Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

AMC has given a second season renewal to the new drama Dark Winds. (Variety)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

The CW is considering another soapy, noir thriller teen dama called Jake Change that will be set in the world of Archie Comics. The potential series will focus on an Asian-American–led mystery, following a 16-year-old private investigator as he navigates the racially and socio-economically diverse worlds of his ever-gentrifying home of Chinatown, and the elite private high school he attends. (Deadline)

Netflix is developing a new limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden with Florence Pugh on tap to star in an as-yet unconfirmed role. The story is set in California’s Salinas Valley over a period that stretches from the Civil War to the end of World War I, telling the interconnected stories of the Hamilton family, an Irish immigrant family with nine children, and the Trask family, led by the wealthy Adam Trask. The story eventually narrows its focus to center around the Trask family and the drama surrounding Adam, his wife Cathy and their sons Cal and Aron. (Variety)

CHANGE OF PLANS

The Yellowstone spin-off originally title 1932 will now be called 1923. The “tweak” in the show’s name is because the series will encompass the end of World War 1 and the start of prohibition. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Kevin Zegers has joined the cast of the spin-off series The Rookie: Feds, playing Brendon Acres who is just out of Quantico. He’s got a lot to prove in his first posting – not least because his background as the lead on the long-running TV series Vampire Cop means few people take him seriously. His years of method-actor training led not only to martial arts and gun skills, but also a master’s in computer science. (Deadline)

Actress Moses Ingram (Obi-Wan Kenobi) will star opposite Natalie Portman in the Apple limited series Lady in the Lake, taking over the role of Cleo Sherwood in the series from Lupita Nyong’o. (Variety)

China Beach alum Dana Delany has joined the cast of the Sylvester Stallone Paramount+ series Tulsa King that follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a crew from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet. (Variety)

Doctor Who alum Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight) will star in the Apple TV+ one-hour London thriller Criminal Record, a powerful, character-driven thriller set in the heart of contemporary London. An anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives into a confrontation over an old murder case: one a young woman in the early stages of her career and the other a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy. Capaldi will play Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty, and Jumbo will play Detective Sgt. June Lenker. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The reboot of the Spy Kids movie franchise will star Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) and Zachary Levi (Chuck) in the lead roles. (Deadline)

Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) has joined the cast of The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, starring opposite Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) and Rachel Zegler (West Side Story). Schafer will play Tigris Snow, the cousin and confidante of Coriolanus Snow (Blyth). (Variety)

MINI-SERIES NEWS

PBS Masterpiece is developing a 4-part mini-series adaptation of the acclaimed novel Miss Auten by author Gill Hornby. The novel centers on the lives and loves of Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra. It delves into why Cassandra burned a treasure trove of letters written by her sister, Jane – an act of destruction that has troubled academics and Austen fans for centuries. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Netflix has renewed Lincoln Lawyer for a second season. (TV  Line)

The Hallmark Channel has given When Calls the Heart at 10th season renewal. (Hallmark Channel Press Release)

Snowpiercer will come to an end on TNT after its upcoming 4th season. There is no official air date for that final season just yet. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Mehcad Brooks (Supergirl) will play a detective in the reboot of Law & Order this fall, but no details have been revealed about who that character will be. (TV Line)

Peyton List (Cobra Kai) will star in the 8-episode Paramount+ young adult drama School Spirits, which is based on the graphic novel by Nate and Megan Trinrud and Maria Nguyen, that revolves around a teen who is stuck in the afterlife who decides to investigate her mysterious disappearance alongside a group of other students who are also stuck in limbo at their high school. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Carlos Valdes (The Flash) will star opposite Mae Whitman (Good Girls) in the upcoming Hulu 8-episode musical romantic comedy Up Here that will be set in the waning days of 1999 in New York City, following the extraordinary story of one ordinary couple, as they fall in love – and discover that the single greatest obstacle to finding happiness together might just be themselves – and the treacherous world of memories, obsessions, fears, and fantasies that lives inside their heads. (Variety)

