Netflix is expanding their original programming slate with another new show, a murder mystery called “Hemlock Grove” set to be executive produced and directed by Hostel filmmaker Eli Roth. The series will be led by X-Men star Famke Janssen and Bill Skarsgard (son of Stellan) and “centers around the murder of a young girl in a ravaged Pennsylvania steel town.”

The series is based on a book by Brian McGreevy, and Amazon has the official plot synopsis here:

The body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.

Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a foreboding biotech facility owned by the Godfrey family—their personal fortune and the local economy having moved on from Pittsburgh steel—where, if rumors are true, biological experiments of the most unethical kind take place. Others turn to Peter Rumancek, a Gypsy trailer-trash kid who has told impressionable high school classmates that he’s a werewolf. Or perhaps it’s Roman, the son of the late JR Godfrey, who rules the adolescent social scene with the casual arrogance of a cold-blooded aristocrat, his superior status unquestioned despite his decidedly freakish sister, Shelley, whose monstrous medical conditions belie a sweet intelligence, and his otherworldly control freak of a mother, Olivia.

At once a riveting mystery and a fascinating revelation of the grotesque and the darkness in us all, Hemlock Grove has the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right—and Brian McGreevy the talent and ambition to enthrall us for years to come.

Sounds like it has just the right amount of twisted potential to fit Eli Roth’s filmmaking style, and in the director’s own words, Netflix has “the creative freedom to go as dark as the story needs.” ”Grove” joins the likes of “Lilyhammer,” David Fincher’s upcoming “House of Cards,” and the rejuvenated “Arrested Development” as the latest in Netflix’s move toward creating their own content and making it available only through the streaming service.

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Liam Neeson closed his deal in March to return as the highly skilled CIA officer in Taken 2, and his on-screen daughter Maggie Grace also signed on for the sequel.

In a recent interview producer Luc Besson revealed Famke Janssen would also be back, and said filming is scheduled to begin in October.

From Coming Soon:

Besson told us that Colombiana director Olivier Megaton has been using his time in Los Angeles to scout locations for the sequel to Taken, which will shoot there for a little bit, and the film itself will start production in October. He said that everyone is back for the sequel including Famke Janssen, who had a small role as Liam Neeson’s ex-wife in the first movie.

No story details have been revealed so we don’t know who gets ‘taken’ this time round, but earlier this year it was mentioned part of the movie would be shot in Istanbul, so some of the action will likely be set there.

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Famke Janssen, who is best known for playing Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men trilogy, has joined the cast of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.

According to The Playlist Janssen will play the leader of the witches in the film, and will battle against Gemma Arterton (Gretel) and Jeremy Renner (Hansel).

The project is described as “a dark action movie that picks up with the fairy tale siblings years after the traumatic childhood incident has turned them into bounty hunters” which is a…different take on the German fairy tale.

Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) is directing, and the aim is to begin shooting in early March as Renner will be needed on The Avengers set in May and Arterton will probably be filming Wrath of the Titans sometime soon, so there will be no room for delays.

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We know that Jean Grey has had her experiences with lakes in the past, but never with rivers. When Famke Janssen hasn’t got dual personalities or is killing everyone in sight, she is busy playing a high stakes pool shark, trying to raise $50,000 to gain custody of her son.

The trailer is now online for Turn The River. Janssen stars alongside Rip Torn and Chris Eigeman. It is already getting some buzz and it hasn’t even started its film festival rounds yet. It is great to see an actress like Famke, who has done big budget films like X-Men, doing smaller movies which show how good she is at what she does. Here’s the trailer:

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