Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATION

Paramount+ has given MobLand a third season renewal before the show’s second season is set to premiere on September 18. (Deadline)

Amazon Prime Video Spider-Noir has been cancelled after only one season. (The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Miles Teller, Jason Momoa, Momoa’s real-life girlfriend Adria Arjona and Kiefer Sutherland will star in the upcoming box office thriller Copperhead that focuses on what happens when an undercover drug deal explodes into violence, and a veteran detective is forced to team with a young federal agent to unravel the conspiracy within their elite task force. Character details for the cast have yet to be announced, though. (Deadline)

Michael Keaton and Morgan Freeman will star in the Western box office thriller Rode to Ruin with Keaton playing retired U.S. Marshal Henry Tillman and Freeman playing wanted outlaw Joseph Mulberry. The marshal searched 40 years for his wife’s killer and the cold trail finally heats up and leads him to an aging outlaw losing his memory and to a buried truth neither man may survive. (Deadline)

Golden Globe winner Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) will make her directorial debut with the upcoming box office movie Get Lite that will star Broadway star Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard) and Storm Reid (Euphoria), which follows a talented but sheltered dance student who finds inspiration, love and family in the last place he expected: the subways of New York City. (Variety)

Broadway’s Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge) has landed a role opposite Jane Krakowski and Angourie Rice in the upcoming indie drama Nice Eggs that watches as a young woman (Rice) come of age by overcoming a turbulent relationship with her loving but erratic mother (Krakowski), fighting to end a generational cycle of broken relationships to find her own voice. Tveit will play Marty, a handsome divorcee from Queens who’s made good as a corporate attorney. (Deadline)

Box office newcomer Inde Navarette, who recently turned heads in the horror flick Obsession, was a regular cast member on The CW’s superhero drama Superman & Lois and just landed the role of Rogue in the upcoming X-Men movie, has landed another box office role. She will appear in The Waffle House Index, but plot details on this new film are being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

Desperate Housewives alum and multi-hyphenate Eva Longoria will star alongside Mexican actor-comedian Eugenzio Derbez in Marcelo in the Real World, the film adaptation of the novel by Francisco X. Stork that will explore the challenges faced by a young man with autism spectrum disorder as he navigates his place in today’s highly competitive society. (Deadline)

Oscar and Emmy winner Melissa Leo has joined the cast of the upcoming action-thriller flick Supermax that will star Will Smith. The movie follows two FBI agents investigating a seemingly impossible murder within the impenetrable walls of a maximum-security prison. The cast of the film includes AnnaSophia Robb, Jason Clarke and Jaafar Jackson, who starred as his real life uncle in the 2026 box office flick Michael. (Variety)

Halle Berry, Colin Firth, Zoe Kravitz and Jack Whitehall will star in the upcoming rom-com movie Otherwise Engaged that finds Charlie (Whitehall) ready to marry the love of his life, Gabby (Kravitz), until his estranged father (Firth), a fallen business tycoon fresh out of prison, shows up on their doorstep and soon falls for Gabby’s fiercely independent mother (Berry). Now, their parents’ unlikely romance threatens to turn Charlie and Gabby’s dream wedding into their worst nightmare. (Deadline)

The hybrid box office movie Lincoln in the Bardo, which will be both stop-motion animation and live action, has added Meryl Streep, Colman Domingo, Bill Hader and Tom Waits to its cast. The movie will star Tom Hanks as U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey and Game of Thrones Peter Dinklage to its voice cast. Streep will voice four parts in the film: Abigail Blass, Elizabeth Crawford, one Angel sent to lure lost souls out of the bardo and a Demon trying to trap Willie Lincoln in the cemetery forever. Domingo will voice Thomas Havens, the ghost of a former slave seeking a history-changing union with Lincoln, while Hader will voice Eddie Baron and one of the Three Rakes and Waits will voice Jaspar Randall, the ghost of a former dancehall performer and one of the Demons trying to capture Willie Lincoln. (The Hollywood Reporter)

