Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Amazon Prime has given the Maggie Q-led drama Ballard a season two renewal. (Deadline)

Great American Family has given the spin-off series When Hope Calls for a third season. The forthcoming season, which comes with a new subtitle Brookfield, is currently in production and is slated to return sometime in 2026. (TV Line)

Showtime will bring the long-running drama The Chi to an end after its upcoming 8th season. (Variety)

The Hulu comedy Mid-Century Modern, which starred Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane, the late Linda Lavin and Nathan Lee Graham, has been pulled after only one season. (Variety)

Paramount+ has given the drama series Lioness a third season renewal. (Deadline)

SERIES ORDER NEWS

ABC has given a series order to the new hour-long pilot RJ Decker, which is the current working title, for the drama that will star Felicity alum Scott Speedman as RJ Decker, a disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con who starts over as a private investigator in the colorful-if-crime-filled world of South Florida. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Adam Driver and Anne Hathaway will star in the Ron Howard-directed flick Alone at Dawn that will be based on the book by Dan Schilling and Lori Chapman Longfritz that is based on an incredible true story. Years after Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman fought to the death to save his fellow soldiers, an intelligence officer strives to prove his valor — leading an investigation that ultimately would secure him the Medal of Honor. (Deadline)

The sequel flick The Beekeeper 2 will find Emmy Raver-Lampman, Bobby Naderi and Jemma Redgrave reprising their roles from the original film while Guardians of the Galaxy alum Pom Klementieff and Haven alum Adam Copeland are joining the cast. Plot details for the sequel and character details for the latter two cast members are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Rami Malek has joined the cast of the upcoming film The Man I Love that will be set in late ‘80s New York that will star Tom Sturridge, Rebecca Hall and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The movie is being described as a “musical fantasia of a city under duress.” (Variety)

Stephan James (Beacon 23 and Selma) will star as Carl Weathers in the upcoming film I Play Rocky that will star Pixels and Purple Heart actor Anthony Ippolito in the lead role of Sylvester Stallone. (Deadline)

Leverage alum Aldis Hodge will join Jake Gyllenhaal in the upcoming sequel to Road House for Amazon MGM Studios. Plot details for the sequel are being kept under wraps as is the role for which Hodge will play. (Deadline)

Jeremy Irons has joined the cast of the Highlander box office reboot that will star Henry Cavill in the lead role. Irons will play one of the antagonists in the film. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Frances Fisher (Titanic), Will Patton (Armageddon), Lauren Holly (NCIS), and M.C. Gainey (Con Air) will star in the box office film Ruby Road that follows Fisher as Ruby, a former coal-truck and school-bus driver, who when facing a terminal illness sets off in her yellow mini-bus through the Appalachian mountains on a final journey to reconcile with her past and her fractured family. Character details for the others have not been released yet. (Deadline)

Once Upon a Time and The Rainmaker alum Lana Parrilla, Daredevil star Charlie Cox and Haley Bennett (Cyrano and the upcoming The Last Frontier) will star in the upcoming sci-fi thriller flick Synthetic that will be set in the near future, where a retired soldier’s isolated existence is shattered when a runaway female android seeks refuge on his farm, sparking an unexpected bond that forces them to fight for their survival and for each other. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Nicole Beharie (Sleepy Hollow and The Morning Show) has been cast as a series regular in the Netflix thriller All the Sinners Bleed based on the novel S.A. Cosby will follow the story of Titus Crown (Sope Dìrísù), the first Black sheriff in a small Bible Belt county. Haunted by his devout mother’s untimely death, he must lead the hunt for a serial killer that has been preying on his Black community for years in the name of God. Beharie will play Darlene, Titus’ supportive girlfriend. (Deadline)

Brooke Shields will be reprising her role of Charlotte Thornton (mother of the late Jack Thornton) in the upcoming season 13 of the Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart. (Variety)

Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent and House of Cards) has joined the second season of the Netflix series Ransom Canyon. She will play Claire O’Grady, the mother of Quinn (series lead Minka Kelly). (The Hollywood Reporter)

Scott Wolf will be back as Dr. Richard Miller on the FOX medical drama Doc during its current second season, appearing in a multi-episode guest arc and he will also direct an episode early next year. (TV Line)

Harry Potter and Killing Eve alum Fiona Shaw has landed a series regular role in the upcoming 2nd season of the Apple TV+ legal thriller Presumed Innocent where she will play a partner at the law firm featured in the new season. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!