CHRISTINA HENDRICKS IN RYAN GOSLING'S "HOW TO CATCH A MONSTER"! "GAME OF THRONES" NEIL MARSHALL HELMING "BLACK SAILS" EPIC SHOW! FOX' NEW SHOWS "PARA TIME" & "ATHENA"! "ONCE UPON A TIME" SEASON 2 PICS!

Well, this is surely an unusual project: actor Ryan Gosling has decided to start directing films and his first project will be fantasy story HOW TO CATCH A MONSTER. He has already chosen MAD MEN's Christina Hendricks for the lead role in the movie which weaves elements of fantasy noir, and suspense into a modern day fairytale.

 Set against the surreal dreamscape of a vanishing city, Billy, a single mother of two, is swept into a macabre and dark fantasy underworld while her teenage son discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town. Both Billy and her son must dive deep into the mystery, if their family is to survive.

TELEVISION HEADLINES

Our favourite channel Starz has announced that they've got Neil Marshall to helm their new epic series BLACK SAILS which is to replace SPARTACUS WAR OF THE DAMNED in January 2014. Marshall, who directed one of the episodes in GAME OF THRONES ("Blackwater") and Michael Fassbender's CENTURION epic, will now helm the pirate show which is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island" and will focus on the pirate Captain Flint and his crew. The preproduction of the show is currently under way down in South Africa.

PARATIME & ATHENA

In other TV news - according to "Digital Spy" Fox has bought pilot for a new sf show. Titled PARA TIME it will follow a group that police a number of parallel worlds. It comes from a DR. WHO and LIFE ON MARS writer. Fox also bought TV rights for graphic novel HEADACHE from Lisa Joy, which will be turned into a TV show called ATHENA telling the story of a young woman who discovers that she is the Greek

goddess of wisdom. The comic's synopsis describes it as a gripping coming-of-age tale of an 18-year-old girl who happens to be Athena. Her evil stepmother? Hera, who's actually evil and out to kill her. The bad boy she falls in love with? Hades, king of the underworld. The philandering father whose approval she always seeks and fails to attain? Zeus, the ultimate deadbeat dad. And now she must take on all of the gods in order to stop them from destroying mankind. 

 ONCE UPON A TIME 2

And you can see that I've illustrated the post with new posters announcing the second season of ABC's super popular fantasy show ONCE UPON A TIME. The show, which will air its second run later this September, will have a bunch of new characters including warrior

princess Mulan, played by Jamie Chung. "TV Guide" has revealed that she'll be armoured up and battle-ready going on a journey with Prince Phillip (Julian Morris) to find his princess, Aurora (Sarah Bolger), joined along the way by Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue)!