Hey All,
Now that I have returned from San Diego and the annual Comic Con extravaganza, I can finally get caught up on all the news I missed, including breaking news that took place AT Comic Con (for which I had to miss out on because of a hectic schedule).
The following is a long list of news from last week as well as yesterday and today. Sit back and relax:
TELEVISION
It looks like despite what was said before about actors Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, and Cory Monteith leaving the FOX musicomedy Glee when their characters graduate at the end of this upcoming season, Executive Producer Brad Fulchuk stated at Comic Con that they will actually be back for season 4. The statement was thus: “(just) because they’re graduating doesn’t mean they’re leaving the show”. Entertainment Weekly confirmed that all of the actors have signed traditional seven-year contracts so it’s not like their deals were going to expire after next season, though the studio retains the right to drop them year after year. Actor Chord Overstreet’s exit, however, is still a go; in fact, he won’t return this fall for any episodes. Falchuk said Overstreet was offered a deal to return for 10 episodes with the possibility of becoming a series regular, but Overstreet declined in favor of other opportunities. (Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)
Legendary actor Robert Wagner (Hart to Hart) will not be providing the voice of Charlie in the reimagined Charlie’s Angels series that will debut on ABC in the fall. The reason for this change is due to scheduling conflicts. Casting is ongoing for the man who will ultimately give new angels their marching orders this fall. (William Keck at TV Guide)
Actor Liam Cunningham (Camelot) has signed on for a major role in the HBO series Game of Thrones, playing Davos Seaworth, a family man with a checkered past whom fellow Season 2 newcomer Stannis Baratheon (actor Stephen Dillane) will enlist to help steal the series’ central throne from King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson). The series is scheduled to return in 2012. (TV Guide)
Actress Monica Raymund (Lie to Me) will appear in multiple episodes of the CBS cop drama Blue Bloods, playing the new partner of Jaime Reagan (Will Estes) when his previous partner, Renzulli (Nick Turturro), gets bumped up the ranks to fill in as platoon commander. The series returns for its second season on September 23 at 10 PM. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
Actor Rhys Coiro (Entourage) has booked a recurring role on the new medical drama A Gifted Man that will debut this fall on CBS. He will play Dr. Zeke Barnes a family doctor by day and a rock musician by night. The series stars Patrick Wilson as an ultra-competitive surgeon whose life is turned upside down when his dead ex-wife starts visiting him from the hereafter. The new series will premiere on September 23. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Actor John Terry (Lost) will appear on the new ABC remake of Charlie’s Angels, playing Victor Sampson, the dad of cat burglar-turned-Angel Abby (Rachael Taylor). A former Wall Street titan, Victor is now behind bars for fraud, thus estranged from his daughter — until, that is, she needs some information from him to crack a case. The series will debut on September 22 at 8 PM. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
Actress Jorja Fox is returning to CSI this fall as a full-fledged series regular after appearing on the show in a recurring guest star capacity for the past four seasons; but she won’t appear in every episode this season. The long-running series will return with new episodes on September 21 at 10 PM. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Actress Cassidy Freeman (Smallville) will guest star in the season premiere of CSI: NY, playing a bartender whose male co-worker is killed in a robbery gone bad. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
Actor Santiago Cabrera (Heroes and Merlin) will appear in an episode of Covert Affairs (alongside former Heroes co-star Sendhil Ramamurthy. There are no details on what role he will play, though. (Matt Mitovich and Vlada Gelman at TV Line)
The Syfy hit series Eureka will air a special holiday themed episode this December and it won’t be like the show’s previous holiday episode: it will be animated. In the first-of-its-kind episode, the quaint town of geniuses will be transformed into animated versions of themselves. The stand-alone holiday episode will also feature a stellar line up of guest stars lending their voices to a variety of characters – Jim Parsons, Chris Parnell, Matt Frewer and Edward James Olmos. The airdate for the holiday episode will be announced at a later date. In the episode “Do You See What I See,” it’s Christmas again in Eureka, and Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) and Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) are secretly planning the perfect holiday surprise for their kids. But something mysterious interferes with the super-photon generator designed to create a faux winter wonderland on Main Street, sending a kaleidoscopic wave of color crashing over Eureka, and leaving the entire town and its inhabitants animated. Adapting to the rules of their animated world, our cartoon heroes encounter talking creatures, anthropomorphized machines, and snowy foes as they race to find a solution before Christmas morning…or face potentially being a cartoon forever. Jim Parsons is set to voice Carter’s long put-on Jeep, who’s had enough of his owner’s cavalier attitude towards him. Edward James Olmos will voice Rudy, the leader of a pack of sled dogs who befriends Deputy Andy. Chris Parnell also guest stars as Dr. Noah Drummer, reprising his role from last year’s Christmas special. Matt Frewer will be featured as an animated, altered version of himself, and helps Jo (Erica Cerra) make an important realization about her tough-girl personality. (The Futon Critic)
