Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

HBO has given a 10-episode order to The Leftovers a new drama series from Damon Lindelof (Lost) based on the best-selling novel by Tom Perrotta. The series will take place as the Rapture happens — but not quite like it’s supposed to, telling the story of the people who didn’t make the cut and a world that will never be the same. Among the cast are Justin Theroux (fiancé to Jennifer Aniston and actor-director in his own right), who will play the police chief trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy in a world that is beginning to reject that notion and Liv Tyler as a young woman about to be married who needs an escape. Other cast members are Amy Brenneman (Private Practice), Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who), Chris Zylka (The Secret Circle and Twisted) Michael Gaston (Jericho) and Max and Charlie Carver (the twins from Desperate Housewives and Teen Wolf) [among others]. (Lesley Goldberg and Lacey Rose at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Paul Johannson (One Tree Hill) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Beauty And the Beast, appearing as Kurt, father to Tori (new addition to the show, Amber Skye Noyes), an arrogant and powerful Manhattan business mogul whose career has had a meteoric rise within the last few years. He’s become increasingly paranoid as a result of his career ascent, surrounding himself with armed bodyguards and keeping a close eye on his daughter. Beauty And the Beast will be back starting on October 7 on The CW. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress-comedienne Rosie O’Donnell will have a recurring role in the ABC Family drama series The Fosters, playing Rita Hendricks, a tough yet compassionate woman who works in the foster care system and becomes a mentor to a member of the Foster family. The series will be back with the rest of its debut season starting in January. (TV By the Numbers)

Actor Robert Knepper (Prison Break and Cult) will guest star in an upcoming episode of the new NBC drama The Blacklist, playing a target of the FBI. The Blacklist debuts on NBC on September 23. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Jon Tenney (King & Maxwell) will guest star in and direct an episode of Major Crimes when the show returns in 2014. He will reprise his role of FBI Agent Fritz Howard in one episode and then direct the following episode. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Syfy has picked up the upcoming Canadian series Bitten – based on the best-selling novels by Kelley Armstrong – for 2014. The 13-episode thriller will star Laura Vandervoort (Smallville and V) as Elena Michaels, the lone female werewolf in existence, who attempts to escape a world she never wanted to be part of (as well as the man who turned her into a werewolf), abandoning her pack and taking refuge in a new city, where she works as a photographer and hides her werewolf existence from her boyfriend. When bodies begin turning up in her pack’s backyard, she finds herself back at Stonehaven, the werewolves’ ancestral domain, where she will stop at nothing to defend her pack. The series also stars Greg Bryk (XIII The Series) and Greyston Holt (Alcatraz and Durham County). (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Lifetime has ordered a pilot called The Lottery, a futuristic conspiracy thriller that is set in a world destined for extinction as women have stopped having children. When remarkably 100 embryos are successfully fertilized, a national lottery is held to decide the surrogates. As conflict, control and mystery over this important scientific breakthrough unfolds, government interests and power begin to dominate one of the most personal and basic elements of humanity — the right to have a family. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Lucas Black will reprise his role of Sean Boswell in the upcoming Fast & Furious7. He appeared in the third movie in the franchise and is set to be part of at least the next 3 films in the franchise (yes, it would seem there will be plenty more). (Mike Fleming, Jr. at Deadline)

Actress Carey Mulligan (Shame and The Great Gatsby) will appear in the film adaptation of the classic novel Far from the Madding Crowd that tells the story of independent, beautiful and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan), who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts from Rust & Bone), a sheep farmer, captivated by her fetching willfulness; Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge from Pirate Radio), a handsome and reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Michael Sheen from the upcoming Masters of Sex), a prosperous and mature bachelor. Also among the cast is Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises). (First Showing)

Actress Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia and House) has joined the cast of the upcoming independent comedy-drama called Girlfriend’s Day. She will star opposite Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad) in a story about a greeting card writer (Odenkirk), who becomes entangled in a web of murder and deceit as writers scramble to create the perfect card for a new holiday dubbed Girlfriend’s Day. Tamblyn will play a Cardie, a fan of greeting card writers, who becomes involved with Ray and helps him recapture his former glory. (Jen Yamato at Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!