Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Dylan Sprayberry, who played young Clark Kent in the box office film Man of Steel, has landed a recurring role in the MTV thriller Teen Wolf, playing Liam, an arrogant but big-hearted high-school freshman. With an enviable athletic prowess, he’s got perfect grades, perfect charm and is utterly unprepared to face the supernatural adversity of Beacon Hills. He will show up in the show’s fourth season that is planned for later this year. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor Ashley Zukerman (the TV shows Rush and Underbelly) has landed one of the lead roles in the WGN America scripted drama called Manhattan that is set during the clandestine mission to build the world’s first atomic bomb in Los Alamos, NM. The series follows the brilliant but flawed scientists and their families. Zukerman will play Charlie Abrams, a super-bright, self-described numbers guy with an IQ of 180 and a good sense of humor. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Eddie Cahill (CSI: New York) has joined the cast of the CBS summer drama Under the Dome as a series regular. He will play the reclusive EMT brother-in-law of Big Jim (Dean Norris), who will reportedly form a bond with Julia (Rachelle Lefevre). Under the Dome will be back on CBS on June 30. (Michael Slezak at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

FremantleMedia North America has acquired the book rights to acclaimed author Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel American Gods for television. In the book, a war is brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. The story centers on Shadow Moon, an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actresses Zoe McLellan (JAG and Dirty Sexy Money) and CCH Pounder (Warehouse 13 and The Shield) have joined the CBS spin-off pilot NCIS: New Orleans that already includes Scott Bakula. The potential series will focus on the NCIS team that handles cases from Pensacola through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Texas panhandle. McLellan will play Special Agent Brody, a mid-western transplant, the show’s fish-out-of-water character. She comes to New Orleans looking for a fresh start and a safe haven to heal old wounds. Pounder will play Dr. Wade, the Jefferson Parish Medical Examiner who is as eccentric as she is smart and also is intuitive and incredibly connected to Louisiana. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly, Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Ryan Phillippe is in final negotiations to star in the ABC drama pilot Secrets & Lies that will center on a family man (Phillippe) who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young boy when he finds the body. He has no choice but to try to find the real killer as his marriage, his kids, his reputation, and his sanity are all at stake. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Candice Patton (The Game) has joined the cast of The CW spin-off series The Flash that will star Grant Gustin in the lead role. This potential series is an origins story about Barry Allen aka The Flash, a Central City assistant police forensics investigator who arrives in Starling to look into a series of unexplained robberies that may have a connection to a tragedy in his past. Patton will play Iris West, Allen’s fast-talking, quick-witted best friend who is also the daughter of Detective West (Jesse L. Martin), who serves as a surrogate father to Barry. Rick Cosnett and Danielle Panabaker have already been cast in the pilot. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

MINI-SERIES NEWS

Actors Louis Gossett, Jr., Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Lyriq Bent (Rookie Blue) and actress Aunjanue Ellis (Ray and The Help) will star in the BET mini-series The Book of Negroes based on the 2007 best-selling novel by Lawrence Hill. The story centers on Aminata Diallo, who is taken by slave traders from West Africa to South Carolina. It follows her through the American Revolution in New York, the isolated refuge of Nova Scotia and the jungles of Sierra Leone, before she ultimately secures her freedom in England in the early 1800s. Cast also includes Ben Chaplin and Jane Alexander. (The Deadline Team)

ONLINE SERIES NEWS

The Netflix online series House of Cards has been renewed for a third season before the second season of the web series has even premiered. (Variety)

Actress Linda Cardellini (Mad Men) will co-star alongside Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) in the as yet titled13-episode psychological thriller from Damages creators Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Glenn Kessler and Sony Pictures TV. The web series will center on a close-knit family of adult siblings whose secrets and scars are revealed when the black sheep oldest brother returns home. Cardellini will play the youngest of four siblings, Meg, a skilled attorney who’s also warm, caring and fun but, beneath her buoyant exterior, she is a complex woman with secrets. Chandler plays the middle brother. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

New Trailer for Divergent (Due in Theatres April 4)

That’s it. Enjoy!