Alyssa Milano (the original Charmed) will write and executive produce a series adaptation of the Peter Bognanni book Things I’m Seeing Without You for A+E Studios. In the show, 16-year-old Tess talks to Jonah every day; through texts, tweets and emails. So when she discovers he has committed suicide, her world implodes. Feeling heartbroken and traumatized, Tess unexpectedly finds herself living with her estranged father, Duncan, wondering how well she knew the boy she called her boyfriend. Now struggling with questions about life and loss, this complicated teenager and her less complicated father come together, trying to learn what it means to love someone, to lose someone and to wade through the beautiful/strange agony of the aftermath. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Viola Davis will play Michael Jordan’s mother in the upcoming Nike biopic at Amazon that will also star Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina and Julius Tennon. (Deadline and Yahoo News)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

The Amazon drama The Summer I Turned Pretty has been renewed for a second season before the show’s first season has even debuted. (Variety)

Netflix has given the Korean hit Squid Game a second season renewal. (TV Line)

Spectrum Originals has pulled the plug on the drama series Long Slow Exhale after only one season. (Deadline)

Despite getting cancelled by Showtime, the drama series American Rust is getting a second chance via Amazon’s Freevee (formerly known as IMDbTV. (TV Line)

HBO Max has given the drama series Tokyo Vice a second season renewal. (Variety)

Apple TV+ has given the dramedy Schmigadoon a second season renewal. (TV Line) [NOTE: See TV Casting News for more details.]

Only a week into season three and The Boys has already been renewed for a 4th season. (TV Line)

Despite being handed a series order FOUR years ago by HBo, the J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama Demimonde has been scrapped. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Schmigadoon will be back from a second season, and this time around it will find Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) and Melissa (Cecily Strong) in Schmicago, the world of ’60s and ’70s musicals. The will be joined by new series regulars Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Patrick Page (The Gilded Age) with original cast members Ariana DeBose, Dove Cameron, Jaime Camil, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Ann Harada, Jane Krakowski, Martin Short and Aaron Tveit returning. (TV Line)

Hulu has ordered a series adaptation of Tiny Beautiful Things based on the Cheryl Strayed best-seller. The series will star Kathryn Hahn as a woman who reluctantly becomes Dear Sugar — an anonymous, revered advice columnist — when her own life is falling apart. (Variety)

The new Damon Lindelof drama series Mrs. Davis will stream on Peacock, and it will star Ben Chaplin, Margo Martindale, Betty Gilpin and Jake McDorman. The series is an exploration of faith vs technolog. Gilpin will play the lead character, a nun who takes on an all-powerful artificial intelligence, while McDorman will play her rebellious ex, who also has a vendetta against the algorithm. Details about who Chaplin and Martindale are playing are being kept quiet, though. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Jesse James Keitel (the new Queer as Folk reboot and ABC’s Big Sky) will have a guest starring role in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, as the nonbinary character Dr. Aspen, who once worked as a Starfleet counselor, but whose experiences on the Federation border prompted them to shift careers and work as a humanitarian aid worker. (Variety)

Jon Hamm, Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh are set in the lead roles of season 5 of the FX anthology series Fargo that will be set in 2019, asking the questions when is a kidnapping not a kidnapping, and what if your wife isn’t yours? (Variety)

SMALL SCREEN MOVIE NEWS

The Netflix sequel movie The Old Guard 2 has added Uma Thurman and Crazy Rich Asian hunk Henry Golding to its cast with returning member Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngo and Chiwetel Ejiofor reprising their roles. No word on who Thurman and Golding will be playing, though. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

David Oyelowo will star opposite Kaley Cuoco in the high-concept thriller box office flick Role Play, which centers around a married couple whose life turns upside down when secrets come out about each other’s pasts. Oyelowo will play Cuoco’s husband in the film. (Deadline)

Maria Bakalova (who was the only good thing in the Borat film) has joined the cast of the box office franchise Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. No details have been released on what character she will play, however. (Variety)

Julia Garner (Inventing Anna) has been offered to play the lead role in the forthcoming biopic about pop icon Madonna (who will direct the movie).  (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

AppleTV+ has renewed the drama Slow Horses for season 3 and 4. (Variety)

HBO Max has pulled the plug on Raised by Wolves after two seasons. (TV Line)

Kaley Cuoco has alluded that The Flight Attendant is likely to end with only two seasons. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

FBI: Most Wanted is losing cast member Miguel Gomez, who plays Special Agent Ivan Ortiz. He won’t be returning for the show’s upcoming 4th season. (TV Line)

