Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

CBS has renewed the new drama Tracker for a second season. (TV Line)

Upload, the satirical sci-fi-comedy that stars Robbie Amell, has been renewed for its 4th and final season by Amazon Prime. (TV Line)

Netflix has given 2nd and 3rd season renewals to Avatar: The Last Airbender. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

It looks like (for whatever reason) FOX is developing a reboot for Baywatch, the long-running series that ran from 1989 to 1999 then was retooled as Baywatch: Hawaii from 1999 to 2001. (Variety)

Candice King (The Vampire Diaries) will star in a new Amazon Prime series from that show’s creator, Julie Plec. We We Liars, which is an adaptation of the young-adult novel from E. Lockhart, follows the rich Sinclair family, the members of which spend every summer on their private island, But their perfect family image is dangerously close to shattering. King will play Bess Sinclair, the youngest of three sisters and a mother of three, herself. She, her marriage and her family all seem perfect. Caitlin Fitzgerald (Sweetbitter) and Mamie Gummer (Emily Owens M.D.) also star with FitzGerald playing Penny Sinclair, a high-end-athleisure-clad dog breeder/soon-to-be-divorcee who’ll do anything to keep her family’s wealth and power while Gummer will play Carrie Sinclair, who was once the most rebellious of the three siblings. Her life has calmed down quite a bit — she now has two sons and is sober — but during a turbulent summer on her parents’ private island, her sobriety and her ability to be a stable force in her boys’ lives is threatened. (TV Line)

Patrick J. Adams (Suits) will star in Lockerbie, a 6-part Netflix series about the fallout from the 1988 terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103. Also in the cast is Merritt Weaver, Connor Swindells and Eddie Marsan as well as Tony Curran, Lauren Lyle, Phyllis Logan [among others]. Based on the real events surrounding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the joint Scottish-U.S. investigation which sought to bring the perpetrators to justice, the series will focus on the investigation into the crash on both sides of the Atlantic and the devastating effect it had on the small town and the families who lost loved ones. From the initial exhaustive search for evidence on the ground in Scotland, via the U.S. and Malta to the trial at Camp Zeist in 2000, the drama takes us right up to the most recent indictment at the end of 2022. (The Hollywood Reporter)

STREAMING AND TV CASTING NEWS

Margaret Qualley will star as Amanda Knox in an untitled limited series from Hulu that has been given an 8-episode order that will be based on the true story of how Knox was wrongfully convicted for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher and her 16-year odyssey to set herself free. (Variety)

Yvonne Chapman (Kung Fu and Avatar: The Last Airbender) has joined the 4th and final season of Superman & Lois on CW. She will have a recurring role as Amanda McCoy, Lex Luthor’s intelligent, cunning, and loyal ally whose business-savvy and cutthroat nature have brought the company to new heights amid Lex’s absence. (TV Line)

James Wolk will star alongside Annaleigh Ashford in the upcoming Paramount+ drama Happy Face that is based on the true story of Melissa Moore (Ashford), who was 15 when she learned her father (Dennis Quaid) was a murderer known as “Happy Face.” Moore chronicled her story in the autobiography Shattered Silence and iHeartPodcasts’ Happy Face podcast. Wolk will play Melissa’s bank manager husband, who thinks they’ve left the trauma of her past behind them — that is, until that past comes knocking on their door, and he grows concerned that his wife is being manipulated all over again. (Deadline and TV Line)

Kumail Nanjiani has joined the cast of the 4th season of Only Murders in the Building, playing a recurring role that is being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Austin Stowell (Bridge of Spies) has landed the role of the younger version of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the prequel series NCIS: Origins. (TV Line)

Christian Kane (Angel, Leverage and Almost Paradise) will be reprising his role of Jacob Stone in the upcoming sequel series The Librarians: The Next Chapter that will air on CW. (TV Line)

