Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past three days:

TELEVISION

Actress Megalyn Echikunwoke (House of Lies and The 4400) has joined the cast of the Lifetime straight-to-series drama Damien, the six-episode drama that follows the adult life of Damien Thorn (Bradley James from Merlin), the mysterious child from the 1976 film who has grown up, seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. She will play Simone Baptiste, a woman who grew up in the shadow of her overachieving sister whose life is thrown into turmoil when tragedy strikes, leading her to question her religious faith. (The Deadline Team)

Actress Aisha Hinds (Under the Dome) will star opposite Justin Chatwin (Shameless) in the TNT pilot Breed, the supernatural thriller that tells the wild and chilling story of a series of brutal murders in the Pacific Northwest and the mysterious race of creatures who may be committing them. Hinds will play police Captain Dennison, Cooper’s (Chatwin) boss, who warily gives him some leeway to pursue his unusual theories about the recent murders in Tacoma. (The Deadline Team)

Actress Emily Kinney (The Walking Dead) will appear in an upcoming episode of The Flash, she will appear as Brie Larvan — fka Bertram in comics lore — when Arrow‘s Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) visit Central City for help with his A.T.O.M. exosuit. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

Actor David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) will appear in the CBS summer drama Extant, playing Gen. Tobias Shepherd, Head of the global security commission. Also joining the cast is actress Kiersey Clemons (Transparent and the MTV thriller series Eye Candy), who will play Lucy, a lifelike robot. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter and Kimberly Roots at TV Line)

Actress Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Jane the Virgin, as a woman who plays a critical role in the relationship between Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Rafael (Justin Baldoni) as it reaches a crossroads. (Variety and The Futon Critic)

Actress Jennifer Esposito (Blue Bloods) will fill the void on the ABC summer series Mistresses vacated by Alyssa Milano. She will play Calista Raines, the uber-fabulous and larger-than-life Creative Director of a luxury fashion brand who has the high-class socialite lifestyle that goes with it. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy) has landed a series regular role on the WGN America drama series Outsiders that tells a tale of struggle for power and control in the hills of Appalachia. It tells the story of the Farrell clan, a family of outsiders who’ll protect their world and defend their way of life using any means necessary. Hurst will play Lil Foster, the son of Big Foster and brother of Hasil. He is pathologically loyal to his father and will always take his father’s side in an argument or confrontation – until he doesn’t. (Denise Petski at Deadline)

Actress Agnes Bruckner (24 and Private Practice) will have a recurring role on Once Upon a Time, but details on who she will be playing are being kept under wraps. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. will be showing on the ABC drama Forever, playing Isaac Douglas, a rich do-gooder who — after being cleared as a possible murder suspect — wines and dines Detective Martinez (Alana de la Garza) in a multi-episode arc. (Kimberly Roots at TV Line)

Veteran actress Linda Lavin (the classic comedy Alice) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Bones where she will appear as a criminal courts judge. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

TRAILERS

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 box office movies for the past weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – 55.4 million
2. American Sniper – 23.3 million
3. Jupiter Ascending – 18.4 million
4. Seventh Son – 7.2 million
5. Project Almanac – 5.23 million
6. Paddington – 5.22 million
7. The Wedding Ringer – 4.7 million
8. The Imitation Game – 4.68 million
9. Black or White – 4.5 million
10. The Boy Next Door – 4.1 million

Actor Eric Bana will play Uther, the father of King Arthur in the upcoming movie Knights of the Round Table. Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) will play Arthur. (Justin Kroll at Variety)

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

Question: Apparently Stephen Amell said at the Dallas Comic Con that the Arrow costume would undergo a change this season. Do you have any details? –Ravi

Mitovich: I ran that by showrunner Marc Guggenheim the other day, and after some thought he allowed this much: “You’ll see a wide variety of changes coming for Arrow. There’s a lot that’s happening in the latter half of the year that will require some big, wholesale changes.”

Question: Can you offer any news on Grey’s Anatomy or Suits? —Jonny

Mitovich: Suits, it is! This week’s flashback-heavy episode will “shed light on Harvey and Louis’ backstory” and the origins of their feud, executive producer Aaron Korsh previews. As for Mike, he’s just been kicked out of college, so the glimpses of the past are intended to reveal the “aftermath of that and just to show a progression with his relationship with Trevor and his grandmother.” In the midst of all that, there’s also “some fun Jessica stuff and Donna stuff, and we try to put some little tidbits about the first time various things happened. We actually have a really fun scene, to me, that’s actually the first time Rachel is inside of Pearson Hardman.”

Question: Got any scoop on The Flash’s Gorilla Grodd? –Mason

Mitovich: Captain Cold and Heat Wave, who when next seen are accompanied by Lisa Snart AKA Golden Glider, will be back. Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg says with a laugh that it’s a treat to watch Leonard “try to be a good big brother to this slightly psycho younger sister,” while Lisa in turn endeavors to “manipulate Heat Wave and his willingness to be a dumb lug for love.”

Question: Scoops, please, on Rookie Blue, Chicago P.D. or The Night Shift. – Debbie

Mitovich: I choose… Night Shift, since a lotta people aren’t aware that NBC’s sophomore medical drama will be back so soon (on Monday, Feb. 23 at 10/9c). I can report that NCIS alum Sarah Jane Morris has booked a multi-episode arc as war vet TC’s sister-in-law, Annie, who has been in free fall ever since the death of her husband. TC has supported Annie through her hard times and even put her through nursing school, but she may be concealing a potentially deadly problem….

Question: I was wondering if you had any scoop on ABC Family’s Switched at Birth? – Mar

Mitovich: The decision to wrap up the consent storyline with Tank’s expulsion from college was “a very controversial” one, executive producer Lizzy Weiss says. “We struggled a lot in the writers’ room with how to end the story. We finally felt like there had to be some sort of closure. Whether or not it’s realistic, I don’t know. People can argue about that.” And they can take comfort in the fact that we will find out what happened to Tank after he was kicked out of school. “We’ll revisit him in the second part of the season,” the EP reveals.

That’s it. Enjoy!