TV CASTING NEWS

The reboot of Prison Break which will air on Hulu has added new cast members including, but not limited to Noah Emmerich (The Americans), Brad Beyer (Jericho) and Michael Mosley (Ballard and Castle). The series, that will be set in Los Angeles, will focus on a soldier-turned-corrections officer who takes a job at one of the deadliest prisons in America to prove just how far she’ll go for someone she loves. Emmerich will recur as Callum Faulls, Jackson’s (series regular Lukas Gage) father, a highly respected West Virginia power broker; Beyer will recur as Captain David Ryan, a corrections officer captain and Mosley will recur as Maynard Gibbs, a by-the-book lieutenant suspicious of Cassidy (series lead Emily Browning). (Deadline)

The Walking Dead alum Norman Reedus and Paradise alum James Marsden are set to star in the upcoming Apple TV spy thriller Disavowed that will feature Marsden, who will also executive produces the series, as Brad Griffin, a CIA case officer who’s fired in the middle of a global manhunt for an assassin who killed one of Brad’s colleagues. Cast out from the intelligence world, Brad decides to go freelance and try to collect a $15 million bounty on the assassin. No details have been given on who Reedus will be playing, however. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Wayne Brady and Selma Blair will guest star in the upcoming new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution, but details on what characters they will be playing are being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

Casting for season two of the small screen adaptation of the Harry Potter franchise has added the following: Lenny Rush will play Dobby; Bonnie Hill, taking over for the departing cast member Gracie Cochrane, will play Ginny Weasley and Billy Barratt will play Tom Riddle. (Variety)

Former late night host James Corden, and an actor in his own right, has joined the cast of the second season of the Matthew Goode-led Netflix crime thriller Dept. Q, which is based on the novels by author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Corden will play Dr. Ben Smith, an eccentric but brilliant forensic psychologist. (What’s On Netflix)

Zoo and Happy Face alum James Wolk has been cast in the upcoming new season of Grey’s Anatomy, playing Seth Norton, a surgeon-turned-businessman who owns Olympic Regent Health, “a luxury care medical center where patients pay out of pocket for elevated care. (Deadline and People)

Season two of the HBO Max drama Heated Rivalry has added Kevin Zegers (The Rookie: Feds), Paul Gross (Due South) and Milla Jovovich (the original Resident Evil franchise) to its cast. Zegers will play Coach Weibe, the head coach of Ottawa’s professional team; Gross will play the professional hockey league’s commissioner Roger Crowell and Jovovich will play Dr. Galina Molchalin, Ilya’s (series lead Connor Storrie) therapist. (The Hollywood Reporter)

STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Vanessa Kirby (The Fantastic Four and The Crown), Yahya Adbul-Mateen II (Wonder Man and Aquaman), Tom Pelphrey (Task), Franka Potente (The Bourne Supremacy) [among others] will star in the upcoming Apple TV film Liminal, which is based on the graphic novel Telepaths by J. Michael Stracynski. The story is set in a time where a small percentage of the world’s population gains telepathic abilities, primarily focusing on a Boston police department tasked with tracking down a group of these recently-powered individuals that are led by a wrongly-convicted prisoner. The catch is that certain members of the Boston police department also have these new powers. (SFF Gazette and FilmCrave)

TV DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Netflix is developing a live-action TV series – to be called Ravenloft -based on the popular gothic horror setting of Dungeons & Dragons that is being described as a prestige fantasy series where adventure collides with gothic horror and tragic romance. Ravenloft and its Domains of Dread tackle adventure through character-driven stories of dark magic and supernatural intrigue. At its heart, the series follows the making of the vampire Darklord Strahd von Zarovich, whose story of power, love, obsession, and undead transformation charts his origins from tragic antihero to one of Dungeons & Dragons’ most notorious villains. (Deadline)

