Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TV CASTING NEWS

The spin-off series S.W.A.T. Exiles has added Selma Blair and Jerry O’Connell to its guest star roster. (Variety)

Stephen Amell will be back on the small screen in the reboot of Baywatch that has already been picked up for the 2026-2027 FOX TV season. He will play Hobie Buchannon, the son of Mitch Buchannon (played by David Hasselhoff in the original series), who is now a Baywatch Captain, following in his father’s legendary footsteps. In this version, Hobie’s world is turned upside down when Charlie, the daughter he never knew, shows up on his doorstep, eager to carry on the Buchannon family legacy and become a Baywatch lifeguard alongside her dad. (Variety)

TV SHOW DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NBC is looking to reboot the classic 1970’s drama The Rockford Files with Angel and SEAL Team star David Boreanaz set to play the lead role. (Deadline)

The spin-off pilot The Rookie: North has added some series regulars, including Janet Montgomery (New Amsterdam) and Karen Fukuhara (The Boys). The series, should it go forward, will follow Alex Holland (Jay Ellis from Insecure and Running Point), who believed his midlife wasn’t worthy of a crisis. But after a violent home invasion ignites a dormant purpose, Alex battles a lifetime of failed commitments in Los Angeles by joining the Pierce County Police Department in Washington as its oldest rookie. Montgomery will play Charlotte Dru, Alex’s training officer. A former MP-turned-Pierce County Police Officer, Charlotte is precise, disciplined and calm under pressure with a subversive sense of humor. Meanwhile, Fukuhara as Leah Mizuno, Odell’s training officer. Leah comes from the high expectations of overachievers, where becoming a cop did not go over well. But unlike most youthful acts of rebellion, Leah loves what she does. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Jason Momoa is set to star in the film adaptation of the Helldivers video game that will be directed by Justin Lin. The story centers around an elite unit of soldiers, known as Helldivers, who must battle alien creatures threatening to destroy the fictional planet of Super Earth. (Deadline)

Catherine Zeta-Jones is set to star in the psychological thriller Cupid, playing a marriage counselor whose methods push a fractured relationship into increasingly dangerous territory. (Variety)

Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer) is attached to play The Mama and the Papas singer Cass Elliot in the feature film adaptation of My Mama Cass, based on the best-selling memoir on the legendary, late singer that was written by her daughter Owen Elliot-Kugell. The planned production will explore how, in a musical landscape that was not short on iconoclasts, Elliot was a trailblazer. But her true power was that she took things the world didn’t want to give her…a gifted, outspoken singer who refused to be defined by her weight or the men around her, forging a singular career and choosing motherhood on her own terms at a time when the culture wasn’t ready for any of it. (Deadline)

Colman Domingo, Kerry Washington and James Marsden are set to star in the upcoming Netflix film An Innocent Girl, a psychological thriller about a young and ambitious woman seduced by a high-powered D.C. couple who draw her into a dangerous world of sex, power and murder. (Deadline)

It would appear that Sony Pictures is in early development of (yet) another feature film version of Charlie’s Angels, which seems apropos since this is the show’s 50th Anniversary. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Apple TV has given the Jon Hamm-led drama Your Friends & Neighbors an early third season renewal. (Deadline)

Netflix has given a second season renewal to the new drama Finding Her Edge and the streaming also renewed the Ted Danson-led comedy A Man on the Inside. (Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter)

AMC has given a 4th season renewal for Dark Winds. (Variety)

PULLED FROM THE SCHEDULE

For whatever reason, NBC has pulled the return of the medical drama Brilliant Minds, which was to be back after The Olympics comes to a close. It would seem that the show MIGHT return at some point later in this TV season or over the summer. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE AND STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Jessica Chastain and Chris Pine will star in the upcoming box office movie This Is Pleasure that will follow Margot (Chastain) as accusations of misconduct unravel the career of her closest friend, the charming publisher Quin (Pine). Margot must decide whether loyalty, forgiveness or truth will define the end of their long, heady friendship. (Variety)

Helena Bonham Carter, Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe, rising star Emma Laird (The Brutalist) will join Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins in the upcoming box office movie The Housekeeper, which is the inspiration for Rebecca. Set against the wild, brooding landscape of Cornwall, the story centers on Danni (Balfe), the housekeeper at Manderville Hall, a grand historic house owned by the wealthy and widowed Lord Grenville-Whithers (Hopkins). When the young writer Daphne du Maurier (Laird) arrives, Danni is drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair. For one, it is an all-consuming love; for the other, an awakening of long-suppressed desires. Their fragile secret threatens to unravel under the watchful gaze of Adelaide (Bonham Carter), Lord Grenville-Whithers’ calculating niece. (Variety)

