Sullivan Stapleton, Rodrigo Santoro and Eva Green star in this action film based on Frank Miller's graphic novel 'Xerxes' and set before, during and after the events of '300' (2006). In 480 BC, Athenian General Themistocles (Stapleton) leads the Greek Army in a war against the invasion of King Xerxes I (Santoro), naval commander Artemisia (Green) and their Persian forces. Themistocles allies with the Spartans but they are still outnumbered by Xerxes' men. Who will be victorious? The film was co-written by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad and also stars Lena Headey, Jack O'Connell and Hans Matheson.

David MacKenzie directs this British drama in which a troubled teenager and his father bond in the unusual surroundings of a prison. 19-year-old Eric (Jack O'Connell) has had an extremely difficult childhood. Taken into care after the death of his mother and the sentencing of his father (Ben Mendelsohn), Eric's subsequent struggles with authority are highlighted by the fact that he has been 'starred up' from juvenile prison to the real thing, despite his tender years. Eric is happy with the outcome, though, as it gives him a chance to reconnect with his father and to demonstrate his toughness. However, with certain prison wardens not averse to using extreme violence to enforce order and protect others, Eric may have to tread carefully and pay attention to the calming words of his father if he is to make it out of the facility in one piece.

"The Resurrectionist" is a wild ride into a territory where nothing is as it appears. Part classic noir thriller, part fabulist fable, it is the story of Sweeney and his comatose son, Danny. Hoping for a miracle, Sweeney has brought Danny to the fortresslike Peck Clinic, whose doctors claim to have "resurrected" patients who were similarly lost in the void. but the real cure for his son's condition may lie in Limbo, a comic book world beloved by Danny before he slipped into a coma.
O'Connell has crafted a spellbinding novel about stories and what they can do for and "to" those who create them and those who consume them. About the nature of consciousness and the power of the unknown. And, ultimately, about forgiveness and the depth of our need to extend it and receive it.

Director Yann Demange makes his feature debut with this British action thriller set in Belfast during the Troubles. In 1971 during a Belfast riot British soldier Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell) gets separated from his army unit and is forced to spend the night alone on the dangerous streets, unable to distinguish between his friends and his enemies. Can he find his way to safety? The cast also includes Sean Harris, Killian Scott, Martin McCann and Charlie Murphy.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins and John Turturro star in this comedy drama directed by John Slattery and adapted from the novel by Pete Dexter. In the 1970s in the working-class town of God's Pocket, troubled 20-something Leon (Caleb Landry Jones) is seemingly accidentally killed on a building site. At the request of Leon's mother Jeannie (Hendricks), who is convinced there was some foul play, her husband, small-time criminal Mickey Scarpato (Hoffman), investigates the death with the help of his friend Arthur 'Bird' Capezio (Turturro). Meanwhile, the well-known journalist Richard Shellburn (Jenkins) is also searching for the truth behind the incident and gets close to Jeannie in the process.

Why would two Eastern European meatboys want to whack an innocent cab driver? That's the question that occurs to Gilrein as Raban and Blumfeld press the gun barrel into his mouth. Does it have something to do with the ritual death-by-flencing of Leo Tani? Or does the answer involve Gilrein's ex-lover, now working as a librarian for a bibliomaniac gangster. Or maybe the whole thing has something to do with the Inspector, inventor of the notorious Methodology? And how does Bobby Oster figure in the mix, with his crew of murder-for-hire rogue cops who call themselves The Magicians? To find the answers, Gilrein will drive the night streets of his hometown and face down more than one demon from his past. From the Vacuum, where child-artists are held captive in veal pens and forced to forge graphic novels, to the Houdini Lounge, where the second annual immigrant death-match is being marketed, Gilrein will wander the underworld, collecting stories and looking for absolution. In the end, he'll brush up against "Alicia's Tale" and learn new truths about the terrifying negotiations always taking place between the storyteller and the audience in the city of Quinsigamond.

