Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

There are some pretty good items to share with all of you today, but before I get into all of that I just want to say congrats to all the winners of the Tony Awards, which were aired last night, and to send out a congrats to all the nominees of the TCA Awards to be presented by the Television Critics Association in August.

And now for today’s news:

TELEVISION

AMC has renewed The Killing for a second season. (The Wrap)

Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Undercovers) has landed the female lead opposite Kiefer Sutherland in the FOX drama pilot Touch, which is considered a lock for a midseason series order. The series centers on Martin (Sutherland) who discovers that his genius son Jake (David Mazouz) is communicating with him through a complex series of numbers and may even be able to predict events before they happen. (Deadline)

Actor Curtis Armstrong (Revenge of the Nerds and Moonlighting) has landed a multi-episode arc on The Closer, playing Peter Goldman, a resourceful attorney hired by the mother of a slain gang member to sue Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) and the Los Angeles Police Department. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)

CONDOLENCES

Laura Ziskin, Spider-Man franchise producer and co-founder of Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C), lost her battle with breast cancer Sunday night. She was 61. (Twitter)

ME: Rest in Peace, Ms. Ziskin. Condolences to her family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Pierce Brosnan and Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl) have signed to play a father and son in the film The House Gun that is based on the 1998 novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Nadine Gordimer. It is set in post-Apartheid South Africa where the son of a wealthy South African family is arrested on a murder charge. The father hires a black lawyer to try the case. The big catch: financing for the picture is still being worked out and no writer or director is yet attached. (The LA Times and Dark Horizons)

James Badge Dale (24 and Rubicon) has joined the cast of the zombie apocalyptic thriller World War Z that is based on the novel by Max Brooks. The film stars Brad Pitt as a U.N. Postwar Commissions researcher tasked with finding a cure for the human race ten years after the disease has infected Earth. Dale will play an American soldier who is the first to report this planet-consuming zombie epidemic to government officials. (Showblitz and Dark Horizons)

Actor Jeremy Renner will star in and produce the race car drama called Slingshot that follows the real-life adventures of Bill Caswell, a guy who won the World Rally Championships held in Mexico using a BMW he bought off Craig’s List for $500. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Here is the list of the top 10 movies at the box office this past weekend courtesy of Exhibitor Relations and E! Online:

1. Super 8, $37 million
2. X-Men: First Class, $25 million
3. The Hangover Part II, $18.5 million
4. Kung Fu Panda 2, $16.6 million
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, $10.8 million
6. Bridesmaids, $10.2 million
7. Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, $6.3 million
8. Midnight in Paris, $6.1 million
9. Thor, $2.4 million
10. Fast Five, $1.7 million

That’s it. Enjoy!