Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Gabourey Sidibe has been bumped up to series regular for the third season which will air starting on April 8 on Showtime. (Andy Patrick at TV Line)

The new NBC sci-fi drama Awake is finally getting placed on the TV schedule, taking over the 10 PM Thursday night timeslot from failing new legal drama The Firm beginning on March 1. The Firm isn’t completely gone – for those few who are watching it – as it will finish its run on Saturday night at 9 PM with repeats of Grimm following at 10 PM. (The Wrap)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Jamie Bamber has joined the cast of the new David E. Kelley TNT medical drama called Chelsea General which is based on CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s upcoming novel called Monday Mornings. The project follows the lives of five surgeons as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings. Bamber will play one of them, Dr. Tyler Wilson, supernova vascular neurosurgeon who has a fling with a fellow neurosurgeon (Jennifer Finnigan). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Ernie Hudson has booked a recurring role on the new NBC pilot called Beautiful People, which is set in the near future in a society where humans co-exist with mechanical androids that look like people but are treated like second-class citizens. Hudson will play the owner of a law firm. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

NBC has green lit the drama pilot called Revolution from Eric Kripke (the man behind Supernatural) and J.J. Abrams (who really needs no introduction anymore, right?). The project is being described as a high-octane action drama following a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Viola Davis (The Help) will appear in two upcoming high-profile films based on popular books. First, she will in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel Beautiful Creatures, which is about two star-crossed teenage lovers, Ethan, a local boy, and a mysterious new girl, Lena, who uncover dark secrets about their families, their history and their town. Davis will play Amma, a seer who looks after Ethan and his father after Ethan’s mother’s death. Second, she will appear in the film adaptation of Ender’s Game, which follows a genius boy strategist recruited by the government to help destroy an insect-like alien race. Davis will play a military psychologist who oversees the emotional welfare of young trainees. (Mike Fleming at Deadline, Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actress Jessica Chastain and actor Joel Edgerton have signed on to star in the film called The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, which is about a New York restaurant owner and his wife, who goes back to college. The twist is the story will be played out across two feature-length movies — one from the husband’s perspective, one from the wife’s. (Reuters and Dark Horizons)

Actress Octavia Spencer (The Help) has joined the cast of the high-profile sci-fi indie film called Snow Piercer, which is set in a future when an Ice Age has killed off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews. Spencer plays a passenger on the train who joins the revolt in order to save her son. Chris Evans, John Hurt and Tilda Swinton (among others) will star. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

Actor Edwin Hodge (the upcoming Red Dawn remake) will star in the sci-fi thriller called Vigilandia that already includes cast members Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey. The story details are being kept under wraps, though. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actor Al Pacino will dip his toes into new territory when he provides his voice for the animated sequel to Despicable Me. No details are available on storyline as yet. (Deadline and First Showing)

SIDE DISHES (with Sandra Gonzalez from Entertainment Weekly)

Question: You’re the only person who listens to my calls for scoop from my beloved USA shows! So Psych me, please! — Billie

Sandra: This season’s finale is going to blow your socks off. Two words: Kama sutra. Just kidding! (Sort of.) But in the episode, a case from the past suddenly reopens that puts Jules in danger and makes Shawn’s dad begin to doubt his skills. It all leads to a shocking decision and an even more shocking conclusion. Yes, there’s a cliffhanger.

Question: I have a Revenge question. I know you can’t say WHO the killer is or the killed person, but I want to know what my reaction will be. — Robyn

Sandra: Satisfaction — at least according to EP Mike Kelley. “I’m hoping for satisfaction, and I think that there will be some gasps, some ‘I told you so.

Question: After the murder on Revenge, are we going to switch locations for the trial? — Josh

Sandra: Not immediately. “For a lot of reasons, our key players will be staying in the Hamptons in the off season,” Kelley assures.