Chris Pratt and Linda Cardellini will star in the Apple TV movie Way of the Warrior Kid that focuses on how middle school has been a nightmare for Marc (young actor Jude Hill), a good kid who’s bullied by his classmates and feels like he’s behind in everything, from academics to P.E. to just making friends. That changes when his injured Uncle Jake (Pratt), a decorated Navy SEAL, comes to spend the summer and recuperate with Marc and his mom, Sarah (Linda Cardellini). To help Marc defend himself, Jake devises an ambitious program he calls “Operation Warrior Kid” based on his SEAL training. Instead of teaching his nephew how to fight, Jake shows Marc what real courage is, facing down his own demons along the way. (Deadline)

Benedict Cumberbatch will star in the thriller flick Last Flight about a U.S. man who helped persecuted people find safe passage out of Iraq and Afghanistan. (Deadline)

Meryl Streep will portray legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in an upcoming biopic about the icon with Anya Taylor-Joy reportedly set to play the younger version of Mitchell. (Radio Times)

Chris Hemsworth will star alongside Taron Egerton and Zazie Beetz in the upcoming crime flick Kockroach, taking over for the departing Channing Tatum, in the story of a mysterious stranger who takes on New York’s criminal underworld, transforming himself into a larger-than-life crime boss in a city where power is everything.” (Deadline)

Javier Bardem and Kate Hudson are set to star in Hello & Paris, the film adaptation loosely inspired by the Deborah McKinlay novel That Part Was True that will focus on what happens after a prickly first encounter in Paris between a fiercely independent landscape architect and a crisis-ridden bestselling novelist who begin a sparky, transatlantic exchange over books and recipes—only to discover that the one thing harder than being alone might be choosing not to be”. (Deadline)

Kerry Washingon and James Marsden will star in the upcoming Netflix film An Innocent Girl, a psychological thriller about a young and ambitious woman seduced by a high-powered D.C. couple who draw her into a dangerous world of sex, power and murder. (Variety)

Alexander Ludwig and Emma Roberts will star in the upcoming feature film Hal that is inspired by the true story behind the founding of humanitarian organization Convoy of Hope that will follow Hal Donaldson, a journalist shaped by early hardship who believes his voice is his path forward. When he meets Doree, a gifted musician, their relationship becomes the foundation that steadies him as his career takes him to places marked by deep suffering. As Hal witnesses crisis and inequality firsthand, the line between observing and acting begins to blur. Confronted with the limits of telling stories alone, he is drawn toward a calling that requires more than words — setting in motion the events that lead to the creation of Convoy of Hope. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Netflix has given The Lincoln Lawyer a 5th season renewal in advance of its 4th season premiere. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Mary Stuart Masterson (Benny & Joon and Some Kind of Wonderful) will star in the box office movie Sunny, a mafia thriller that will also star Angelina Jolie, Method Man and Charlie Plummer. The movie will follow a female gangster who fights to protect her sons — and herself — from an abusive drug kingpin. But when a devastating event occurs, she only has a matter of hours to plot their permanent escape. Details about who Masterson will play are being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

Erin Doherty (Adolescence) and James McAvoy (The X-Men franchise) will star in the feature film Faith, which is a supernatural drama that follows Gina, a hard-working and devoted single mother who meets a quietly enigmatic stranger, Michael. The presence of someone who appears to care for her brings a new and exciting dynamic to her life, despite the fact she knows nothing about him or what his intentions towards her really are. Is he a friend, a potential lover or something more sinister? (Variety)

Kate Beckinsale is set to star in the upcoming action-thriller The Savior that will follow a mother, Jordyn Parker (Beckinsale) struggling with addiction who is forced to resurrect a violent past to rescue her kidnapped daughter from ruthless human traffickers. (Deadline)

Antonio Banderas will star in the upcoming supernatural thriller Unmerciful Good Fortune that will also star Rosario Dawson, Scott Eastwood and Susan Sarandon. The movie will center on Maritza Cruz (Dawson), a high-end celebrity attorney pulled into a headline-making case involving a young woman accused of multiple murders — only for the defendant to claim she possesses psychic abilities and kills to prevent worse fates, plunging Maritza into a moral and spiritual labyrinth. (Deadline)