Amanda Peet will join Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson in the TV series adaptation of Fatal Attraction that will be coming to Paramount+. The series is described as a deep-dive reimagining of the film that will explore fatal attraction and the themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes toward strong women, personality disorders, and coercive control. Peet will star as Beth Gallagher, a loyal wife, loving mother and successful small business owner whose world unravels when her husband Dan’s (Jackson) indiscretion threatens to destroy their life together. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler will play Lucy Gray Baird in the Hunger Game prequel film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. (Giant Freakin Robot and Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CANCELLATIONS

The Masterpiece series Endeavour on PBS will come to an end with its 9th season. (TV Line)

The Good Fight will come to an end after its upcoming 6th season. (TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Celeste O’Connor (Ghostbusthers: Afterlife) has joined the cast of the upcoming Sony film Madame Web that will star Dakota Johnson (Thirty Shades franchise) in the title role. The movie will serve as an origin story for Madame Web, a clairvoyant whose psychic abilities allow her to see within the spider world itself. What role O’Connor will play, however, is being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Shira Haas (Unorthodox) will star in the period musical drama Ethel that tells the true story of Ethel Stark, the groundbreaking conductor who founded the first all-female orchestra in Montreal. Aside from breaking barriers in the music world, Stark has been credited for championing social change across gender, race, language and class starting in the 1940s. (Variety)

The one and only Rita Moreno will appear as the grandmother of Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) in the next Fast and Furious sequel. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Season 4 of the HBO crime anthology True Detective will feature Oscar winner Jode Foster, playing detective Liz Danvers, who, along with fellow detective Evangeline Navarro (yet to be cast) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice. The official title will be True Detective: Night Country, and it will take place in the frigid Arctic regions of Alaska. (TV Line and The Hollywood Reporter)

Two cast members are officially leaving the long-running NBC drama The Blacklist. Amir Arison (who has played Agent Aram Mojtabai since the first season) and Laura Sohn (who has played Agent Alina Park since season 7) bid farewell in the show’s season finale that aired this week. (TV Line)

Alexis Bledel has left the cast of The Handmaid’s Tale ahead of the show’s upcoming 5th season. (TV Line)

Anthony Anderson will not return for the second season of the revival of Law & Order. (Deadline and TV Line)

Jude Law has joined the cast of the Disney+ drama Star Wars: Skeleton Crew that takes place during the post–’Return of the Jedi’ reconstruction that follows the fall of the Empire. (Variety)

Charlotte Spencer, who played Esther in the two seasons of Sanditon will not be returning for the period piece’s upcoming third season, as she will be starring in the new BBC/Paramount+ drama The Gold. (TV Line)

Okieriete Onaodowan (Broadway’s Hamilton) will play the lead in the AMC 6-episode half-hour series Demascus, which is a character-driven exploration of life as an ordinary Black man in America today and revolves around Demascus (Onaodowan), a 33-year-old Black man who goes on a journey of self-discovery using an innovative new technology that allows him to experience different versions of his own life. The series follows these vivid psychological explorations and also features Demascus in his primary reality. (The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION

All of the major networks have announced their expected fall TV line-ups (albeit FOX hasn’t released its exact night-by-night line-up just yet). You can see night-by-night line-ups here on my site. In the meantime, one additional drama that has been canceled is Riverdale on The CW, but the series will air its current 7th season in 2023 and then come to an end. (TV Line)

RENEWAL

Disney+ has given a fourth season renewal to the musical series High School Musical: The Musical: the Series. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It looks like there might be a film reboot of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at 20th Century Studios. The “original” film came out in 2003, and was set in an alternate Victorian Age world, following a group of famous contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and adventure characters that included Captain Nemo, Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer—as they teamed up on a secret mission. (Deadline)

As was rumored earlier, the official announcement has been made that HBO Max is no longer moving forward with a live-action movie about the Wonder Twins that was going to star 1883 actress Isabel May and Riverdale hunk KJ Apa. (Variety)

Chris Pine will be directing for the first time, and recent Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Single White Female) will star in his directorial debut. The movie called Poolman is being billed as a moving tribute to Los Angeles, but plot details are not being revealed. (Variety)

