Nick Knowles eyes surprise Hollywood move after historical play he wrote in lockdown is turned into a film
HOLLYWOOD’s leading filmmakers have an unlikely new rival – Nick Knowles.
I can reveal the DIY SOS presenter wrote a play during lockdown and it is being turned into a movie, set to go into production next year.
And Nick is warning cinema-goers the flick won’t be for the faint-hearted.
He told me: “I originally wrote it as a play because I’d never done that before and a production company said we should turn this into a film.
“It’s very dark, based on a historical event. It’s sociopathic and has a psychopath at the centre of it.
“It’s a very different thing altogether but it was fun to write.”
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Nick also co-wrote 2016 action comedy film Golden Years, featuring Four Weddings And A Funeral actor Simon Callow.
But Nick won’t be angling for a role in his latest movie venture — not least because it would mean he would have to attend awards bashes.
He added: “I could take a bit part in it but that’s not really on my radar.
“Acting has never really been on my list of things to do but never say never.
“I’m not really a showbizy person and don’t have an enormous amount of showbizy friends.
“I don’t hang out with showbizy people either.
“I tend not to go to those kinds of events. I’d rather be back home in a pub with a bunch of mates watching a rugby match.”
Before he takes on Hollywood, the TV host is fronting a new travel series on Channel 5 called Amazing Railway Adventures With Nick Knowles.
It involves him travelling through destinations including Peru, Alaska and Mexico.
The first episode airs on Friday and Nick said viewers will be blown away by the footage, which was shot by the team behind Top Gear.
He added: “The world is a massive playground of extraordinary places to see.
“Some of the trips I’ve done are absolutely epic.
“I genuinely think people will love it, if they give it a try. They’ll see it’s a little bit special.”
French connection
GERMAN actress Emilia Schule is the centre of attention in her glamorous portrayal of an iconic French queen.
She has been cast in the title role as a rebellious young Marie Antoinette.
The eight-part BBC2 drama starts on December 29, and means Emilia will finally make her name in the UK.
It follows the 18th-century figure as she arrives at the royal court in Versailles.
The story joins her when, at just 14, she is forced to leave Austria to marry the Dauphin – later Louis XVI – and produce an heir to secure the alliance between France and her home country.
Louis Cunningham plays her man, fresh from a turn as Lord Corning in Netflix’s Bridgerton.
Thrones’ kit snow warning
KIT HARINGTON says the mental state of his Game Of Thrones character Jon Snow was “not OK” at the end of the fantasy blockbuster.
And he reckons the brooding warrior “got off lightly” in the show’s final scenes, in which he kills Daenerys and is banished to the Wall in the North.
Kit was speaking while promoting the planned sequel to Game Of Thrones, which will focus on Jon Snow.
He said: “At the end of the show when we find him in that cell, he’s preparing to be beheaded and he wants to be. He’s done. The fact he goes to the Wall is the greatest gift and also the greatest curse.
“He’s gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma.
“I think where we leave him at the end of the show, there’s this feeling that things are OK. He’s not OK.”
GRAHAM NORTON has revealed comic Jayde Adams leads the line-up for his skit at the four-day Just For Laughs comedy festival at London’s O2 next year.
Rupaul’s Drag Race stars Bianca Del Rio and Danny Beard will also be in The Graham Norton Variety Show on March 3.
Matt’s ‘a fit for the BBC’
IT doesn’t sound like Matt Hancock's dabble with TV will end at I’m A Celebrity.
Telly supremo Kevin Lygo has tipped the former Health Secretary, who finished fourth in the latest series, to get his own show.
But the ITV boss admits Matt is unlikely to be a fixture on his network.
When asked about the likelihood of him fronting a series, Kevin said: “He might. I think the BBC is the place for Matt Hancock.”
And Kevin has admitted that the jungle team debated whether to sign up the shamed politician.
He said: “Most people were cast and ready to go when he was put forward.
“I think most of us thought, ‘That’s a fascinating idea. does he really want to go in?’
“So we decided after some debate – but not enormous soul searching – that, yes, he would be a great addition to the programme.”
He certainly added on a few more viewers.
NETFLIX’S brilliant Heartstopper missed out at the Baftas and the NTAs, but across the Pond the coming-of-age LGBT story has cleaned up.
It had four wins at the Children’s And Family Emmy Awards, including best guest performance for Olivia Colman and lead role for Kit Connor.
Return for Mac & Dodds
DETECTIVE drama McDonald & Dodds is returning to ITV for a fourth series.
Jason Watkins, who plays DS Dodds alongside Tala Gouveia’s DCI Lauren McDonald, confirmed the move and said viewers have clearly “connected” with the duo.
He said: “I can confirm we are doing more, which we are obviously delighted about.”
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In a heart-breaking scene in the last series, it was revealed Dodds was brought up by an aunt after his mother was admitted to a mental health hospital.
Jason, who stars in BBC2’s Ghost Story For Christmas: Count Magnus on December 23, added: “I hope we learn more about Dodds’ private life and that of Lauren.”