Orlando Bloom and Ethan Hawke will star in the jungle thriller film The Last of the Tribe that will be set in the Amazon rainforest, following William Phelan (Hawke), a washed-out Chicago cop turned corporate gun-for-hire, who is sent to investigate a death. During his mission he encounters the last surviving member of an Indigenous tribe. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Helena Bonham Carter and Chris Messina have joined the cast of the upcoming 4th season of The White Lotus. (The Hollywood Reporter)

More cast members have been announced for the Amazon Prime series adaptation of God of War. Olafur Darri Olafsson (Severance) and the one and only Mandy Patinkin have joined the cast as Thor and Odin respectively. The series will be based on the PlayStation ancient mythology-themed video game. (Variety and Deadline)

Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart) and Griffin Dunne (This Is Us) will both guest star in upcoming episodes of the CBS drama Elsbeth. Feldstein will play Rachel, who attends and plans all of her friends’ milestone celebrations: baby showers, bachelorette parties, weddings, gender reveals, you name it. But when it’s finally time to celebrate her special day, her bestie isn’t there for her. Meanwhile, Dunne will play Elliott, a world-famous novelist with a massive ego and a thin skin. When a childhood acquaintance and book critic points out the flaws in Elliott’s latest opus, the plot turns deadly. (Deadline)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

The Way Home star Andie MacDowell will join Holland Roden and Niall Matter in the sequel movie to A Biltmore Christmas that will be featured in this winter’s Countdown to Christmas on Hallmark Channel. MacDowell will play the aunt to Roden’s character. (Entertainment Now)

NEW DRAMAS

Anthony Starr (The Boys) will star in the newly greenlit Netflix series Breakers, that will follow two best friends from the U.S. who go backpacking in Australia and are soon drawn into a seemingly perfect community of surfers led by a charismatic but mysterious figure, Brando, which will be played by Starr. (Deadline)

Regina Hall (One Battle After Another) and Star Wars alum Adam Driver will star in the upcoming hostage thriller series Rabbit, Rabbit which will air on Netflix. The series will focus on what happens when escaped convict J-Will (Driver) is cornered by law enforcement at a truck stop. He takes hostages in an effort to bargain for his freedom. But the standoff soon escalates into an unmanageable social experiment with his captives, as well as an emotional poker match with a veteran FBI Crisis Negotiator (Hall) trained in tactical empathy. (Deadline)

Hamilton alum Renée Elise Goldsberry has joined the cast of the upcoming CBS legal drama Cupertino which will be a David vs. Goliath story set in the heart of Silicon Valley, following Michael (Mike Colter), a lawyer who is being cheated out of his stock options by his former employer, a tech start-up. Refusing to back down, he joins forces with another recently fired attorney to represent those taken advantage of by the tech elite and help them fight back in a high stakes battle against the Goliaths controlling Silicon Valley. Goldsberry will play Renee, a brilliant opposing attorney who has a professional and romantic history with Michael. (Deadline)

Zoey Deutch will join Emily Bader in the upcoming Netflix sports drama The 99’ers that will focus on the U.S. Women’s Soccer team during the 1999 World Cup. Deutch will play Marla Messing, the trailblazing U.S. Women’s soccer executive who oversaw the massively successful 1999 World Cup tournament that set attendance and TV viewership records. Bader will play legendary soccer player Mia Hamm. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

CBS has renewed the following dramas for the 2026-2027 TV season: Tracker, Matlock, Elsbeth, Fire Country, NCIS, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney. (Variety)

Netflix has pulled the plug on the western-themed period drama The Abandons after only one season. (The Hollywood Reporter)

The prequel series Elle, based on the Legally Blonde films, which won’t debut on Amazon Prime until July 1, has been renewed for a second season already. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Laura Donnelly (Outlander and The Nevers) and Nick Robinson (Jurassic World and Love, Victor) will star opposite Michael Fassbender in the Netflix drama series Kennedy that will explore the lives, loves, rivalries and tragedies of the Kennedy family. Fassbender will play Joe Kennedy, Sr., Donnelly will play his wife Rose Kennedy, Robinson will play their son Joe Kennedy Jr. (Deadline)

Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction and Desperately Seeking Susan) will recur in the upcoming second season of Amazon Prime’s Ballard that stars Maggie Q as Renee Ballard. Arquette will play Jenny Ballard, Renee’s mother. (Deadline)

