Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Lance Reddick (Fringe and Intelligence) will guest star in an upcoming episode of The Blacklist, playing “The Cowboy,” one of Red’s (series lead James Spader) many assets, but when Red gives him a new assignment, the results will leave Red in shock. (TV Guide)

Actor Hank Azaria and Twin Peaks alum Sherilyn Fenn will appear in multi-episode arcs on the Showtime drama series Ray Donovan that is set to return for its second season this summer. Azaria will play James Cochran, the ambitious head honcho of the Los Angeles FBI who becomes a thorn in Ray’s (series lead Liev Schreiber) side. Meanwhile, Fenn will play Cochran’s frumpy wife, Holly Cochran. (The Deadline Team)

ABC has made a 10-episode straight-to-series order for their pilot The Astronaut Wives Club that is based on the best-selling novel by Lily Koppel. Executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage will oversee the project that tells the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history during the height of the space race. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Dylan Minnette (Lost) and Madeline Carroll (the box office film Flipped) have landed the roles of the Jerry and Karen, the kids of Fitz (series regular Tony Goldwyn) and Mellie (Bellamy Young) on Scandal. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Zachary Knighton (Happy Endings) will have a major season-ending arc on Parenthood, playing Evan Knight, a hip new teacher at the school Kristina founded and will be a potential love interest for Julia (series regular Erika Christensen). (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Syfy is developing a new drama series based on the DC comic book DMZ that is set in the near future, centering on a young man trapped in Manhattan, which has been turned into a demilitarized zone (DMZ) after a second American civil war. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Natalie Martinez (Under the Dome) has signed on to the ABC drama pilot Secrets & Lies, joining actor Ryan Phillippe. The pilot is an adaptation of the upcoming Australian crime mystery series that centers 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. Martinez will play Jess, the child’s devastated mother. (The Deadline Team)

AMC is developing a drama series adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic book Preacher that follows Reverend Jesse Custer, a small-town Texas minister on the verge of losing his faith when he merges with a spiritual force called Genesis, making him more mighty than the Almighty. Able to command the obedience of those who hear his words and joined by his gun-toting girlfriend Tulip and the hard-drinking Irish vampire Cassidy, Custer begins a violent journey across the country in search of answers from a disenfranchised God. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Aja Naomi King (Emily Owens, M.D.) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot called How To Get Away With Murder that comes from Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. The pilot is a thriller that will center on ambitious law students and their brilliant and mysterious criminal defense professor who become entangled in a murder plot. King will play Michaela Pratt, one of the law students. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Peter Facinelli (Nurse Jackie) will star alongside Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) in the NBC drama pilot called Odyssey that will center on three families whose lives are torn apart when a stranded female soldier (Anna Friel), a disillusioned corporate attorney (Facinelli), and a disrespected political activist are pulled into the same shocking international military conspiracy. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Kate Winslet has joined the cast of the upcoming crime thriller flick Triple Nine that already includes Chiewetel Ejiofor and Casey Affleck as part of the cast. The film is about a group of thieves who plan to kill a young LAPD officer to divert the police away from a daring heist they’re perpetrating across town. Also actor Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) has also joined the cast. (Deadline and First Showing)

Young actress Sophie Nelisse (The Book Thief) will appear in the upcoming film The Great Gilly Hopkins, which is the adaptation of the award-winning book of the same name by Katherine Paterson. The story focuses on a wisecracking, gum-chewing 12-year-old named Gilly, who is moved from foster home to foster home, outwitting them all. But when placed in the home of Maime Trotter, the most unorthodox foster mom yet (Kathy Bates), Gilly fights her way out, but her life takes an unexpected turn. The cast of this film already includes Glenn Close, Danny Glover and Octavia Spencer. (First Showing)

That’s it. Enjoy!