Disney+ is developing a live-action series adaptation of The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson franchise) and Angela Robinson. Based on Egyptian mythology that is set in the same universe as Camp Half-Blood from his Percy Jackson books. The book series takes the Kane siblings on adventures where they are forced to contend with the Egyptian gods and goddesses in the modern world. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Hulu has given the Emmy Rossum-lead drama thriller Furious a second season order. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Game of Thrones alum Kit Harington will be taking over the role of Gilderoy Lockhart from Nicholas Hoult in the upcoming second season of the HBO series Harry Potter. (Variety)

The new fall NBC drama Line of Fire will see Sam Waterston (Law & Order), Campbell Scott (Dying Young) and Chris Chalk (Perry Mason) making guest appearances, playing former President Thomas Barnes, a U.S. Senator named Terry and current President Kayana respectively. (Deadline)

Netflix has given a greenlight to a spin-off to the drama series Manifest (which started out on NBC before moving to the streamer). Arrivals: A New Manifest Mystery will focus on what happens when a mysterious plane crash-lands in Denver. The passengers emerge with no memory of who they are, where they came from, or why they’re here. A young social worker and a novice Homeland Security agent team up with the new arrivals in an attempt to stop a humanity-ending catastrophe, discovering along the way that they are all part of the very puzzle they’re trying to solve. (Variety)

Netflix has a new, currently untitled, drama based on the short stories for adults by Roald Dahl. The series will find Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, The Crown star Imelda Staunton and The Wire star Dominic West appearing alongside previously announced cast members Carmen Ejogo, Clark Peters and Toby Jones (among others). The logline for the upcoming series is: A young couple, marooned in a faded seaside town, navigate conmen, adulterers, murderous mothers and snake charmers as they attempt to escape before their own fate is sealed. (Deadline)

Kate Winslet will star in the new limited series The Unheard at Netflix from Adolescence writer Jack Thorne. The series will be about two sisters who go on the run after an act of vengeance goes wrong. As they are desperately pursued, we ask the question: What pushed them to this reckless act, and was it ever their intention to get away with it? (Variety)

Downton Abbey alum Dan Stevens will play the titular hero in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series RoboCop based on the box office movie. This 8-episode series will focus on how a giant tech conglomerate persuades the city to place a powerful robot on its police force – a robot implanted with the consciousness of a beloved fallen officer, Alex Murphy (Stevens). (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

The box office movie Lincoln in the Bardo that will star Tom Hanks as Abraham Lincoln has added Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Bailey and Peter Dinklage to its voice cast. The movie will explore one of the most intimate moments of Lincoln’s life, centering on his relationship with his recently deceased 11-year-old son. The feature mixes history and imagination in a story that unfolds through an ensemble of characters – living and dead, historical and invented – to explore themes of love, empathy and the human capacity for connection in the face of unimaginable grief. (Deadline)

Looks like Paramount is working on a sequel to the box office movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with original star Kate Hudson attached to produce. This sequel is in the early stages of development, though, so there aren’t many details. (Variety)

Anne Hathaway will star alongside Tom Cruise in the upcoming sequel film Days of Thunder 2 that will be released in June of 2028. (Deadline)

SERIES PICK-UP

Looks like the USA Network is getting back into the groove of airing TV dramas, as the cabler has picked up a medical drama called Diplomatic Immunity about a doctor assigned to the U.S. embassy in Rome, who finds himself encountering challenging medical cases that require him to navigate diplomacy, government personalities and geopolitical situations — all while managing the romantic entanglements set against the thrill of a new life in a new country. Casting details have not been announced. (The Hollywood Reporter)

MGM+ has picked up the five-part Gemma Arterton-led drama series Secret Service. Arterton will star as senior MI6 officer Kate Henderson as a covert investigation uncovers evidence that a high-ranking UK politician may be working as a Russian asset. With trust shattered and her career on the line, Kate must navigate the shifting sands of political loyalty, international threat, and personal sacrifice as she races to uncover their identity before it’s too late. (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Peacock is developing an all-new spin-off series to Bel-Air (which was a dramatic reimaging of the Will Smith-led comedy The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). This spin-off called Hilary will focus on Bel-Air cast member Coco Jones’s character. (CBR)

