Hey All,
OMG! I’ve been gone for a week attending Comic Con 2013 and it feels like I’ve been gone for a month. There is SO much news to catch up on besides all the SDCC 2013 stuff that took place. Thank GOD that I had today off to gather all these details for you.
Here goes:
TELEVISION
BBC America will co-produce a new fantasy drama called Atlantis that will air as part of the network’s Supernatural Saturday this fall. The series comes from the team behind the popular TV series Merlin that is set in a time of legendry heroes and mythical creatures that will bring to life the vast store of Greek myths and legends re-imagined for a new generation. (Seat42F)
Showtime has renewed the new drama Ray Donovan for a second season. (Variety)
PBS and Masterpiece have given their mini-series Mr. Selfridge, which starred Jeremy Piven in the title role, a second season order. (The Futon Critic)
ABC has given the cop drama Rookie Blue a fifth season order. (The Futon Critic)
Actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter franchise) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men) have signed on to do a second season of A Young Doctor’s Notebook & Other Stories. The first four-hour series aired in the UK this past December and will air here in the States on the Ovation channel this fall. The series is an adaptation of the Mikhail Bulgakov short stories with Hamm playing a Russian doctor during the Russian Revolution while Radcliffe plays his younger self. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)
Actress Amy Acker (Angel and Much Ado About Nothing) has been promoted to series regular on Person of Interest. As viewers will recall, Acker plays Root, the conflicted cyber-terrorist. (The Deadline Team)
Actor Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones and the box office reboot of Conan) has been cast in the new Sundance Channel original scripted drama The Red Road (formerly known as The Descendants) that is being described as a hard-hitting drama that revolves around Harold Jensen, a sheriff struggling to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities: the small town where he grew up and the neighboring Ramapo Mountains, home of the Ramapo Mountain Indians. Momoa will play Indian ex-con Phillip Kopus. Julianne Nicholson had already been cast as the female lead. This series received a straight-to-series order of six episodes. (The Deadline Team)
Actor Billy Campbell (The Killing and Killing Lincoln) will star in the upcoming Syfy drama Helix where he is set to play Dr. Alan Farragut. The series is about a team of scientists investigating a possible disease outbreak. (Dominic Patten at Deadline)
Actress Karine Vanasse (Pan Am and Midnight In Paris) will appear in a multi-episode arc in Revenge this fall. She will play Margaux, a French businesswoman and former acquaintance of Daniel’s (Josh Bowman) who comes to town to start a magazine. (The Deadline Team)
Actor Tom Arnold will guest star in a season eight episode of Psych, playing Garth Mathers, the paranormal police consultant for the Anchorage Police Department who comes to Santa Barbara with his trusty spirit sidekick Bernie to participate in the Cutting Edge Consultants panel hosted by Professor Stein (Bill Marchant). But when a murder occurs, they pitch in to solve the case. (The Deadline Team)
Syfy is looking to create a TV series based on the Terry Gilliam cult 1995 feature 12 Monkeys. The film starred Bruce Willis as James Cole, a convicted criminal in a near future where the last of humanity lives underground after a pandemic. This adaptation will have a “Battlestar Galactica style approach” with a 90-minute TV movie, serving as a backdoor pilot for a straight-to-series order. (Dark Horizons)
Actress Caity Lotz (Death Valley) will have the recurring role of the Black Canary in Arrow this fall. It is being said, however, that series regular Katie Cassidy, who plays Laurel Lance, could still end up in the part further down the line. (Dark Horizons)
Actor Jim Beaver will be back as Bobby Singer on Supernatural, but there are no other details at this time. Felicia Day will also be back to reprise her role of Charlie. (TV Fanatic and Dark Horizons and Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)
Actor Stephen Collins (7th Heaven and Falling Skies) will join the cast of Revolution this fall, playing the father of Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell). (TV Guide)
Actor Josh Stamberg (Drop Dead Diva) will appear in at least five episodes of Parenthood, playing Carl, a new tenant in the apartment building Sarah (Lauren Graham) owns. (The Wrap and Sadie Gennis at TV Guide)
Actress Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother and The Avengers) will reprise her role of Agent Maria Hill in the TV series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)
ABC Family has officially canceled the dramedy Bunheads. (TV Line)
Actor Shawn Doyle (Big Love) will appear in this fall’s new CW series Reign – that focuses on teenaged Mary, Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane from Teen Wolf and Pretty Tough). Doyle will play Mary’s uncle Claude, who shows up at French court shortly after Mary’s own arrival to advise his niece on matters both political and personal. Along the way he will rouse trouble between the King and the Queen of France. Reign debuts October 10. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
Actress Merritt Patterson will replace Elizabeth Whitson as Olivia, one of the leading roles in the Pretty Little Liars spin-off series called Ravenswood. Patterson had been cast as Olivia’s best friend. Whitson will exit the project all together. (The Hollywood Reporter and TV Line)
Actor Yancey Arias (Revenge) will appear in the first two episodes of Castle this fall, playing Carl Villante, the head of an elite investigative unit who clashes with both Beckett and Castle during the working of a high-stakes case. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
Up-and-coming young actor Robbie Kay will appear in Once Upon a Time this fall as a member of the infamous Lost Boys. This will be a recurring role. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)
