Hey All,
Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:
RENEWAL
Netflix has given a fifth season renewal to Sweet Magnolias. (TV Line)
TV CASTING NEWS
After the two-hour season finale of Fire Country this past Friday night, the surprise announcements were made that series regular Billy Burke, who plays Vince Leone, is leaving the show and series regular Stephanie Arcila, who plays Gabriela Perez is done a series regular, but the producers hope she will appear from time to time as a guest star. (Deadline and TV Line)
The small screen adaptation of Holes over at Disney+ has announced its cast, including Greg Kinnear and Saturday Night Live alum Aidy Bryant [among others]. Unlike the book, the show will feature a female protagonist and mostly female characters, whereas the book followed teenager Stanley Yelnats as he is sent to a juvenile detention camp for boys in Texas. (Variety)
The Rookie has promoted Deric Augustine, who plays rookie Miles Penn, to series regular for the show’s upcoming 8th season, which will air this fall. (Deadline)
Lucifer hunk Tom Ellis will star in the latest series in the FBI franchise over on CBS that was formerly titled FBI: CIA – not just going by CIA, which will follow two unlikely partners: a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer (to played by Ellis), and a yet-to-be-cast, by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent who believes in the rule of law. (TV Line)
This fall the spin-off series Sheriff Country will debut with series lead Morena Baccarin in the lead role of Sheriff Mickey Fox; and now we know who will be joining her in the cast. Covert Affairs and Ugly Betty alum Christopher Gorham and Michele Weaver (Briarpatch) will star as Travis, a lawyer and Mickey ex-husband; while Weaver will star as Cassidy, a deputy in the Edgewater County Sheriff’s Office. (Deadline)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Norman Reedus, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bridgerton alum Phoebe Dynevor will star in the upcoming horror flick Pendulum that follows young couple Patrick (Gordon-Levitt) and Abigail (Dynevor) on a journey to a new-age retreat in New Mexico, drawn by the possibility of healing after a traumatic event. Patrick is willing to do anything to help his wife but becomes distrustful of the retreat’s enigmatic leader even as Abigail falls under her spell. As paranoia builds, the couple must determine if the group’s unconventional spiritual practices offer genuine healing or mask a terrifying truth that threatens to consume them both. Reedus will play the couple’s friend who introduces them to the retreat. (Deadline)
Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, has assembled an all-star voice cast for his animated adaptation of the classic novel Animal Farm, including Seth Rogen, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons and Kathleen Turner (among others). The classic tale is about a group of animals who rebel against their human owners and take over the farm. (Variety)
Cast members for the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping have been announced with newcomer Joseph Zada set to play District 12 tribute Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in the original franchise of movies) and Whitney Peak (Hocus Pocus 2) set to play his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird. Fargo and Civil War alum Jesse Plemons will play a young version of Plutarch Heavensbee, who was played by the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman and McKenna Grace (Captain Marvel and the reboot of Ghostbusters) will play Maysilee Donner, one of the tributes from District 12. (Variety)
GENERAL TV NEWS
CBS will not be moving forward with a spin-off of The Equalizer, which was to be based on guest stars Titus Welliver and Juani Feliz, who appeared in last week’s episode. In fact, The Equazlier is the last remaining show on CBS that is on the bubble of being renewed or cancelled. (TV Line)
OFFICIAL TV PICK-UP
CBS is moving forward with the new drama Einstein giving it a series order. The series will star Criminal Minds vet Matthew Gray Gubler in the title role. The series will focus on Albert Einstein’s brilliant but directionless great-grandson, who spends his days as a comfortably tenured professor until his bad boy antics land him in trouble with the law and he is pressed into service helping a local police detective (to be played by Rosa Salazar) solve her most puzzling cases. (TV Line)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Anyone Royal Pains fans out there. A revival of the once popular USA Network series is being developed by NBC with former series star Mark Feuerstein set to reprise his role of Dr. Hank Lawson. The revival catches up with Hank several years later and finds him searching for a new purpose in life and about to embark on his biggest project yet. (Deadline and TV Line)
CHANGE OF PLANS ON TV
The popular Netflix LGBTQ+ romance series Heartstopper will come to an end as a movie instead of another season of episodes. The movie will be based on the as-yet unreleased 6th novel in the graphic novel series by Alice Oseman. (TV Line)
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS
Enola Holmes 3 has started production in the U.K. with Strange Things alum Millie Bobby Brown returning in the title role as well as returning cast members Louis Partridge, Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham-Carter, Himseh Patel and Sharon Duncan-Brewster. The third movie will see adventure chase Enola Holmes to Malta, where personal and professional dreams collide on a case more tangled and treacherous than any she has faced before. (Variety)
That’s it. Enjoy!
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