Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Disney+ has given High School Musical: The Musical: The Series a 3rd season order. (TV Line)

Hulu has given a second season order to Only Murders in the Building. (Press Release)

HBO Max has cancelled the teen dramedy Generation after only one season. (TV Line)

The Outpost has been cancelled. It will air its series finale on The CW, after 4 seasons on the air, on October 7. (TV Line)

ANIME NEWS

Hayley Atwell (Marvel’s Agent Carter and the Avengers/Captain America franchise) will provide the voice of Lara Croft in the Netflix upcoming anime series Tomb Raider. The story will pick up after the events of the Tomb Raider video-game reboot trilogy, charting a new adventure for the globetrotting Lara Croft 25 years after her first game launched. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) has joined the cast of the Netflix upcoming Wednesday Addams-centric series that will simply be called Wednesday. Jenna Ortega (Jane the Virgin) will star as the lead character with Catherine Zeta-Jones as her mother Morticia. Christie will play Larissa Weems, the principal of Nevermore Academy who still has an axe to grind with her former classmate Morticia. (TV Line)

Tom Welling (Smallville) is coming back to The CW (nee The WB) in the newly acquired series Professionals, an international action series that follows Vincent Corbo (Welling), a top-tier security operative, who is paid to protect the interests of rich and powerful clients by any means necessary – legal or not. After a next-gen medical satellite explodes on launch, Corbo is hired by the rocket’s designer, billionaire futurist Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser from Doom Patrol and The Mummy movie franchise), who suspects sabotage. Complicating Corbo’s new gig is his former paramour and now Swann’s fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Grace Davila (Elena Anaya from Wonder Woman), who is racing to help stave off a global catastrophe. A date and time for the show’s premiere on The CW will be announced later. (TV Line)

Elisabeth Shue (The Boys and Cobra Kai) has joined the cast of the upcoming Showtime anthology series Super Pumped. The first season is set to focus on the rise of the ride sharing app Uber that already boasts cast members Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kyle Chandler, Kerry Bishé and Hank Azaria [among others]. Shue will play Bonnie Kalanick, the mother of Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick (Gordon-Levitt), who is the one person he can always count on for wisdom and truth. (Variety)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is getting a dramatic reboot entitled Bel-Air at Peacock; and the main cast has been announced. Newcomer Jabari Banks will star as Will; Adrian Holmes (V Wars) as Phillip Banks; Cassandra Freeman (Atlanta) as Vivian Banks; Olly Sholotan (Run Hide Fight) as Carlton Banks; Coco Jones (Let it Shine) as Hilary Banks; Akira Akbar (Captain Marvel) as Ashley Banks; Jimmy Akingbola (Most Dangerous Game) as Geoffrey; Jordan L. Jones (Rel and Snowfall) as Jazz; and Simone Joy Jones (The Chair) as Lisa. The show will be a serialized one-hour dramatic analogue following Will’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. Peacock gave the show a two-season order in September of 2020. (Variety)

Emily Deschanel (Bones) will star in the upcoming Netflix limited series Devil in Ohio based on the book by Daria Polatin, which is inspired by a true story. It will focus on what happens when hospital psychiatrist Dr. Suzanne Mathis shelters a mysterious cult escapee. Her world is turned upside down as the strange girl’s arrival threatens to tear her own family apart. Other cast members include Sam Jaeger (Parenthood and Why Women Kill) and Madeleine Arthur (The Magicians and Snowpiercer) [among others]. (Variety)

Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) will have the lead role in the live-action series Twisted Metal, based on the vehicular combat game, which is currently in the works at Sony Pictures Television. The show is about motor-mouthed outsider John Doe (Mackie) who is offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland. With the help of a trigger-happy car thief, he’ll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown named who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck, whom fans of the game will know as Sweet Tooth. (Variety)

Malachi Kirby (the 2016 version of Roots) will star in the series adaptation of the Neil Gaiman fantasy novel Anansi Boys planned at Netflix. Kirby will play the dual lead roles of both Charlie Nancy and his brother, Spider. The series follows Charlie, a young man who is used to being embarrassed by his estranged father, Mr. Nancy (Delroy Lindo). But when his father dies, Charlie discovers that his father was Anansi: trickster god of stories. And he learns that he has a brother. Now his brother, Spider, is entering Charlie’s life, determined to make it more interesting but making it a lot more dangerous. (Variety)

Eric McCormack (Travelers and Will & Grace) has joined the 3rd season of the thriller drama series Departure, which stars Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) and Kris Holden-Ried (Lost Girl and The Umbrella Academy). Other new cast members include Jake Weber (Medium) and Patrick Sabongui (Homeland, Arrow and Virgin River). (Deadline)

Mathew Fox (Lost and Party of Five) will star alongside Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt in the action-packed mini-series thriller Last Light that is being adapted from the best-selling novel by Alex Scarrow. The dystopian will center around a family whose lives are changed forever when oil supplies get contaminated by an infectious agent, causing society to implode in the face of global disaster. The cast will include several up-and-coming actors. (Variety)

FILM NEWS

Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon! and Prom) will star alongside Timothee Chalamet (Dune) in the musical based box office film Wonka, which will be based on the early life of Willy Wonka. Key’s role is being kept under wraps but Chalamet will play the title character. (Variety)

Cynthia Erivo (Harriet and Genius: Aretha) will star alongside Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) in the upcoming Netflix film that will be the continuing story of Luther (Idris Elba). It is unclear who Erivo and Serkis will play in the film. (Deadline)

Frank Grillo (the Avengers franchise) will star as Ferruccio Lamborghini – taking over the role from Antonio Banderas. The film will cover Lamborghini’s entire life, from when he got his start making tractors to his moves into military cars during World War II and into his luxury supercar days. It will also delve into his personal life and romantic relationships, as well as his rivalry with Enzo Ferrari. (Yahoo Entertainment)

That’s it. Enjoy!