South Korea on 350 for the biggest Hollywood launch in industry history fared 248% better than the original; and $8.1m in Australia on 281 that was 111% bigger than Curse of The Black Pearl. Elsewhere it grossed $1.9m from 18 in Taiwan, $1.4m in Thailand, and $1.2m on 72 in New Zealand. Results for Uruguay were unconfirmed at time of writing.

Meanwhile ChinaDaily confirms the movie will not open in China due to the cannibal scenes.

July 9th
The figures are in... and four records have been smashed this weekend by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at the USA Box Office.
1. $132,028,000 - highest-ever 3-day opening.
2. $55.5m on Friday alone - highest ever 1-day takings.
3. $100.2m Fri/Sat - first movie to break $100m in two days.
4. $31,945 - highest per-cinema takings for an ultra wide release (4,133 screens).
Variety has the breaking news, available now on the KeiraWeb Newsletter.
BOP has an analysis of the figures.

A couple more full shows from the last few days. First is ITV's coverage from the UK premiere, with red carpet interviews and behind the scenes stuff (10Mb each):
Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

Next is a behind the scenes show from UK movie channel eatCinema. This is similar to the Starz and Sky programme but features more interviews, longer scenes and extra making-of footage:
Part One 11Mb - Part Two 6Mb - Part Three 9Mb - Part Four 9Mb

And here's a couple of features from Friday's E! News. First is a report from the French premiere on Thursday in Paris (1Mb), and then a segment on the cast confusion from filming both sequels at once in the Caribbean (3Mb). Don't forget you can see all the DMC clips on the Pirates DMC promotions page.

July 7th
- Attention now turns to the box office figures for Pirates DMC. Today's Variety has a very insightful preview article, which you can read in full on the KeiraWeb Newsletter. The movie will open at a record 4,133 screens across the US, with online tickets sellers reporting double the sales for Superman Returns, and MovieTickets.com hailing its pre-sales as its largest so far this year. Experts predict DMC could beat the record for a three-day opening at the US box office, currently held by Spider-Man 2's $114.8m.
- The World Cup final on Sunday has intervened to stop the movie opening as wide internationally as it would otherwise have done. It opens in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.K. and Uruguay today, but will compete with Superman Returns in all those countries except the UK (where Superman will open next Friday). Then next weekend, it opens in Holland, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Scandinavia and Singapore. On July 21st, it opens in Brazil, Mexico and Japan and then launches in Germany on July 28th, followed by France the following weekend.
- Interestingly, the article also states the Pirates 3 subtitle as being "At The End Of The World", rather than "At World's End". This is the first time I've seen this particular wording, and Variety is rarely, if ever, wrong.
- In the table above you will find daily updates on the worldwide box office tallies for Pirates DMC. First US figures are due on Sunday evening, with international counts due on Tuesday.

Edit: Since writing the above this morning, British media are reporting that Pirates DMC has already broken the first-day opening record for UK cinema, taking £2.3m in preview screenings yesterday. It opens officially today. This beats the previous record of £1.57m for Spider-Man 2. Advance ticket sales in the UK were in excess of £1m.

Here's the Keira interview from yesterday's CBS Early Show. Nothing new if you're keeping up to speed with the other interviews.

This page has a diary from a cast member on DMC (possible spoilers).

July 6th
- Keira pre-recorded a radio show this week at London's Capital Radio. The station's owners, GCap Media, also own a network of local radio stations around the UK. The show was broadcast on many of those stations at 1pm on Thursday 6th. See some images from the recording here. Keira answered questions and telephoned two people live on air to ask for their questions. She also chose her own playlist, which was as follows:
Britney Spears - Toxic; Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out; Lily Allen - Smile; James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag; The Killers - Somebody Told Me; Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man; Gnarls Barkley - Crazy; Scissor Sisters - Laura; The Police - Roxanne; Dido - White Flag.
- Some of the reasons for choosing those songs included: Britney because it's a favourite at her girlie nights in; Dido because she's British; James Brown because "anyone who can wear lycra and a cape is cool", and The Police because "it's about the only song I know all the words to!" She spoke about her privacy, some beauty tips, being starstruck and being nude!
- Download the interview here: Full show (mp3) 32Mb
Three parts (wav): One 7.5Mb - Two 7.5Mb - Three 6.3Mb
Huge thanks to Edward for the split parts

Here's a video taken by my friend Isabella of Keira signing autographs at the UK prem. Isy's failure to turn the camera after Keira has gone past is due to her shock at Keira recognising her from previous encounters and saying a special 'Hello!' to her. She has that effect on people :-)

July 5th
Here's Keira at the DMC press conference yesterday, talking about the anorexia rumours: 1.8Mb

Here's the edited version of E!'s Red Carpet show from the DMC US premiere, showing the main cast interviews only: 9Mb.
And a report from Children's BBC Newsround: 2Mb
Good Morning America had an interview yesterday (see Hot Topics).
Thanks AF

Here's Keira's waxwork at Madame Tussaud's in London, part of their POTC exhibition. Looks more like a cross between Shakira and Jennifer Saunders.
Thanks Amo

July 4th
More premiere and DMC promo clips...
Studio interview with Keira 5.5MB
GMTV#1 6.2Mb - GMTV#2 2.5Mb - LK Today 7.7Mb
This Morning 9Mb - Five News 3.4Mb

US prem: Star! Daily 1.6Mb
DMC features: MovieEntertainment 4Mb - ET Canada 3.6Mb
DMC Canada TV Spot 600kb
Thanks Sherri

Article round-up: People- Hello! - BBC - Empire - Times
Pics: Premiere - Radio 1

July 3rd
Keira joined Johnny Vaughan's breakfast show on Capital FM this morning. Listen to the interview here, and see some pics here. She then visited Jo Whiley at BBC Radio 1. Listen here.

Here are the first pics from the UK premiere tonight.
Videos: BBC 4Mb - ITV 2.6Mb - Sky News 4Mb

I'm informed the French premiere (as part of the Paris Film Festival) will take place at the Champs Elysees Gaumont on Thursday 6th. Johnny, Orlando, Jerry and apparently Keith Richards will attend.
Thanks Tim

July 2nd
Keira will be popping in to chat to Johnny Vaughan on his Capital FM breakfast show tomorrow morning, between 6 and 9am. Johnny and Keira presented the Comic Relief programme When Johnny Met Keira in 2005. Listen here.