It looks like Ryan Gosling just might be starring in the feature film adaptation of the iconic 1980’s TV series The Fall Guy. The original series ran from 1981 to 1986 and starred Lee Majors(The Six Million Dollar Man) as a Hollywood stunt man, who, to make ends meet, works as a bounty hunter. (Variety)

TV NEWS

Season 3 of Bridgerton is supposedly skipping ahead to book four in the franchise, focusing on the Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington love story. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

The limited series Bass Reeves from Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, is now going to be called 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, and will star David Oyelowo as the legendary lawman, who was known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, and also believed to be the inspiration for The Lone Ranger. (Deadline)

Speaking of Taylor Sheridan. His next Yellowstone based-programming – the prequel entitled 1932 – has announced that megastars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren will star in the series that will debut on Paramount+. The series will introduce viewers to a new generation of the Duttons. The series will explore the early 20th century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition and the Great Depression all plague the mountain west, and the Duttons who call it home. What characters Ford and Mirren will play have not been announced nor is there any word on whether 1932 will be a self-contained limited series the way that 1883 turned out to be. (TV Line)

Actress Maria Sten will reprise her role of Frances Neagley in the upcoming season 2 of Amazon Prime Video’s Reacher, based on the books by author Lee Childs that stars Alan Ritchson in the lead role (that was portrayed by Tom Cruise in the box office films). Season 2 of the series will actually focus on book 11 in the Jack Reacher franchise. The synopsis of season two is this: When the members of Reacher’s old military unit start turning up dead, Reacher has just one thing on his mind—revenge. (Deadline)

The ABC drama Big Sky featured Jensen Ackles (Supernatural and The Boys) in the recently aired season finale. Now, it’s been announced that Ackles will be a series regular in the show’s upcoming 4th season AND now it has been announced that Hall of Famer country music megastar Reba McEntire will play the role of Sunny Brick, the mercurial matriarch of the Brick family, a successful backcountry outfitter that has a secret history of “missing” customers. (TV Line)

Ava DuVernay has landed a 3-year script-to-series commitment from Starz on an as-yet-untitled romantic drama series that will star Joshua Jackson (Dr. Death and Dawson’s Creek) and Lauren Ridloff (The Walking Dead and Eternals), who will also executive produce. The series will follow two polar opposites who become intertwined in a love affair that turns their worlds – and those of everyone around them – upside down. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS/PICK-UP ORDERS

Crown Media (aka Hallmark) will be launching a new TV series called The Way Home from the folks behind the Canadian hit series Heartland. The family drama will span multiple generations but will have a time travel twist. The drama’s synopsis is: Kat Landry, her 15-year-old daughter Alice and Kat’s estranged mother Del are all strong, willful and independent. More than 20 years prior, lifechanging events created a chasm in their family that time has yet to repair. Kat and Del still aren’t on speaking terms. Alice has never met her grandmother and is unaware of the reasons for their fractured family. When the three generations come together under one roof for the first time in more than two decades, a surprising discovery unexpectedly sets the trio on a path toward healing and helps them find their way back to each other.” The cast for the new series has not yet been announced. The show is set to premiere on the Hallmark Channel in 2023. (Deadline and Heavy.com)

CBS has ordered the small screen adaptation of the box office movie True Lies for the 2022-2023 TV season. The show would focus on unfulfilled suburban housewife (Ginger Gonzaga) who is shocked to discover that her bland and unremarkable computer consultant husband (Steve Howey) is a skilled international spy. She is then propelled into a life of danger and adventure when she’s recruited to work alongside him to save the world as they try to revitalize their passionless marriage. (Variety)

ABC has picked up the spin-off series The Rookie: Feds and the new drama Alaska to series. Niecy Nash-Betts will star as Simone Clark, the oldest rookie in the FBI Academy; and Hilary Swank will star as a disgraced reporter who moves from New York to join a daily newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska. The network has also given renewals to Big Sky and A Million Little Things. (TV Line)

CBS has given two full season renewals to FBI, FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted. Meanwhile, the network has pulled the plug on the new medical drama Good Sam after only one season, and they also cancelled the Magnum P.I. reboot after 4 seasons on the air. Also, the network has scrapped the planned Early Edition reboot. (TV Line)

CBS has picked up three new dramas, including:

East New York that will follow Regina Haywood (Amanda Warren from Dickinson), the newly promoted police captain of East New York, an impoverished, working class neighborhood at the eastern edge of Brooklyn.
Fire County, which will star SEAL Team alum Max Thieriot as Bode Donovan, a young convict who joins a firefighting program for inmates in a bid to shorten his prison sentence.
So Help Me Todd that will star Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist’s. The series centers on a talented but directionless P.I. who begrudgingly agrees to work as the in-house investigator for his overbearing mother Joan (Harden), a successful attorney reeling from the recent dissolution of her marriage. (TV Line)

NBC has given the Law & Order revival a second season order. And, the network has also given Law & Order: Organized Crime a 3rd season renewal. Meanwhile, NBC has pulled the plug on The Endgame after only one season. (TV Line)

Amazon has renewed the Robbie Amell dramedy Upload for a third season. (TV Line)

FOX has pulled the plug on Our Kind of People after only one season. (TV Line)

The CW has given a second season order to the spin-off series All American Homecoming. Meanwhile the network cancelled a handful of shows including Naomi and 4400 (both after only one season each); Charmed after 4 seasons on the air; Dynasty after 5 seasons on the air; Legacies after 4 seasons on the air as well as Roswell, New Mexico and In the Dark which will both come to an end after their upcoming episodes have all aired. Roswell, New Mexico is set to premiere its fourth (and now final) season on Monday, June 6 at 8/7c, followed by In the Dark’s fourth and final season on 9 pm.  (TV Line and Variety)

The CW has picked up the following new dramas: Gotham Knights, Walker: Independence and The Winchesters. (TV Line)

HALLMARK NEWS

Ryan Paevey is the latest talent at Hallmark to sign an exclusive multi-picture deal with the network. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) will star in the romantic comedy Which Brings Me to You, an adaptation of the novel by Julianna Baggott and Steve Almond, which is about a journalist and a photographer who, instead of a one-night stand, spend 24 hours sharing their romantic histories in the coat room at a friend’s wedding. Hale will play Jane, a journalist, who finds herself ready to hook up with photographer Will during a wedding. But instead of doing the deed, they share stories of their most embarrassing sexual encounters, first loves, heartbreak and whirlwind romances, discovering each other through heartwarming, hilarious and sometimes tragic tales. (Variety)

The upcoming box office movie Tunnels will not only star Susan Sarandon and Jaeden Martell (Defending Jacob and Knives Out) but also Anna Faris, Alicia Silverstone and Patrick Wilson. Martell and Sarandon will play a duo who strike up the unlikeliest friendship in the wake of unthinkable tragedy. (Variety)

Jennifer Hudson, Milla Jovovich, Quvenzhane Wallis and Common will all star in the new action-thriller Breathe that focuses on what happens after Earth is left uninhabitable due to lack of oxygen. A mother Maya (Hudson) and her daughter Zora (Wallis) are forced to live underground, with short trips to the surface only made possible by a state-of-the-art oxygen suit made by Maya’s husband, Darius, whom she presumes to be dead. When a mysterious couple arrives claiming to know Darius and his fate, Maya tentatively agrees to let them into their bunker, but are they all they appear to be? (Variety)

Ben Hardy (Bohemian Rhapsody, Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner) and Lance Reddick (John Wick) will star in the upcoming sci-fi thriller Apteros that sees a crew of seven astronauts, including science officer Tressie (Scodelario), Captain Mitchell (Reddick), systems engineer Wade (Hardy) and their onboard AI, en-route to Mars after bacterial life is discovered on the red planet in the not-too-distant future. Soon however, a number of unusual events unfold aboard the spacecraft, and the crew find themselves divided in a tense psychological battle as they struggle to work out what is happening and realize nothing is as it seems. Thrown into a desperate tailspin, soon it’s not just the mission at stake, but all of life on earth. (Variety)

It looks like Dirty Dancing will be getting a sequel that will find Jennifer Grey reprising her classic role of Frances “Baby” Houseman. Little is known about the next chapter nor have other cast membesr been announced. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Jensen Ackles and Jamie-Lynn Sigler have been promoted to series regular for the newly announced season 3 of Big Sky. (TV Insider)

The BBC has announced that former Doctor Who David Tennant and former companion Catherine Tate will reunite in the show next year as part of the show’s 60th anniversary celebration. (TV Line)