BROADWAY NEWS

Harry Potter alum Rupert Grint will reprise his role of Ron Weasley as he is joining the cast of the Broadway play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He will play an adult version of Ron in a story that focuses on the next generation of Hogwarts students. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

The new Amazon Prime drama Sterling Point has been given a second season renewal. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

New cast members for the upcoming FOX reboot of Prison Break have been announced. Joining the cast include Sam Trammell (True Blood), Robin Weigert (Deadwood and Tracker) and Kerry Bishe (Halt and Catch Fire) [among others. They join current cast members Emily Browning, Drake Rodger, Lukas Gage, Clayton Cardenas, JR Bourne, Georgie Flores, Kelli Berglund and Myles Bullock. In the new version, an ex-soldier turned corrections officer takes a job at one of the deadliest prisons in America to prove just how far she’ll go for someone she loves. (Deadline)

Shadowhunters alum Matthew Daddario will join season 15 of Chicago Fire as Da’Vinchi, a new firefighter candidate. (Deadline)

The Apple TV sci-fi/comedy series Murderbot that stars Alexander Skarsgard in the lead role has added new cast members for its upcoming second season, including Steve Buscemi, Wanda Sykes, Patton Oswalt, Martha Plimpton, Bridget Everett, Michael Sheen, Tramell Tillman and Blair Underwood [among others], but there are no storyline details yet for that anticipated second season. (Deadline)

STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Extraction 3, the latest in the Netflix action movie franchise that stars Chris Hemsworth, has added Pierce Brosnan [among others] to its cast, but no word on what character he will be playing or what the storyline will be for this installment. Idris Elba has already been announced as part of this cast too. (Deadline)

LIMITED SERIES NEWS

It looks like Sons of Anarchy will be reuniting for an FX limited series called Legends which will find much of the main cast back together, including Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Katey Sagal, Maggie Siff, Mark Boone Junior, Tommy Flanagan, Kim Coates and Theo Rossi. The logline for the show states, When the cast of “Sons of Anarchy” reunites at a fan convention after more than a decade, the line between life and art blurs as the fractured brotherhood finds itself up against a real-world threat more dangerous than anything they ever faced in their show. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Mireille Enos (The Killing) [taking over for Leslie Bibb], Ella Bright (Off Campus) and Jake Picking (Running Point) [taking over for KJ Apa] will star in the upcoming indie film Gable, which will tell the true story of Olympic gold medalist wrestler Dan Gable Enos will play Gable’s mother Katie while Bright will play his sister Diane. No word yet on who Picking will be playing as yet. The movie will tell the story of a working-class kid from Waterloo, Iowa who overcame an unthinkable family tragedy to become one of the most dominant athletes in the history of combat sports, compiling a 181-1 record throughout high school and college and ultimately facing off against the powerful Soviets at the height of the Cold War. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Even before the first season has aired, S.W.A.T. Exiles has been given a second season renewal. (TV Insider)

TV CASTING NEWS

The new high-school hockey drama The Sticks will debut online on Netflix with Michelle Monaghan starring alongside newly announced cast members Scott Bakula and Marshals alum Logan Marshall-Green. The series will focus on what happens after tragedy shatters a small Minnesota hockey town, with a grieving wife (Monaghan) stepping behind the bench of the team her husband built, guiding a found family of wounded young athletes through a season of loss, love, and rivalry that will decide whether South Dorothy has anything left to believe in, and who will lead it into its next chapter. Bakula will play Coach Brody while Marshall-Green will play Coach Sully.  (Deadline)

Nicholas Hoult will take on the role of Gilderoy Lockhart in the second season of the HBO small screen adaptation of Harry Potter. (Variety)

Station 19 alum Boris Kodjoe has joined the second season of the FOX drama Memory of a Killer in the recurring role of Tré, Angelo (series star Patrick Dempsey), Dutch (Michael Imperioli), and Michael (Richard Clarkin)’s closest childhood friend, often referred to as the “Fourth Musketeer.” (TV Line)