Keira will be on the CBS Early Show on Thursday 6th, the same day as her DJ stint in the UK, so one of them must be pre-recorded - but which one ? Answers on a postcard...
Thanks AF

Here's a couple of Keira interviews from the New York Daily News and Belfast Telegraph. And a brief article about the WaterAid shoot in today's Sunday Times.

DMC cast and crew interview at CinemaBlend, and more at RopeOfSilicon. A Gore interview at the Boston Globe.
Thanks AF

July 1st
Here's a brilliant DMC behind the scenes show premiered on Sky Movies this evening, hosted by Pintel and Ragetti. It's in four parts, although my hardware recorded it in mono for some stupid reason, so I'll cap it again in stereo when it repeats. It's called 'Secrets of the Dead Man's Chest' and it will probably be on the DVD:
Part One 14Mb - Part Two 12Mb - Part Three 11Mb - Part Four 9Mb

You can now submit your questions to Keira for Thursday's radio show by clicking on your local station from this list, then click Ask Keira and fill in the form. Keep your questions general rather than local, and don't bother with anything TOO personal ! Many of the stations have a 'Listen Live' audio stream if you can't tune in or if you're outside the UK.

As well as visiting Jo Whiley on Radio 1 on Monday, Keira may also be popping in to Capital FM round the corner from Leicester Square. I'm trying to get this confirmed.

MovieTickets.com reports a 20% increase in advance bookings for DMC compared to that for CBP in 2003.

June 30th
"You're listening to Keira Knightley FM" !
As part of her promotions for Pirates DMC, Keira Knightley will be hosting her own radio show next Thursday across the UK, between 1pm and 2. The exact stations are still to be announced but is likely to include most if not all of the ones in this network of local stations.  Keira will be answering questions and playing her favourite songs. Makes a change from Jay Leno, doesn't it ?! It has been arranged between BVI (Pirates DMC European distributors) and GCap Media, owners of the stations. Depending on the participating stations, a live Internet stream may be available. More details soon hopefully. Article.

June 29th
One more vid - Tuesday's Enterainment Tonight US: 3.4Mb

June 28th
At last ! Some Keira interviews:
E! News: 3Mb - Entertainment Tonight Canada: 3Mb - Extra: 3Mb
US premiere, Entertainment Tonight: 3Mb - Tonight Show With Jay Leno: 800kb
Thanks Sherri

Report on kissing both Johnny and Orlando, Sky News: 900kb

Pirates booty:
- Naomie Harris interview from DarkHorizons, and from ComingSoon (spoiler about ES).
- Orlando interview from ComingSoon.
- Pirates 3 update from IGN: 70 days of filming left.
- Johnny-focussed clips from premiere reports.
- Premiere diary at MiceAge, report in Variety and video from Reuters.
- Article on Pirates vs. Superman.
- Early reviews... all good, even Rolling Stone. All of Keira's plaudits as Elizabeth will be on this page.
Thanks Amo, AF

Keira will be a guest of Jo Whiley on next Monday's show on BBC Radio 1, the day of the premiere. She did a same-day interview with her for P&P too, while I was at the studios and from which I took this pic. You can listen in from around 11am BST here, or at the Listen Again link after broadcast.

June 27th
Pirates stuff:
- New DMC videos: A couple of clips from the premiere. More to come: E! 3Mb - Daily 10 2Mb
Short version of UK TV Spot commercial: 700kb
Johnny Depp interview: ET 3Mb  - 'Captain Jack' featurette: 4.7Mb
- Keira is finally getting a waxwork tribute by Madame Tussauds in London, but only as part of their POTC tie-in feature. See scan from this week's Heat magazine.
Thanks Amo
- Keira is interviewed by ET today or tomorrow, as per this article. The UK has a 2-day broadcast delay on Sky One.
- There's a new featurette on the filming locations here.
- After what seems like centuries of he's in/he's out regarding Keith Richards' role in Pirates 3, it would now appear to be confirmed that he WILL be playing Mr. Sparrow Senior. Better film his scenes quickly, Gore, before he falls out of another tree.
- An article on the DMC tie-in books about to hit the shops.
- You can buy tickets to any of the regional UK premieres on July 3rd from here.

June 26th
Pirates DMC - US premiere round-up:

Two UK clips from the premiere: GMTV 2Mb - Sky News 3Mb

Articles: Hello! - USAToday - ITV - ET - Insider - MickeyNews

The usual suspects in the US will have TV coverage - E!, ET, Insider, Extra. If anyone can put the E! Special onto fileshare I'll host it here, otherwise I've been offered a DVD-in-the-mail, but that could take a week or more.

We await the reviews avalanche. The reason there's been none so far is because Disney hadn't finished the CGI for the closing scenes so rathr than distribute DVDs or offer screenings of a 95% complete film, they said they'd wait till it was done. I predict most critics will still say it's too long, and that the ending lets it down anyway. Of course, this film doesn't tie up all the loose ends as it needs to lead into Pirates 3, but critics will conveniently ignore that.

Promo interviews: Johnny - Gore Verbinski - Ted & Terry -  Various cast & crew

June 25th
Keira once again wore white to the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean, but this time it was a stunning white chiffon Chanel dress which seemed to glide over the red carpet. KeiraDaily has some nice pics here. And Keira Seduction has a seductive gallery too, as does WID. Celeb photo forum Superior also has HQ pics.
No TV coverage here in the UK as of yet, and very little online mentions. The only showbiz story today has been the marriage of somebody called Nicole Kidman. Here's a page on the premiere from the BBC, from Children's BBC and another one here. But the LA Times reports on the apparent disorganisation of the event.

ITV have just shown a "Book Tickets Now!" TV Spot for DMC showing new footage, including Will Turner getting his face slapped from the same Tortuga girl Scarlett as Jack did in CBP, and quite a bit of new stuff with Elizabeth.

June 24th
And JDR has some Johnny interviews. There's a brief Keira interview in the ET segment.
Thanks AF

June 22nd
If you're planning on collecting all Pirates DMC-related merchandise, you might want to read this article.

MSN have announced they will webcast the DMC premiere live, from 7pm PDT (midnight EDT, 3am BST).

June 21st
MSN have a new interview feature called Inside Look: Jack Sparrow, with a couple of comments from Keira. See it here, or download it from here.
Thanks Fliss, Yo

June 20th
Pirates update:
- Bill Nighy is interviewed by Time Out magazine here.
- Kevin McNally (Mr. Gibbs) helped Gethin build a model Black Pearl on BBC1's Blue Peter tonight. Always a show perfect for Keira publicity in my opinion, this is probably as close as we'll get. If you want to make the model ship, go here.
- Sky Movies have a behind the scenes show, premiering on July 1st. Check the TV Guide on the right for dates and times.
- Zap2It have a DMC swag bag up for grabs here.
- Orlando tells Top of the Pops magazine that Keira is a great kisser. Article.

