Rogen Stars; Jewish PBS princess; unicorns; and much more

Stars of David

By Nate Bloom, Stars of David Contributing Columnist

Editor’s Note: Persons in bold are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish for the purpose of this column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jewish parent and were not raised in, or identify with, a faith other than Judaism. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish.

“The Studio”

This AppleTV+ comedy series premiers its first two episodes on Wednesday, March 26. The eight remaining episodes of this first season will premiere on the following Wednesdays (ending on May 21). Of course, subscribers can view an episode, any time, after an episode premieres.

Seth Rogen, 42, stars as Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of the floundering, near-broke Continental Movie Studios. Remick and his team struggle to keep movies “alive,” engaging in endless battles with difficult actors and writers and with craven corporate overlords.

The series’ strong supporting cast includes Catherine O’Hara, Kathyrn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz, 47. Almost all the guest stars this season play themselves. They include Zac Efron, Zoe Kravitz, Peter Berg, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Olivia Wilde and Charlize Thereon.

The series was created by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Rogen’s almost lifelong creative partner. The duo cowrote the first two episodes and the season-end episode.

“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light”

Here’s another late-March premiere series that I plan to catch up with this month — and you can easily catch-up with it, too: “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” is based on the third (and final) novel in an acclaimed series about King Henry VIII (1491-1547) and Thomas Crowell, who was a longstanding right-hand man to the King.

It premiered on PBS on Sunday, March 23 and new episodes premiere the following Sundays through April 27. You can catch reruns on the PBS app (free for about a month after first airing).

The two first novels were dramatized by the BBC in two “Wolf Hall” series. Those two, critically acclaimed series got big audiences when they aired on the BBC and on PBS (in America). Damian Lewis plays Henry and Mark Rylance plays Cromwell.

The series was directed by Peter Kosminsky, 68, a top British TV program director. Lilit Lesser, 16, plays Princess Mary, Henry’s daughter. (Mary, also known as “Bloody Queen Mary,” took the throne following the death of her father and her half-brother).

Lilit Lesser is the daughter of Anton Lesser, 73. He’s a British Jewish actor who is best known in America for playing Qyburn, the evil scientist in “Game of Thrones.” (I don’t know if Lilit’s mother is Jewish).

Anton played Sir Thomas More in the first (2015) “Wolf Hall” series. Sir Thomas lost his head, literally, for opposing Henry’s break with the Catholic church so he could divorce Princess Mary’s Catholic mother.

“Death of a Unicorn”

Opening in movie theaters on March 28, Eliot (Paul Rudd, 55) works for Leopold, a pharmaceutical titan (Richard Grant) in “Death of a Unicorn.” On the way to Leopold’s rural home, Eliot and his teen daughter accidentally run into a unicorn (!). Not long after, Leopold’s stooges get hold of the carcass of the unicorn and discover that its flesh, blood and horn have magical curative properties, and they plan to make big money from the carcass. But there’s a magical revenge on the Leopolds! (No more spoilers!)

“A Minecraft Movie”

Based on the Minecraft video game, this live-action comedy adventure film opens in theaters on April 4. Here’s the premise: four misfits find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled thorough a portal to the wacky “Overworld.” They have to do many things to get back home — Steve (played by Jack Black, 55) helps them to this end.

Black’s late mother was Jewish and his father converted to Judaism. His wife, since 2006, is musician Tanya Haden, 53, and they have two sons. Haden’s mother was Jewish. A few years ago, Black said his sons went to Hebrew school.

“The Amateur”

Opening in theaters on April 11, “The Amateur” is a spy thriller based on a 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, 90. Before becoming a journalist (Newsweek), Littell served in the Navy where he was a ship’s navigator and an anti-submarine officer.

Here’s the movie’s premise: Charles Heller (Rami Malek), a CIA code expert, loses his wife in a terrorist act. He realizes his bosses are doing nothing to find and kill the terrorists. He blackmails the CIA bigwigs to train him as a field officer, and he makes them stand aside as he hunts down his wife’s killers. Jon Berenthal, 48, and Michael Stuhlbarg, 56, have big supporting roles.

“The Accountant 2”

This sequel to “The Accountant,” the hit 2016 movie, opens in theaters on April 25. Ben Affleck stars as Christian Wolff, an autistic accountant who often launders money for sleezy criminals. A Treasury agent asks Wolff to help her. He agrees and enlists his security expert brother, Brax (Jon Berenthal, again), to help him.