Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the few news items for yesterday:

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Development of a new potential series is underway based on the best-selling book “Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History Making Race Around the World” by Matthew Goodman. For those not in the know, Nellie Bly (real name Elizabeth Jane Cochrane), working as a journalist for the New York World newspaper and Cosmopolitan reporter Elizabeth Bisland competed in a trip around the world based on the Jules Verne classic back in 1889. The race started on November 14 with each reporter leaving New York, going the opposite way around the world. They used mainly railroads and steamships, spanning 24,000 miles, reporting along the way and enthralling readers across the globe. Bly won the race, going around the globe in 72 days. (Anita Busch at Deadline)

ME: On a personal note, Nellie Bly spent a portion of her life in my small hometown of Apollo, Pennsylvania before becoming a journalist; and the house where she lived is still standing and is a historical landmark back there.

MINI-SERIES NEWS

Brit actors Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) and Tom Hollander (Pride & Prejudice) will star in the AMC-BBC One co-production The Night Manager alongside Hugh Laurie (House) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki in the Marvel movies). The mini-series is based on the John le Carre novel that follows former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston), who is recruited by an intelligence operative named Burr (Colman) to navigate the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington where an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Laurie), which includes an associate named Corcoran (Hollander), Pine must himself become a criminal. (Laura Prudom at Variety)

Actor John Barrowman (Arrow and Torchwood) is developing a mini-series adaptation of The 49th Key, the story by Erika Lewis from a recent issue of fantasy comic magazine Heavy Metal that is based on the 16th century legend of Enochian magic, telling the story of a secret language of angels. It follows a rogue archeologist and a young mute autistic boy on a treacherous journey through England. The boy is the key to a gateway between our world and that of a magical society that exists below the Earth’s surface. Barrowman will executive produce and star. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) and Luke Evans (The Hobbit and Dracula Untold) will star alongside Emma Watson (Harry Potter franchise) in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast. Stevens will play the Beast while Evans will play Gaston. Watson will play Belle. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!