June 19th
Pirates bits:
- There's been a lot of confusion lately about the Disneyland premiere. Phone calls have resulted in people being told they won't get to see the premiere, etc. My guess is that what people mean by the premiere is the red carpet arrivals, whereas Disneyland staff refer to the actual movie screening as the premiere (which is ticketed invitations only). If there were no fans for the red carpet event, it would be the quietest, most boring world premiere in the history of cinema ! MousePlanet have now published a page with all the details of Saturday's events.
- US TV: E! will have a special 30-minute show from the premiere on Sunday 25th at 6pm EDT, and the TV Guide channel has a special show too. Again, I'll post the show here if anybody wants to cap it for poor old me in the UK. Oh, and Johnny Depp joins Letterman on the 29th (30th in the UK).
- There are whispers of a French premiere of Pirates DMC at the Gaumont Champs Elysees in Paris on July 6th. Although officially a preview screening, I'm informed that a member of the cast normally attends such an event, especially as it will take place during the Paris Film Festival. Let me know if you hear anything more. There's also a Tokyo premiere, apparently.
Thanks Cassie of knightley-infos
- Kellogg's UK has launched a similar tie-up with Pirates DMC as they did in the US. See their site for more info. Or buy some special Keira-pictured Cornflakes packets.
Thanks Adam Reed

June 18th
Johnny's on the cover of and interviewed inside the next issue of Newsweek. See cover. Read interview.

June 17th
Disney have just issued the official press release for the US premiere of Pirates DMC, confirming Keira will be there, and the movie's rating as PG-13. Read it here.

Some new DMC-related scans are online - a feature from last weekend's Sunday Times magazine, and a Johnny v. Orlando article from the Sunday Mirror. See them in the middle column of the Pirates DMC promo page, under Newspaper/Magazine Scans.
Thanks Tamise for the ST scans

There's a spoiler or two about Pirates 3 here.

June 14th
The first screening of Pirates DMC in the UK will be on June 27th in London's West End. It will be a private screening but FilmFactory are giving away tickets. Click here, answer the question, then register for free.
Thanks Amo

The new TotalFilm magazine has a feature on DMC, with a short interview with each of the cast. Here's the cover, and Keira's page.
Thanks David

June 13th
Here's the Pirates DMC clip shown on the MTV Movie Awards at the weekend. And the US Starz network series On The Set has a new one from the set of Pirates DMC, starting June 23rd. Check the US TV schedule for dates and times. We don't get that in the UK so if cappers can oblige I'll host it here.
Thanks Vini

June 12th
COMPETITION: If you're attending either Pirates premiere (US or UK), you may be interested in this competition. And there's money at stake, people !!!!

ComingSoon has a Bill Nighy interview today.

June 11th
The Pirates talk show circuit schedule has started to appear, but it's Orlando who will be chatting to Jay Leno (on the 23rd) and David Letterman (on the 29th). So perhaps Keira WILL be covering the Europe circuit after all ? I'll try to find out.

Volvo's tie-up with Disney to promote Pirates DMC continues with another competition where they have buried a car - if you find it, it's yours! Details here. Meanwhile, the New York character lookalike contest has moved venue to FAO Schwarz if you need to know.

May 31st
Such is the box office expectation of Pirates DMC that, not only have all distributors steered clear of a July release for their films, but Warner Bros. have now pulled forward by two days the release of Superman Returns, so as to get some extra mileage out of it before Pirates dominates theatres for probably the whole of July.

Here's an article on Pirates merchandise, and discusses the possibility of Pirates 4 and beyond.

May 30th
Pirates toys are due to hit the UK stores on June 10th.
Thanks Adam Reed

This snippet says a casting call is being held in Shropshire today for Atonement. Keira lookalikes are apparently required.

May 27th
The official Pirates DMC web site is now fully online.
Thanks Adam Reed

May 26th
Pirates DMC news:
- It may be just a coincidence, but there always seems to be a calm before the storm when Keira has promotions about to get under way. That certainly seems to be the case at the moment. I read somewhere that Keira will be 'doing Europe' with Pirates promotions, and Johnny/Orlando doing North America. But somehow I don't think Leno, Letterman et al can resist having Keira back again :-). But it would be nice to see her on Jonathan Ross and Parkinson on this side of the pond for a change.
- The new issue of Empire has a preview of DMC.
- LA business leaders have predicted that Pirates DMC will be the winner at the summer box office. Article.
- Request: Due to changes in UK broadcast times, can someone States-side please let me know if E! News or ET feature Pirates/Keira segments over the next six weeks, preferably on the day they are broadcast. I will be able to capture them when they are eventually broadcast here in the UK. Thanks. PS: Anyone else think E! News has gone down the pan since Ryan Seacrest joined ? It now seems to revolve around his celebrity pals and his radio show. Oh, and footage of non-entity Paris Hilton. And that's only because E! won the rights to show the next Simple Life season.

May 23rd
The manufacturers of the Pirates DMC merchandise, Zizzle, are holding a Jack, Will and Elizabeth lookalike contest in Times Square, New York on June 13th. There's a brand new Volvo up for grabs and a treasure chest full of official POTC toys. They have sent me the press release which can be read here.

There's a new set of official DMC stills at this site, too.

May 21st
The official UK Pirates DMC site is now active, awaiting full launch.
Thanks Adam Reed

Pics: KeiraDaily has some new ones of Elizabeth, and WID has the full set of new Silk snaps.

May 17th
Looking at the box office calendar it seems that Pirates DMC will have its biggest competition in the form of Superman Returns. The Man of Steel returns to the big screen the week BEFORE Pirates in the US and the week AFTER Pirates in the UK. Distributors have wisely avoided releasing any of their hopefuls around these two films.

May 11th
A fuller version of the official Pirates site is now online.

The full range of Pirates of the Caribbean toys will be in UK shops from June 7th, available at Woolworths, Toys-R-Us, Argos and Amazon.
Thanks Adam Reed

May 10th
Disney have confirmed that its partnership with McDonald's Happy Meals will end this summer after the Pirates DMC figures have been released, one of which features Elizabeth Swann and will be available from late May/early June. Article.
Thanks Addam Reed

May 4th
The full Pirates DMC trailer is now online at Yahoo! Movies.
Thanks Butherus

May 3rd
Entertainment Tonight had a Keira-focussed preview of Pirates DMC last night. See it on Youtube here.
Thanks Andrew

May 1st
The first proper Pirates trailer is imminent. UK viewers can see it tomorrow morning at 7.45am on the Sky News showbiz report, but it may well appear online before then. There's a rough copy of it here, if you can get the file to play (which I couldn't).
Thanks AF

April 28th
The UK premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is confirmed for Monday July 3rd at the Odeon in London's Leicester Square. The US premiere will be at Disneyland on June 24th.
Thanks Amo

Read much more about the Pirates DMC storyline here, but beware of spoilers.