Actress Odette Annable (Brothers & Sisters and Breaking In) has landed a series regular role on the long-running FOX medical drama House. Producers are keeping the details on her character under wraps, but word has it she meets Dr. Gregory House in prison. (Deadline)
Actor Kenny Johnson (The Shield and Saving Grace) will join the cast of the new NBC drama Prime Suspect, which is an adaptation of the popular British drama starring Helen Mirren. This new version stars Maria Bello as Jane Timoney, a female detective struggling to make her bones in a tough New York precinct dominated by men. Johnson will play Matt Webb, her boyfriend. The series will premiere on September 22 at 10 PM slot. (Deadline)
Actress Mercedes Masohn (Chuck) has landed the female lead opposite Geoff Stults and Michael Clarke Duncan in the new FOX dram The Finder, the upcoming Bones spinoff series, which is slated to launch on Fox in January. She will play Deputy US Marshall Isabel Zambada, a focused, nuclear-powered cop on the rise, who is a brilliant politician using a career in law enforcement to climb to the top of the heap in life. Also cast in the new series is 16-year-old newcomer Maddie Hasson as Willa, a second generation criminal who helps Walter (Stults) and Leo (Duncan) in their investigations. (Deadline)
Actor Jere Burns (most recently seen in Breaking Bad and Justified) will have a major recurring role on the hit USA series Burn Notice. He will play Anson Fullerton, a brilliant but understated clinical psychologist whose specialties in human behavior and experience working with covert agents proves useful in answering many of Michael’s (Jeffrey Donovan) still looming questions. As a psychologist for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Anson has high-level government clearance and security access. But when his wife is held hostage by a brutal criminal, Anson is forced to hand over his access codes to save her life and the team must work to rescue her before it’s too late. (Deadline)
Actor Reed Diamond (Franklin & Bash) will guest star in an episode of the CBS drama The Mentalist, playing Ray Haffner, a confident CBI supervising agent who will lead a group of agents assisting Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and her team with the investigation of a personal trainer’s murder. The series returns for its fourth season on September 22 at 10 PM. (Adam Bryant at TV Guide)
Actress Zoey Deutch (The Suite Life on Deck and daughter of actress Lea Thompson) has joined the cast of the upcoming thriller Ringer that will debut this fall. She is replacing Caitlin Custer in the role of wild child Juliet, the daughter of Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) and stepdaughter of Siobhan (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Additionally, actress Jaime Murray (Dexter and Warehouse 13) has also joined the cast as Andrew’s business partner. The series will debut on September 13 at 9PM. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)
Actress Kelly Giddish (Chase) will guest star in one upcoming episode of The Good Wife when it returns with new episodes this fall on CBS. She will reprise her role as private investigator Sophia. The series will return on September 25 at 9 PM. (TV Line and TV Guide)
Actor Jack Coleman (Heroes) will guest star in an upcoming fall episode of The Vampire Diaries, playing Bill, a former resident of Mystic Falls who returns home with a dangerous point of view about vampires. (TV Guide)
Legendary actress Lily Tomlin will appear in NCIS playing the part of grandmother to Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray). She will appear early in the show’s ninth season. The show returns for its ninth season on September 20 at 8 PM on CBS. (TV Guide)
Actor Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks and Desperate Housewives) and actress Paige Turco (Damages and NYPD Blue) will both guest star in an upcoming episode of Law & Order: SVU in a story inspired by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. MacLachlan will play Andrew Raines, a powerful politician whose family is embroiled in a headline-grabbing scandal while Turco (The Agency, NYPD Blue) plays his wife Kathleen Raines. The show will be back with new episode starting September 21 at 10 PM. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
TNT has ordered a second season of Franklin & Bash, the legal drama that stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer. (Lynette Rice at Entertainment Weekly)
