Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past two weeks:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Hunters has been renewed for a second season by Amazon. (Variety)

Freeform has pulled the plug on their fantasy drama Siren after 3 seasons. (Variety)

Hulu has canceled the Zoe Kravitz led drama High Fidelity after only one season. (Variety)

Hulu has renewed Love, Victor for a second season. (Variety)

TV NEWS

It’s become almost a tradition on the Hallmark Channel that each year the Good Witch has a Halloween special EXCEPT for this year. There won’t be an installment this year (and we can all guess the reason: the pandemic) (TV Line)

TV MOVIE NEWS

Journalist Robin Roberts is extending her partnership with Lifetime with four new movies. One of those movies will be The Mahalia Jackson Story, which will star Tony Award nominee, SAG and Grammy Award-winning actress Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black) as the iconic gospel legend and civil rights activist while Tony winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun and Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias) will direct. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The box office has been devastated by the pandemic, desperately trying to find ways to release their latest movies and Disney has been struggling to get its big-budget live-action version of Mulan out to the movie going public. That hasn’t worked well so instead the 60 plus million subscribers of Disney Plus will get to watch the box office movie on its streaming service on September 4 (for the cost of $29.99). (Variety)

Actress Naomi Scott (the latest version of Aladdin and the latest version of Charlie’s Angels) will star alongside Broadway’s Anthony Ramos (from Hamilton) in the upcoming comedic sci-fi movie called Distant [she’s taking over for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan, who couldn’t appear due to her commitment to the popular series]. The movie tells the the story of an asteroid miner who, after crash-landing on an alien planet, must contend with the challenges of his new surroundings, while making his way across the harsh terrain to the only other survivor – a woman who is trapped in her escape pod. (Deadline)

Actress Rhona Mitra (The Last Ship and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) will appear in the upcoming box office film Prisoners of Paradise, which will be set in 1925 following 17-year-old orphan Lucy Gladwell (Ellie Bamber from Les Miserables), who is sent from England to live under the guardianship of her uncle George Huyton (Rupert Penry-Jones from Spooks and the box office movie Persuasion). Mitra will play Lucy’s aunt Betty. (Deadline)

CASTING NEWS

Actor Stanley Tucci will star in the AMC limited series La Fortuna. The thriller, based on a graphic novel, centers on Alex Ventura (Spanish actor Álvaro Mel), a young Spanish diplomat who unintentionally becomes the leader of a mission to recover sunken treasure stolen by Frank Wild (Tucci), a notorious adventurer. The series has a targeted premiere date set for later in 2021. The cast also includes Clarke Peters (The Wire). (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Elle Fanning (The Great) will star in the real-life case of Michelle Carter in the Hulu series The Girl From Plainville. Carter was infamously convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 after texting her boyfriend encouragement to commit suicide three years prior. The series will be based on the Esquire article by Jesse Barron. (Variety)

Actress Lindsey Gort has been promoted to series regular on the CBS legal drama All Rise where she plays attorney Amy Quinn. (Deadline)

Actors Andrew Scott (Fleabag and Sherlock) and Dominic West (The Affair and Stateless) will join actresses Lily James (Downton Abbey and 2015’s Cinderella) and Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom) in the limited series (consisting of 3 episodes), The Pursuit of Love, which is an adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s novel. The romantic dramedy is set in Europe between World War I and World War II. The series will premiere on BBC One in the UK and on Amazon Prime in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. (TV Line)

Actress Regina Hall (Black Monday and the box office Girls Trip) and actor Bobby Cannavale (the box office movies Ant-Man and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) have joined the cast of the Hulu limited series Nine Perfect Strangers that takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them during this ten-day retreat is the resort’s director Masha (Nicole Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. Hall will play Carmel, one of the nine strangers and Cannavale will also play one of the nine strangers. The cast also includes Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Samara Weaving and Tiffany Boone. The series is eyeing a 2021 debut. (The Futon Critic and Deadline)

Actress Michelle Gomez (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Doctor Who) will appear in the Kaley Cuoco-led HBO Max thriller The Flight Attendant. Cuoco will play Cassie, a flight attendant who wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man – and no idea what happened. The cast includes Michiel Huisman, Zosia Mamet and Merle Dandridge. Gomez will play Miranda, a hardened, savvy businesswoman with anger-management issues who Cassie meets in Bangkok. (Deadline)