And ET are doing some kind of segment on DMC in tonight's show (Monday or Tuesday in the UK).

April 25th
Pirates DMC has its own MySpace. More here.

April 19th
Aint It Cool News has some new cgi artwork of a couple of Davey Jones' mutant crew Macchus and Hadras.

POTC: The Legend of Jack Sparrow is another tie-in computer game, due out in July. Article.

April 15th
And the current issue of Grazia has a funny interview with Keira's Pirates co-star Jack Davenport (Commodore Norrington). One - Two
Thanks David

April 12th
Gamers may be interested to know that Disney are developing an MMO RPG based around Pirates of the Caribbean. Read the press release if, like me, you want to know what the hell an MMO RPG is.

March 10th

The official designs for the Pirates DMC cinema foyer 'character standees' are out now. Click for Elizabeth, Will and Jack.

March 5th

PIRATES PREMIERE:
The US and World premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest has been confirmed for Saturday June 24th in the New Orleans area of the Anaheim Disneyland park in California.
Thanks JDR via AF

March 1st

This article from a Bahamas newspaper says that Pirates cast and crew are due to finish in the Caribbean completely by midweek, and that when filming resumes in late summer it will be studio work in LA.

February 27th

Oscarphiles can now view the KeiraWeb guide to Academy Awards UK and US TV coverage and analysis here.

Pirates co-writer Terry Rossio has updated his blog for the first time in six months.

Meanwhile, Oscar-nominated make-up artist Richard Snell died in his hotel room in the Caribbean on Saturday while working on Pirates DMC. He was 49.

February 21st

CanMag has what may be the first character poster from Pirates DMC. See if you can spot the difference between this and the first one.

February 15th

Elizabeth Swann gets her own adventure book this summer when Disney publishes a junior tie-in book called Swann Song. (Completely irrelevant but a coincidence nonetheless, one of Keira's earliest TV appearances was in the police drama The Bill, in an episode also entitled 'Swan Song').
Thanks Natalie

ComingSoon have the French one-sheet poster for DMC, as first mentioned here last week.
Meanwhile, Keira reveals she had to climb to the top of a ship's rigging for a scene.
Thanks Adam, Amo

February 13th

Sky News has a collection of new and old Pirates filming pics here. Click the word Pictures in the red box.
And official Pirates toys went on show at a New York toy fair yesterday. More details of the merchandise here.

February 10th

Here is a page of Pirates DMC action figures, and the hammerhead man-creature from the teaser trailer is now revealed to be called Maccus, which is Gaelic for hammer.

February 7th

In other news, what may be the first one-sheet poster for Pirates DMC has been posted over at CanMag. A bit brighter than the first one, Barbossa has been replaced by the Kraken's tentacle.

January 15th

You can download a full-screen version of the Pirates DMC teaser from this page. If you use the VLC Player you can slow it down to one-eighth speed, always useful for spotting things you'd otherwise miss.
Thanks Fliss

January 9th

As Disney lost out completely on merchandise tie-ins for the last Pirates movie, they're certainly making up for it this time. There's no end of things about to appear to help sell the movie, stuff you'd never think possible. How about some Kellogg's Pirates of the Caribbean breakfast cereal, for example ?

With the promotion rollercoaster kicking off already, I've decided to write and put online the Pirates DMC promotions page now.

January 8th

Readers of Empire film magazine seem to concur with Coming Soon about the most eagerly awaited movie of 2006 being Pirates DMC.

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland California closes March 16th to around June 16th this year for major refurbishments. New attractions, props and elements from both Pirates movies are being installed and the ride will get its grand reopening on the day of the Pirates DMC premiere, once again to take place in the New Orleans Square section of the Anaheim park in the second half of June. The Magic Kingdom Pirates ride at the Florida site will also be updated to coincide with DMC's release.

January 6th

There's been a lot of buzz since New Year about Pirates DMC being one of the films with the greatest expectations for 2006, and now ComingSoon confirm that it's the movie most moviegoers are waiting for too, in their new poll.

January 5th

Disney's Movie Surfers show had a quick interview with Orlando recently and showed some non-teaser footage from DMC. There's two quick glimpses of Elizabeth in her tricorne hat. 15Mb avi.
Thanks Serena at BloomKnightley

And AOL Moviefone have a new feature on Pirates DMC here.
 

December 9th
Meanwhile, here's the first poster artwork for Pirates AWE.

December 7th
Pirates writers Ted and Terry have given a new interview to mark the release of the DMC DVD, and it sounds like the trilogy is pretty final.

December 5th
Geoffrey Rush talks a little about Pirates AWE here in a new interview.

December 3rd
As mentioned a few days ago there are some new pics from Pirates AWE on the Net. A couple of the Johnny ones you may have seen before but there's the big version of the Johnny, Keira, Geoffrey pic I linked to earlier. I love Keira's costume in that pic (as a fan of all cultural things Oriental), so I've made it my title pic. There's also a couple of poorer-quality pics of Keira, which have apparently come from the back of a Pirates 3 action figure (yes, they're out already!) See them all, starting here before Disney get them removed ! Oh, and IESB have the news that a junior Jack Sparrow will feature in AWE.

November 28th
Here's a pic of Elizabeth, Jack... and Barbossa from Pirates AWE.

November 11th
Pirates writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have said today on their message boards that Keira has said no such thing about not wanting to be a part of future POTC movies, and that filming has far from wrapped. I have left a comment for the writer of the Daily Mail article that maybe he should have put a question mark on the end of his headline 'Swann song from Pirates maid Keira'. All comments are vetted so I doubt if it will appear on the article page (linked to yesterday, see below). I suggest you submit your own voice of disapproval until he can start writing facts which are actually that - facts.