Question: I would love some Grimm scoop. — Sue

Sandra: You’re going to find out very soon why Nick can’t tell others the truth about who he is, but not telling people is going to get harder and harder, according to EPs David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf. “Their partnership will be tested and its going to get to the point where some things are going to happen that are truly not easily explained to Hank. So we’re going to push it as far as we can and hold off as long as we can.”

Question: Do you know when/if The Glades and In Plain Sight will return? I keep seeing cast members in other shows and am hoping this doesn’t mean the shows were canceled. They are two of my favorites and everything was left hanging on both of them. — Merrilee

Sandra: Of course they’ll be back, but Glades isn’t slated to come back until summer. In Plain Sight, meanwhile, returns March 16 with a batch of eight new episodes. As you’ll recall, the latter ended with Mary going into premature labor and still uncertain if she was going to keep the baby. Your scoop? An episode in this upcoming season will find her doing background checks on nannies!

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Chris Klein (American Pie franchise) has landed a guest spot on an episode of Franklin & Bash, playing an old high school friend of Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar). His character will be a charming politician who wants to end his gubernatorial bid after a family scandal. (Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide)

ABC Family has renewed veteran TV series The Secret Life of the American Teenager for a fifth season to become the longest-running series ever on ABC Family, hitting the 100-episode mark. (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor David Conrad (The Ghost Whisperer) has joined the cast of the NBC drama pilot Beautiful People that is set in the near future in a society where humans co-exist with mechanical androids that look like people but are treated like second-class citizens. Conrad will play Jerry, the head of Universal Kinematics, a Steve Jobs-type of entrepreneurial genius, expert at both high-level design and higher-level marketing of sophisticated Mechanical servants. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Jennifer Finnigan (Better with You) is the first cast member set for the David E. Kelley medical drama pilot called Chelsea General for TNT. The pilot is based on CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s upcoming novel “Monday Mornings” that follows the lives of five surgeons as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings. Finnigan will play one of them, Dr. Tina Ridgeway, a neurosurgeon who has a fling with a fellow neurosurgeon. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Kate Mara (American Horror Story) has been cast in Netflix’s first original series, the David Fincher drama called House Of Cards. The political thriller stars Kevin Spacey as Rep. Frank Underwood, the Majority Whip of the US House of Representatives who, after getting passed over for Secretary of State, hatches a plot to bring down the new President. Mara will play Zoe Barnes, a reporter for a top Washington newspaper who, desperate for a break, makes a deal with Underwood for a scoop that could cost her her soul. Also, actress Robin Wright will play Underwood’s wife. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Cam Gigandet, Robert Knepper, William Fichtner, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Anson Mount and Freddy Rodríguez and actress Kathleen Robertson (among others) have joined the cast of the upcoming film called Code Name: Geronimo that follows the story of the Navy SEAL mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. (Screen Daily and Dark Horizons)

Actor John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone and Deadwood) will star alongside Mos Def in an adaptation of the Elmore Leonard 1978 crime novel “Switch”, which is a prequel to Leonard’s book “Rum Punch”, which was adapted into the 1997 feature film Jackie Brown. Hawkes and Def will play the younger versions of Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie, the characters Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson played in Jackie Brown. In this film, Ordell and Louis team to kidnap Mickey Dawson, the wife of a corrupt Detroit real estate developer. When the husband refuses to pay the ransom for his wife’s return, the ex-cons are forced to reconceive their plan, and the angry housewife uses the duo to get her revenge. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Natascha McElhone (Ronin) are set to play Lord and Lady Capulet in the latest film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which will be set in the medieval time of the play (something that hasn’t been since the1968 version). Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth play the doomed lovers. Also among the cast are Stellan Skarsgard, Paul Giamatti, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ed Westwick (among others). (Risky Biz Blog and Dark Horizons)

Actor Eric Bana and actress Rebecca Hall will play former lovers in an as-yet-untitled international thriller that is to center on a pair of old flames who find their lives at risk when they work together on a terrorism trial. (Brent Lang at The Wrap)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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