Sam Heughan (Outlander) will star alongside Anna Kendrick and J.K. Simmons in the upcoming geo-political action thriller series Embassy. Heughan will play a British SAS soldier in the six part-series that follows Layla (Kendrick), a sharp and resourceful American diplomat, who faces an impossible choice to protect the U.S. Ambassador (Simmons) or follow his orders to exfiltrate a high value asset when armed mercenaries storm the U.S. Embassy in London. She’s forced to rely on her instincts and the reluctant help of her battle-hardened ex-fiancé, Connor Wright (Heughan), in the tense hours before extraction. Embassy has yet to be picked up by any platform in the U.S. just yet though. (Deadline)

The Chicago Fire character Chief Dominick “Dom” Pascal, as portrayed by Dermot Mulroney, will be spending some time off-camera for the latter part of the show’s 14th season, and this break will last until the end of the current season. Meanwhile, Rob Morgan (Mudbound and The Last Black Man in San Francisco) will have a recurring role in the show playing Battalion Chief Hopkins, who has a long, haunted past in overseeing several Chicago firehouses and is quick to assert authority over his colleagues. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TV CASTING NEWS

Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy) and Teresa Palmer (A Discovery of Witches) will star in the upcoming small screen adaptation of God of War based on the PlayStation ancient mythology-themed video game that received a two-season order from Amazon Prime. The show comes from Ronald D. Moore (Outlander and For All Mankind) that follows father and son, Kratos and Atreus, as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human. Kratos, the titular character of the entire franchise, is Spartan by birth and a god by nature. Raised in a martial culture, he rose to command armies in the service of his homeland until one day he made a fateful deal with Ares, the Greek God of War, and lost his soul in exchange for being victorious in battle. Hurst will play Kratos while Palmer will play Phoebe/Sif, Thor’s wife and the goddess of family. (Deadline)

Paramount+ has given a greenlight to Fear Not, a six-part limited series that will star and be executive produced by Anne Hathaway. The story on which this series is based tells the story of prolific serial killer Stephen Morin — accused of more crimes than Ted Bundy — and the unlikely bond he formed with Margy Palm (Hathaway), the last woman he ever kidnapped. (Deadline)

This Is Us alum Susan Kelechi Watson will have a “key role” in season two of High Potential, playing an intriguing figure who shares a long history with Karadec (series regular Daniel Sunjata). Her first appearance will be in the January 27 episode. (TV Line)

Speaking of This Is Us, Chris Sullivan has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot, and spin-off, The Rookie: North, playing Sgt. Nix, a recently promoted Watch Commander whose heart still wants to be out on the street. If the series gets picked up, this role will be a series regular starring opposite Jay Ellis (Insecure) who will play Alex Holland, who believed his midlife wasn’t worthy of a crisis. But after a violent home invasion ignites a dormant purpose, Alex battles a lifetime of failed commitments in Los Angeles by joining the Pierce County Police Department in Washington as its oldest rookie. Policing from the urban coast to the rural forest where backup isn’t just five minutes away, Alex must prove to his skeptical training officer, his fellow rookies and himself that he’s finally found something worthy of the fight. (Deadline)

Edwin Hodge (FBI: Most Wanted) will guest star in season two of Matlock, which stars his real-life wife Skye P. Marshall. He will play Langston, the kind of guy who can show up late, knowing he’ll charm everyone into forgetting about it as soon as he arrives. A double PhD in neuroscience and philosophy, he is a deep thinker and a smooth talker. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Emily Bader (My Lady Jane and People We Meet on Vacation) will play legendary soccer star Mia Hamm in the upcoming film The 99’ers based on the book by Jeré Longman. The story catches up with the 1990s U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team in 1999, as they defy the odds to emerge victorious in a dramatic penalty kick shootout against China in the World Cup final, under the scorching summer sun and in a stadium filled with 93,000 fans. This monumental win captivated millions worldwide and forever altered the course of women’s sports. (Deadline)

Michelle Williams will star alongside Cillian Murphy in the next Damien Chazelle movie, which is untitled as of right now. The film is supposedly to be set in a prison, but there are no specific details. (Deadline)

Glen Powell is in negotiations to star in the upcoming box office movie Tesseract that will be written and directed by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail. (Deadline)

Omari Hardwick (Power) will star alongside Gerard Butler and Hayley Atwell (Marvel movie franchise) in the hostage crisis action-thriller flick Empire City that will chart a hostage crisis that erupts inside New York’s Clybourn Building. Butler will play Rhett, a firefighter who, alongside his squad and his NYPD wife Dani (Atwell), must fight and navigate his way through the building to rescue captives trapped inside. Hardwick will play Hawkins, the film’s antagonist. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Emily in Paris has been renewed for a 6th season by Netflix. The streaming service has also renewed Black Mirror for an 8th season. (Variety)