November 10th
Keira wraps filming on Pirates AWE today, and has told producers it is to be her last Pirates film. While this does not necessarily cast doubt on a fourth POTC, the initial reaction from fans is that they don't want to see a POTC4 without Keira. The bulk of the reaction to today's news is positive in Keira's favour - they are glad she's jumped ship when she has, and are looking forward to more adult, more fulfilling roles to come. I second that. Article. IMDb boards: Keira - POTC AWE

November 9th
Disney is looking for another cast member for Pirates AWE. Auditions will be held in London on November 16th. Just one small point - you need to be a parrot. Article.

October 18th
Local Santa Barbara news channel KEYT reports that Pirates AWE has today started filming at the Guadeloupe Dunes Park in California. No word on which of the cast, if any, will be present, but congratulations to them for managing to spell both of Keira's names wrong on their web site.

October 12th
As expected, Disney have denied they're going to kill off Will Turner in any Pirates 4 movie. With DMC's billion dollar box office being down to three massive fanbases, they're hardly likely to eliminate a third of that for no real reason. Article.

October 8th
Pirates AWE has won its first award already: Most Anticipated Film, at the Scream Awards, organised by the Spike TV channel in the US. Pirates DMC also won an armful of awards. Press release.

The not-very-reliable Daily Star newspaper has the story that Orlando Bloom will not be in Pirates 4 due to cost-cutting, but Keira and Johnny will. Funny that they know such details, considering the movie's not even beyond the 'possibility' stage yet. Article.

September 20th
Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer says that the principal actors will have completed their scenes on Pirates AWE by early November. Article.

September 14th
Disney have announced that Pirates AWE will be released globally on May 25th next year, rathr than gradually around the world, ScreenInternational reports. Mark Zoradi, president of the Disney Motion Pictures Group says: ""All we need to do is get the trailer out there, put together a good campaign and I think the audience is going to be with us."
The article also states, intriguingly: "The third film... will conclude the initial Pirates trilogy, though it is unlikely to be the last Pirates sequel."
Read the full article on the Newsletter.

September 12th
Pirates DMC took a further $7.7m at the international box office this week, giving a new total outside the US of $592.4m. US total is now over $416m, meaning the global total is now 54% higher than the final figure of the first Pirates movie. With Italy still to debut DMC this Friday, it should climb from 6th to 4th most successful movie of all time at the international box office. Britain continues to bring in the highest non-US total, $94.7m, with Japan second on $81m. 
Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's Motion Pictures Group, said today: "We feel there are really no bounds for the worldwide appeal of the stars -- Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom -- particularly with the popularity of the first two films."
Source: Variety

September 9th
A Cailfornian boating newspaper has a report on one of the stars of Pirates AWE, The Black Pearl.

September 1st
Pirates co-writer Terry Rossio has confirmed that the subtitle for Pirates 3 will be At Worlds End. Article.

August 30th
Here's a new pic of Keira from the Pirates 3 set. Article.

August 25th
There's articles and pics from the set of Pirates 3 here and here.

August 18th
Keira left London for the sunnier climes of Los Angeles on Thursday.  She is due to spend three months in the US filming internal scenes for Pirates 3, mainly at a disused aircraft hangar outside Palmdale, which Disney has transformed into the required Oriental sets. Fans in North America can write to Keira at a Burbank, California address provded to me by Disney Consumer Relations. See the Fanmail section below for the full address.

August 14th
Meanwhile, Monday's Variety has an article on the race for the box office booty next May when not one but THREE movies, all of them second sequels, will be vying for the big bucks: Pirates 3, Shrek The Third and Spider-Man 3. You can read the full article on the KeiraWeb Newsletter.

August 11th
Filming of Pirates 3 has resumed in California and the desert salt flats of Utah. With the cast and crew of Atonement readying for the Grimsby and Redcar shoots next week, Keira may have wrapped on the latter and is about to fly out to the States ready to don hair extensions and Oriental costumes for Pirates 3. I'm sure the pap snaps from LAX will tell us when she's arrived.

August 7th
Here's the first sighting of Keira in Oriental costume for Pirates 3. The external scenes, remember, have already been filmed while Pirates DMC was filmed in the Caribbean. Watch here.
Thanks Gilbert's Girl, Winnie at Johnny Depp Zone

August 6th
WTR hs a couple of pics apparently from Pirates 3 - here and here.
Thanks Vini

July 23rd
ComingSoon has a report of the Pirates 3 footage shown at this weekend's ComicCon in San Diego. From other sources it appears that Keira hardly appears in the footage. Oh, and the World's End title wasn't mentioned either. As I may have said once or twice before, that won't be the title because it can't be.

July 10th
There's a couple of spoilerific articles about Pirates 3 here and here.

May 19th
DVDrama.com has what looks like the first official pic from Pirates 3, showing Captain Jack in Oriental costume. We know the story takes place largely in the Far East, where Jack meets China's Captain Sao Feng, played by Chow Yun Fat. Some of the secretly taken pics from the Bahamas set showed Chinese junks and fighting ships.

April 6th

ComingSoon.net has reignited the Pirates 3 subtitle rumours with the old chestnut about 'World's End'. We know this was the working title on set - it was printed on the front page of the script - but for legal reasons any title in the public domain before the official announcement cannot now be the actual title, even if it was intended to be that title. 'Uncharted Waters' and 'Calypso's Fury' are two other titles that surface from time to time. Article.
Thanks Amo

March 11th

Disney have revealed a few more calendar dates for its upcoming movies, including Memorial Day 2007 (May 28th) for Pirates 3 in the US. This will be Whitsun for the UK, rather than the original date of the summer hols.

February 21st

Keira Nightmare ? Celebrity gossip rag Star has the story this week that Keira's "massive entourage" on the set of Pirates is causing annoyance to other cast and crew, and that "you can almost hear her head getting bigger". Now it's news to me - and probably everyone else - that Keira has ANY kind of entourage, let alone a "massive" one. But that's gossip mags for you. After spending nearly 12 months on this film set, I'm sure we'd have heard about this before now if it were true. Must be a slow news week. Article.

January 12th

Jerry Bruckheimer has given an update to Comingsoon on the status of the Pirates sequels. He mentions a break in filming between March and late Summer, which will of course include the DMC premiere in late June at Disneyland, but also likely the filming of Silk for Keira.
 

December 18th
And here's a camcorder clip taken by soemone on the beaches of Redcar during Atonement filming. Keira wasn't there of course but it's the most open 'closed set' you're likely to see for a long time !
Thanks KDA

December 3rd
KeiraSeduction has uncovered a slightly larger version of the Atonement pic I posted a few days ago.