The 10-episode, modern-day take on Zorro that is being undertaken by Amazon Prime will star Miguel Bernardeau (the Netflix smash hit Elite) as a new version of Diego de la Vega, a landowner and, in disguise, masked hero of the people. Renata Notni will play Lolita Marquez, the love of Diego’s youth. (Variety)

Stephane Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Encanto) will star opposite Anthony Mackie in the Peacock series Twisted Metal, based on the video game series. Mackie will play John Doe, a motor-mouthed outsider who is offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland. With the help of a trigger-happy car thief named Quiet (Beatriz), he’ll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck. (Variety)

Hannah Dodd (Anatomy of a Scandal) will take over for Ruby Stokes in the role of Francesca Bridgerton in the Netflix hit show’s upcoming third season. (TV Line)

Garrett Hedlund (Country Strong and TRON: Legacy) will star opposite Sylvester Stallone in the Paramount+ series Tulsa King. The series will follow New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone) just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, OK. Hedlund will appear in the series regular role of Mitch Keller, an Oklahoma native and ex bull-rider who retired prematurely after injuries led to addiction. (Variety)

HBO Max and Cartoon Network have two new projects coming up. First, American Girl: Corinne Tan (based on the American Girl doll brand) will star Miya Cech (The Astronauts) as 13-year-old ski enthusiast Corrine, who is still navigating her parents’ recent divorce while her 10-year-old sister Gwynn (Kai Cech), mom Judy (Michelle Krusiec), dad and stepdad Arne have adjusted to their new roles in this blended family. This project will premiere this December while the second American Girl special will follow next year. The second project will be the working title series B-Loved, a supernatural romance that will star Cobra Kai alum Peyton List. The project will follow Bea (List), a free-spirited teenage ghost who forms a special friendship with the new boy in town, Cole, whose house she has been inhabiting for over 100 years. With the help of a magical ring that allows Cole to see Bea, they’ll rediscover the meaning of being alive, but also the importance of letting go. (Variety)

Recent Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) has joined the 4th season HBO series Westworld in a recurring role that remains a closely guarded secret. (Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Another cast member has joined the upcoming Teen Wolf movie that is coming to Paramount+. Superman & Lois alum Tyler Hoechlin will reprise his role of Derek Hale in the two-hour continuation of the hit MTV series. (TV Line)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

RENEWAL/CANCELLATIONS

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

Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDbTV) has given a season two pick up to Bosch: Legacy. (Variety)

The Equalizer has been given a two season renewal by CBS. (TV Line)

ABC has pulled the plug on Queens after only one season of the drama; and the official cancellation of the drama Promised Land has been announced. (TV Line)

DROPPED

TNT and TBS will no longer air the SAG Awards. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Apple TV+ is developing a series version of The Prince of Tides, based on the box office movie, which was based on the 1986 novel by Pat ConroyThe Prince of Tides. The series would follow Tom Wingo, who travels to New York after his sister attempts suicide. While there, he develops a relationship with his sister’s therapist, Susan Lowenstein, while also delving into painful memories from his childhood. (Variety)

STREAMING MOVIE CANCELLATION NEWS

Two weeks ago it was announced that K.J. Apa (Riverdale) and Isabel May (1883) landed the lead roles in the upcoming HBO Max movie about the Wonder Twins. It looks like the recent merger of Warner Bros and Discovery has put the kabosh on the whole production. (ComicBook.com)

SERIES ORDER

The reboot of Quantum Leap has been given an early series order by NBC. In this version Raymond Lee (Here and Now) will star as Dr. Ben Seong, who is both a man of faith and a world-renowned physicist working on the time-travel project known as Quantum Leap. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

A new Doctor Who has been announced. Taking over for the soon-to-depart Jodie Whittaker will be Rwandan-born Scottish actor Ncuti (pronounced Shoo-tee) Gatwa (from the series Sex Education). (TV Line)

Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) has joined the TV adaptation of the AMC drama Mayfair Witches, based on the Anne Rice novel “Lives of the Mayfair Witches.” The series focuses on intuitive young neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario) who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations. Huston will play Lasher, one of most mysterious and sensual characters, a powerful, shape-shifting entity who has been bound to the Mayfair witches for hundreds of years. (Variety)