The scene is Quinsigamond, a decaying New England factory town, a model locale of turn-of-the-century chaos. An activist priest meets a grisly death in his own cathedral. The crime has all the hallmarks of a routine Bangkok Park gang killing. But the perp is no everyday low-life but a demented ex-FBI agent named Speer in search of the jammers, particularly the infamous O'Zebedee brothers who have been hijacking local radio airwaves with their singular brand of subversive diatribe. Detective Hannah Shaw, Bangkok Park's undisputed overseer, tracks Speer's enraged quest to Wireless, the funky retro-radio nightclub and epicentre of the diverse jammer subculture. Shaw and/or the Wireless crew must stop the defrocked Fed or fall prey to a campaign of censorship, violence and death.

Jack O'Connell possessed an uncanny ability to be at the center of things. On his arrival in Jordan in 1958, he unraveled a coup aimed at the young King Hussein, who would become America's most reliable Middle East ally. Over time, their bond of trust and friendship deepened. His narrative contains secrets that will revise our understanding of the Middle East. In 1967, O'Connell tipped off Hussein that Israel would invade Egypt the next morning. Later, as Hussein's Washington counselor, O'Connell learned of Henry Kissinger's surprising role in the Yom Kippur War. The book's leitmotif is betrayal. Hussein, the Middle East's only bona fide peacemaker, wanted simply the return of the West Bank, seized in the Six-Day War. Despite American promises, the clear directive of UN Resolution 242, and the years of secret negotiations with Israel, that never happened. Hussein's dying wish was that O'Connell tell the unknown story in this book.

Double bill of fantasy action films. '300' (2006), adapted from Frank Miller's comic book series, is a modern retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, when the 100,000 strong invading Persian Army of King Xerxes was held back in a narrow mountain pass by 300 Spartans. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) is given four days by Persia's King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) to lay down his arms and surrender. Rejecting the proposal, the battle ensues, and the Spartans are only defeated by the treachery of local shepherd Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan), who shows the Persians a secret route, enabling them to outflank their opponents. In the second film, '300: Rise of an Empire' (2014), based on Miller's graphic novel 'Xerxes' and set before, during and after '300', Athenian General Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) leads the Greek Army in a war against the invasion of King Xerxes I, naval commander Artemisia (Eva Green) and their Persian forces. Themistocles allies with the Spartans but they are still outnumbered by Xerxes' men. Who will be victorious? The film was co-written by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad and also stars Lena Headey, Jack O'Connell and Hans Matheson.

Dark comedy thriller starring Tim Roth and Jack O'Connell. When Adam (O'Connell) is asked to be the driver for a business associate of his mother's crime boss boyfriend, he soon finds out that this business associate is Roy (Roth) - an aging hitman on the eve of his retirement. While Adam drives Roy to what he hopes are his last ever jobs, a series of unexpected events lands the pair in a game of cat and mouse with a mysterious Latvian woman (Talulah Riley).

A stunningly original nightmare novel about the impact of a new synthetic drug - Lingo - on the depressed New England factory town of Quinsigamond, where it was secretly developed. Besides offering a potent high, Lingo also delivers a shot to the brain cells governing linguistic comprehension and verbal skill. Until murderous rages and babbling insanity take over, this mind-expanding feature makes the drug dangerously seductive to the unusually literate cops, scientists and dope dealers competing to find its distribution source. Written in the cranked up style of Lingo, Box Nine shows a noir vision of a city that has become a virtual war zone between warring multi-ethnic drug cartels. The narrative shifts from one head case to another but never loses sight of Det. Lenore Thomas, an undercover officer addicted to speed, rough sex, heavy metal and the feel of her .357 Magnum. A dark, disturbing book that speaks with a fine fury about the yearning for forbidden knowledge and the language to articulate the mysteries it unlocks...