November 28th
On the right is what I believe to be the first official still to emerge from Atonement (as opposed to pap snaps from the set). Obviously there must be bigger versions just released, and usually about half a dozen or so. No doubt they'll surface shortly.
Thanks Amo

Atonement author Ian McEwan has been accused of plagiarising a war memoir autobiography by Lucilla Andrews for his bestselling novel. McEwan has denied the allegations. Article.

November 14th
In an interview for French magazine Figaro, Atonement author Ian McEwan says he's seen a rough-cut of the movie and has described Keira's performance as 'great'. Google translated version here. Original here.

October 22nd
Joe Wright talks about Atonement in tomorrow's edition of Variety. The article in full is on the Newsletter right now. It says that the novel's author Ian McEwan "was 'very constructively involved' in reviewing drafts of the script", but also states that "a demanding post-production schedule is not expected to yield a rough cut until April." Release is set for September.

October 20th
IMDb now lists late August to mid-September for Atonement's release in principal countries, thus running into October for most other countries. But with Silk also pencilled in for October I can smell another P&P/Domino schedule shuffle in the offing.

September 9th
Working Title have issued a news update announcing that filming on Atonement has now wrapped. We now have to wait till the end of next summer to see the results.

August 27th
Atonement completes filming in Redcar today. Article.

August 15th
A photographer is putting together a photo study of the Redcar locations for the Atonement filming.

August 13th
EXCLUSIVE: Having contacted Working Title's publicist for Atonement yesterday, I can confirm that Keira has now wrapped filming all her scenes for the movie and that she will not be involved in the subsequent filming in the Grimsby and Redcar areas in the coming weeks.
Thanks Rachel

August 12th
More on Redcar's transformation here, here and here.

August 7th
Let's hope Universal get Keira to do the publicity for Atonement if its author Ian McEwan's comments so far are anything to go by (scroll down). Or maybe he was being sarcastic.
There's been a new LiveJournal set up here for the movie.

July 31st
More pics from the exterior London set of Atonement. The paparazzi must feel like they've won the lottery - Keira Knightley, filming, in public! The shots of her in the nurse's uniform made some of the UK tabloids today, with the predictable headlines about men having their pulses checked and being in need of medical attention, etc. Yes folks, it's Carry On Keira! Ooh, matron.

July 30th
Yet more Atonement pics have appeared of Keira as a nurse in London.

July 27th
Here's another set of Atonement pap snaps, this time from Westminster in central London. Marvel as Keira posts a letter - is there no end to this woman's talents ?

July 26th
Atonement shooting in Grimsby will take place August 16th-18th, with an open casting call, according to this article. And here are the high resolution versions of yesterday's pics.

July 25th
KeiraDaily has a new set of pap snaps from the set of Atonement.

July 24th
Atonement filming has now finished in Shropshire and is currently ongoing in Westminster, central London.

July 23rd
EXCLUSIVE: Here are the first two official production stills from the set of Atonement, Stokesay Court in Shropshire. They don't feature any cast but they will form part of Working Title's production gallery nearer the film's release. One - Two.
Thanks Tim (c) Working Title Films

July 17th
We finally have some pics from the set of Atonement, albeit pap snaps. And there's some more details about costumes etc. from last Friday's Daily Mail.
Thanks Amo, KeiraSeduction

June 30th
Today's Daily Mail has Keira's first interview about Atonement.

June 28th
Working Title have an update on Atonement here.

Thanks AmoJune 20th
Atonement update:
- Filming is now underway at Pinewood-Shepperton Studios in London, and at Stokesay Court, Onibury, near Ludlow in Shropshire (until July 18th, pre-war scenes). Filming moves to Redcar (Dunkirk scenes) in late July until early August.
Thanks to an Atonement 'insider'
- Monday's Variety confirmed a few more details: "Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave and Romola Garai have joined the cast of helmer Joe Wright's "Atonement," which started shooting in the U.K. last week. Pic stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, with a script by Christopher Hampton adapted from Ian McEwan's novel. Newcomer Saoirse Ronan will play a 13-year-old who damages the lives of all around her when she accuses her sister's boyfriend of a crime he did not commit."

June 19th
Time Out reports on the start of Atonement filming, with the additional name of Romola Garai in the cast list. Article.

June 18th
Here's an interview with Keira's Atonement co-star James McAvoy from earlier this week.

June 11th
Atonement filming is due to take place this week in Ludlow, Shropshire and the nearby Stokesay Castle.
Thanks Lina

June 7th
Atonement starts filming next Monday, the Working Title site reports. The Matthew MacFadyen rumour appears to be unfounded, but Brenda Blethyn does reunite with Keira after Pride & Prejudice. And director Joe Wright of course.
Thanks Isy

June 6th
There's more DMC pics online here.

May 30th
This snippet says a casting call is being held in Shropshire today for Atonement. Keira lookalikes are apparently required.

May 26th
Here's more on Redcar's impending transformation into Dunkirk for Atonement. Article.

April 28th
South Shropshire is the first filming location outside of North East England to be announced for Atonement, according to this story in a Shropshire paper. It also confirms the rumours that Matthew MacFadyen will once again co-star with Keira.

April 6th

Further to yesterday's news regarding Redcar becoming Dunkirk for the filming of Atonement, it appears that Keira won't be in town as Cecilia is not involved in those scenes. But then again the screenplay doesn't have to follow the script !
Thanks Anna, Josh

April 5th

The North Yorkshire town of Redcar may well become part of the film set for Atonement, according to this article. I've yet to read the novel so I have no idea if the planned Dunkirk scenes involve Keira's character Cecilia. I'm sure some kind soul will enlighten me.

March 31st

The Daily Mail reveals more about Atonement today, stating that James McAvoy has been cast as Robbie Turner, Keira's eventual love interest and a major character in the story. Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson, Daniel Mays, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nonso Anozie and Juno Temple are all rumoured to be attached to the project.

March 30th

Working Title have amended their casting call relating to Atonement to say that Keira will be playing Cecilia (as originally announced by the Daily Mail), and not Bryony as the WT article first said.
Thanks Amo, Corey

March 17th

A bit more info on Atonement has emerged today, with a casting call from Working Title, and a cast update from the Daily Mail. Note the former says Keira will play the adult Briony, while the latter says the previously announced Cecilia.
Thanks Cindy

March 3rd

NEW MOVIE !!!

Keira has signed for 'Atonement', adapted from the novel by Ian McEwan. The Daily Mail's (usually reliable) showbiz columnist has this news today and says that filming will be in June/July, which will place it after Silk and before the remainder of Pirates 3. The same columnist broke the news about Silk. BAFTA-winning director of Pride & Prejudice Joe Wright will again direct Keira, who will play Cecilia, and the movie will be produced by Paul Webster of Kudos Films, who also produced P&P.
The publisher has this synopsis of Atonement: "On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilla strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone."
There are more details, including a short interview with Ian McEwan discussing the book here (beware spoilers). The Atonement page of Ian's official web site is here , and a database of reviews and critiques can be found here.
 