Wonder Woman star Connie Nielsen and Castle alum Stana Katic have joined the upcoming Apple TV series Monsterverse that will star Wyatt Russell, who plays Col. 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. The character originated in the series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, with Russell’s father Kurt Russell playing the older version of Lee Shaw. The characters Nielsen and Katic will be playing are being under wraps, though. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Jane Krakowski and The Last Thing He Told Me alum Angourie Rice will star in the indie coming-of-age flick Nice Eggs, which will watch as a young woman comes of age by overcoming a turbulent relationship with her loving but erratic mother, and fights to end a generational cycle of broken relationships to find her own voice. They play the mother and daughter. (Deadline)

More cast members of the upcoming X-Men movie were announced at D23 this past week, including Christopher Abbott (Poor Things) as Charles Xavier (Professor X), Inde Navarette (Obsession and Superman and Lois) as Rogue, Adam Driver as Mister Sinister (aka Nathaniel Milbury) and Broadway star Maya Boyd as Storm. (Deadline)

Outlander star Caitriona Balfe and Elliot Cowan (The Crown) have been cast as Queen Arianna and King Frederic, respectively, in the upcoming live-action version of the popular animated movie Tangled. (Deadline)

Jodie Foster and Walton Goggins will lend their voices to the upcoming Disney animated movie Hexed, which will focus on an awkward teen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and her Type-A mother, who learn her peculiarities might be magical powers, transforming their lives and revealing a hidden magical realm. Foster will play Queen Celeste, the main “baddie” in the film while Goggins will play Beef Roger, a three-eyed cat who is a witch’s sidekick. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Hulu-Disney+ has given the period piece drama The Artful Dodger a third and final season. (Deadline)

Peacock has ordered a second season of The Five Star Weekend with lead actress Jennifer Garner returning along with cast members D’Arcy Carden, Regina Hall and Chloë Sevigny all coming back as well. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Jaafar Jackson (who played his uncle Michael Jackson in the recent box office movie Michael) will star alongside Will Smith and AnnaSophia Robb in the upcoming action thriller flick Supermax, which will revolve around two FBI agents (Smith and Robb) investigating a seemingly impossible murder within the impenetrable walls of a maximum-security prison. Jackson’s role is being kept under wraps right now. Additionally, Jascon Clarke will also appear in this movie but his character details are also being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

The next installment of The Mummy movie that’ll find Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz reprising their legendary roles will find original movie cast members Kevin J. O’Connor and Oded Fehr returning to the fold. O’Connor played ill-fated Beni Gabor so it will be interesting to see how he makes a return in the movie while Fehr played Medjai Ardeth Bay. Young Sherlock actor Numan Acar has also joined the cast, but his role has yet to be announced. (Deadline)

In addition to Samara Weaving appearing as Emma Frost in the upcoming X-Men movie, it would seem that Heartstopper hunk Kit Connor will be playing Cyclops aka Scott Summers. (Deadline)

Oscar winner Russell Crowe and head-turner Priyanka Chopra Jonas are set to star in the upcoming sci-fi action thriller Bluefly, which tagline goes a little like this: Deep in the Congo, a grieving UN translator is pulled onto a black-ops mission to recover a downed aircraft that isn’t supposed to exist. As a Special Operations team pushes upriver through militia-held territory, the recovery becomes a descent — and the closer they get to the craft, the clearer it becomes that they were never meant to bring it home. (Deadline)

The live action feature film The Legend of Zelda, based on the popular video game, in which the late Sam Neill will make his final film appearance, will also feature Dichen Lachman (Severance) and Chuck’s own Yvonne Strahovski as well, but details on the roles these two ladies will play are still a bit of a mystery. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

It’s sounding like Dave Bautista just might be taking over the role of Kratos in the Amazon Prime series God of War after the torn bicep injury sustained by Ryan Hurst, who was originally cast in the titular role. (Variety)

It’s looking like Blue Bloods alum Will Estes will be reprising his role of Jamie Reagan in the spin-off series Boston Blue for the show’s second season this fall. (Radio Times)