Actor John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) will guest star on Psych, playing a kooky art museum curator sometime during Season 6, which premieres in October. (Variety and Megan Masters at TV Line)
Disney Channel star Chelsea Kane will appear in one of the early episodes of the long running CW series One Tree Hill, playing Tara, a rival Café owner to Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and Brooke (Sophia Bush). The series is expected to return mid-season for its final run. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)
Despite reports to the contrary, actress Karen Gillan announced at Comic Con over the weekend that she will indeed be returning to Doctor Who for its next new season, which will air in 2012. The current season of the show – as it airs here in the United States – is anticipated to start in September. (Zap2It and Blastr)
BOX OFFICE MOVIES
Legendary actor Harrison Ford is attached to star as an aging Wyatt Earp in the upcoming box office film Black Hats, which is an adaptation of the 2007 novel by Max Allan Collins. The film will tell the story of an older Wyatt Earp, who spent his last years as a private detective and movie consultant in Los Angeles. But this story’s spin involves Earp learning that his friend and compatriot Doc Holliday had a son, now living in Prohibition-era New York City. While Holliday is long dead, the son has gotten himself in trouble with a rising mobster – Al Capone. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)
Here are the top 10 box office films for the past weekend courtesy of Deadline:
1. Captain America 3D – $65.8 million
2. Harry Potter/Deathly Hallows Pt 2 – $48 million
3. Friends With Benefits – $18.5 million
4. Transformers 3 3D – $12 million
5. Horrible Bosses – $11.7 million
6. Zookeeper – $8.7 million
7. Cars 2 3D – $5.7 million
8. Winnie The Pooh – $5.1 million
9. Bad Teacher – $2.6 million
10. Midnight In Paris – $1.8 million
It was confirmed at Comic Con that four of the original cast members of the 1960’s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows will make cameos in new film. Lara Parker (Angelique), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans and Josette du Pres), David Selby (Quentin Collins) and Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins) will appear in cameos. (Bloody Disgusting and Dark Horizons)
It is reported that actor Hugh Jackman is firmly locked into playing Jean Valjean in the film version of the hit musical Les Miserables. Additionally, it is being said that actor Russell Crowe is apparently keen to play the determined Inspector Javert, the antagonist of the piece. However, Paul Bettany remains the front runner. (Baz Bamigboye and Dark Horizons)
Actors Helena Bonham Carter, Dwight Yoakam and Barry Pepper are all in talks to join the upcoming box office film The Lone Ranger that stars Armie Hammer as a Texas Ranger left for dead, who dons the masked identity known as the Lone Ranger and is helped along the way by an Indian named Tonto (Johnny Depp). Carter will play the madam of a brothel who deals with gentlemen and scoundrels while Pepper will play a military officer and Yoakam will play Butch Cavendish, who is the leader of the gang that attacks and leaves the Ranger for dead. Ruth Evans, Tom Wilkinson and James Badge Dale are also onboard. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)
Actress Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids) has joined the cast of the indie coming-of-age comedy film Struck by Lightning that stars Chris Colfer (Glee) as a character who is struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. The film will chronicle his exploits as he blackmails his fellow senior classmates into contributing to a magazine he’s publishing. (Variety and Dark Horizons)
Actor Max Martini (The Unit) has joined the cast of the film Pacific Rim” that tells the story of an alien invasion that threatens Earth. He will play the part of the resistance that fights them. (Variety and Dark Horizons)
Actor Nick Nolte will appear in the political thriller The Company You Keep based on the Neil Gordon novel that stars Robert Redford as a former militant wanted by the FBI who must go on the run when his true identity is exposed by an ambitious young reporter (Shia LaBeouf). (Dark Horizons)
Actress Imogen Poots (Jane Eyre and the upcoming Fright Night) has landed the female lead in the upcoming bio-pic Greetings From Tim Buckley that stars Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl) in the role of musician Jeff Buckley. The film follows the true story of the days leading up to Jeff Buckley’s 1991 performance at a tribute concert for his father, who’d abandoned him. Poots plays a young woman who meets Jeff Buckley while working at the concert. They embark on a four-day journey that changes both their lives. Shooting begins next month. (Deadline)
It looks like Warner Bros has pulled The Man of Steel from a planned late 2012 release date and has slotted it to open wide on June 14, 2013 release. (Deadline)
COMIC CON TRAILERS
NOTE: These are just a small sample of all the trailers that were shared with fans over the 5-days of Comic Con:
‘Doctor Who’ trailer might give you nightmares (but it’s worth it)
‘Torchwood’ teaser trailer from Comic-Con here!
