Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

CANCELLATIONS

The YA drama Motorheads has been cancelled after only one season by Amazon Prime, but the producers and the series creator are shopping it around for a new potential home. (Deadline)

Netflix has pulled the plug on the drama The Waterfront after only one season. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Yellowstone alums Gil Birmingham, Mo Brings Plenty and Brecken Merrill will reprise their roles of Thomas Rainwater, Mo and Tate Dutton respectively on the CBS spin-off series Y” Marshals that will focus on youngest son Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes). The series find Kayce joining an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana, where he and his teammates must balance family, duty and the high psychological cost that comes with serving as the last line of defense in the region’s war on violence. Arielle Kebbel (Rescue: Hi-Surf) will star as Belle and veteran actor Brett Cullen will appear as Harry Gifford, the head of the U.S. Marshals in Montana. (Variety)

Nick Gehlfuss will reprise his role of Dr. Will Halstead in a guest-starring role on Chicago Med after leaving the show in 2023. Meanwhile, one of the last three remaining original cast member Marlyne Barrett will not be returning to the medical drama for its upcoming season 11. (Deadline and Variety)

A-lister Annette Bening has joined the cast of the upcoming Yellowstone spin-off that will focus on Bet and Rip. Bening will star as Beulah Jackson, the powerful, cunning, and charming head of a major ranch in Texas. (Variety)

Adam Campbell, who played the younger version of Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in the mothership series NCIS will reprise that role in the prequel series NCIS: Origins. The episode will also pay tribute to the late David McCallum, who played Ducky for 20 seasons on NCIS. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Guest stars for season two of the FOX drama Murder in a Small Town will include Camryn Manheim (Law and Order), Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf), Jamie Chung (Once Upon a Time and Lovecraft Country), Noah Reid (Schitt’s Creek) and Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries). Manheim will play Jocelyn Tait, an iron-tough, working-class matriarch, who has lived her life in the shadow of a family feud, who comes to Gibsons for a “Romeo and Juliet-style” wedding; Posey will play Ryan, a former party boy turned holistic health aficionado, who is desperate to leave behind a reckless past; Chung will play Lanni Soo, a career-driven and straight-forward, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney General, who approaches Alberg (series lead Rossif Sutherland) with an intriguing case; Reid will reprises his role of Tommy Cummins, the unassuming high school art teacher whose greatest work put him behind bars and Canning will play Mackenzie Rankin, a woman who organizes a memorial gathering following the death of her younger sister. (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS/PILOT ORDER NEWS

Hulu has given a pilot order to a series adaptation of the Nash Jenkins novel Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos that will be written and executive produced by uber-producer Greg Berlanti and Bash Doran. The series will be a teen mystery series set at a boarding school on the East Coast that explores privilege, scandal, sexuality and masculinity amid the rise of social media, millennial anxiety and pharmaceuticals. (Variety)

Warner Bros Television is developing a limited series set around the Karen Read trial, which will follow the trial that captivated the country and turned Read into a household name. When a Boston police officer is found dead in the snow, all eyes are on his girlfriend, Read. The case fractures a community, with some believing she is guilty of first-degree murder, and others that she’s the victim of a sweeping cover-up by state and local law enforcement. This series explores society’s obsession with true crime, the allure of conspiracy and the deepening crisis of trust in our institutions. Elizabeth Banks is on board to play the lead character. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Tyler Hoechlin (Superman and Lois) and Virginia Gardner (Runaways) will star in the upcoming rom-com flick It Happened One Summer that will focus on Piper Bellinger, a glamorous LA It Girl whose glittering world comes crashing down after a viral mishap gets her cancelled overnight. Cut off from her wealthy family’s safety net, she’s exiled to a rugged fishing town with one ultimatum: fix up her late father’s dive bar – or lose everything. There, she butts heads with Brendan, a gruff sea captain who has zero patience for influencers. He’s the last person she expected – and exactly what she needs. (Deadline)

Amy Adams and Aaron Pierre will join Ryan Gosling in the upcoming movie Star Wars: Starfighter, an entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored within the franchise. There are no plot or character details though. (Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE CASTING NEWS

The upcoming Hallmark holiday movie A Grand Ole Opry Christmas has added Sharon Lawrence, James Denton, Rob Mayes and Luke Benward to the cast. Nikki DeLoach and Kristoffer Polaha will lead the film. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!