Paramount+ has renewed Mayor of Kingstown for a 5th and final season. (Variety)

The Pitt has been renewed for a 3rd season by HBO Max. (Variety)

FX and Hulu have given The Lowdown a 2nd season renewal. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Austin Nichols (One Tree Hill and The Walking Dead) has joined the cast of The Rainmaker on USA Network, playing Bruiser’s (series regular Lana Parilla) ex-husband, a minor league baseball coach and former player who finds himself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy. (Deadline)

The small screen adaptation of Tomb Raider on Amazon has confirmed that Jason Isaacs and Sigourney Weaver will star in the series as Atlas DeMornay, one of the canon roles, and Evelyn Wallis, a mysterious, high-flying woman who is keen to exploit Lara’s talents, respectively. Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner will play the lead role of Lara Croft. (Deadline)

Once Upon a Time and Manifest alum Josh Dallas will guest star in The Hunting Party, appearing alongside his Manifest sister Melissa Roxburgh. He will play Elliot Carr, aka the Connecticut Cobbler, a master craftsman and high-end shoemaker who specialized in extraordinary custom shoes made from only the rarest and most exotic of leathers — think alligator, rhino and people, skinning his victims alive. Fresh off his escape from the Pit, Elliot is on the loose and making a whole new set of kicks, this time with a twist. (TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The live-action roles of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in Tangled have been cast. Teagan Croft (Titans) and Milo Manheim (School Spirits and the Disney Zombie movie franchise) will play those roles with Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along) in talks to play Mother Gothel. (Variety)

Sebastian Stan is in talks to join the cast of the upcoming sequel to The Batman Part II. (Deadline)

Billy Bob Thornton (Landman) and Arianna Greenblatt (Barbie) will star in the upcoming feature film Somedays that follows a weary delivery driver with months to live who saves a brilliant but troubled teenage girl. The two form an unlikely, life-changing bond that teaches them both what it truly means to live. (Deadline)

Michelle Randolph (1923 and Landman) will star alongside The Summer I Turned Pretty alum Chrisopher Briney in the upcoming feature film Clashing Through the Snow. (Deadline)

It looks like Gal Gadot and Paramount Pictures just might be working together to bring the Janet Evanovich “Recovery Agent” book series to the big screen. The books center on Gabriela Rose, a globe-trotting recovery agent who specializes in retrieving stolen or lost high-value items, typically under dangerous circumstances. Paired with her unpredictable ex-husband and partner Rafer Burke, she bounces from tropical islands to international hotspots, outsmarting criminals, rival treasure hunters, and law enforcement alike in the pursuit of the goods. (Deadline)

REALITY NEWS

I rarely, if ever, talk about reality programming, but the hosts selected for the reboot of Star Search that is being set at Netflix have been announced: Jelly Roll, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Chrissy Tiegen will be the judges while Anthony Anderson will be the host of the five-week event that will air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the few entertainment news items for this past week:

TV CASTING NEWS

Season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians will find Holt McCallany (Mindhunter and The Waterfront), Jesse L. Martin (The Irrational) and David Costabile (Billions) appearing. McCallany will have the recurring role of Titan, the Bearer of Heaven, who was condemned by Zeus to hold up the celestial heavens after the last Titan war against the Olympians. Costabile will recur as Dr. Thorn, a stern military academy headmaster who demands obedience from his students while Martin will guest star as Annabeth’s mortal dad Frederick Chase, a sometimes absentminded but truly brilliant military historian that Athena deemed worthy to parent her daughter. (Variety)