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Apple has given a straight-to-series order to the series The Sting, based on a Lista’s Toronto Life article with Team Downey (the production company of Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey). It follows a frustrated Canadian detective who takes on a decades-old cold case in hopes of winning a confession and becoming a hero. The case quickly spirals out of control when the undercover cop attempts an elaborate sting, adding playacting cops, taxpayer resources, and an unexpected friendship with the peculiar target. (Variety)

Actress Amy Adams will appear in the Netflix limited series Kings of America, based on real events. It will center on the stories of three women whose lives were inextricably intertwined with the world’s largest company: a Walmart heiress, a maverick executive, and a longtime Walmart saleswoman and preacher who dared to fight against the retail giant in the biggest class action lawsuit in US history. Adams will star in the series in one of the lead roles, though which has not been determined yet. (Variety)

Netflix will be moving forward with a limited series from The Witcher (the Henry Cavill fantasy series) universe. The Witcher: Blood Origin will be a 6-part, live-action prequel set in an elven world 1,200 years before the world of The Witcher that will chart the origins of the very first Witcher. No cast has been announced yet. (Deadline)

Amazon is planning a series adaptation of the popular box office film A League of Their Own that will tell the story of an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball. Actress Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) will star – as well as executive produce – the series, which she co-created. The cast will include Chante Adams (The Photograph), D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), Melanie Field (Heathers, You and The Alienist), Kelly McCormack (Killjoys), Roberta Colindrez (The Deuce and Vida) and Molly Ephraim (Perry Mason and Halt and Catch Fire). (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Grantchester has been given a sixth season renewal by PBS. (Deadline and @masterpiecepbs)

Burden of Truth has been renewed for a 4th season. (Facebook)

Perry Mason has been renewed for a 2nd season. (Variety)

The Boys has been renewed for a 3rd season. (Variety)

Netflix has given a second season order to Sweet Magnolias. (TV Line)

Netflix has also given a second season order to Outer Banks. (The Hollywood Reporter)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Mario Bello is leaving NCIS in the upcoming 18th season. She’ll leave the series eight episodes into the coming season, which is penciled in to premiere sometime this fall. (TV Line)

Veteran actor Terrence Stamp (General Zod in the Superman films) will appear in season 2 of His Dark Materials as Giacomo Paradisi, who lives in the Tower of Angels in Cittagazze where much of the season’s action unfolds. And, actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) will provide the voice of the daemon of Andrew Scott’s Colonel John Parry. (TV Line, The Futon Critic and Deadline)

Actress Sherri Saum (The Fosters) has joined the cast of the spin-off Power Book II: Ghost that picks up shortly after the earth-shattering events of Power as Tariq St. Patrick grapples with a new world order: his father dead and his mother, Tasha (Naturi Naughton), facing charges for the murder her son committed. Saum will play Paula Matarazzo, the top investigator and right-hand man of the arrogant defense lawyer Davis MacLean. (TV Line and Deadline)

Actress Tiffany Boone (Hunters and The Chi) has joined the cast of the upcoming Hulu drama Nine Perfect Strangers, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty. The series stars Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy; takes place at a swanky health and wellness resort called Tranquillium where nine frazzled city dwellers go to unwind. Kidman will play the resort’s director, Masha, who may not be exactly what she seems. Boone will portray Delilah, one of Masha’s employees. The cast also includes Samara Weaving (Hollywood and the box office film Ready or Not), Luke Evans (The Alienist). (TV Line)

Actress Margot Bingham (New Amsterdam and Boardwalk Empire) will appear in The Walking Dead as Stephanie, an enigmatic survivor of the zombie outbreak in Charleston, West Virginia, who connects via radio with Josh McDermitt’s Eugene Porter. This role has already appeared in voice during two episodes this past season. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

The USA Network has cancelled the Rosario Dawson-led drama Briarpatch after only one season. (Variety)

Hanna has been renewed for a third season by Amazon. (The Hollywood Reporter)

The Hallmark Channel has given Good Witch a 7th season renewal and has given Chesapeake Shores a 5th season renewal. Both shows are for slated for 2021 return along with the latest season of When Calls the Heart. (TV Line)