Game of Thrones alum Richard Madden is set to star in a new Amazon Prime and Paramount+ thriller called Trauma, playing former Royal Marines medic turned ER doctor Jim Marchant, who must fight his way through busy London Hospital to save everyone inside when terrorists seize the building. (Variety)

GREENLIGHT GIVEN

Paramount+ has given a greenlight to the thriller series Ascent that will star Viola Davis. The series will be set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control, centering on elite corporate fixer Catriona Vail (Davis), who must weaponize the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Acorn TV has given the Stephen Moyer-led drama Art Detective a second season renewal. (Deadline)

Disney+ has pulled the plug on Wonder Man after only one season. (Variety)

UPtv has given the family-friendly drama Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries a second season renewal with stars Galadriel Stineman, Denise Gossett, Kevin Joy and Riley Beeson all returning for the new season. (UPtv Press Release)

GREENLIT PROJECTS

Looks like Alicia Silverstone will be playing her Clueless character Cher Horowitz in a small screen sequel series on Paramount+ that will revisit the 1995 cult classic film by having Beverly Hills-bred Cher, this time the owner of a successful business and the mom of a teen daughter entering high school. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Matthew Macfadyen and Claire Foy will star in the BBC and Starz will star in the 8-part adaptation You Are Here based on the best-selling novel by David Nicholls, which will have the pair playing Michael and Marnie. When a mutual friend throws them together, the pair unexpectedly find themselves setting off on an epic walk. Against the odds, they end up on the brink of a relationship that neither was looking for, but which might be exactly the one they both need. Michael and Marnie go coast-to-coast across the stunning — and soaking — English countryside, navigating an undeniable attraction that is as exhilarating as it is terrifying. (The Hollywood Reporter)

SERIES PICK UP NEWS

Anna Kendrick, the one and only J.K. Simmons and Outlander hunk Sam Heughan will star in the drama Embassy, which has been picked up to air in the US on MGM+. The series star Kendrick as Layla, a sharp and resourceful American diplomat, who faces an impossible choice: protect the U.S. Ambassador or follow his orders to exfiltrate a high value asset being held at the embassy after armed mercenaries storm the U.S. Embassy in London. As a larger conspiracy unfolds, Layla must rely on her instincts, and the reluctant help of her ex-fiancé, a British SAS soldier, in the tense hours before extraction. Simmons will play the U.S. Ambassador and Heughan will play the ex- fiancé. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Tony Award winner and Snowpiercer cast member Lena Hall will appear in the box office movie Disconnecting Peter alongside Sullivan’s Crossing hunk Chad Michael Murray. Hall will play Elizabeth Ruck, wife of Peter Ruck (Murray), a woman working to hold her family together as her husband’s destructive patterns threaten to unravel them. (Variety)

Famed singer-musician John Legend will play American singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte in the South African apartheid era drama The Road Home about late real-life protagonist Hugh Masekela. The movie will also star Guy Pearce, Cynthia Erivo and Johnny Flynn. (Deadline)

Regina Hall and Dwayne Johnson will star in the live-action/CGI hybrid film Lizard Music that will follow a boy left to his own devices who stumbles upon a secret late-night broadcast of lizards playing otherworldly music when a hidden door to the extraordinary swings open. His search for answers leads him to an eccentric and whimsical old man nicknamed The Chicken Man (Johnson) and his beloved companion, a 111-year-old chicken named Claudia – two kindred spirits who found each other at just the right time. United by this shared vision, they set off on an adventure that begins as a hunt for a hidden society but blossoms into something far greater: a voyage through invisible worlds, unexpected harmonies and the unbreakable bond between lost souls who discover magic not only in what they find but also in each other. Hall will play The Chicken Man’s friend and co-worker. (Deadline)

Horror star Samara Weaving seems to be the chosen one to play Emma Frost as Marvel Studios are closing in on forming its team of Mutants. The studio has not made an official announcement yet, but it seems that Weaving will play the telepathic Mutant originated by January Jones in the 2011 flick X-Men: First Class. (Deadline)