Thomas Jane (The Expanse) will play Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the upcoming season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. (The Hollywood Reporter)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Holland Roden and Niall Matter will take on the lead roles inthe sequel love story to the 2023 Hallmark Channel movie A Biltmore Christmas with Jonathan Frakes reprising his role of Winston. The new movie will be part of 2026 Countdown to Christmas that will focus on the Biltmore House as it opens for the first time on Christmas Eve 1895. 13-year-old Elizabeth and her family are holiday guests. When she notices Michael, a fellow teen caught trespassing by the staff, Elizabeth comes to his rescue by claiming to know him, much to his relief. The two share an instant connection and set out to explore Biltmore but Michael inexplicably vanishes. Twenty years later, Elizabeth is spending Christmas at Biltmore and this time, is accompanied by James, a suitor her Aunt Maysilee is keen for her to wed. When a stranger asks Elizabeth to dance at the Christmas gala, she’s shocked to discover it’s Michael. Thrilled to reunite with her friend, she throws herself into his arms. But the world around her changes in an instant when Elizabeth is transported into the modern world with Michael, a tourist from the present day who had traveled to the past 20 years prior with the help of a magical hourglass in Biltmore’s library. Now, Elizabeth and Michael must find a way to send her back to her time, while not arousing the suspicion of Michael’s mother and sister during their family vacation. As Elizabeth experiences life and Christmas in the 21st century, she and Michael become close. When the time comes for her to return to 1915, Elizabeth must decide whether she’ll resume the life that’s been chosen for her or if her heart will lead her down a new path in the present. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

CANCELLATIONS

Apple TV has pulled the plug on the drama The Last Frontier after one season. (Variety)

Paramount+ has pulled the plug on NCIS: Tony & Ziva after only one season. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Heels and Vikings star Alexander Ludwig and AJ Michalka, from The Goldbergs, have joined the cast of season four of The White Lotus that will take place in France, but plot details as well as who Ludwig and Michalka will play are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Harry Potter and The White Lotus alum Jason Isaacs has joined the cast of the upcoming live-action Amazon MGM series Tomb Raider that will star Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) in the lead role of Lara Croft. There are no details on what character Isaacs will play, though. (Deadline)

The second season of The Pitt will find Travis Van Winkle (Fubar and The Last Ship), Meta Golding (Ransom Canyon and Rabbit Hole) joining the cast. They will play Curtis Larson, an aggressive patient of the ER and Noelle Hastings, a nurse, respectively. (Deadline)

Power franchise star Naturi Naughton-Lewis is coming back to Starz in the new 6-part drama The Nowhere Man will focus on Lukas (Bonko Khoza from The Woman King), a former Special Forces mercenary crippled by PTSD, who has turned his back on his violent past and is operating as a junk collector on the streets of Johannesburg. But when he witnesses a home invasion and intervenes, he is dragged back into the world he’s spent years trying to escape. To survive, he will have to come face-to-face with his demons and confront the dark secrets of his old life. (Deadline)

SERIES PICK-UP NEWS

Apple TV has picked up the dramedy Beat the Reaper to series. The show will star Guardians of the Galaxy alum Will Poulter as Dr. Peter Brown, an intern at Boston’s worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he’d prefer to keep hidden. But when a patient recognizes him from his dangerous past, Brown has eight hours to elude the government, mob hitmen, quack surgeons, and a trail of dead gangers to somehow beat the reaper. (Variety)

A new prequel series to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is in the works at Apple TV. The new spinoff series will follow the story of Colonel Lee Shaw, an American operative who in 1984 went on a secret mission behind enemy lines in an attempt to stop the Soviets from unleashing a horrific new Titan big enough to destroy the U.S. and turn the tide of the Cold War. (Deadline)

FX has a new drama that has been ordered to series Seven Sisters, starring Marvel’s alum Elizabeth Olsen, The Penguin alum Cristin Milioti and Succession alum J. Smith-Cameron, will follow a large, tight-knit family that begins to unravel when one sister, Adrienne (Olsen), starts communicating with a voice no one else can hear, forcing them to confront long-buried secrets. The cast also includes New Amsterdam lead Ryan Eggold and ER alum Anthony Edwards. (Deadline)

Amazon has given a series order to a small screen adaptation of the Wendy Wunder novel The Probability of Miracles that will follow Campbell Cooper, an acerbic teenager dying of cancer who, after receiving a terminal diagnosis, moves with her mom and younger sister to the town of Promise, where miracles are said to happen. Cam, however, doesn’t believe in miracles. How could she when science says she’s definitely going to die? But as she spends her summer in this quirky, mystical town, she discovers that miracles — and falling in love — are still possible, no matter how improbable they may seem. (Deadline)

MGM+ has given a greenlight to a small screen adaptation of the box office movie The Magnificent Seven. Set in the 1880s American frontier, the series will follow a group of mercenaries who are hired to protect a peaceful Quaker village after it is massacred by a land baron’s hired guns. As the flawed but gifted mercenaries embed with the Quakers, they must grapple with the question of whether it is acceptable to use violence to defend a people whose faith is based on nonviolence. The series will explore each member of the Seven, exploring what’s at stake and why they chose to take on this mission. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Johnny Depp will star in the box office movie Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol in the lead role with Harry Potter alum Rupert Grint, Star Wars alum Daisy Ridley and The Hunger Games alum Sam Claflin joining the cast. Grint will play Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s selfless employee, but it is unknown who the others will be playing. (Deadline)

STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Matthew McConaughey and Zoe Saldana are in talks to star in the upcoming Netflix film Positano, but plot details are being kept under wraps. However, the movie is being described as a romantic caper set in the Italian town the film is named after. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATIONS

Apple TV has renewed Down Cemetery Road for a second season. (Variety)

Sadly, Leverage: Redemption will not be getting a fourth season, as it has been cancelled. (TV Insider and TV Line)

The Amazon Prime series Hotel Costiera has been cancelled after one season. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Kathleen Robertson (Beverly Hills, 90210 and Murder in the First) and Mark Engelhardt (American Horror Story: Asylum) have joined the cast of Tracker in recurring roles. Robertson will play Maxine, a successful attorney at a major firm looking to engage Reenie (Fiona Rene) on what Maxine assures her is simply grunt work for an upcoming class action suit. It quickly becomes clear, however, that Maxine may have an entirely different game that she’s playing; meanwhile, Engelhardt will play Emile Lang, a man with his own moral code. (Deadline)

Matlock has added Sarah Wright Olsen (Parks and Recreation) and newcomer Henry Haber in recurring roles. Wright Olsen will play Gwen, an efficiency expert analyzing the firm; while Haber will play Hunter, a younger associate from the floater pool who is a total bro. (Deadline)

Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Big Sky and The Sopranos) will have a guest-starring role in Grey’s Anatomy, playing Dr. Laura Kaplan, a urologist living with Multiple Sclerosis, who visits Grey Sloan at the request of Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) and offers Richard (James Pickens Jr.) a unique perspective on his case. The role was created for Sigler, who has lived with MS for more than two decades and marks her return to television after a three-year break. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

LaKeith Stanfield will play NBA legend Dennis Rodman in the upcoming box office movie 48 Hours in Vegas that is inspired by the untold story of Dennis Rodman’s legendary trip to Las Vegas during the 1998 NBA Finals. (Variety)

Freddie Highmore (The Good Doctor) is attached to star in the rom-com flick Life on Other Planets, but details about the movie are being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

Jennifer Garner (Alias) has signed on to star in and produce One Attempt Remaining, a new comedy movie that follows an ex-couple who, years after their acrimonious divorce, learn that the cryptocurrency they won on a crazy night on a cruise is now worth millions, but they’ve forgotten the password. With only three days left before the account expires, they must retrace their steps that night, not just to find the password to their fortune, but also why they fell in love in the first place. (Deadline)

The Netflix film Don’t Ever Wonder that will star Nia Long and Larenz Tate have added a slew of additional cast members, including Blair Underwood, Laz Alonso, Susan Kelechi Watson, Pauletta Washington, Dennis Haysbert, Chante Adama, Algee Smith and more. Details about the movie are being kept under wraps, though. (Deadline)

GREENLIGHT ORDER

Looks like the world of the Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart will be expanding. A prequel series Hope Valley: 1874 has been greenlit at Hallmark+. The cast will include Bethany Joy Lenz, Benjamin Ayres, Jill Hennessy, Roan Curtis and Lachlan Quarmby that is set to debut in March 2026. Lenz will play Rebecca Clarke, who travels from Chicago to the Western Canadian frontier with her 11-year-old daughter. But when her wagon breaks down, she has no choice but to accept help from local rancher and confirmed bachelor, Tom Moore (Ayres). Despite Rebecca’s best intentions to remain unattached, the future she dreams of for her and her daughter, along with the people she meets in this fledgling town, including the guarded Tom and tenacious pioneer woman Hattie Quinn (Hennessy), ultimately compel her to put down roots and make a fresh start.” Curtis will play Hattie’s daughter while Quarmby will play Constable Alexander Vaughn, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (Variety)

TV SERIES ADAPTATION

Amanda Seyfried is attached to star in a series adaptation of the Carl Hiaasen novel Skinny Dip. She will star as Joey Perrone in a story about a woman who is pushed off a cruise liner by her marine scientist husband but survives and plots revenge with a former cop. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

When Calls the Heart has been renewed for season 14 by the Hallmark Channel. (Entertainment Now)

Hulu has given a second season renewal to the Glen Powell-led football comedy Chad Powers. (Variety)

