Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

DirecTV has scored the rights to the six-part thriller The Code that is set in the Australian outback, centering on two very different brothers — one a journalist, the other a hacker — who unearth information that those at the highest levels of political power will kill to keep secret. The cast includes Lucy Lawless (Xena and Battlestar Galactica) as well as Adam Garcia (Camp), David Wenham (Top Of The Lake) and Aden Young (I Frankenstein). (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)

The ABC drama The Astronaut Wives Club was supposed to debut on July 24 with a 10-episode limited series order, but production has been put on hold and the series will undergo a creative change. It looks like production will now begin in the fall with a midseason 2014-2015 premiere. The drama will tell the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history during the height of the space race. The cast currently includes JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Reba and Once Upon a Time), Odette Annable (House) Erin Cummings (Spartacus) [among others]. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) will guest star in the season finale of Castle, playing a small town hustler named Rogan O’Leary, who shares a complicated past with Beckett (Stana Katic). (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide and the actor himself via Instagram)

Actor David Meunier (Justified and Revolution) will have a major arc in the upcoming TNT drama Legends that follows deep-cover operative Martin Odum (Sean Bean from Game of Thrones), who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. But his own identity comes into question when a mysterious stranger suggests that Martin isn’t who he thinks he is. Meunier will play Richard Hubbard, a high school chemistry teacher and family man who leads a quiet life with his wife and daughter. But when he and his family are abducted by gunmen, the shocking secret of his past is revealed, much to the dismay of his loved ones. Legends will debut on TNT on August 20. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress-singer Toni Braxton will star in the lead role in the OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) made-for-TV movie My Name is Love: The Darlene Love Story. Love began cutting records for producer Phil Spector right out of high school, and went on to work with some of the greatest musical talents in history, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen. It is set to premiere this December. (The Deadline Team)

Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help) will star in the OWN mini-series Tulsa, the story of the largest race riot in U.S. history, where over 300 people were believed to have been murdered in Tulsa, Oklahoma – a story that was largely covered up for decades. The mini-series will center on Mattie Clay (Spencer), a journalist from Tulsa, who moved to Chicago with the hopes of getting off the society pages and away from racism. Mattie’s journey eventually brings her back home to Tulsa where she must face the demons of her past and decide where her future lies. (The Deadline Team)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actresses Holly Hunter (Saving Grace) and Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) and actor Callan Mulvey (300: Rise of an Empire) have joined the cast of the upcoming box office film Batman vs. Superman. (First Showing)

That’s it. Enjoy!