David Oyelowo has joined the cast of the indie film Little Five from Anne Hathaway’s production company. The movie will be inspired by the legendary Little 500 cycling race at Indiana University, telling the story of a determined group of young women who challenge tradition, forge an unlikely team and redefine what is possible through resilience, friendship, and grit. Oyelowo will play Randall, a former cycling champion whose own dreams were cut short. Reluctantly drawn back into the sport, Randall becomes an unlikely mentor whose guidance helps shape a new generation of athletes while forcing him to confront his own unfinished journey. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

The second season of the Amazon Prime drama Young Sherlock has added to its cast. The new cast members will include Olivia Williams, Outlander star Sophie Skelton, Indira Varma and Game of Thrones alum Aidan Gillen. Details about who the new cast members will play have not been revealed, but series star Hero Fiennes Tiffin will be back in the title role as well as returning cast members Dónal Finn (James Moriarty) as well as Natascha McElhone, Max Irons and Holly Cattle, who play Sherlock’s mother Cordelia, brother Mycroft and sister Beatrice, respectively. (Deadline)

Season 5 of Reacher over at Amazon Prime has added the following to its cast: Jay Baruchel, Kevin Durand, Amanda Ip and Ciara Bravo. They will play the characters of Chief Buck Bauer, Nokes, Michelle Chang, and Eunice, respectively. The 5th season will be based on the 20th book in Lee Child’s global best-selling series, Make Me. After his train stops in the mysterious town of Mother’s Rest, Reacher teams up with a private investigator in the search for a missing person and uncovers a dangerous and deadly criminal conspiracy. Season 4 will premiere on the streamer starting on August 12. (Deadline)

Joe Minoso, who has played Joe Cruz since season 1, will be departing the long-running NBC drama Chicago Fire at the starting of the show’s upcoming 15th season this fall. Chicago Fire will also say goodbye to Dermot Mulroney in season 15, as Chief Dom Pascal. (Deadline)

The FOX drama Memory of a Killer has added Meta Golding (The Pitt and Ransom Canyon) and Natalie Zea (Fire Country) to its cast. Golding will play Mel, Angelo’s (series lead Patrick Dempsey) childhood sweetheart. A Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist who has spent her career diving headfirst into the world’s darkest corners — and has the scars to prove it. Mel is not a delicate flower: she’s sharp, funny, direct, and constitutionally incapable of looking away from the truth. She and Angelo were childhood sweethearts, but their romance was cut short by Angelo’s tragic past. She reappears in Angelo’s life and becomes his love interest of the season – while working alongside him to avenge a tragic loss. Meanwhile, Zea will have the recurring role of Olivia, a brilliant, ambitious, yet sensitive businesswoman who always insisted on forging her own way — and she has, in ways no one yet suspects. In the aftermath of tragedy, she appears to be a woman undone by loss, but beneath the surface, this is a woman protecting something far more dangerous than a legacy. (Deadline)

Meghann Fahy will star in the upcoming HBO 5-episode limited series The Trial of Louise Woodward. It will focus on the shocking true story of how, in 1997, an 18-year-old British au pair was accused of shaking to death a baby left in her care by her American host family, setting off an international media firestorm as the trial unfolds in full view of both the British and American public. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Interview With the Vampire has been renewed for a 4th season, but will be rebranded as Queen of the Damned. (The Hollywood Reporter)

TV CASTING NEWS

Lewis Pullman (Remarkably Bright Creatures and Lessons in Chemistry) will star alongside Julie Garner in the Apple TV thriller drama Guilty Creatures that will be set against a backdrop of sex and and murder in the Florida panhandle, delving into the psyche of a torrid romance and subsequent act of murder between two young, adulterous but God-fearing lovers — believed to be played by Garner and Pullman — unraveling their complex lives and the emotional toll of living as killers for 18 years. (Deadline)