CBS has given both new dramas Sheriff Country and Boston Blue season two renewals. (Variety)

Paramount+ has given a third season renewal to Landman. (Deadline)

TV SERIES PICK-UP

MGM+ has picked up the TV series Legacy of Spies based on the John le Carre novel with Matthew Macfadyen playing the legendary spymaster George Smiley. The cast of the new series will also include Sons of Anarchy start Charlie Hunnam as British intelligence officer Alec Leamas and Daniel Bruhl (Captain America: Civil War) as East German spy Jens Fielder. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Richard Armitage (The Hobbit movie franchise) and Annabel Scholey (Rivals) will star in the police procedural Winter over on PBS that is about one of the most gifted pathologists of his generation. Based on the long-running French crime series Balthazar, the series follows the titular Ethan Winter, who possesses an analytical mind capable of deductive reasoning, which perfectly complements DI Lauren Bell (Scholey), a no-nonsense detective who is as driven as Winter when working on a case. Together they use Winter’s genius and insight into the victims alongside Bell and her murder squad detectives. Yet Winter is harboring a secret. The unsolved murder of someone close to him still haunts his every move. (Deadline)

Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington will star opposite Shailene Woodley and Lindsay Lohan in the limited series Count My Lies over on Hulu. The tagline for the new series: “When compulsive liar Sloane Caraway (Woodley) fibs her way into a nanny position for the gorgeous and charismatic Violet (Lohan) and Jay Lockhart (Harington), it seems she’s finally landed her dream job. But little does Sloane know, she’s just entered a household brimming with secrets that are about to explode, with potentially catastrophic consequences for all. (Deadline)

Recent Emmy winner Shawn Hatosy (from The Pitt) will star opposite Olivia Colman and Brie Larson in the FX limited series Cry Wolf that will be a psychological family thriller, following a social worker, Kath (Colman), and a mother, April (Larson), thrust into crisis when the mother’s teenage daughter, Mia, alleges abuse, pushing both women to their limits as they navigate an impossible situation. Hatosy will play April’s husband and Mia’s stepfather who is at the center of the girl’s abuse allegations. (Deadline)

Season two of the Paramount+ crime drama MobLand has added to its cast with Johnny Flynn (Beast) and Ophelia Lovibond (Minx) joining as series regulars. Also returning for Season two are Janet McTeer, Toby Jones and Alex Fine, who will reprise their original Season 1 roles. (Deadline)

The Fed Five, as featured in the 11th episode of season two of NCIS: Origins, has found its other members, including Adam Kulbersh (Modern Family and SVU) as NIS Special Agent Felix Betts and Mark Deklin (Blue Bloods) as NIS Special Agent Dan McLane. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before star Lana Condor will be joined by Jack Whitehall (Jungle Cruise and Malice), Robbie Amell (Upload), Lizzie Broadway (Gen V), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) and Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat) in the upcoming indie rom-com Whodunnit, which follows Tess Klein (Condor), whose life was supposed to follow the plan: love by 25, marriage by 30, baby by 34. But after a spectacularly failed marriage proposal and one wild rebound weekend where her best friend Kelsey tells her “the only way to get over someone is to get under someone else,” Tess finds herself pregnant and clueless about who the father is. As she sets out to solve the mystery, she discovers that sometimes, the right family finds you. (Deadline)

Cailee Spaeny (Civil War and Priscilla) and Drew Starkey (Queer) will star in Deep Cuts, the adaptation of the Holly Brickley novel that is a love story about two music-obsessed twentysomethings navigating the messy realities of ambition, belonging and adulthood over the course of an era-defining decade. They will be taking over for Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler, who both left the production due to scheduling conflicts. (Deadline)

MADE-FOR-TV-MOVIE NEWS

Hallmark Channel will be teaming with Walt Disney World for a new original holiday movie called Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True that will star Lacey Chabert and The Last Ship alum Travis Van Wickle. The official logline for the movie is: “Lindsey (Chabert) and her extended family head to Walt Disney World to spend a magical Christmas together. But the dream of a jolly holiday gets quickly dashed when Lindsey discovers her room is next door to Philip (Van Winkle), a disastrous first date she recently had, who’s also there on a family trip. As Lindsey and Philip’s paths cross throughout their stay, the frost starts to thaw as they learn they’re not so different from each other after all. Thanks to some Walt Disney World magic, the holiday wish Lindsey made in Cinderella Fountain just might turn their rivalry into romance.” (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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