Hey All,
Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:
RENEWALS/CANCELLATION
Criminal Minds: Evolution will come to an end after its upcoming fifth season on Paramount+. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Freeform has given the fantasy series Coven Academy a second season renewal. (Variety)
Netflix has given The Diplomat a fifth season renewal. (Deadline)
TV CASTING NEWS
Veteran actor Bill Nighy has joined the upcoming horror thriller Apple TV series Ascension, which will star Outlander alum Caitriona Balfe. The series will follow Rose (Balfe), a relentless documentary filmmaker and recently divorced mother, who is brilliant at uncovering others’ truths but struggles to resolve her own. When Rose begins a project on a mysterious 20th-century cult known as the Church of Ascension, she finds unexpected refuge in its teachings – until she discovers something far more insidious beneath.” Details on what role Nighy will play is being kept under wraps, though. (Variety)
Yellowjackets alum Melanie Lynskey will star in the Paramount+ limited drama Mushroom Murders that will be set in Australia, focusing on the infamous Leongatha mushroom murders. Lynskey will play Erin Patterson who had been convicted in the case. In 2023, Erin Patterson served individual beef wellingtons to her estranged in-laws and their relatives at a lunch in her Victoria home in Australia. Unbeknownst to her guests, Patterson allegedly prepared the food with highly toxic death cap mushrooms, resulting in the deaths of three guests. The series will depict the 97 days between the now infamous lunch and Patterson’s subsequent arrest. Patterson’s trial drew nationwide attention with her 2025 sentencing broadcast live where she was sentenced to at least 33 years in prison. (Deadline)
John Goodman has joined the second season of the Netflix drama The Beast in Me, playing Jack the father of Aggie, who is played by Claire Danes who will be reprising her role. Exact plot details are currently under wraps, though. (Variety)
Camryn Manheim (The Practice) will have a key recurring role in season two of ABC’s drama 9-1-1: Nashville where she will play Dr. Marcia Zellner, a brilliant, emotionally complex clinical therapist and crisis manager who joins the call center to support the dispatchers as they deal with the mysterious Pharaoh killer terrorizing Nashville with his Biblical Plagues. However, as we’ll soon discover, Dr. Zellner harbors a dark grudge and is far more twisted and conniving than anyone can possibly imagine. (Deadline)
Lanterns alum Poorna Jagannathan has joined the upcoming Hulu pilot Young Americans that will star Scandal alum Scott Foley. The series will follow what happens as the children of the nation’s elite battle it out at Capitol Crest Academy in Washington, D.C. Their teenage dramas begin to mirror the larger political games of their parents. Amidst the secrets, scandals, and deadly ambitions, a forbidden romance between two students from opposing political families threatens to escalate tensions to a breaking point. Jagannathan will play Maya Washburn. Once a close friend and political ally of the President (Foley), Maya is now a controversial senator galvanizing a disillusioned electorate just as her son is falling in love with the President’s daughter. (Deadline)
Veteran actor Alfred Molina has joined the cast of the upcoming Paramount+ series Ascent, which will star Viola Davis and Outlander alum Sam Heughan. The series will be a character-driven thriller set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control. Molina will play Sebastian, the formidable head of Ascent Ventures who has begun to consider which of his top agents might succeed him while Heughan will play Conal, one of Ascent Ventures top agents and Davis will play Catriona is an elite corporate fixer who must weaponize the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger. (Deadline)
BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS
Star Trek alum Michael Dorn will star in the sci-fi flick Life 2.0 for which he also wrote and directed. His cast members will include Star Trek vets Marina Sirtis, Michelle Hurd and Dominic Keating. Dorn will play an operative in deep-space isolation, with only an AI hologram for company, until an enigmatic new companion arrives. An accident uncovers the truth about their origins, forcing a fight for survival against motives engineered back on Earth. Details on who the other cast members will play has yet to be announced. (Deadline)
STREAMING MOVIE NEWS
Hailee Steinfeld and Miles Teller will star in the 2027 rom-com Netflix movie Winter Games that will be set in the high-stakes arena of the Winter Olympic Games A perpetually overlooked skier and a self-sabotaging hockey legend collide at their breaking points. Their unexpected connection threatens her medal chances and his shot at a comeback as they navigate romance and redemption in the Olympic Village. (What’s on Netflix)
That’s it. Enjoy!