TV drama following the turmoil of football club Manchester United through the Munich air disaster that killed a number of its staff and star players. In February 1958 a flight leaving Munich-Riem Airport crashed on its third attempt to take off. On board were the famous 'Busby Babes', a team of gifted young players led by the famous manager Matt Busby, returning to Manchester after successful qualification to the European cup semi-finals. A number of players, including Duncan Edwards, were killed in the crash, and still more injured. This BBC dramatisation of events follows star player Bobby Charlton (Jack O'Connell) and coach Jimmy Murphy (David Tennant) as they attempt to recover from the crash. With Busby (Dougray Scott) still hospitalised with his injuries and so many of their players gone, stand-in coach Murphy and the still-grieving Charlton will be crucial to the success on the field that would honour those so tragically lost.

A narcotics detective wages war against a deadly new stimulant The drug is called Lingo, and it's the most powerful narcotic Lenore has ever seen. This cheaply manufactured pill races straight for the brain's language center, supercharging it so that even a dimwitted person can speak and read at 1,500 words per minute. It induces giddiness, confidence, and sexual euphoria-with a side effect of murderous rage. The drug has come to Quinsigamond, a fading industrial center in the heart of Massachusetts, and it's going to tear this town apart. Lenore believes she can stop that from happening. A narcotics detective with a few addictions of her own-amphetamines and heavy metal, to name a couple-she loves nothing more than her gun, until she meets Dr. Frederick Woo, the linguist assisting her on the case. Together they can stop the drug-if it doesn't take hold of them first. "Stunningly original . . . Jack O'Connell's vision is spellbinding: by turns hilarious and terrifying." -James Ellroy "This dark, disturbing book . . . speaks with a fine fury about the yearning for forbidden knowledge and the language to articulate the mysteries it unlocks." -The New York Times "Strong stuff, all right: O'Connell gets so deep inside his small-town cast that it''s a relief to turn the last page." -Kirkus Reviews Jack O'Connell (b. 1959) is the author of five critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling crime novels. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, O'Connell's earliest reading was the dime novel paperbacks and pulp fiction sold in his corner drug store, whose hard-boiled attitude he carried over to his own writing. He has cited his hometown's bleak, crumbling infrastructure as an influence on Quinsigamond, the fictional city where his first four novels were set, and whose decaying industrial landscape served as a backdrop for strange thrillers which earned O'Connell the nickname of a "cyberpunk Dashiell Hammett." O'Connell's most recent novel was The Resurrectionist (2008). A former student at Worcester's College of the Holy Cross, he now teaches there, not far from where he and his family live just outside of his hometown.

Jack O'Connell was not the most popular guy in high school. After failing miserably at fitting in with his peers, Jack made a promise to himself as he entered college-to become better at meeting girls. Surviving the College Game details Jack's personal journey from battling low self-esteem to achieving successful social interactions with female students. As Jack shares the lessons and realizations he discovered while on the long road to gaining confidence, he chronicles how he eventually learned to implement a system that allowed him to take chances, look girls in the eye, enjoy a fun and entertaining conversation, build curiosity, dance with the best of them, and become true to himself in the process. Through his openly honest and revealing anecdotes, Jack shares both his social successes and failures during his first two years in college. From initiating his first real pick-up of a brown-eyed girl to making out with multiple girls in one night to transitioning from the friend zone into something more, Jack's experiences will be relatable to any young male ready to change his life into an amazing and fun journey.

Jack O'Connell was not the most popular guy in high school. After failing miserably at fitting in with his peers, Jack made a promise to himself as he entered college-to become better at meeting girls. Surviving the College Game details Jack's personal journey from battling low self-esteem to achieving successful social interactions with female students. As Jack shares the lessons and realizations he discovered while on the long road to gaining confidence, he chronicles how he eventually learned to implement a system that allowed him to take chances, look girls in the eye, enjoy a fun and entertaining conversation, build curiosity, dance with the best of them, and become true to himself in the process. Through his openly honest and revealing anecdotes, Jack shares both his social successes and failures during his first two years in college. From initiating his first real pick-up of a brown-eyed girl to making out with multiple girls in one night to transitioning from the friend zone into something more, Jack's experiences will be relatable to any young male ready to change his life into an amazing and fun journey.