FALL TV SEASON

CBS has decided to air SEAL Team on Wednesday nights at 10 PM this fall instead of holding it until mid-season. (TV Line)

MOVIE NEWS

Actors Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans are set to appear in the new Netflix thriller The Gray Man, based on a series of best sellers by Mark Greaney. The film will follow ex-CIA operative turned killer for hire duel Court Gentry (Gosling) as he is pursued by an old colleague, now nemesis, Lloyd Hansen (Evans). (Variety)

Actress Viola Davis is set to star in the historical epic film The Woman King inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. The film would follow Nanisca (Davis), general of the all-female military unit, and her daughter Nawi, who together fought the French and neighboring tribes who violated their honor, enslaved their people and threatened to destroy everything they’ve lived for. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood (who directed the recently released The Old Guard movie on Netflix) will direct this new film. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Kelly Marie Tran (Stars Wars franchise) has joined the cast of the upcoming Hulu anthology drama Monsterland, based on the collection of stories from Nathan Ballingrud. The series is set in a world that involves encounters with fantasy creatures like mermaids and fallen angels; following broken people driven to desperate acts in an attempt to repair their lives. Kaitlyn Dever, Taylor Schilling and Mike Colter will also star. Tran will appear as Lauren, who returns to her small Michigan hometown to be married. She had managed to build a new life for herself after her best friend, Elena, went missing when they were 16. (The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS/PICK-UPS

PBS has given a second season order to the period drama Vienna Blood. (The Futon Critic and Deadline)

The Crown was to end after the upcoming fifth season, but Netflix has given it a 6th season order because series creator Peter Morgan wants to do “justice to the richness and complexity of the story. The 6th season will now serve as the show’s final season. (Variety)

Netflix is pulling the plug on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina after two super-sized seasons. The final 8 episodes will premiere later this year. (TV Line)

A 2nd season of Stargirl has been ordered, and the show will now exclusively air on The CW. The current first season of the series has been airing on both DC Universe and The CW. (Variety)

Netflix has announced that Dead to Me has been given a third season renewal, but that will be its final season. (Variety)

Hulu has given a second season renewal to their new period piece drama The Great. (Variety)

Ozark has been given a 4th season renewal by Netflix, which will also be its last. The streaming service has also renewed Never Have I Ever been renewed for a second season. (Variety)

Katy Keene has been canceled after one season at The CW. (Variety)

The new streaming service Peacock (which will debut on July 15) has added both seasons of the Facebook Watch series Sacred Lies to their line-up. (The Hollywood Reporter)

NEW SERIES ORDER

NBC has ordered the alien spacecraft drama pilot Debris to series. This is the only pilot that managed to complete shooting before the production shutdown. The new series follows two agents from two different continents, and two different mindsets, who must work together to investigate when wreckage from a destroyed alien spacecraft has mysterious effects on humankind. Actor Jonathan Tucker (Kingdom and Westworld) will play agent Bryan Beneventi, a headstrong, smart CIA operative while British actress Riann Steele (The Magicians) will play MI6 agent Finola Jones. (Variety)

Star Wars alum Oscar Isaac and Michelle Williams will star in the HBO limited series adaptation of Scenes From a Marriage from legendary director/writer Ingmar Bergman that examines the depiction of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage and divorce through the lens of a contemporary American couple. (Variety)

Actors Damian Lewis (Billions) and Dominic West (The Affair) are expected to star in and executive produce an adaptation of the novel A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, for Spectrum Originals and UK streamer BritBox. The 6-episode Cold War espionage thriller follows the defection of notorious British intelligence officer and KGB double agent Kim Philby (West) through the lens of his complex relationship with MI6 colleague and close friend Nicholas Elliott (Lewis). The series is slated to premiere in fall 2021. (Deadline and TV Line)

