Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) will guest star in the season finale of Criminal Minds, playing the villain. The finale will run for two hours on May 16 and will involve an attack on a federal bank with a subsequent hostage situation for which one of the BAU members is held captive. There were no specific details on the role Helfer would play, though. (Matt Mitovich and Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

Actor Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) will guest star in a May sweeps episode of Harry’s Law, playing a man who holds the courtroom hostage when the person accused of raping and murdering his sister is found not guilty. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress (and Emmy winner) Margo Martindale will appear in an episode of the legal drama Suits when the USA Network series returns this summer. She will play Nell Sawyer, a nurse who proves unflappable in the face of Harvey’s hardball tactics after her union threatens a strike against the hospital he represents. (Mandy Bierly at Entertainment Weekly)

The U.K. original Being Human has been renewed for a 5th season. (Twitter and Dark Horizons)

Actress Michelle Borth has joined the cast of the CBS remake Hawaii Five-0, reprising her recurring role of Lt. Catherine Rollins. She will now be a series regular. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Graham Greene has joined the cast of the upcoming, futuristic Syfy series called Defiance. The series will center on a transformed Earth, inhabited by the survivors of a universal war. Forced to co-habitate, the group struggles to build a new society among the devastation. Greene will play Rafe McCawley, a self-made success who owns and operates the largest mine in the territory. His status as the richest and most powerful human in Defiance comes with a price, however, as he struggles to navigate both familial and political alliances in the new world. The cast includes Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Tony Curran and Jaime Murray. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl) has booked a role in the ABC drama pilot called Bad Girls that will follow the ins and outs of a group of unlikely women at a federal correctional institute. She will play Melinda, the warden of Santa Del Mar Women’s Federal Correctional Institute. Among the cast are Amy Smart, Jurnee Smollett, Rick Gonzalez and Tracee Ellis Ross. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Jason George (Grey’s Anatomy) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot called Mistresses that is about the lives of four female friends and their involvement in an array of illicit and complex relationships. He will play Dominic Montgomery, a co-worker of the character to be played by Alyssa Milano (Charmed). Among the cast are Rochelle Aytes and Yunjin Kim. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Billy Burke (from the Twilight Saga franchise) has been promoted to the lead role in the as-yet untitled drama pilot from J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke formerly known as Revolution that will follow a group of people struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist. He was originally cast in a supporting role but will now play the lead, Miles, an amazingly resourceful man with a dark and dangerous side. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

FX is in early talks to adapt the box office film Fargo as a TV series. The dark comedy film starred Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief investigating a series of murders involving an incompetent car salesman (William H. Macy). (Variety and TV Guide)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 box office films for this past weekend courtesy of Deadline (all totals are an approximate for the weekend):

1. The Hunger Games – 155 million
2. 21 Jump Street – 21.3 million
3. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax 3D – 13.1 million
4. John Carter 3D – 5 million
5. Act Of Valor – 2 million
6. Project X – 1.9 million
7. A Thousand Words – 1.8 million
8. October Baby – 1.7 million
9. Safe House – 1.3 million
10. Journey 2 – 1.2 million

TV TRAILER

Doctor Who Season 7 Teaser Trailer

That’s it. Enjoy!