Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Maggie Lawson (Psych) will show up on an episode of Justified, playing a nurse who might have vital information to share with Raylan (Timothy Olyphant). And, in another episode of Justified actor William Mapother (Lost) will play an Oxy-addicted, woman-beating bar owner. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC has given a straight to series pick-up to Mistresses, which is based on the BBC series of the same name. The series is targeted for summer 2013 and is described as a provocative thrilling drama that finds four women with scandalous romantic lives, caught in storms of excitement and self-discovery, secrecy and betrayal, and at the mercy of the complex relationships they’ve created. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Daisy Betts (Harry’s Law and the short-lived Persons Unknown) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot Last Resort that is set to star Andre Braugher. The project centers on the crew of the U.S.S. Nevada, a nuclear submarine, who, after disobeying a suspicious order, become fugitives. They land on the island of Sainte Marina, where they take over the NATO Listening Station and declare themselves an independent nuclear nation. Betts will play a member of the crew, Lt. Grace Shepard, the daughter of an Admiral father who is new to the sub and to command positions. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Alona Tal (Supernatural and the short-lived Cane) has been cast in the CW drama pilot Cult, which centers on Skye (Jessica Lucas), an inquisitive, young female production assistant on a wildly popular television show called Cult who, after a rash of disappearances and a likely murder, joins a journalist blogger in investigating the rabid fans of the series who might be re-creating crimes seen on the program in real life. Tal will play an actress portraying a young LAPD detective on the show. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Alfred Molina is set to star in the David E. Kelley-TNT medical drama pilot called Chelsea General, which is based on CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta’s upcoming novel 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. Molina will play Dr. Harding Hooten, the steely-eyed Chief of Surgery at Chelsea General, known for his punishing and outwardly-uncaring ways. Other cast members include Jamie Bamber and Jennifer Finnigan. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actor Jonathan Patrick Moore (Savages and The L.A. Complex) is set to co-star opposite actresses Tori Spelling and Tia Mowry in The Mistle-Tones an ABC Family holiday movie that will anchor the network’s next ‘25 Days of Christmas’ event. The actor will play, Nick, Holly’s (Mowry) boss. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) is in final negotiations to join the cast of the upcoming box office film The Seventh Son which is based on the Joseph Delaney children’s book series called The Wardstone Chronicles (aka The Last Apprentice). The story follows a young man named Tom (Ben Barnes, The Chronicles of Narnia franchise) in training to be the apprentice of a ‘Spook’ (Jeff Bridges), a fighter against evil magic in the 1700’s. Trouble begins when his friend Alice (Alicia Vikander) is tricked into releasing the most sinister witch in the world (Julianne Moore). Harington will play the former apprentice of Bridges’ character. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is set to star in the modern day thriller A Most Wanted Man adapted from the novel by John le Carre. The story takes place in present day Hamburg, Germany where a mysterious, tortured and near-dead half-Chechen, half-Russian man on the run arrives in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father’s ill-gotten fortune. Nothing about this young man seems to add up, though. Is he a victim or a thief or, worse still, an extremist intent on destruction? Drawn into this web of intrigue is a private British banker and a young female lawyer determined to defend the defenseless. All the while, they are being watched by the brilliant, roguish chief of a covert German spy unit (Hoffman), who fights to put the pieces together as the clock ticks. (First Showing)

Actor Tom Felton (the Harry Potter franchise) is in negotiations to star opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Glenn Close in Therese Raquin. Close is attached for the role of Madame Raquin, while Olsen is set for Therese, who, with her lover Laurent, murder her husband (Felton), a sick boy that Madame Raquin forced Therese to marry. After Therese later marries her true love, the couple is haunted by the ghost of the dead husband and it poisons their love into all-consuming hatred. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Actor Jason Statham will star in a remake of the iconic 1987 film Heat that starred Burt Reynolds. The story centers on a recovering gambling addict (Statham) who makes his living providing protection to other gamblers and who refuses to resort to gunplay, strictly using hand and edged weapon combat. (Brent Lang at The Wrap)

Fringe producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have signed on with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer to help bring the vampire Lestat – from the acclaimed Vampire Chronicles series of books by Anne Rice – back to the big screen via the 1993 novel The Tale of the Body Thief. (The Hollywood Reporter and Blastr)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

First Full Teaser Trailer for ‘The Bourne Legacy’ with Jeremy Renner

Q&A SECTION (with Adam Bryant and Natalie Abrams at TV Guide and Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Question: Any good Tiva moments coming up on NCIS? — Melissa

ADAM: If it’s Tiva tension you’re after, don’t miss next week’s episode, which features Tony’s ex-fiancée Wendy (guest star Perrey Reeves, aka Entourage’s Mrs. Ari). “There’s a whole lot of lip-locking,” Michael Weatherly teases. “I think Ziva understands there’s a real threat.” But even though Weatherly thinks something is brewing between Tony and Ziva, he doesn’t believe they will ever be a couple. “Who knows? Maybe they secretly try a kiss just to see what it might be like,” he says. “But putting them together? I don’t think it is a good idea for our show.”

