OutlanderBTS What’s New- Bees Has Critical Mass, S4 & S5 Updates & Sam’s A Busy Bee

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Photo: Sam and Caitriona on the set of Outlander on Sam’s 38th birthday, Starz

Diana has been sharing more Daily Lines from her upcoming 9th book in the Outlander series: Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone. Experience tells me that this means her writing is in a new phase, and I commented about that in a tweet to her recently: 

Her response is really exciting!! 

No date yet, but this is very good news! 

Speaking of dates, surely you know the news by now, that Outlander Season 4 will premiere in November, 2018! Everyone is excited, but many were hoping for September. Starz cushioned the blow by letting us know that Seasons FIVE AND SIX are in the plans. WOOT. Story here: Season 4 Premiere Date.

The full trailer for Sam’s new movie, The Spy Who Dumped Me, shot in Budapest, Hungary last summer while he was on hiatus from Outlander filming was just released, and it looks mighty fun…

Bill Shatner was the first to say that Sam should be the next James Bond (I miss those old fun days with Bill – Go HERE for a sample!); it looks like we’ll get a preview of Sam’s Bond skills in this film.

In an interview with MTV’s Josh Horowitz, (you remember Josh, he’s the one who did the fabulous Couples Therapy Interview with Sam & Cait during promotion of Season 3 last September), costars Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon talk about Sam…

The story line in the movie is “Audrey (Kunis) and Morgan (McKinnon), two thirty-year-old best friends in Los Angeles, are thrust unexpectedly into an international conspiracy when Audrey’s ex-boyfriend shows up at their apartment with a team of deadly assassins on his trail. Surprising even themselves, the duo jump into action, on the run throughout Europe from assassins and a suspicious-but-charming British agent, as they hatch a plan to save the world.” Source: ET.

Sam plays said British agent, Sebastian Henshaw, in the film, and cheats on Claire too ?…

The film is due out August 3rd in the US, and is Sam’s first big feature film. Congrats Sam! Can’t wait to see it! 

Meanwhile, back on Fraser’s Ridge, filming continues, with recent updates coming from the crew…

Last Thursday, May 3rd, Anita Anderson, Cait’s makeup artist, posted that Block 5 has wrapped. A block consists of 2 episodes, so that means they are finished shooting through Episode 410 (keeping in mind they often film out of order due to actors’ schedules and/or availability of locations or just to be efficient). For example, last season, they did Episodes 302 and 308 early on, to make efficient use of the Lallybroch (Midhope Castle) location. Sam and Caitriona actually filmed their big fight in Episode 308, before their reunion in Episode 306. By the same token, in Season 1, they filmed their rousting make up sex in Episode 109 before their wedding night! I guess you have to be flexible as an actor! 

As outlander_forever comments here, there are only 3 more episodes left to film! That’s exciting. 

Filming is due to finish in the end of June (unless it runs over), so why the delayed release date? I haven’t read anything official, but I know the Beast from the East – the storm that shut down the UK in early March- certainly caused delays in the production schedule. It takes 2 months to post produce each episode – so the beginning of September is the earliest that process would be completed. There is also the Starz schedule to consider, and maybe, just maybe they are delaying to give our hard working cast and crew some time off. I’m all for that. Because frankly, this Outlander thing is a marathon, not a sprint, and we want to keep everyone healthy and happy, and loving their jobs. Remember that after they finish filming, if the release date is right away, they have a small break and then they go straight into pretty intensely promoting the show, and then straight back to filming. That’s Sam and Cait. The behind the scenes folks, particularly the writers, producers, set and costume designers essentially got no break between seasons 3 and 4. In fact, based on past experience, I assume producers and crew mentioned above are already hard at work on Season 5. 

I did read that Seasons 5 and 6 will both be 12 episodes long, instead of 13. I don’t know what to think about that, I have to wait and hear what Maril or someone has to say about it.

It ‘s been a busy time for Sam, who ran the Stirling marathon on Sunday April 29th, with a time of 3:13! 

And was up to all kinds of shenanigans while ringing in birthday number 38 (April 30th) on set the next day.

What is happening, anyway? Caitriona’s eyelashes are being tinted, presumably so Claire can cry or be doused in water without her mascara running! (smart)

And apparently The King of Men has his done too! ?

With this response in the wee hours from Sam…

 

And of course, we celebrated the birthday of James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, the following day, on May 1st. It seems Sam partied enough for the both of them!