Freeform has announced the cast of the upcoming limited series event Love in the Time of Corona that was filmed using remote technologies and shot in the actual homes of the cast members. This 4-part series follows four interwoven stories about the hopeful search for love and connection during this time of quarantine. Real-life couple Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton and Smash) and Nicolette Robinson (Hart of Dixie and The Affair) [who also serve as executive producers] will play James and Sade, a couple who have been living somewhat separate lives: He has a busy career that keeps him on the road, and she is at home raising their daughter. Once the pandemic puts them under one roof, their time together leads them to reevaluate their relationship and their priorities. Tommy Dorfman (13 Reasons Why and Jane the Virgin) will play Oscar, a successful non-binary stylist, and Rainey Qualley (daughter of Andie MacDowell) will play Elle, an aspiring singer-songwriter. With the uncertainty of the pandemic, Oscar and Elle’s mostly platonic friendship becomes increasingly complicated as Oscar’s latest online date progresses toward relationship territory just as Elle’s neighborly crush starts to blossom. Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal) will play Paul, his real-life wife Rya Kihlstedt (Heroes: Reborn and Dexter) will play Sarah, and their daughter Ava Bellows will play Sophie. After quietly separating months earlier, Paul and Sarah reluctantly decide to quarantine together when their sweet yet intense daughter returns home from college. But when Sophie’s high school sweetheart suddenly breaks up with her, Paul and Sarah struggle to continue their “happy couple” ruse for their daughter’s sake. L. Scott Caldwell (Lost and All Rise) will play Nanda, a headstrong woman determined to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary with her husband, Charles (Charlie Robinson, Charles is unable to come home from a rehab facility when COVID-19 causes them to go into lockdown. The limited series will premiere in August. (The Futon Critic)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Javicia Leslie (God Friended Me) has landed the coveted lead role in The CW’s Batwoman, playing the new character Ryan Wilder, who spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the Gotham City Police Department and masking her pain with bad habits. Today Ryan lives in her van with her plant. She is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. She is an out lesbian, athletic, raw, passionate, fallible, and very much not your stereotypical All-American hero. (Variety)

Actress Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread and the PBS mini-series World on Fire) will take over from actress Helena Bonham-Carter in the role of Princess Margaret in The Crown. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATIONS

NBC has cancelled Council of Dads after only one season. (Variety)

Vagrant Queen has been cancelled after only one season. (The Hollywood Reporter)

A 6th and final season of Lucifer has been announced by Netflix. As fans will recall, the first 3 seasons aired on FOX but what then cancelled. Netflix picked it up for a 4th season which aired in 2018. The fifth season will begin on August 21. (Variety)

MOVING

Cobra Kai, the YouTube Premium series is moving from that service to Netflix. The series is a continuation of the original The Karate Kid movie, featuring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their films roles. The show’s 3rd season will premiere at the streaming service, but an official airdate has yet to be announced. The first 2 seasons will be available at Netflix later this year. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actor Rob Benedict (Chuck/God on Supernatural) will guest star in season 5 of Lucifer, playing Vincent Le Mec, a hardened French Mercenary whose violent work brings him to Los Angeles and into the crosshairs of Lucifer, Chloe and the LAPD. Also, Actor Dennis Haysbert (24 and The Unit) will play God in the show as well. (TV Line)

Actor Luke Evans will star opposite Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy in the upcoming limited series Nine Perfect Strangers set to debut on Hulu. The series takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as 9 stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them during this ten-day retreat is the resort’s director Masha (Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. (Deadline)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Margot Robbie is set to star in a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie – that will be written by Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson. The project is not related to the other Pirates reboot that is in the works from Craig Mazin (creator of Chernobyl) and writer Ted Elliott. The Robbie-Hodson version will be an original female-fronted story with new characters that will be presented under the Pirates moniker, and was also inspired by the long-running Disneyland attraction. (The Hollywood Reporter and Collider)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWALS

ABC has renewed the drama For Life for a second season; meanwhile the network pulled the plug on The Baker and the Beauty after only one season. (TV Line)

Manifest has been given a third season renewal by NBC. (Variety)