British drama set amidst the rave scene of the early 1990s. The film follows the exploits of 20-something best friends Matt (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) and Dylan (Jack O'Connell) as they progress from partying at illegal warehouse raves to becoming successful promoters at the peak of the scene in Manchester, Amsterdam and Ibiza. But whilst their success increases, their friendship begins to unravel as they become caught up in a dark and sinister world and lose sight of their dreams.

Double bill of TV dramas adapted from the novels of crime writer Martina Cole. 'The Take' (2009) stars Tom Hardy as Freddie Jackson, an armed robber who is released from prison in 1984 having served a four-year sentence for his crimes. His wife Jackie (Kierston Wareing), who has been waiting for him on the outside in the mistaken belief that that he wants to go straight, soon finds herself disappointed. Freddie is in fact raring to get back into the game and has set his sights on becoming top dog in the East End underworld. Meanwhile his younger cousin Jimmy (Shaun Evans) is hot on his heels, and dreams of riding Freddie's coat-tails to rise through the ranks of the crime empire. 'The Runaway' (2010) follows the story of Cathy Connor (Joanna Vanderham) and Eamonn Docherty (Jack O'Connell), who form a strong bond growing up together in the East End of London but are later pulled apart due to difficult circumstances. Cathy is determined not to end up like her prostitute mother, Madge (Kierston Wareing), but when she is abused whilst in care, she is forced to run away and ends up living on the streets, where she meets transvestite Desrae (Alan Cumming). During this time, Eamonn is becoming more and more involved in criminal activity. When this leads to murder, Eammon journeys to New York where he quickly becomes a notorious villain.

From crimes of heart and crimes of violence, A CITY EQUAL TO MY DESIRE effortlessly guides you through the narrows of human existence in all its forms. In this selection of new stories, James Sallis, author of the acclaimed Lew Griffin series of detective novels, both entertains and engages the mind with stories that will linger in memory long after they've been experienced. "Sallis wants to take your experience of the world, mutate it to the edge of recognition, and then deliver it back before your eyes like a coin pulled from behind your earlobe. And in this way, he makes you see and feel, all over again, the meaning, the beauty-and, pointedly sometimes, the horror-of being human." Jack O'Connell from his introduction

From crimes of heart and crimes of violence, A CITY EQUAL TO MY DESIRE effortlessly guides you through the narrows of human existence in all its forms. In this selection of new stories, James Sallis, author of the acclaimed Lew Griffin series of detective novels, both entertains and engages the mind with stories that will linger in memory long after they've been experienced. "Sallis wants to take your experience of the world, mutate it to the edge of recognition, and then deliver it back before your eyes like a coin pulled from behind your earlobe. And in this way, he makes you see and feel, all over again, the meaning, the beauty-and, pointedly sometimes, the horror-of being human." Jack O'Connell from his introduction

Your only child is lost between this world and the next, and more than anything you want him back. A controversial doctor and a mysterious stranger claim they have the answer. Who do you trust? Are you willing to risk everything? Are you prepared to enter Limbo? Part classic noir thriller, part mind-bending fantasy, The Resurrectionist is a wild ride into a territory where nothing is as it appears. It is the story of Sweeney, a druggist by trade, and his son, Danny, the victim of an accident that has left him in a persistent coma. Hoping for a miracle, they have come to the forbidding, fortress-like Peck Clinic, whose doctors claim to have 'resurrected' other patients who were lost in the void. What Sweeney comes to realize, however, is that the real cure for his son's condition may lie in Limbo, a fantasy comic book world into which his son had been drawn at the time of his accident. Plunged into the intrigue that envelops the clinic, Sweeney's search for answers leads to sinister back alleys, brutal dead ends, and terrifying corners of darkness and mystery. With The Resurrectionist, Jack O'Connell has crafted a breakout thriller that's gripping, suspenseful, and all-out heart-pounding.