We got some nice Daily lines from Diana in honor of Jamie’s big day…

We know that Sam has been in the US this past week, doing publicity for The Spy Who Dumped Me. He attended a pre-MET gala party put on by Harry Josh Pro Tools on Saturday, May 5th, in New York City, no doubt after finishing filming in the wee hours on Friday, May 4th. It’s no wonder he looks a wee bit tired here, but still smiling!

Photo: Just Jared

I am not versed in this stuff, so for the benefit of people like me, I’ll include some background. The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Gala and also known as the MetBall, is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. It marks the grand opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit.

Vogue had this to say: “‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’ is designed to create a dialogue between fashion and the masterworks of religious art in the museum’s holdings.” 

Terry Dresbach tweeted saying…

I found it interesting, and beautiful; if you’d like to see more: MET GALA 2018.

A wee birdy told me that Sam appeared on Entertainment Tonight last night (May 10th), so hopefully we’ll see that video soon. 

Sam also has this special with Cameron McNeish coming out soon (May 16).

There was a recent Murtagh sighting!

And a hearty congratulations to Laura Donnelly who won an Olivier Award for her magical portrayal in The Ferryman, AND the show is headed to Broadway. More on that later…

On April 22nd, Caitriona completed her first ever marathon with her sister, in London –

More on that here – Congrats Caitriona.

And speaking of marathons, Sam is planning to run the Edinburgh marathon, on May 27th!

The fan convention season was kicked off with a bang by Sasnak City, which by all accounts, was a blast for everyone involved. Fans were treated to lots of fun, including the first appearance of Ed Speleers, who plays Stephen Bonnet in Season 4.

Photo: Ed Speleers, Gary Lewis, and César Domboy at Sasnak City, 2018. Photo Credit: @justpkschroeder

For a full list of upcoming Outlander events, check out OutlanderPrintshop.org.

I will be doing an Outlander fan panel at the Denver Comic Con, along with A Dram of Outlander and Outlander Medicine. Graham McTavish and Lotte Verbeek will be at the convention. We are putting together some Outlander fun, and hope you’ll join us. If you plan on coming, come join our Facebook page: Outlander Fans at Denver Comic Con.

 

That’s a wrap for now. More news soon xo

 

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11 comments on “OutlanderBTS What’s New- Bees Has Critical Mass, S4 & S5 Updates & Sam’s A Busy Bee”

  1. Thanks. You always have the interesting bits, with added content to make them even juicier! It’s appreciated.

    Also, newish fan question: who is the other guy beside Gary Lewis? I.D. is hard for me when the guys aren’t all dirty and bearded.

    Reply

    • Ed Speleers on the left who will appear for the first time as Irish pirate Stephen Bonnet in Season 4. The other guy is Caesar Domboy who plays the adult Fergus. I attended Sasnak City and it was an incredible experience! It elevated the bar for future fan cons going forward. We had less than 200 fans, 8 actors over three days and got a chance to talk to, have fun and really connect with them. All of the actors were on cloud nine as they usually don’t get a chance to spend time with their fans.

      Reply

      • Yes, Gina essentially brought the European Con to the US. More enjoyable for all IMO. I think it’s fab – glad you had a blast x

        Reply

  2. Thanks Courtney! Wonderful synopsis of what’s been happening in the world of Outlander. I always look forward to your posts. Can’t wait to see “The Spy Who Dumped Me”,when it hits theaters this August. I haven’t been to a movie theater in 20 years,but will go see this one! If that’s any indication ,it will be a mega-hit! The entire Outlander obsessed fandom will certainly go to support Sam.

    Reply

  4. Wow! That was quite enjoyable! It went great with my 1st cuppa! You sure covered a lot of ground. I loved the movie trailer. I can’t wait to see it.

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  5. Why do the seasons keep getting shorter? Books are always big, too any things left out and DVD Blurays a rip-off. Still the same price with reduced content!

    Reply

    • I personally think it is so the cast and crew can get a little time off. One less episode is about 3 to 4 weeks more time off which I think is well deserved. Another reason floating around in my mind is because a lot of book 5 and book 6 are about the pre revolutionary war skirmishes and they could condense those. I also love the Blu ray content with deleted scenes and bts and gag reel. I thought the price very
      reasonable for $35 US. Just my opinion though :)))

      Reply

      • I just read that they will be taking 7 months off! I’m sure they’ll do other projects and hopefully relax too ❤️

        Reply

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