Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news for yesterday and today:

TELEVISION

Actor Bruce Boxleitner (Babylon 5 and Scarecrow and Mrs. King) will join the cast of the first-ever scripted drama series Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove set to debut on the Hallmark Channel on July 20. He will play Bob Beldon, owner of the local Cedar Cove Inn called Thyme and Tide. (The Futon Critic)

ABC will air the four remaining episodes of last fall’s new thriller 666 Park Avenue starting on June 22. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Doctor Who has been renewed for an 8th season by the BBC. (The Deadline Team)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Mia Maestro (Alias and Breaking Dawn Part 2) will star opposite actor Corey Stoll in the FX drama project called The Strain, which is an of the Guillermo del Toro vampire novel trilogy that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Stoll), the head of the Centers for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. Maestro will play Dr. Nora Martinez, who works so closely with Ephraim, they finish each other’s sentences and stumble into an affair. The project is being eyed for a 13-episode pick-up by the network. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Legendary director Steven Spielberg is set to produce a live-action TV series based on the popular video game Halo for Microsoft, who is attempted to move into Netflix and Amazon territory of producing original content for its VOD service. (Dark Horizons)

Actress America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) is set to star in the potential limited series for ABC called Pedro & Maria, a modern day twist on Romeo and Juliet. Here is the tagline for the project: Pedro and Maria are two opposites cut from the same cloth caught in the trap of forbidden love. He is a second generation Dominican from the mean streets of Washington Heights. She is a Puerto Rican whose parents made millions as real estate developers. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. Star Trek Into Darkness – 70.2 million
2. Iron Man 3 – 35.8 million
3. The Great Gatsby – 24 million
4. Pain and Gain – 3.2 million
5. The Croods – 3 million
6. 42 – 2.8 million
7. Oblivion – 2.3 million
8. Mud – 2.2 million
9. Tyler Perry Presents Peeples – 2.1 million
10. The Big Wedding – 1.2 million

Actor Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) is set to star in the upcoming box office film called Aurora Rising, playing a Southern California surfer turned military fighter pilot who, after acing a complicated and messy first combat mission, gets recruited to be part of an elite team to test the next generation of aircraft. (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Actor Christian Borle (Smash) will star in the upcoming cyber crime movie from Michael Mann that is as-yet untitled. The film will feature Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis and Holt McCallany as part of the cast. (The Deadline Team)

Actress Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) and actor Gabriel Byrne (Vikings) have joined the cast of the anticipated adaptation of the Vampire Academy books by Richelle Mead. Byrne will play Victor, one of the leaders of the Academy while Hyland will play Natalie, Victor’s daughter and the best friend of the lead characters, Rose and Lissa. Actresses Lucy Fry and Zoey Deutch will play the lead characters. (Dominic Patten at Deadline)

Actress Shannyn Sossamon (Moonlight) will play architect and designer Eileen Gray in the upcoming biopic called The Price Of Desire with singer-actress Alanis Morissette set to play her lover. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)

Actress Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby) and actor Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust And Bone) will star in the adaptation of the Thomas Hardy 1874 novel Far From The Madding Crowd. They will play Bathsheba Everdine and Gabriel Oak in the story of the ill-fated passions of a willful young woman and her three suitors. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)

BROADWAY NEWS

Actor Zachary Levi (Chuck) will star opposite actress Krysta Rodriguez (Smash) in the Broadway play First Date. He will play Aaron, who is set up on a first date with Casey (Rodriguez). As the date unfolds in real time, the couple quickly finds they are not alone on this date as Casey and Aaron’s inner critics take on a life of their own when other restaurant patrons and the wait staff get into the act. (The Deadline Team)

That’s it. Enjoy!