Hey All,
Here are the news items for this past week:
CANCELLATION
AMC has announced that Killing Eve will end after its upcoming 4th season. However, the cable network is working to develop a number of potential spinoff ideas to extend the show’s iconic universe. (TV Line)
The Canadian series Burden of Truth will come to a close at the end of its upcoming fourth season, which has yet to get a premiere date on The CW. (TV Line)
RENEWAL
Syfy has renewed Resident Alien for a second season. (Variety)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Showtime has ordered the drama series Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation with Antoine Fuqua set to direct and executive produce. The series, rooted in actual events, will chronicle Shaka’s unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures. (Variety)
SHOW DEPARTURE
Adriyan Rae just joined the cast of Chicago Fire this season, playing medic Gianna Makey, but she is now departing the show. (TV Line)
TV SHOW CASTING NEWS
Batwoman has announced who will take over the role of Kate Kane from Ruby Rose, who left the show at the end of its debut season. Krypton actress Wallis Day will play the “altered version” of Kane moving forward. (The Hollywood Reporter)
New cast members have been added to season 6 of Outlander (which is currently under production in Scotland). Relative newcomer Jessica Reynolds will play Malva Christie, the young woman who becomes Claire’s apprentice and eventually causes great trouble on Fraser’s Ridge; Mark Lewis Jones (Chernobyl) will play Tom Christie, Malva’s father and one of Jamie’s not-so-friendly acquaintances from his Ardsmuir Prison days; and Alexander Vlahos (Merlin) will play Allan Christie, Malva’s brother, who is wary of strangers. (TV Line)
Jason Behr (the original Roswell series) will recur on Supergirl as a famous Kryptonian who helps Kara (series lead Melissa Benoist) when she faces circumstances beyond her control. (Deadline and TV Line)
Tom Hiddleston will star alongside Claire Danes in the series adaptation of The Essex Serpent, based on the Sarah Perry novel, at Apple. The drama follows newly widowed Cora (Danes) who, having been released from an abusive marriage, relocates from Victorian London to the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, intrigued by a local superstition that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area. Hiddleston will star as Will Ransome, the trusted leader of a small rural community. (Variety)
Adrien Brody will play legendary basketball coach Pat Riley in the upcoming, untitled HBO drama series about the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s, which will chronicle the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. Also, Sally Field will star as Jessie Buss, mother of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who will be played by John C. Reilly; and Michael Chiklis will play Celtics coach Red Auerbach. (Variety, Deadline and TV Line)
Anthony Boyle (The Plot Against America) will star in the upcoming Apple World War II drama Masters of the Air from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, joining already announced cast members Callum Turner and Austin Butler. The series is based on the novel by Donald L. Miller that follows the true story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. Boyle will star as Major Crosby. (Variety)
Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) will star in a 10-episode mystery series called Poker Face from Peacock. It will be a character driven, case-of-the-week mystery series. (Variety)
Pam Dawber (best known for Mork & Mindy) will join her real life husband Mark Harmon in a 4-episode arc of NCIS. She will play Marcie Warren, a seasoned investigative journalist who uses her savvy wit and down-to-earth people skills to aid in her tireless pursuit of truth. (Entertainment Weekly)
Lena Headey will star in the Spectrum-AMC Networks series Beacon 23, based on the book by Hugh Howey that follows two people whose fates become entangled after they find themselves trapped together at the end of the known universe. A tense battle of wills unfolds at the edge of space where Halan, the beacon keeper, begins to question whether Aster (Headey) is friend or foe as her ability to disguise her agenda and motives could make her a formidable opponent. (Variety)
The drama series The Man Who Fell to Earth has landed at Showtime. It was originally developed for Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access). The series will star Chiwetel Ejiofor. (Variety)
Dianne Wiest will star with Jeremy Renner in the upcoming Paramount Plus series Mayor of Kingstown, which follows the McLusky family – power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither. Wiest will play Miriam, the McLusky family matriarch who teaches at the Kingstown Women’s Prison. (Variety)
ABC is working on a reboot of The Wonder Years, which will find Psych and The West Wing alum Dule Hill starring as patriarch Bill Williams, a music professor by day and funk musician by night. Relative newcomer Laura Kariuki (Black Lightning) as Kim Williams, confident and popular teenage daughter who is starting to rebel against the idea of going to college; Elisha “EJ” Williams as Dean William, the 12-year-old lead role; and Saycon Sengbloh (In the Dark) as matriarch Lillian Williams. (TV Line)
Vera Farmiga will star in the lead role of the Apple drama Five Days at Memorial that is based on the novel by Sheri Funk that chronicles the first five days in a New Orleans, LA, hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. When the floodwaters rose, the power failed, and the heat climbed, exhausted caregivers were forced to make life-and-death decisions that haunted them for years to come. Farmiga will play Dr. Anna Pou. (Variety)
BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS
More cast members have been added to the upcoming box office film Mr. Malcolm’s List, which is based on the novel by Suzanne Allain. Zawe Ashton (Wanderlust and Guerrilla), Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) and Theo James (the Divergent franchise) have joined the cast. Ashton will play Julia, a society lady jilted by London’s most eligible bachelor Mr. Malcolm (Sope Dirisu from Gangs of Longdon), when she fails to meet one of the items on his list of requirements for a bride. Feeling shunned and humiliated, she enlists her friend Selina (Frieda Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire) to help her take revenge on Mr. Malcolm by tricking him into thinking he has found his perfect match. The plan appears to be working when Henry (Theo James) threatens Julia’s scheme by courting Selina as well. After the bumbling Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen from The Haunting of Bly Manor) begins meddling in the foursome’s affairs, the course of true love becomes rocky. Details on what part Park will play has yet to be released. (Variety)
Newcomer Uche Agada will make his onscreen debut in the upcoming box office movie from Disney about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA great nicknamed the “Greek Freak.” Yetide Badaki (American Gods) and Dayo Okeniyi (Shades of Blue) will as Antetokounmpo’s mother Vera and father Charles. (Variety)
That’s it. Enjoy!
Rueben's Ramblings 
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