Actor Bobby Campo (Being Human) and actress Heather Hemmens (Hellcats) will have recurring roles on Grey’s Anatomy this fall. Campo will play Brian, a young and dedicated fireman who is introduced at the scene of a major accident. He’s engaged to Sasha (Hemmens), a tough cop with a good heart who also is involved in the disaster. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)
TV TRAILERS COURTESY OF COMIC CON
Teen Wolf
Vikings
Revolution
Psych
TV TO MOVIE TO BOOKS
A long time ago…oh wait, that’s not necessarily true…right now the Veronica Mars movie is being worked on (the filming actually completed this week) and now Vintage Publishing and Alloy Entertainment have joined forces to bring fans of the cult favorite series a two-book set, allowing everyone’s favorite blonde detective to live on in a book series. Rob Thomas, the series creator and writer/director of the movie, will develop and co-write the books that will pick up where the 2014 film leaves off, following a new mystery. (HuffPostTV and The Hollywood Reporter)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Looks like The CW just can’t help itself: they are working on a possible spin-off to their long-running series Supernatural (and as a BIG fan of that show I’m not complaining about this possibility one single bit). The potential series will be introduced in episode 20 of Supernatural’s current season and is expected to center on a new character that will be introduced in that episode, but few other details are known at this time. I say TPTB should just let Felicia Day (aka Charlie) be the focus of the spin-off, wouldn’t that be cool?! (Kristin Dos Santos at E!)
Universal TV is developing a series based on the comic book Clone from writer-creator David Schulner. Clone is a high-octane thriller that focuses on themes of identity and nature verses nurture. (The Deadline Team)
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
The Sundance channel will air their mini-series Top of the Lake and Restless as marathons on July 28 and July 31 respectively. Check your local listings for airdates. (The Futon Critic)
The season premiere of Glee has been moved up a week from September 19 to September 26 in light of the tragic death of series star Cory Monteith. (The Futon Critic)
It has been confirmed that the dozen episodes that make up the second half of the third season of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” is set to kick off on January 6th 2014. The show is currently seven episodes into its dozen episode run of the first half of the third season (Dark Horizons).
Today the USA Network announced that the much-anticipated Psych: The Musical will air as a two-hour episode Dec. 15. (Entertainment Weekly)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Here are the top 10 box office movies for this past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. The Conjuring – 41.9 million
2. Despicable Me 2 – 24.9 million
3. Turbo – 21.3 million
4. Grown Ups 2 – 19.9 million
5. Red 2 – 18 million
6. Pacific Rim – 16 million
7. R.I.P.D. – 12.7 million
8. The Heat – 9.3 million
9. World War Z – 5.2 million
10. Monsters University – 5.1 million
Actor Jerry O’Connell (Crossing Jordan) has joined the cast of the Veronica Mars movie. He will play Dan Lamb, the brother of deceased Sheriff Lamb (series regular Michael Muhney), who is now in charge of the Neptune Police Department. (Kickstarter Update)
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead will star in the box office movie Kill The Messenger, a true-story thriller about journalist Gary Webb and his suicide after being smeared for stories he wrote linking the CIA to a scheme to arm Contra rebels in Nicaragua and import cocaine into California. Winstead will play Dawn Garcia, the editor of the San Jose Mercury News, where Webb worked. (Dominic Patten at Deadline)
Actor Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim and Sons of Anarchy) will star in the cop drama flick Triple Nine that is about a Los Angeles heist in which a group of thieves plan to kill a cop (Hunnam) to divert authorities from their own crime scene across town. Christoph Waltz and Cate Blanchett are also under consideration for roles but no formal negotiations have taken place. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)
Actress Britt Robertson (Under the Dome) will star in the box office film called Tomorrowland, playing a high school girl with an unconventional understanding of technology who is launched on a journey to reclaim her future. The film will also star George Clooney and Hugh Laurie. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)
Actress Gillian Jacobs (Community) will star opposite Kevin Costner in the upcoming film called Black and White. She will play the girlfriend of Costner’s best friend. The story centers on a widowed attorney (Costner) who battles for custody of his bi-racial granddaughter after the girl’s black grandmother (Octavia Spencer) demands the child be put under the care of her drug addict father. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)
Warner Bros. announced at Comic Con that Superman will face off against Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. (Sadie Gennis at TV Guide)
BOX OFFICE TRAILERS
Hot Trailer: ‘12 Years A Slave’
Full ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ Trailer
Q&A SECTION (with Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
Question: Peter Pan, a new Robin Hood, Lost Boys plural….. Should Once Upon a Time fans be worried that the main cast will be overshadowed by the Season 3 newbies? –Devin
Mitovich: I wouldn’t worry. I mean, we knew Peter Pan was coming, and where there’s Pan, there are Lost Boys in the background. And Robin Hood, I suspect, will play a role on what’s going on in the Fairytale Land That Is, probably impeding Neal’s return “home.” As series co-creator Adam Horowitz told me (after I suggested they’d be giving Belle new friends there in Storybrooke), “There will be some new characters, but for the most part were going to be focusing on our core group of regulars from Seasons 1 and 2. If characters do come in, it will, at least at first, be more akin to how we used Robin Hood in Season 2.”