Question: Very excited that Smallville’s Cassidy Freeman will be on The Vampire Diaries! Any scoop on her character? — Jones

NATALIE: “Expect her to be pretty badass,” Freeman tells us. We’ll meet her character, Sage, in the “1912” episode where she’ll find herself in some, ahem, compromising positions. There have been all those “naked Damon” teases…

Question: Where’s the scoop on Drop Dead Diva? — Mel

NATALIE: Jane’s new guardian angel is the polar opposite of Fred. With an oversized sense of entitlement and a bottomless bank account, Luke’s hedonistic ways are perfectly suited to Los Angeles. To put it bluntly: Yes, he works for God, but he’d also probably do just fine working for the guy downstairs.

Question: I really love Justified, but I am wondering what will happen with Winona and her pregnancy. I just have a hard time imagining Raylan with a baby on his lap in the future. Any scoop on that front? —Muriel

Ausiello: That story takes a surprising turn at the tail end of Episode 5 (airing Feb. 14) when Raylan comes home after a long day’s work and find something very spoilery waiting for him.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings franchise) will guest star in a March episode of NCIS as a psychological operations investigator working alongside guest star Jamie Leigh Curtis. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Noah Bean (Nikita and Damages) will guest star on Once Upon a Time as a handsome stable boy in fairytale land who tends to horses at the royal manor; and young actress Bailee Madison (Just Go With It) will also appear on Once Upon a Time as a young Snow White while singer Roger Daltrey (from the legend rock group The Who) will provide the voice for the talking caterpillar in an Alice in Wonderland-themed episode of the series. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line, James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly and Variety)

Actor Stephen Lang (Terra Nova and Avatar) will appear in a three-episode arc of In Plain Sight, playing the troubled father of Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack). The show will be back for its final season on USA on March 16 at 10 PM. (William Keck at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) has been cast in the CBS drama pilot called Golden Boy, which tracks an ambitious young police officer’s meteoric rise through the department ranks. He will splay his new partner, Detective Owen. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

ABC Family is moving forward with a new series from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino called Bunheads that will star Sutton Foster as Michelle, a Las Vegas showgirl who impulsively marries a man and moves to his sleepy coastal town, and takes an uneasy role at her new mother-in-law’s dance school. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Young Australian actors Brenton Thwaites and Indiana Evans (both co-stars on the popular Australian soap opera home and Away) are stepping into the roles made famous by Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins in The Blue Lagoon, the contemporary remake being made by Lifetime. Thwaites and Evans will play Dane and Emma, a boy and a girl marooned on a tropical island where they grow up together, fall in love and discover sexuality. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Amy Adams is set to star in and produce an adaptation of comedian/actor/author Steve Martin’s novel called An Object of Beauty that follows fifteen years of a young art entrepreneur’s life. (The Hollywood Reporter and First Showing)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

New Amazing Spider-Man Trailer—Watch It Now

ME: I have to admit that I wasn’t sold on this new reboot of Spider-Man because I enjoyed the first two movies from the franchise that starred Tobey Maguire; but now that I have seen this trailer, I will, most likely, end up seeing this movie after all. It impressed me enough to give it a chance.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch) has joined the cast of the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire for Season 3. He will play Gyp Rosetti, a charming gangster who poses as a threat to Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi). (Movie Web)

Sons of Anarchy has been picked up for another season; it’s sixth. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

The A&E series Breakout Kings will be back for its second season on March 4 at 10 PM. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Terry O’Quinn (Lost) will appear in the final two episodes of the second season of Falling Skies, which returns this summer. He will play a former history professor and mentor to Tom Mason (Noah Wyle). (Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Jonathan Groff (Glee) and film star Sanaa Lathan (Something Borrowed ) will be part of the cast of the Starz series Boss. Lathan is expected to play Mona, the incorruptible new chief of staff, who becomes an obsession for Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer) while Groff will play Ian Todd, a smart and ambitious staffer in Kane’s office who steps into the void Ezra Stone (Martin Donovan) has left to offer astute council to Kane. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

CONDOLENCES

Legendary actor Ben Gazzara passed away late last week from pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old. He was in such films as Anatomy of a Murder, Road House and The Thomas Crowne Affair. (The Wrap)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The Dave Cullen 2009 book about the tragic events surrounding the deadly 1999 school shootings in Columbine is being developed as a mini-series by Lifetime. (The Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic)

