Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items from the past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

David Tennant will star in the new adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days on PBS on January 2; and a second season has already been ordered. It is being reported that Tennant is almost certain to return in the lead role of Phileas Fogg. (Variety)

Men in Kilts will be back for a second season with Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish back for the reality series that will head to New Zealand for 6 episodes this time around. (TV Line)

Disney+ has pulled the plug on the small screen adaptation of Turner & Hooch after only one season. (PopCulture.com and Deja View)

STREAMING CASTING NEWS

The 10 episode adaptation of the 2013 best-selling novel Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen will debut on Apple with Michelle Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith and Meredith Hagner in the lead roles alongside Vince Vaughn. The straight-to-series drama revolves around Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a one-time detective demoted to restaurant inspector in South Florida. A severed arm found by a tourist out fishing pulls Yancy into the world of greed and corruption that decimates the land and environment in Florida and the Bahamas. And yes, there’s a monkey. Monaghan will play Bonnie, a woman trapped in an abusive marriage who complicates Yancy’s life as a secret from her past resurfaces; Turner-Smith will play Dragon Queen/Gracie, who is both revered and feared on Andros Island as she practices Obeah alongside her contentious grandmother; and Hagner will play Eve, who is questioned by Yancy about her dead husband and whom he feels might know more than she’s saying. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Cara Delevingue has joined the cast of the second season of Only Murders in the Building. She will play Alice, a sophisticated art world insider who becomes enmeshed in the mystery. (Variety)

Apple has ordered a thriller called Disclaimer, based on the novel by Renee Knight, that will star Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. Blanchett will star as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past. (Variety)

PICK-UP ORDER

A new series to air on AMC and AMC+, based on the Anne Rice trilogy Lives of the Mayfair Withces has been given a greenlight. The series will focus on an intuitive young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations. This is the second Anne Rice series with Interview with the Vampire set for a late 2022 premiere. (AMC Press Release and Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton) will star opposite Alden Ehrenreigh in the upcoming film Fair Play. The film is set after a woman’s promotion at a cut-throat hedge fund threatens to uncover unspeakable secrets that might impact her relationship with her fiancé. (Deadline and Digital Spy)

While doing PR for the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home, lead star Tom Holland confirmed that he will step into the shoes of the one and only Fred Astair in an upcoming biopic, which is still in its early stages of development, about the legendary actor, dancer and singer. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!