The revival of Justified on FX has added new cast members, including Aunjanue Ellis (NCIS: Los Angeles and King Richard), Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), Adelaide Clemsn (Rectify), Vondie Curtis Hall (Harriet), Marin Ireland (The Umbrella Academy) and Norbert Leo Butz (Bloodline). (Variety)

Charles Vandervaart (Lost in Space and The Craft: Legacy) has joined the cast of Outlander for season 7 as the grown up version of William Ransom, Jamie’s son). (MSN.com)

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) will star opposite Jennifer Garner (Alias) in the upcoming Apple limited series The Last Thing He Told Me, based on the novel by Laura Dave. The show follows Hannah (Garner), a woman who forms an unexpected relationship with her sixteen-year-old stepdaughter Bailey (Rice) while searching for the truth about why her husband has mysteriously disappeared. Coster-Waldau will star as Owen, Hannah’s husband. (Variety)

Viola Davis (The First Lady) just might be returning to the role of Amanda Waller in a Peacemaker spin-off that is currently in the works at HBO Max. Exact details about the proposed show are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes) has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple psychological thriller series Disclaimer that will star Cate Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kevin Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past. Partridge will play Jonathan Brigstocke, a teenager on his gap year traveling through Italy who allows himself to give in to his deeper desires with unexpected consequences. (Variety)

Jeff Daniels has landed the lead role in the upcoming Neftlix drama A Man in Full based on the Tom Wolfe novel that focuses on Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Daniels) as he faces sudden bankruptcy. Political and business interests collide as Croker defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace. Croker is further described as polarizing and robust, crude, rude, and irresponsible. (Variety)

Alycia Debnam-Carey (The 100 and Fear the Walking Dead) has taken over the lead role in the Hulu drama Saint X from Victoria Pedretti (You). The show is a psychological drama told via multiple timelines and perspectives. It’s a show about how a young woman’s mysterious death during an idyllic Caribbean vacation creates a traumatic ripple effect that eventually pulls her surviving sister into a dangerous pursuit of the truth. Debnam-Carey will star as Emily, a sharp and ambitious woman whose carefully constructed, seemingly perfect life begins to crumble. (Variety)

NEW HALLMARK DEAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Two more Hallmark stars have signed exclusive, multi-picture contracts with the network. They are Aimee Teegardena and Luke Macfarlane. (Deadline and Cinema Blend)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Meg Ryan will direct and star alongside David Duchovny in the romantic comedy film What Happens Later, which follows ex-lovers Willa (Ryan) and Bill (Duchovny) who are reunited for the first time since their split decades prior when they both find themselves snowed in, in-transit, at an airport overnight. Willa is still the wilful, independent spirit she once was, free of any ties, while the recently separated Bill is reassessing his life and his relationships with his estranged wife and daughter. All each of them wants is to get home but over the course of the night they find themselves at first reluctantly drawn together yet compelled to revisit their past, along with what could have been and what might well be again. But when the versions of their shared history don’t quite add up, where do they go from there? (Variety)

Gemma Chan and Harry Shum Jr. are set to star in the spin-off movie to Crazy Rich Asians that will focus on a new love story between Nick’s cousin Astrid and Charlie Wu based on the book by Kevin Kwan. A sequel to the original is also still in the works. (People and Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS AND CANCELLATIONS

Netflix has pulled the plug on Raising Dion after two seasons. (TV Line)

CBS has given Blue Bloods a 13th season renewal. (TV Line)

Peacock has given Wolf Like Me, which stars Isla Fisher and Josh Gad, a second season renewal. (Variety)

Batwoman has been cancelled by The CW after three seasons and the network also cancelled DC’s Legends of Tomorrow after 7 seasons as well. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Hayley Atwell just might be getting her own show in a Captain Carter live-action series based on the Disney+ multiverse version of the story from What If… that centered on how Steve Rogers died in the run-up to World War II, which led to Peggy taking the super-soldier serum instead. Atwell voiced the character in the episode too. (Giant Freakin Robot)

TV CASTING NEWS

Jesse Spencer will return as Matt Casey on Chicago Fire for the show’s upcoming season 10 finale. (TV Line)

Kelly Bishop will reprise her guest-starring role as Benedetta on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and recurring guest stars Alfie Fuller (who plays Dinah Rutledge) and Jason Ralph (who plays Mike Carr) have been promoted to series regulars. (TV Line)