Actor and Emmy winner Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age) is set to lead the ensemble cast of the ABC drama pilot Last Resort that centers on the crew of the U.S.S. Nevada, a nuclear submarine, who, after disobeying a suspicious order, become fugitives. They land on the island of Sainte Marina, where they take over the NATO Listening Station and declare themselves an independent nuclear nation. Braugher will play Capt. Marcus Chaplin, the commander of the U.S.S. Nevada, a veteran of real combat, a leader by nature and a patriot, but will not follow any man blindly. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Jane Levy (Suburgatory) is in talks to play the lead in the remake of Evil Dead, replacing Lily Collins, who recently exited the film. In the planned remake Levy is to play Mia, a character that corresponds to Ash played by Bruce Campbell in the original 1981 movie. Mia is one of five young people who head to the remote cabin where evil awaits. Recovering from a recent overdose, Mia is particularly vulnerable. The movie is targeted to open April 12, 2013. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)

Here are the top 10 box office films for this past weekend according to Exhibitor Relations:

1. Chronicle, $22 million
2. The Woman in Black, $21 million
3. The Grey, $9.5 million
4. Big Miracle, $8.5 million
5. Underworld Awakening, $5.6 million
6. One for the Money, $5.3 million
7. Red Tails, $5 million
8. The Descendants, $4.6 million
9. Man on a Ledge, $4.5 million
10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, $3.9 million

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: Extended Super Bowl Spot for Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ Online!

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush at TV Guide)

Question: I’ve been watching Once Upon A Time from the beginning, and I thought by now, we’d start to see some real movement towards the present-day fairy-tale folks realizing that something was amiss. But it seems to be dragging and dragging, and while the “fairy tale” portions are fun to watch, there’s nothing there that gives one hope that finally, someone other than Henry knows something’s amiss. It’s getting boring. Any tidbits as to when that might finally happen? — Holly

Matt Roush: We’re only 11 episodes into the first season (which didn’t even premiere until late October), which seems awfully early to be getting impatient for game-changers. Although I’ve felt from the start that the Storybrooke stories tend to pale next to what’s going on back in fabulous Fairy Tale Land. And judging from the questions I’ve been fielding lately, the entire convoluted premise of the town living under this curse has thrown lots of fans into a nit-picking frenzy. I won’t project what’s down the road because this isn’t a spoiler column, but your dissatisfaction with the present-day stuff seems more a reflection of the show’s overall unevenness — and I’m speaking here as someone who’s learned to enjoy the show — than a problem with pacing, because they’re actually breaking a fair amount of story from week to week. Just not the story you’d like to see being played out quite yet. But give it time. These are early days, and Once Upon a Time is going to be with us for a long time to come.

Question: I was wondering with Alcatraz and the new show Touch on Fox, where does that leave Terra Nova for Monday nights? Terra Nova started out with a bang, but it fizzled midway through the season then had an interesting cliffhanger for the winter finale. Is Terra Nova gone the way of The Event, or is it coming back at a different time and or day? — Stephanie

Matt Roush: Terra Nova is done for the season, so is currently in limbo, and its renewal chances are probably dimming, given the solid performance of Alcatraz and the strong opening of Touch in its sneak-peek premiere. If Touch and Alcatraz hold up, Fox may not need to bring back Terra Nova, which was already pretty much “on the bubble” at the time of its December finale. On the other hand, if Fox were to plot out a schedule where some of these shows were renewed for shorter 13-episode seasons (if the economics made sense) and shared time periods the way Terra Nova and Alcatraz (and later, Touch) have done this year, maybe the show could be saved.

Question: I watched Touch, and I really enjoyed it. However, I have my concerns over whether the premise could be stretched out into a series that could potentially last years. The idea, in fact, seemed far more conducive to a two-part miniseries or movie-length format. Interestingly, I’ve found that problem with a lot of shows: The premise is awesome, the pilot interesting, and then over time the idea becomes stretched so thin that the story starts running out of steam. I’m thinking of shows like Touch or Alcatraz or even a show like Ringer. Do you think American television will ever take a note from Spanish-language TV and its concept of telenovelas? That is, shorter-run series that have a defined running period? Or is that a pipe dream? — Barb

Matt Roush: This is a question that dogs any long-running serialized show built around a tantalizing high concept. It’s almost inevitable that whenever an out-of-the-box pilot captures our attention, especially those that play more like a movie than a formula TV show, that we end up asking: How long can they sustain it? Even something as captivating as Showtime’s Homeland has us wondering, after the first season: What next? How can they top it? Should they even try? Currently, I’m wondering how far they can take the thrill ride of ABC’s riveting The River beyond the first eight-episode season should it explode the way it deserves to. Some premises do seem better suited for miniseries (the telenovela concept) than for the long-run, but the networks have turned away from that format, and if a show somehow becomes a hit, the bottom line typically demands more, not less. I do think we’ll see (and to a small degree are already seeing) the networks moving closer to the cable model, and this midseason could provide a few watershed moments in watching limited-run series — like The River and NBC’s fascinating Awake — try to break through.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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