Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

There was a lot of news, of course, while I was on vacation last week and here it all is:

TELEVISION

Actress Stephanie Jacobsen (Battlestar Galactica) will appear in the new mid-season CW series Star-Crossed, playing Eva, a charismatic biology teacher at Marshall High School, who has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the Atrians (aliens) and who is sympathetic to their cause. She quickly becomes a favorite among human and Atrian students alike. (Zap2It)

Actor Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) will lend his voice to the new CW series The Tomorrow People. He will voice TIM, an artificially intelligent mentor who helps the team of kids with special abilities that are the focus of this remake of the UK original. (Give Me My Remote)

Actor William Atherton (Die Hard) and actress Anna Hopkins (Human Trafficking) have joined the cast of Defiance. Atherton will play Viceroy Mercado, a jaded, Earth Republic official while Hopkins will play a documentarian Jessica “Berlin” Rai. (The Futon Critic)

True Blood will air its final season in 2014. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Elias Koteas (The Killing) has joined the cast of the new, upcoming NBC spin-off series Chicago PD, playing Alvin Olinsky, a longtime undercover detective in the Intelligence Unit. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Jason O’Mara (Vegas and Terra Nova) will have a recurring role on The Good Wife this fall, playing Colin, a wild-eyed Irish attorney who has spent a decade successfully defending gang members and crime families. Now he’s looking for a home at a corporate law firm like Lockhart/Gardner where he clashes with the more conservative culture. (Deadline)

TV TRAILER

Hot TV Trailer: Downton Abbey Season 4

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC is developing the drama called Saga about a family of fans of a J.K. Rowling-esque writer who discover she’s been kidnapped into the very real world of her books and attempt to rescue her. (Deadline)

HBO is developing a pilot called Westworld from Jonathan Nolan (Person of Interest) and Lisa Joy (Burn Notice) based on the Michael Crichton 1973 movie that is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. (Deadline)

Actors Christopher Egan (Letters to Juliet) and Alan Dale (Lost) have been cast in the Syfy supernatural drama pilot called Dominion based on characters from the 2010 box office film Legion. The project will be set 25 years after the events of the movie, picking up in the aftermath of a catastrophic war between an army of angels and mankind that has transformed the world. Set against a backdrop of the ultimate celestial battle as it touches down on earth, the series follows the perilous journey of Alex Lannen (Egan), a rebellious young soldier who discovers he’s the unlikely savior of humanity. Dale will play Rysen, the general who led the humans to victory against the angels during the Extermination War. (Deadline)

Actress Jennifer Finnigan (Monday Mornings) will play the female lead in the FX drama pilot called Tyrant that will tell the story of an unassuming American family — Barry (Adam Rayner); his strong, smart and idealistic wife Molly (Finnigan); and their kids Emma (Anne Winters) and Sammy (Noah Silver) — drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle East nation. (Deadline)

Actress Samantha Mathis (Under the Dome) has joined the cast of the AMC drama pilot Line of Sight that tells the story of Lewis Bernt (David Morrissey), a National Transportation Safety Board investigator who survives a mysterious plane crash, bringing him on an emotionally disorienting quest to discover the accident’s cause. Mathis will play Tony’s (Kai Lennox) wife. (Deadline)

No Way Back, a drama project based on the 2013 mystery/thriller novel by best-selling author Andrew Gross, has landed at ABC. The series centers on two women who join forces and embark on a dangerous odyssey to find the truth and save their lives. One is a suburban mother and ex-cop, whose chance meeting with a stranger in a hotel ends when the man is murdered and she’s the only witness. The other is a young woman from Mexico who has a deadly secret that has driven her into hiding until she can prove her innocence. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and actress Dakota Johnson (Ben and Kate) have been cast in the lead roles of Fifty Shades of Grey. (Deadline)

Here are the top 10 box office films from last holiday weekend courtesy of Deadline:

1. The Butler – 20 million
2. One Direction: This Is Us 3D – 18 million
3. We’re The Millers – 16.3 million
4. Planes 3D – 10.5 million
5. Instructions Not Included – 10.3 million
6. Elysium – 8.2 million
7. The Mortal Instruments – 6.8 million
8. The World’s End – 6.5 million
9. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters – 5.9 million
10. Getaway – 5.5 million

Actor Bradley Copper (Silver Linings Playbook) has joined the voice cast of the upcoming box office animated film Guardians Of The Galaxy. He will lend his voice to the character Rocket Raccoon, a furry gun-toting hero. The voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Benicio Del Toro, Zoe Saldana, Glenn Close, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker and John C. Reilly. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!