November 26th
Playback magazine has an interview with Silk's DOP (director of photography). It's a subscription magazine but you can read the article in full on the Newsletter.

October 15th
Canadian cinema production newswire Playback have announced that Rhombus Media are now officially in post-production on Silk, and hope to have a final cut available by March. Clips and official shots should start appearing shortly after, to whet our appetites through the summer until its autumn release.

September 20th
For those interested in the evolution of films from page to screen, Variety has an interesting article on the ups and downs of getting Keira's next-but-one release Silk financed and filmed. Variety is subscription only, but you can read the article on the Newsletter.

May 1st
Filming on Pirates 3 resumes this week outside of LA. Not sure if Keira will be involved in that, but the Silk filming in Italy was due to finish at the weekend, and as those were the scenes set in France (the only scenes Keira's character is in, at least in the novel), she may well be done and dusted for her scenes as Helene. Rumour has it filming of Herve's journey now moves to the Toronto area.

April 14th
E!'s new celeb gossip show The Daily 10 has just shown this pic of Keira and Michael in wedding attire from the set of Silk. A deviation from the novel, I believe. Perhaps a scene-setter for the beginning of the movie, as she is already his wife before his journeys begin. Today's Daily Mirror also has a few pics from this scene, with the front page's eyecatching headline 'Keira Weds'.
Thanks David

Here's a French interview with Silk director Francois Girard, which Uncle Google has translated into English here.
Thanks Rayna (Michael Pitt fan site)

April 12th
Some more Silk pics have come to light. See them at WalkingInDaydreams.

April 11th
Justjared.com has the first pics of Keira on the set of Silk. Cassie from knightley-infos.com has uploaded them here.
Thanks Cassie

April 2nd

Pym from the Koji Yakusho fan site has found another Japanese behind-the-scenes page from the filming of Silk, which is now complete in Japan. Scroll down for short videos from the locations.

March 31st

Keira is now in Rome for rehearsals and filming of Silk in various parts of the country. Pics.

March 30th

There is a French interview with Michael Pitt about Silk here (Google translation here), and a gallery of production photos here. It's looking quite the epic already.
Thanks Pymmik

March 13th

Japanese actress Sei Ashina has been cast from among 800 hopefuls to be the beautiful Japanese woman whom Herve Joncour meets in the home of silkworm baron Hara Jubei in Silk, now filming in Japan. This is another departure from the novel as the woman in the story was of European descent. Jun Kunimura has been cast as Hara's manservant Umon. Miki Nakatani is confirmed as the brothel madam in France.
Thanks Pymmik's site.

So the cast now reads:
Herve Joncour - Michael Pitt
Helene Joncour - Keira Knightley
Baldabiou - Alfred Molina
Hara Jubei - Koji Yakusho
'Brothel Madam' - Miki Nakatani
'Concubine' - Sei Ashina
Umon - Jun Kunimura

March 10th

For those who, like me, had never heard of Michael Pitt before his casting opposite Keira in Silk, you can see this interview about his recent movie Last Days. I don't know about you but the guy looks and sounds like a complete junkie! I'll assume he's just tired. He's shattered my reading impression of Herve Joncour anyway :-)
Thanks Pymmik

March 2nd

More Silk tidbits from Pymmik: 
- Another male character has been cast, Jun Kunimura (Kill Bill, Black Rain). 
- The actress playing the concubine is yet to be announced, so it's not Miki Nakatani.
- A Japanese newspaper article has a photo of one of the sets in Iriyamabe which is active now until mid-March. 
- Italian filming (those featuring Keira) will start in April in Rome, Sermoneta and the Northern region of Piemonte.
Thanks Pymmik

February 26th

Filming of Silk has started in Japan, in the Geibikei valley, the Iwate Nippo newspaper reports, and has a photo of the shoot. This scene is part of Herve's journey up-river to Hara Jubei's residence, after landing in Japan.
Thanks Pymmik

February 21st

Koji Yakusho fan site reports from a Japanese newspaper this week that his character name will be Hara Jubei, not Hara Kei as per the novel. It also confirms that Miki Nakatani will play the Japanese brothel Madam.

January 20th

ScreenInternational have become the first trade journal to acknowledge Silk today, with much more information, including the casting of Alfred Molina (Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man 2). Filming will take place from late February to late May. The full press release can be read on the Casting page.
Edit: Today's Variety now has much the same information, also to be found on the Casting page.

January 17th

An 'insider' who has read the current screenplay of Silk has emailed me to say that the concubine will be a Japanese woman, and not a European as per the original novel.

January 15th

We now have a translation of the Japanese newspaper report about Silk. They say it has a budget of Y2.2bn (around $20m) and that it will be released through New Line Cinema (as was Domino). However, it states that the lead, Mon. Joncour, falls in love with a Japanese woman while in Japan, not a European woman as per the novel. Perhaps this is Miki Nakatani's role ? More here.
Thanks Pym

January 14th

Here's one of a set of pics of Keira in Rome recently for a meeting about Silk. The guy in the specs is the movie's director Francois Girard.
Credit: Paul Burgman

January 13th

More information on the filming of Silk has been uncovered. The webmaster of a site dedicated to Japanese actor Koji Yakusho reports that a Japanese newspaper announced he and Miki Nakatani (Chaos, The Ring) will be starring in the movie and that it will be filmed in Sakata City from March 20th. Koji will likely play the silkworm baron Hara Kei, but Miki's character is less clear. The concubine, although living in Japan, is a Western woman. The only Japanese woman is a brothel madam living in France, but I, at least, interpreted her character to be of at least middle age, certainly not as young and beautiful as Miki.
I confirmed with Keira's agent earlier this week that Keira will be playing Helene Joncour, the stay-at-home French wife of the travelling silkworm smuggler Herve (and not the concubine, as had been variously rumoured). Although three-quarters of the novel is set in Japan - hence the decision to film in authentic settings rather than build a set in London or LA - none of Keira's scenes are, so they may be filmed elsewhere, as had the internal scenes. IMDb now has brief details, and includes France as a filming location.
Thanks Corey, Pym

January 8th

Keira was in Rome last week for a meeting with her future Silk co-star Michael Pitt and the movie's production company Fandango Pictures, who are based in the Italian capital.

