Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

GENERAL

Congrats to the winners of last night’s Critics’ Choice Awards, including (but not limited to): Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston, Tatiana Maslany, Michael Cudlitz, Monica Potter, The Big Bang Theory, Elizabeth Moss and Patton Oswalt (E! Entertainment).

TELEVISION

DirecTV has given a second season order to its first original scripted drama Rogue that starred Thandie Newton as morally and emotionally conflicted undercover detective name Grace Travis. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actors Alexander Ludwig (The Hunger Games) and Linus Roache (Law & Order) have joined the cast of the History Channel drama Vikings for the show’s second season. Ludwig will portray Bjorn, the intelligent and bold warrior son of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) while Roache will play Ecbert, King of Wessex. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES NEWS

Actor Will Rothhaar (Last Resort) has joined the cast of the National Geographic two-hour original drama Killing Kennedy that will begin in 1959, following the paths of Kennedy (Rob Lowe), a member of one of the United States’ most wealthy and powerful families and his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Rothhaar), a disillusioned former Marine and Marxist, until they collide in Dallas four years later. The cast also includes Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time), Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy and Gossip Girl) [among others]. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

British actor Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter franchise) has joined the cast of the TNT drama pilot Murder In The First as a series regular. The series will center on San Francisco PD homicide detectives Terry Seagrave (Taye Diggs) and Hildy Mulligan (Kathleen Robertson), as they take on a case that seems more like a maze. Felton will play Erich Blunt, the cocky, spectacularly wealthy CEO of Applicon, a tech genius. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Sarah Jane Morris (NCIS and Brothers & Sisters) has joined the cast of the A&E pilot Occult that will star Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) as FBI Agent Dolan, who is returning from leave after going off the deep end while investigating his wife Rebekah’s disappearance. Now back on the job, Dolan is paired with Noa Blair (Lynn Collins from True Blood), an agent who, perhaps because of her own “complicated” past, specializes in the occult. Together, they will solve cases for a newly formed occult crimes task force. Morris will play said missing wife. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Actress Holliday Grainger (The Borgias) has joined the cast the live-action adaptation of Cinderella, where she will play one of Cinderella’s beautiful but mean stepsisters. Actress Lily James (Downton Abbey) plays Cinderella while actor Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) will play her handsome prince, and actress Cate Blanchett will play her wicked stepmother. (The Wrap and Dark Horizons)

More casting news for the Veronica Mars movie: Francis Capra, who played Eli “Weevil” Navarro on all three seasons of the TV series, will be in the movie!! (Kickstarter Update)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actress Natalie Zea (Justified and The Following) will be showing up in the CBS summer series Under the Dome, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, starting with episode 9 and in a reversal she will be playing someone who will cause some serious trouble for the residents of Chester’s Mill (Maine) where an invisible force field has cut the entire town off from the outside world. Under the Dome is set to debut on June 24. (William Keck at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO is working on a drama project from Karl Gajdusek, who created the short-lived TV series Last Resort and was the co-writer of the recent box office film Oblivion. This new project called The Spark is set in a world undergoing a technological/industrial revolution in the near future when contacted by a signal from beyond the solar system. It centers on the human reaction to a mystery still spiritually and technologically out of reach and follows a female protagonist as she works on the cusp of the Earth’s effort to discover the origin of the signal. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) [among others] have joined the cast of the HBO drama pilot The Leftovers (from Damon Lindelof) that will star Justin Theroux. This project is based on the Tom Perrotta novel that takes place after the Rapture happens, focusing on the people who didn’t make the cut. Eccleston, will play Matt Jamison, former Reverend and current editor of his self-published tabloid. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

THEATRE NEWS (WITH TIE-IN TO MOVIE NEWS)

Do any of you remember the independent film Waitress that starred Keri Russell (Felicity and The Americans) and Nathan Fillion (Castle)? Well if you do, you might be interested to know that award-winning producers of the Broadway play Pippin are planning to mount a musical version of the film for the stage with singer Sara Bareilles to compose the music. (Erin Strecker at Entertainment Weekly)

INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION

The UK/Ireland TV channel Sky 1 is planning to make a two-part adaptation of the John Meade Falkner adventure novel called Moonfleet into a made-for-TV movie with actor Ray Winstone set to play Elzevir Block, the leader of a band of smugglers in 18th century Dorset, England. Joining him in the cast is actor Aneurin Barnard (who will be seen in the Starz mini-series The White Queen starting in August), who will play a young newcomer to the smuggling crew as they embark on the hunt for a lost diamond. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)

TV TRAILER

BBC Unveil “Luther” Third Series Trailer

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Christina Ricci will play legendary Lizzie Borden in a Lifetime original movie about the woman tried and acquitted in the 1892 ax murders of her mother and stepmother. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

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

1. The Purge – $36.4 million
2. Fast & Furious 6 – $19.8 million
3. Now You See Me – $19.5 million
4. The Internship – $18.1 million
5. Epic – $12.1 million
6. Star Trek Into Darkness – $11.7 million
7. After Earth – $8 million
8. The Hangover Part III – $7.4 million
9. Iron Man 3 – $5.8 million
10. The Great Gatsby – $4.2 million

Actors Chris Lowell (Private Practice) and Percy Daggs III have officially joined the cast of the much-anticipated Veronica Mars movie. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline and Kickstarter Updates)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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