Paola Nunez (The Fall of the House of Usher) will appear as the estranged mom to Gabriella (Stephanie Arcila) in Fire Country. (TV Line)

Scott Wolf (Nancy Drew and Party of Five) will recur as an attending physician in the upcoming FOX medical drama Doc that will star Molly Parker in the lead role. (TV Line and Deadline)

Sofia Carson (the Netflix movie Purple Hearts) will star in another Netflix rom-com called The Life List about a young woman who’s sent on a quest by her mother to complete her childhood bucket list. The cast also includes Connie Britton (The White Lotus), Kyle Allen (The Path) and Sebastian De Souza (The Great). (Deadline and TV Line)

FILM CASTING NEWS

Shadowhunters co-stars Katherine McNamara, Dominic Sherwood and Matthew Daddario will co-star in the film together that was written by Daddario and is almost based on a true story, focusing on some personal insight into Daddario’s life. Other details about the film are not available. (Collider)

The upcoming crime thriller Play Dirty that will star Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar and Tony Shalhoub has added four cast members: Keegan-Michael Key, Nat Wolff, Chukwudi Iwuhi and Thomas Jane. The film will center on Wahlberg’s professional thief, Parker, who after being double-crossed and left for dead, sees his hunt for revenge bring with it a shot at the biggest heist of his career. But even with the help of his partner, actor-slash-con artist Grofield (Stanfield), he’ll still need to outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob and the world’s richest man if he hopes to stay alive. There are no details, though, on the roles to be played by the rest of the cast. (Deadline)

It looks like there will be a sequel to The Accountant, which starred Ben Affleck as a highly skilled CPA with autism who leads a double life as a forensic accountant for criminal organizations. Also returning for the sequel will be Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons and Cynthia Addai-Robinson. The sequel’s plot is thrust into motion when Marybeth Medina’s (as played by Addai-Robinson) former boss is killed by unknown assassins, and she’s forced to contact Christian (Affleck) to solve the murder. With the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother Brax (Bernthal), Chris applies his brilliant mind and less-than-legal methods to piece together the unsolved puzzle. As they get closer to the truth, the trio draw the attention of some of the most ruthless killers alive — all intent on putting a stop to their search. (Deadline)

Rebecca Ferguson and Chris Pratt will star in the upcoming box office film Mercy that will be set in the near future when capital crime has increased, following a detective (Pratt) who is accused of a violent crime and forced to prove his innocence. (Deadline)

Ming-Na Wen has joined the cast of the upcoming new Karate Kid film that will find both Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan reprising their roles, and will star Ben Wang (American Born Chinese) in the lead role. Details are currently under wraps about who Wen will play. Also, Sadie Stanley (Cruel Summer) will play the romantic lead opposite Ben Wang. (Variety and The Hollywood Reporter)

The upcoming neo-noir thriller flick Lips Like Sugar will not only star Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson but also Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets), Sasha Calle (2023’s box office film The Flash), Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies) and Erin Moriarty (The Boys). The film will be set against the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles with Harrelson and Wilson playing detectives John Carr and Phil Harris, a pair of homicide cops working to solve a possible serial killer case while police and city officials demand that all murders in LA be labeled Missing Persons until the Olympic torch is doused and the international media has left town. The detectives’ paths cross with Tracy Anderson and Andi Campos (Newton and Calle), a pair of teenage girls that have formed a fast and intense friendship, with Montana transplant Tracy recently arrived in town with her mother (Lewis) and enamored of all things Hollywood. When Tracy disappears, Carr, Harris and Andi race a ticking clock to find her. (MSN.com)

It looks like Showdog Studio will be working on a series of three features drawing from the life of pioneering electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla. (Variety)

Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming) has landed a key role in the upcoming biopic Michael about Michael Jackson. She will play pioneering female music executive Suzanne de Passe, who was a creative assistant to Motown founder Berry Gordy and is credited with convincing Gordy to sign The Jackson 5 to his label. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!