The USA Network has given The Sinner a fourth season renewal, slated to premiere in 2021. There is no decision yet from the USA Network on the future of Briarpatch, however. (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Amazon has given a series order to a new drama from Jason Katims (the man behind Roswell, Friday Night Lights and Parenthood) based on the Israeli series On the Spectrum that will be a comedic drama about three 20-something roommates on the autism spectrum, striving for the same things that we all desire: to get a job, keep a job, make friends, fall in love, and navigate a world that eludes them. Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick), Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians) and Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds) are set to star in the series. (Variety)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians) and actor Sam Heughan (Outlander) have joined the cast of the upcoming box office period romantic comedy Mr. Malcolm’s List that already includes Freida Pinto, Sope Dirisu and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Based on the novel of the same name, that is set to be published on July 28, the movie focuses on what happens when Julia (Wu) is jilted by Mr. Malcolm (Dirisu) – London’s most eligible bachelor – after she failed to meet one of the items on his list of requirements for a bride. Julia then enlists her friend Selina (Pinto) to help her take revenge. There is no word yet on what role Heughan or the others will play. (Deadline)

PRIME TIME LINE-UP

NBC has announced its fall TV season. The dramas will air as follows: Manifest on Mondays; This Is Us and New Amsterdam on Tuesdays; Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays; Law & Order: SVU and the new spin-off drama Law & Order: Organized Crime on Thursdays and The Blacklist on Fridays. Law & Order: Organized Crime will find Christopher Meloni reprising his role of Elliot Stabler, who returns to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. Both dramas Good Girls and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist are being held for mid-season. (Variety)

ABC has announced its fall TV season. The dramas will air as follows: The Good Doctor on Mondays; Big Sky (NEW SERIES) on Tuesdays; Stumptown on Wednesdays; Station 19, Grey’s Anatomy and A Million Little Things on Thursdays and The Rookie on Sundays. Big Sky, based on the book series by C.J. Box, is about private detectives Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe), who join forces with his estranged wife and ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick), to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. But when they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken. The cast includes Brian Geraghty, Dedee Pfeiffer, Natalie Alyn Lind, Jesse James Keitel and John Carroll Lynch. The drama For Life will premiere later in the season. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past couple of weeks:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

The Starz drama Hightown has been given a second season order. (Variety)

NBC has given Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist a second season renewal. (Variety)

Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector has been cancelled after only one season on NBC. (TV Line)

HBO Max has renewed its first original scripted series Love Life for a second season. The first season starred Anna Kendrick, who will make occasional appearances in the 2nd season, which will explore what happens when you’ve lived your whole life knowing who your soulmate is, only to find out years into a marriage that it’s not the right fit at all. (Variety)

PRODUCTION PLANS

Walt Disney Studios is developing an original movie musical (think Mamma Mia) based on the songs by Lionel Richie, tentatively titled All Night Long. (Variety)

CONGRATS

The following shows are among the Peabody Award winners for this year: Chernobyl, Dickinson, Stranger Things, Succession, Watchmen and When They See Us. (Variety)

MOVIE NEWS

Downton Abbey and Cinderella star Lily James is set to star in the true-crime love story Peggy Jo, which will be loosely based on the true story of the life of Texan Peggy Jo Tallas, a beautiful woman, prone to be romantically lost in books and films; who she is not the sort of person who lets life and people get the better of her. When her latest beau turns out to be married to his bank co-worker, she takes matters into her own hands, robbing his bank disguised as a man with a big beard and a back-to-front cowboy hat. (Variety)

It looks like Henry Cavill isn’t done playing Clark Kent after all, as he is in talks to return in an upcoming DC Comics movie. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actor Hartley Sawyer has been fired from The Flash due to a collection of racist and misogynistic tweets he posted prior to joining the show. (Variety)

Actress Cush Jumbo is leaving The Good Fight ahead of the recently ordered fifth season. (TV Line)

As announced previously, actress Ruby Rose has left Batwoman not returning as lead character Kate Kane for the show’s second season; but instead of merely replacing her with another actress the network announced a new character will take on the mantle of the female caped crusader. The new character will be Ryan Wilder, an out lesbian in her mid-20s who is likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. She is highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. (TV Line)

CHANGE OF PLANS

The Gal Gadot-led series about film legend Hedy Lamarr is moving from Showtime to a straight-to-series order at Apple. The series will follow the true story of the Hollywood glamour girl, spanning 30 years from Lamarr’s escape from pre-war Vienna to her meteoric rise in the Golden Age of Hollywood to her fall and eventual disgrace at the dawn of the Cold War. The show will also go into Lamarr’s life as an inventor, including one invention that became the basis for spread spectrum technology used today. (Variety)