January 4th

I finished reading Silk today and it's going to be very much Michael Pitt's film, the two women in the story are not very prominent at all. The story itself doesn't appear to be 'meaty' enough for a movie, so I'd guess the screenplay has 'padded out' the story somewhat.
 

December 3rd
Today's Wales On Sunday has a long article on the two impending Dylan Thomas films, with Best Time's write-up unfortunately focussing on the 'lesbian romp' story, thanks to you-know-who. Worse news is that the wonderful Rosamund Pike has been cast as Caitlin in the OTHER Dylan movie. Arrghhh!!! Now why oh why couldn't Ros have come on board to star opposite Keira again, instead of that Lohan woman ? Still, what's done is done. Imagine how different the reaction would have been though. In the meantime, Lindsay's publicist and mother have both confirmed the rumours about her checking into Alcoholics Anonymous are true. I think she should have a couple of years off to fully recover ;-)

November 27th
Capitol Films, producers of The Best Time Of Our Lives, have put on their web site the first detailed synopsis of the movie. Read it here.

November 26th
Today's Observer newspaper has an article on the two Dylan Thomas films about to go into production, Caitlin and The Best Time Of Our Lives. It suggests Dougray Scott may be in the running for Best Time's Dylan Thomas role. Article.

November 4th
London-based Capitol Films have announced they will finance The Best Time Of Our Lives. The full announcement can be read on the Newsletter, but says in part "We have a wonderful script with two of the hottest young actresses in cinema today and I am confident that the film will be amongst the most sought after new properties at the market."
Capitol had a two-page ad in Variety this week promoting their current and upcoming projects (due to the AFM movie trade fair in LA this week). The part of the ad mentioning Best Time can be seen here, confirming both Lohan's and Maybury's attachments.
Thanks to AF for the scan

October 31st
Happy Halloween to all. Trick or treat ? Well, you decide - Variety has the confirmation today of Li-Lo's casting in Best Time. It said:
Lindsay Lohan is joining Keira Knightley in the "The Best Time of Our Lives," which John Maybury is in negotiations to direct for U.K.-based Sarah Radclyffe Prods. Lensing is skedded to begin in April. Script by Knightley's mother, playwright Sharman Macdonald... Rebekah Gilbertson, who is producing with Radclyffe, originated the project. Gilbertson is the granddaughter of Phillips and Killick. Radclyffe co-founded Working Title with Tim Bevan in 1984 but left the company after Polygram took it over. Maybury directed Knightley in Warner Independent Pictures' "The Jacket."

October 24th
L*****y L***n is worried about her British accent when she starts filming Best Time, according to The Sun. Meanwhile, the rest of those involved in the movie should be worrying about the box office. Still, at least she's going to try. That's more than can be said for Kirsten Dunst and her American-accented Marie Antoinette. Hilarious.

October 20th
The reliable Daily Mail Hollywood columnist today has this to say about the Lohan casting: "I'm told the script contains a "flavour" about how close Caitlin and Vera became, but there'll be no lesbian romp." Well that's a bit of a relief, but I'm still thinking 'Of all the actresses...'  Still, at least it means no more tabloid nonsense like this. Li-Lo's all over the papers today wearing a coat made of real fur. Silly girl. Ah well, it makes a change from her other bits of fur she keeps showing people.

October 14th
MTV is reporting that Lindsay Lohan announced on Thursday she is to star alongside Keira in The Best Time Of Our Lives. 
This news has been greeted with universal condemnation by Keira's fans, and while it's more shock than anything for now, my own knee-jerk reaction is the same at the moment. Maybe it will change (if it's true) but I can't help thinking 'Of all the actresses in the world...'  In fact, of all the actresses in the world right now, if there's one who can kill the enthusiasm a fan has for a forthcoming movie by suddenly proclaiming she's attached to it, it's Miss Lindsay Lohan. And who's fault is that ?
All British-made films with US backing have a 'token American' to help it sell at the US Box Office (the only one that matters, apparently - think of all of Working Title's movies and you'll see what I mean: Renee, Julia etc.) but why Lohan ? I don't blame her for wanting to finally move away from the instantly forgettable tweenie crap she's been churning out for years, but if she wants to get her teeth into more serious, memorable movie roles, why does it have to be this one ? 
Lindsay said of the role: "[Keira] is older than me, but she kind of has a mysterious relationship with my lover... And then there's somewhat of a lesbian undertone." Do you mind, Lohan ? I've just eaten. Hopefully she'll build on her recent reputation and just not turn up. Story - IMDb Message Boards: Keira - Best Time... - Take the poll

September 29th
The reliable Daily Mail showbiz reporter Baz Bamigboye states in his column today that Keira is confirmed for the role of Vera Phillips, friend of poet Dylan Thomas, in The Best Time Of Our Lives, and that filming will start in April, rather than January as originally reported. This means the first three months of 2007 are as yet unconfirmed for Keira - another movie maybe ? Or perhaps Rupert's rumoured booze cruise is about to take place! The director Mike Radford is also apparently out, replaced by John Maybury, who directed Keira in The Jacket. The screenplay is by Keira's mum Sharman Macdonald, and tells the story of the events leading up to a shooting and threatened grenade attack on the Thomas home by William Killick. More on the incident here (2/3 down the page) - Daily Mail article

May 12th
NEW MOVIE !!!
Today's Daily Mail confirms that Keira has fitted in a part in The Best Time Of Our Lives, the true story of the turbulent life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, from a screenplay written by Mother Knightley herself, Sharman Macdonald. Filming will begin in January, and the paper reports Keira will play Dylan's wife Caitlin.Article.
More about Caitlin Thomas here and here.

March 12th

Tomorrow's Variety will have a very interesting update on Keira's next projects - including one that's new to us.

We know that Silk is definitely on and that filming has already begun in Japan and Keira's scenes will be filmed around Italy in April and May. She returns to filming on Pirates 3 in August but between May and August, the article reports, there is a potential scheduling conflict between Joe Wright's Atonement which Keira has agreed to do, and The Best Time Of Our Lives, which she is passionate about doing because the screenplay has been written by her mother Sharman Macdonald. This is the true story of the complex relationship between Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, his wife Caitlin, childhood friend Vera Phillips and her eventual husband William Killick. Keira is set to play 25-year old Vera.
Variety reports that neither Best Time or Atonement are yet greenlit, and the currently attached director of Best Time, Mike Radford, is just about to start another movie which may cause another scheduling conflict. Chances are one film will win the summer slot and Keira will return to the other project after Pirates 3 is completed.