Orlando Bloom (Unlocked), Cara Delevingne (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), and the rest of the cast and crew on the new Amazon TV series Carnival Row have begun shooting this week and will continue filming in the Czech capital for the next six months, through March 2018.
Bloom, sporting a bold goatee, and Delevingne, with a striking brunette cut, have already made the tabloid rounds just days after production began; check out some on-set Prague photos of the pair in the UK’s Daily Mail here and here.
Initially sold as a feature-length spec script by Travis Beacham way back in 2005, the series has taken a long and winding road to the screen that ended earlier this year when Amazon officially ordered an eight-episode TV series.
Directors Guillermo Del Toro and Neil Jordan have been involved with the project at various stages in its development. Del Toro, of course, was no stranger to the Czech capital: he shot both Blade II and Hellboy in Prague more than a decade ago. The city’s gothic architecture lends itself to the kinds of fantastical worlds the director has become known for.
That’s a tradition that would have continued in Carnival Row, which takes place in a mythological world filled with a variety of fantasy creatures.
As per the official synopsis:
Carnival Row is a fantasy-noir set in a neo-Victorian city. Mythical creatures fleeing their war-torn homeland have gathered in the city, and tensions are simmering between citizens and the growing immigrant population. The series follows the investigation of a string of unsolved murders that are eating away at whatever uneasy peace still exists.
Unfortunately, Del Toro is reportedly no longer involved with the production due to other commitments, though though IMDb lists him as a writer and director, alongside series director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin, Victor Frankenstein).
Production in Prague is being coordinated by showrunner Rene Echevarria (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Castle, Medium) with Beacham and McGuigan also in producing roles.
Last month, it was announced that Bloom and Delevingne had been cast in the series’ leading roles as Rycroft Philostrate, a detective investigating the murder of a fairy showgirl, and Vignette Stonemoss, a fairy seeking to escape persecution, respectively.
Carnival Row also stars Tamzin Merchant (Jane Eyre, TV’s Salem), Karla Crome (Under the Dome, The Misfits), David Gyasi (Interstellar, Cloud Atlas), and Indira Varma, whose Ellaria Sand is (presumably) still rotting away in Cersei Lannister’s dungeon on Game of Thrones.
Merchant, by the way, was originally cast as Daenerys Targaryen on the hit show – and even filmed the role in the infamous unaired pilot – before being replaced by Emilia Clarke.
If you want to be involved with the production of Carnival Row here in Prague, the local casting company Extrafilms will hold an open audition for extras next Wednesday, October 11.
Delevigne, so far, seems to be enjoying her time in the Czech capital:
Lead photo: Delevingne in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets; Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
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