LINE-UP ADDITION

The CW is adding another acquired series to its fall 2020 line-up. That series is Devils, an international thriller that follows Massimo Ruggero (Alessandro Borghi), the charismatic yet ruthless Head of Trading at NYL, one of the world’s most important investment banks, and his mentor, NYL’s CEO Dominic Morgan (Patrick Dempsey). After Dominic appoints another colleague over Massimo following a bitter promotion battle, Massimo finds himself named prime suspect in a murder investigation. Fighting to clear his name, Massimo becomes involved in an intercontinental financial war and is forced to choose between supporting Dominic or going up against him. Devils will air on Wednesday night at 8 PM followed by the acquired series Coroner, taking the place of the acquired series Dead Pixels, which is likely going to air this summer. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are all the news items for the past week:

BROADWAY IS CALLING

The 2012 NBC TV series Smash, about the backstage drama of putting together a new Broadway show, about the life of Marilyn Monroe, looks to be heading to the Great White Way. Smash, A New Musical will include the following heavyweights behind the scenes: Steven Spielberg, Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman – all of who were involved in the original series production. (Variety)

BIG DEPARTURE NEWS

Series star Ruby Rose has decided to leave the CW series Batwoman (she plays the lead) ahead of its sophomore run. According to the network, the role will be recast. (TV Line)

UPFRONT INFO

ABC has renewed the following dramas: A Million Little Things, The Rookie and Stumptown. The network had already given renewals to Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19 and The Good Doctor. The fates of the new dramas For Life and The Baker and the Beauty are to be determined at a later date.

The network picked up on drama for the fall TV season:

Big Sky from storyteller David E. Kelley. The thriller is about private detectives Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury from Pitch) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe from The Shooter) who join forces with his estranged wife and ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick from Vikings), to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. But when they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken.  (Variety)

CBS announced its fall 2020 line-up with much of its primetime schedule intact, including one new drama. The dramas will air as follows:

Mondays: All Rise and Bull
Tuesdays: NCIS, FBI and FBI: Most Wanted
Wednesdays: SEAL Team
Thursdays: Evil
Fridays: MacGyver, Magnum P.I. and Blue Bloods
Sundays: The Equalizer (NEW), NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans

The Equalizer is a reimagining of the classic series Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall, an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. She presents to most as an average single mom who is quietly raising her teenage daughter. But to a trusted few, she is The Equalizer – an anonymous guardian angel and defender of the downtrodden, who’s also dogged in her pursuit of personal redemption.

S.W.A.T. will return to CBS in the mid-season along with the new drama Clarice.

Clarice will star Rebecca Breeds (Pretty Little Liars and the Australian soap opera Home and Away) as the title character. The series is a deep dive into the untold personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling as she returns to the field in 1993, six months after the events of The Silence of the Lambs. (TV Line and Deadline)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Actor Esai Morales will replace Nicholas Hoult as the villain in the upcoming Tom Cruise “Mission: Impossible 7. Hoult had to leave due to scheduling issues. It’s unclear when the film will resume production as are details about the film. What is known, however, is that Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby are all returning with Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and Shea Whigham joining the cast. (Variety)

Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage and Jason Momoa are set to star in the action adventure film Good Bad and Undead. Dinklage will play Van Helsing, last in a long line of vampire hunters. He develops an uneasy partnership with a vampire (Momoa) who has taken a vow never to kill again. Together they run a scam from town to town, where Van Helsing pretends to vanquish the vampire for money. But when a massive bounty is put on the vampire’s head, everything in this dangerous world full of monsters and magic is now after them. (Deadline)

RENEWALS

FOX has renewed Prodigal Son for a second season; and the network has also given a fourth season renewal to The Resident. (TV Line and Variety)

Freeform has renewed Motherland: Fort Salem for a second season and announced that the new drama Cruel Summer (formerly Last Summer) will debut in 2021. Actress Olivia Holt (from Freeform’s defunct Cloak & Dagger) will star in the show that takes place over three summers in the ’90s when a beautiful and popular teen goes missing, and a seemingly unrelated girl transforms from a sweet and awkward outlier to the most popular girl in town, eventually becoming the most despised person in America. (Variety)

