Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

More breaking news from the networks on their plans for the fall TV schedule are breaking along with much other news so let’s get into today’s update, shall we:

TELEVISION

Actor Ernie Hudson (of Ghostbusters fame) will play Isaac Jeffries, the loving childhood mentor of Mozzie (Willie Garson) in an upcoming episode of White Collar. The series returns with all new episodes on June 7 at 9 PM on the USA Network. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Actor Matt Lauria, whose new show The Chicago Code did not get picked up for a second season by FOX has booked a potentially recurring role on Burn Notice. He will play Ethan, a discharged soldier whose intelligence and tenacity piques the interest of the CIA. Burn Notice will be back starting June 23. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Míriam Colón, (HBO’s How to Make It in America and Guiding Light) will guest star in an upcoming episode of HawthoRNe, appearing as the ailing mother of Marc Anthony’s Detective Nick Renata. The medical drama is back with new episodes on June 14 at 10 PM. (Megan Masters and Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Susan Saint James (Kate & Allie) will guest star on the new USA Network series called Suits that stars Gabriel Macht (Behind Enemy Lines) as a top-shelf attorney and Patrick J. Adams (Friday Night Lights) as the young savant/legal whiz who assists him. St. James will play Joy McAfee, the founder of a toy company who, on the cusp of inking a major licensing deal, reconsiders her life priorities upon meeting Adams’ off-beat character. Suits will debut on June 23. (Megan Masters and Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actress Aimee Garcia (Off the Map and Trauma) has joined the cast of Dexter, playing Jamie, the younger sister of Batista (David Zayas) whom Dexter (Michael C. Hall) hires as a nanny for baby Harrison. (Joyce Eng at TV Guide and TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

It appears that Syfy is developing a spin-off of its popular Warehouse 13 dramedy series. The project will center on the character of H.G. Wells, putting Wells in a 1890s steam-punk environment (at least right now – that could change, though). As more news breaks on this proposed project, you will see it here. (Lacey Rose at The Hollywood Reporter)

UPFRONTS NEWS

Chuck has been renewed for a final season with a 13 episodes order while The Event and Law & Order: Los Angeles have both been canceled. Meanwhile, NBC has picked up the new dramas The Playboy Club, Grimm and “Awake” (formerly known as R.E.M.). And, both Parenthood and Harry’s Law have been renewed. This mean the much-talked-about Wonder Woman pilot is dead as is the 17th Precinct pilot from Ron Moore. (The Futon Critic)

ME: I can personally live without the Wonder Woman pilot, but “boo” on NBC for not moving forward with 17th Precinct.

Meanwhile, word is leaking from ABC that Brothers and Sisters, Off the Map, No Ordinary Family, Detroit 187 as well as V have all been canceled. While new drams Good Christian Bitches, er, I mean Belles (really, that’s the new name) and Charlie’s Angels have been picked up as well as a Pan Am. And, it looks like new shows Once Upon A Time, The River, Revenge and Scandal (formerly Damage Control) have been picked up too. Body of Proof has been picked up too. (Twitter)

ME: Really, Charlie’s Angels and Pan Am are picked up? I’m making the prediction now that Pan Am will crash and burn literally and figuratively. C’mon, ABC. What are you thinking?

JUST BREAKING: CBS has picked up Person of Interest from pilot to series. (Twitter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

French star Dany Boon and actress Diane Kruger have joined the high-concept action-adventure comedy film Fly Me to the Moon. Kruger plays a 30-something woman who has a great career and a loving boyfriend, though her family is plagued with a curse that turns every first marriage into a divorce. So when her boyfriend presses her to get hitched, she embarks on a mission to marry and divorce a stranger before her actual wedding. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actress Zoe Saldana will join actors Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Irons in the film The Words that tells the story of a writer (Cooper) who discovers the price he must pay for stealing the work of another man (Irons). Actor Dennis Quaid will also star in the film as Clay Hammond, another celebrated writer. (Coming Soon, The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

Actor Rob Lowe will star in Knife Fight, a film that deals with the dark side of political operatives. He will play a political crisis specialist who plays hard and tough in dealing with various October campaign surprises. (Deadline and First Showing)

Actor Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) has joined the cast of the film The Baytown Disco that stars Eva Longoria and Billy Bob Thornton. He will play Anthony Reese, a federal agent who comes into a small Southern town to investigate the Oodies — three redneck brothers who get more than they bargained for after agreeing to help a woman get her son back from his seemingly abusive father. (The Wrap)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Must Watch: Colin Farrell Bares Teeth in First Trailer for ‘Fright Night’

SPOILER ROOM (with Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

‘WHITE COLLAR’: HOW WILLIE GARSON’S REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE INSPIRED AN EPISODE. PLUS: NEAL SCOOP!