Andrea Martin, who plays Sister Andrea, on Evil, the Paramount+ drama (formerly a CBS drama) has been promoted to series regular. (TV Line)

Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven, The Haves and the Have Nots and P-Valley) has landed the lead role in the upcoming HBO drama Demimonde from J.J. Abrams. The series is expected to focus on Olive Reed (Deadwyler), a woman who is torn away from her husband and daughter in a brutal scientific accident where she is forced to unravel a conspiracy to reunite with her family, now lost to a dark, distant other world. (Variety)

The untitled Netflix spy series set to star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Monica Barbaro (who will be seen in Top Gun: Maverick) has added to its cast. The 8-episode drama is about a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter ( Barbaro), who learn they’ve each secretly been working as CIA Operatives for years. New cast members include Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon franchise) as Carter, the sweet and unsuspecting boyfriend of Emma (Barbaro); Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate and Matador) as Boro, an incredibly charismatic, Oxford-educated businessman, who’s chosen to apply those skills to a career in the illegal arms trade and Travis Van Winkle (The Last Ship) as Aldon, a great CIA officer and world class wise-ass, who is a kind and sweet man under it all. The 100 alum Devon Bostick will have a recurring role as Oscar, an aspiring app developer. (Variety)

TV NEWS

Melissa McBride will no longer be involved in The Walking offshoot series that was to center on Carol and Daryl. (TV Line)

Warner Bros. Discovery is halting scripted series development at TNT and TBS. (Variety and TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is being developed into a film. The story takes place decades before the adventures of Katniss Everdeen, centering on young Coriolanus Snow, who eventually becomes the tyrannical president of Panem. As an 18-year-old, Snow is chosen to be mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12, during the 10th Hunger Games. (Variety)

The Batman is getting a sequel with Robert Pattinson set to return. (Variety)

The upcoming film adaptation of the musical Wicked – set to be directed by Jon M. Chu – will be split into two films; the first on December 25, 2024 and the second one year later. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will play the lead roles. (Variety)

Filmmaker Neil LaBute and Maggie Q are teaming up for Fear the Night, a new action-thriller that will center on an Iraqi war veteran named Tess as she prepares for her sister’s bachelorette party. As the festivities unfold, the party is abruptly interrupted by a group of home invaders who quickly take the house under siege looking for a hidden fortune. Surrounded by the frightened party-goers, Tess soon discovers that the ruthless attackers are hellbent on not leaving any witnesses behind. That’s when Tess strikes back. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWAL

EPIX has given the thriller series From a second season renewal. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Grey’s Anatomy will welcome Jesse Williams back as Jackson and April in the long-running drama’s season finale set to air on May 26. (TV Line and Deadline)

Emily VanCamp will return to The Resident for the drama’s upcoming season finale. She will appear in several flashbacks set for the final episode set to air on FOX on May 17. (TV Line)

Idirs Elba will star in and executive produce the 7-part Apple TV+ thriller Hijack. He will play accomplished business negotiator Sam Nelson, whose fast-talking skills are called upon when a plane he is riding is hijacked. (Variety)

Matt Bomer will star in the Showtime8-episode limited series Fellow Travelers that is based on the novel by Thomas Mallon. Bomer will play handsome, charismatic Hawkins Fuller, who maintains a financially rewarding, behind-the scenes career in politics. Hawkins avoids emotional entanglements – until he meets Tim Laughlin, a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith. They begin a romance just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants,” initiating one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history. (Variety)

John Slattery has joined the cast of season 6 of The Good Fight on Paramount+. (The Hollywood Reporter)

ANOTHER ONE JUMPING SHIP

In a VERY surprising move, Hallmark “Queen” Candace Cameron Bure is moving to GAC Family where she signed on with that network to develop, produce and star in movies and TV. It would appear she will no longer appear in anything at Hallmark, including her long-running Aurora Teagarden Mysteries movies. (TV Line and Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Taylor Cole has signed an exclusive multi-picture deal with Hallmark Channel. (TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Jason Momoa is in negotiations to star in the live-ction adaptation of Minecraft based on the popular video game, which allows players to use blocks to create structures and worlds. The game became a sensation, reaching 100 million users just a few years after launch. (The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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