Question: While I appreciate all the tidbits you’ve shared this summer, I’m wondering why you’re keeping the Scandal info under wraps? –Kimberly
Mitovich: The writers’ room only reconvened recently. Can’t scoop what doesn’t exist! But this much I’ve gleaned: We will learn, via flashbacks, who it was that ratted out Liv to the press. And I am pretty sure it’s not anyone you’d guess. Also: Prepare to meet Cyrus’ very oppressed, young, male office assistant.
Question: Graceland is starting to grow on me. Have you got any scoops on Briggs? And will we see any love interest for any of the characters? –Marla
Mitovich: This week we learn a huge Briggs secret — and we’re not alone in doing so! As such, expect to soon see his layers peeled back and gain greater insight into why he’s really being investigated. As for love interests, expect things to heat up between Mike and Abby as they go on a double date…with a member of Graceland.
Question: Do you know if ABC Family ordered more episode of The Fosters? — @coolteacher31
Mitovich: They have not. The Aug. 5 episode will be the summer finale — and the final episode until/unless the show gets picked up (which I reckon it will, seeing as it keeps doing solidly in the Nielsens).
Question: Can you please keep us in touch with the latest on the Beauty and the Beast show? It will be much appreciated. –Carol
Mitovich: I hereby confirm that Sendhil Ramamurthy will be back as Gabe, and for multiple episodes at that. The big question is: whose side is he on now? Jay Ryan, for one, believes the secret-keeping ADA owes poor, abandoned Catherine a serious solid. As he puts it, “Gabe has got a lot of making up to do, if he wants to get back in our good books.”
Question: Do you think Cote de Pablo’s departure spells the end for NCIS? With Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. rivaling for No. 1, I don’t see NCIS staying at the top without her, and I know many Tiva shippers are leaving the show with Cote. –Mary Catherine
Mitovich: OK, for one, it’s not “the end of NCIS.” TV’s most watched program isn’t abruptly going to crater because one member of a good-sized, top-notch ensemble leaves. Will its numbers get dinged? Maybe. A bit. But it’d have to lose 3 million viewers to fall behind The Big Bang Theory and cease being TV’s most watched (non-sports) program. The whole debate is: What fraction of that total viewership has been tuning in just for Ziva, and/or just for “Tiva.” S.H.I.E.L.D.’s more direct competition, I imagine, is The Originals, as those two first duke it out for the genre-TV-loving eyeballs, before either start eating into CBS’ older-skewing audience.
Question: Will we ever find out what Harvey and Donna really do with that can-opener on Suits? – Abdul
Mitovich: I cannot confirm that one way or the other, but EP Aaron Korsh reveals this much: The flashback episode’s title, “The Other Time,” is definitely “a clue” about Harvey and Donna’s mysterious past.
Question: I am incredibly curious about Auggie’s secret on Covert Affairs. Any clues? –Mel
Mitovich: Only that what Annie’s honey is hiding is “a seismic secret that will affect the entire trajectory of the show,” per EP Chris Ord. Only that!
Question: Why is Moon Bloodgood no longer billed as a series regular on Falling Skies? Is she leaving the show? –Andy
Mitovich: I am assured that Bloodgood is very much still a series regular, and was only omitted from the credits during her maternity leave. What’s more, I can tease that Anne resurfaces soon, and in an unexpected place.
That’s it. Enjoy!
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