‘Homeland’ at Comic-Con: Here’s a sneak peek
First look at ABC’s new ‘Once Upon a Time’ trailer
MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS
A&E Network will begin production on Stephen King’s Bag of Bones, a four-hour epic mini-series that will feature Pierce Brosnan’s return to television. The two-night event is scheduled to premiere in the fourth quarter of 2011. The mini-series will also star Anabeth Gish (The X-Files and most recently seen in Pretty Little Liars) and Melissa George (Alias). The story centers on bestselling novelist Mike Noonan (Brosnan), who is unable to stop grieving after the sudden death of his wife Jo (Gish). A dream inspires him to return to the couple’s lakeside retreat in western Maine, where he becomes involved in a custody battle between the daughter of an attractive young widow (George) and the child’s enormously wealthy grandfather, the mysterious ghostly visitations, the ever-escalating nightmares and the realization that his late wife still has something to tell him. (Deadline)
Lifetime has greenlit the original movie called We Have Your Husband that will star Teri Polo and Esai Morales. The film is based on the true story of American Jayne Valseca (Polo) and her fight to free her husband Eduardo (Morales) who spent 7 and a half months at the hands of brutal kidnappers in Mexico. Eduardo, a Mexican businessman, was kidnapped at gunpoint close to the ranch where he lived with his wife Jayne and their kids, launching a race for Jayne to raise ransom money while Eduardo clings to life as he is starved, tortured and shot several times. The film is based on the book of the same name by Jayne Valseca and Mark Ebner. (Deadline)
TNT has set actor Bill Pullman (who is currently appearing in Torchwood: Miracle Day) as the lead in a two-hour telefilm called Innocent that is based on the book by Scott Turow, which is actually a sequel to his bestseller Presumed Innocent. It is the first entry in the network’s recently announced new Tuesday Night Mystery movie franchise slated to launch in November, which will feature six contemporary crime dramas, from true-crime stories to fictional mysteries. Innocent centers on Judge Rusty Sabich (Pullman) who, twenty years after being cleared in the death of his mistress, is charged with the murder of his late wife. (Deadline)
The Sundance Channel has picked up the mini-series called Appropriate Adult, which is based on true events. It tells the story of British serial killer Fred West (Dominic West) and his relationship with his appropriate adult, Janet Leach (Emily Watson). In the UK, an “appropriate adult” is appointed to sit in on police interviews with children or vulnerable adults to safeguard their interests. Fred West and his wife Rosemary were accused of murdering at least a dozen women between 1967 and 1978. It will premiere on the cable channel in the fall. (Deadline)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
USA Network has passed on its pilot Eden that was to center on a young hotel worker (Nick D’Agosto) who, with the help of his escaped con artist cousin (Enver Gjokaj), gets a job as the concierge at an elite NYC hotel. Together they manage to provide the hotel guests with whatever they desire. Eden is the first USA pilot to get a pass this cycle, which included 2 batches of 3 pilots each. (Deadline)
It looks like the Mark Cherry pilot Hallelujah may not be completely dead after all (it was not picked up to series for the 2011-2012 fall season) as Cherry is now writing a new script for the project because it is being retooled. (Deadline)
BOX OFFICE TRAILERS
Watch: First Great Trailer for Soderbergh’s ‘Haywire’ with Gina Carano
Watch: First 4 Minute Sizzle Reel for Andrew Niccol’s ‘In Time’ Thriller
New Spider-Man Trailer Officially Released Day After Leak—Is It Amazing or Not?
That’s it. Enjoy!
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Rueben's Ramblings 