It’s almost time for White Collar, Collars! And if you’re half as excited as I am about what’s in store, here’s a bit of fun news. First, the Mozzi flashback episode creator Jeff Eastin told me about last year is definitely happening/filmed/done/amazing. But here’s what you may not know: Willie Garson (who plays Mozzi) motivated much of the story. “[The episode] was inspired by Willie’s real-life journey to get his son, who he got out of foster care,” Eastin says. “Early on, I sat down with Willie and we talked about that. It was similar to a story I had been working on for him anyway. And after talking to him, we decided to embrace that idea, and we find out Mozzi was an orphan. It’s a pretty cool story.” Also cool? Seeing Mozzi in the different stages of life, “from an infant all the way up to the present day,” Eastin says. Much more White Collar scoop coming your way in the coming weeks. But here’s some bonus Neal news to tide you over: Look for more “library“-esque sexy time, according to Matt Bomer; the gang will face Keller again this season; and look for a not-so-happy Neal in an upcoming episode where the team encounters “the young Neal Caffrey.” Jealousy? I think so.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

The news isn’t too long today, but there are still some interesting things to share with everyone. Please read on:

TELEVISION

Acting vet Danny Trejo (Machete and The Devil’s Rejects) will appear in a multi-episode arc on the FX series Sons of Anarchy, playing Romero “Romeo” Parada, a charismatic and dangerous former commando for the Mexican military who becomes a new associate of the SONS. The series is expected to return with new episodes in early September. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

UPFRONTS NEWS

NBC let slip a few of their new season pick-ups, including some new comedies and the dramas Smash – that stars Debra Messing – and Prime Suspect – that stars Maria Bello in an American adaptation of the classic British series. It also looks like Chuck will be back for a 5th season; albeit a shorter one, as it’s been rumored it will get a 13-episode season. Official word will be made to the New York advertisers on Monday. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan and Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood) will co-star in the dramedy movie What Maisie Knew that is a contemporary-set adaptation of the Henry James novel, centering on Maisie, a six-year-old girl enmeshed in the bitter divorce of her mother (Moore), a rock and roll icon, and her father (Coogan), a charming but distracted art dealer. Skarsgård will play Moore’s new husband. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actors Ben Whishaw and Hugo Weaving are to play major roles in the ambitious adaptation of the David Mitchell novel Cloud Atlas, joining the already confirmed Halle Berry and Tom Hanks in the ensemble drama which spans six different story lines over a millennia. Each tale is revealed to be a story that is read (or watched) by the main character in the next. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actors Luke Evans and Kristin Scott Thomas are set to star in the box office film called Only God Forgives, which is a story of a Thai police lieutenant whose rivalry with a gangster sees the two settling their differences in a Thai boxing match. (Reuters and Dark Horizons)

Actors Emile Hirsch and Penelope Cruz are set to star in film Twice Born, which is based on the book Venuto Al Mondo, which tells the story of a woman who returns to Sarajevo with her son in tow and revisits the tumultuous past she shared with his late father. (Screen Daily and Dark Horizons)

Recent Aussie acting graduate Elizabeth Debicki will play Jordan Baker in the remake of The Great Gatsby. Baker is a famed golfer and love interest of narrator Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actor Dylan McDermott certainly is busy. He has been cast in the FX pilot American Horror Story from the men behind the FOX musicomedy Glee; but he has signed on for two movies as well. First is Nobody Walks that is about a Los Angeles family that takes in a stranger who winds up disrupting their lives. John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby and Jane Levy also star. Second is Perks of Being a Wallflower that revolves around a boy whose life dramatically changes as he learns about secrets buried deep in his past during his freshman year of high school. McDermott will also play the father of the main character. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actress Helen Hunt is set to star in, produce and direct the romantic comedy Ride, playing the mother of a 20-year-old NYU student. When he leaves for a summer in California, this strong-willed magazine-editor mother is alarmed. When he reveals he’s abandoning school for the surfing life, she follows him to L.A. There, each finds their own version of love, sex and self discovery. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actors Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl and Amanda Seyfried will star in the comedy called Gently Down the Stream. De Niro and Keaton play a long-divorced couple who, for the sake of their adopted son’s wedding and his biological mother, pretend they are still married. They quickly learn that acting the part isn’t easy, especially when their ‘relationship’ unravels for all to see. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actress Mary Lynn Rajskub (24) joins Aubrey Plaza and Kristen Bell (among others) in the film called Safety Not Guaranteed that is a real-life-inspired story of three magazine employees sent to investigate a classified ad from a man seeking a partner for time travel. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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