Hey All,
Here are the news items for this past week:
NEW SERIES NEWS
Cowboy Way FAST Channel will be the home of the new action-crime series Blue Ridge, which is based on the made-for-TV movie of the same name that debut on INSP TV in 2020. The series will find Johnathon Schaech (That Thing You Do! and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) reprising his role of Sheriff Justin Wise, a former Green Beret, who leaves his dangerous life to be near his ex-wife and young daughter. As sheriff of a small, sleepy town cut out of the Blue Ridge Mountains, his quiet life is soon disrupted as he tries to keep the mountain community safe from violence and corruption. The first episode of Blue Ridge will debut in late 2023 or early 2024. This new channel can be viewed on Plex and Roku. (INSP TV Press Release)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Amazon Studios is developing a TV series based on the From Blood and Ash novels by author Jennifer L. Armentrout. The series will center on a young woman named Poppy, who is chosen at birth as The Maiden of her kingdom who will “Ascend” and bring in a new era of peace and prosperity. Duty-bound to fulfill her destiny, she’s also isolated from the world. (The Hollywood Reporter)
TV CASTING NEWS
MGM+ has set the cast for Belgravia: The Next Chapter, the sequel series to the Julian Fellowes historical drama. The 8-part series will pick up in 1871, three decades after the events depicted in the 2020 limited series. The series tells the love story of Frederick Trenchard (Ben Wainwright), who has grown up as the third Lord Trenchard, and his new love interest, Clara Dunn (Harriet Slater), who is a newcomer to London society. Unaware that his birth was the product of an affair between his mother Susan and the scoundrel John Bellasis, a troubled childhood has left Frederick deeply insecure, which challenges his courtship of and marriage to Clara. (Deadline)
Jesse Spencer will reprise his role of Matt Casey in an upcoming episode of Chicago Fire. This news comes as longtime series regular Taylor Kinney is taking a leave of absence. (Variety and TV Line)
Lesley-Ann Brandt (Lucifer) has landed a recurring role in the upcoming The Walking Dead spin-off series that will star Andrew Lincoln and Dania Gurira. She will play Pearl Thorne in the six-episode series. (Deadline)
Daniel Bruhl (Captain AMerica: Civil War) will star as late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld in the upcoming Disney+ original series Kaiser Karl. The 6-part series will chronicle the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. (Variety)
Peacock is working with Bridgerton alum Rege-Jean Page, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Willmott on an 8-part event series about boxing icon Muhammad Ali. Excellence: 8 Fights will chronicle eight distinct and defining moments in the iconic life of Muhammad Ali. (Variety)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Octavia Spencer will star in and produce the upcoming box office film Confessions in B-Flat, which will tell an emotional love story that will be set amid the Civil Rights Movement, following two young people, Anita and Jason, who meet and fall in love despite their clashing political beliefs. (Variety)
Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney will star in the feature film Echo Valley that will follow Kate Garrett (Moore), a woman reeling from a personal tragedy who spends her days boarding and training horses on the secluded and picturesque Echo Valley Farm. Late one night, her wayward daughter Claire (Sweeney) arrives at her doorstep, frightened, trembling and covered in someone else’s blood. (Variety)
Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty), Scott Eastwood (The Longest Ride and Suicide Squad) and Chaske Spencer (The English and Twilight franchise) will star in Wind River: The Next Chapter, the sequel to the Taylor Sheridan movie Wind River that starred Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene, Jon Bernthal, and Martin Senmeier. The movie will focus on Sensmeier’s character Chip Hanson—a lost drug addict in the original and the son of Gil Birmingham’s character— reformed and taking a lead role. It is unclear if any other actors from the original pic will make a return, though. (The Playlist)
Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham will star opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 8. (People)
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries announced plans for a new Aurora Teagarden movie that will find Skyler Samuels (The Gifted, Scream Queens and The Nine Lives of Chloe King) taking over the lead role. This prequel-based film called Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New will find Samuels playing a younger version of Aurora with Evan Roderick (Arrow and Spinning Out) as a younger version of Arthur (played by Peter Benson in the original franchise. Marilu Henner will continue to play Aurora’s mom Aida. (TV Line)
That’s it. Enjoy!
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