STREAMING SERVICE NEWS

Apple TV+ will debut the Tom Hanks box office movie Greyhound on the small screen instead, but an official airdate has yet to be announced. The film is set in the early days of World War II as an international convoy of 37 Allied ships, led by Capt. Ernest Krause (Hanks), crosses the treacherous North Atlantic while being hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi submarines. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past three weeks:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Westworld has been renewed for a fourth season by HBO. (Variety)

CBS has renewed the following dramas: All Rise, Blue Bloods, Bull, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, MacGyver, Magnum P.I., NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, S.W.A.T. and SEAL Team. CBS has already renewed Evil, but they pulled the plug on Tommy. (Variety)

The USA Network has cancelled Dare Me after one season. (The Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic)

The History Channel has cancelled both Knightfall and Project Blue Book after two seasons (for each show). (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

PICK-UP ORDERS

CBS announced they have picked up the following new shows:

Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah as an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. Chris Noth, Lorraine Toussaint, Tory Kittles, Liza Lapira and Laya DeLeon Hayes also star.

Clarice stars Rebecca Breeds as Clarice Starling, as she returns to the field in 1993, six months after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs.” Kal Penn, Nick Sandow, Michael Cudlitz, Lucca De Oliveira and Devyn A. Tyler also star. (Variety)

TV Land is eyeing a potential spin-off series for Younger set to star Hilary Duff. (The Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic)

The 8-episode scripted series The Right Stuff, adapted from Tom Wolfe’s best-selling non-fiction account of the early days of the US space program will debut on Disney+ after being developed for National Geographic. The cast includes Patrick J. Adams (Suits), Jake McDorman (Limitless), Colin O’Donoghue (Once Upon a Time), James Lafferty (One Tree Hill) and Michael Trotter (Underground) [among others]. (TV Line)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Laura Sohn has been promoted to series regular for season 8 of The Blacklist. She has been recurring as FBI Agent Alina Park this season. (TV Line)

Actress Carrie Coon (Fargo) has replaced Amanda Peet in the upcoming HBO drama The Gilded Age from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. The shows takes a look at life of millionaires living in New York during the 1800s. Coon will star as Bertha Russell, who comes from the ordinary middle class. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

MOVIE CASTING

Actor Chris Pine is expected to star in a reboot of The Saint, based on the 1920’s book series. The movie follows Simon Templar, better known as The Saint, a Robin Hood-esque criminal and thief for hire who goes on a globetrotting adventure. (Variety)

HOLIDAY MOVIE CASTING

Veteran actress Betty White has signed on to star in a Lifetime Christmas movie. In the untitled film, White’s character helps ready would-be Santas for the holidays. But a mystery looms: Is she actually Mrs. Claus? The network also plans to have Kelly Rowland star in Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding, a sequel to last year’s Merry Liddle Christmas. Melissa Joan Hart will direct the tentatively titled Feliz NaviDad, starring alongside Mario Lopez, who will play a widowed father whose daughter helps him rediscover the holiday spirit. (Entertainment Weekly)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past two weeks

ANNOUNCEMENT

For the first time in 50 years Comic Con International has cancelled San Diego Comic Con due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Variety)

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

FOX has given a renewal to both 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star (Variety)

Freeform has cancelled Party of Five after only one season. (Variety)

God Friended Me has been cancelled after two seasons. A two-hour series finale will air on April 26. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage) will star as Lana Lang in the DC series Superman & Lois that is set to air on The CW. The series follows the world’s most famous superhero (to be portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin) and comic books’ most famous journalist (Elizabeth Tulloch) as they deal with all the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today’s society. (Deadline and TV Line)

Actress Annie Ilonzeh will not be coming back to Chicago Fire as Emily Foster, as the character announced she wanted to go back to med school and had even reapplied to Northwestern. (TV Line)

MOVIE NEWS

Universal Pictures and Amasia Entertainment are working to develop a film based on the classic characters of The Green Hornet and Kato, which originated as a radio show during the 1930s based on the vigilante Britt Reid character; which was then followed by the 1966 TV series and then the Seth Rogen 2011 The Green Hornet box office film. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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