After three seasons as Senior Detective Vincent Riley, Reid Scott will be leaving Law & Order with James Badge Dale taking over as a new Senior Detective yet to be named. (Deadline)

Josh Lucas (Yellowstone) will star opposite Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning in the upcoming legal thriller series Discretion at Paramount+. Lucas will play Greg, a lawyer and the husband of Kidman’s powerful and formidable corporate law partner at the same prestigious firm entangled in a dark web of NDAs. Fanning will play Lenny, a summer associate who realizes she is bound by the exact non-disclosure agreement she is investigating, upending her mentor-protégé dynamic with Kidman’s character. (Deadline)

Kenneth Branagh will executive produce and star in the Paramount+ drama Laird, an epic family saga in which a proud Scot defies a shadowy American billionaire hellbent on buying up the glens. Amidst family feuds, buried secrets and star-crossed romances, the Laird of Castle Drummoch (Branagh) remains determined to protect his ancestral lands from oligarchical land grabbing. (Deadline)

BOX OFFCE NEWS

David Jonsson, who starred in the box office movie The Long Walk and Alien: Romulus, will play T’Challa’s grown son in Black Panther 3 that is set to hit theatres in December of 2028. (Deadline)

Ryan Gosling will play Ghost Rider in a new standalone movie within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Variety)

Glen Powell will play iconic New York Yankee Lou Gehrig. It is unknown what will be covered in the new film, but sources say one of Gehrig’s teammates expected to have an important role in the film is Babe Dahlgren, the man tasked with replacing Gehrig at first base. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Sullivan’s Crossing has been picked up for season 5 on the CW. The 10-episode season is expected to premiere on the network sometime in 2027. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

This Is Us alum Susan Kelechi Watson has joined the cast of the upcoming as yet untitled Dakota Fanning thriller over at Apple TV that will have Fanning starring as an undercover Treasury agent in a multi-billion-dollar international conglomerate with world-changing political and criminal tentacles, who becomes conflicted between her mission and a belief that her principal target, the heir apparent to all that corrupt power, is at his core a good man and worthy of her love. Watson will play the series regular role of Dawn, a handler for US governmental covert operations. The previously announced cast also includes Stellan Skarsgård, Daryl McCormack, Grace Gummer and Joely Richardson. (Deadline)

Lost alum Maggie Grace has joined the cast of the upcoming AMC drama series Thunder Road that already boasts cast members Dennis Quaid, Michael Rooker and Matt Barr. The series is the multi-generational saga of the fictional Whitlock family, whose legacy in stock car racing is as deep as the family’s ties to the Southern hill country roots that shaped them. Quaid will play racing legend Duane Whitlock, a towering figure who built a racing empire from a legacy of moonshine runs and dirt tracks and refuses to let it die. Grace will play Laney Whitlock, oldest and smartest of Duane’s children and the CEO of Whitlock Racing. (Deadline)

Amazon Prime Video will recast the lead role of its upcoming adaptation of God of War after lead actor Ryan Hurst, who to play Kratos, the titular god of war, was injured on set. (Deadline and Variety)

Gabriel Luna has joined the cast of the second season of Dexter: Resurrection, playing Ray Ballard, a serial killer operating under the name The Sleepy-Eyed Stranger. (Variety)

Jessica Alba has joined the cast of the Netflix reboot of the Jennifer Garner movie 13 Going on 30, but details about who she will be portraying nor the synopsis of the show have been released. (Deadline)

The second season of the MGM+ period piece drama Robin Hood has added James Purefoy (The Following), Colin O’Donoghue (Once Upon a Time) and Luke Roberts (Hudson & Rex) to its cast. Purefoy will play King Henry, O’Donoghue will play Prince Richard and Roberts will play Amaury D’Montfort. (Deadline)

It looks like Melissa Gilbert will not be back as Georgie McGill in season 14 of the Hallmark Channel drama When Calls the Heart. (Entertainment Now)

LINEAR TV MOVIE NEWS

It’s been four years since Angie Harmon appeared in the Lifetime movie Buried in Barstow alongside Hallmark hunk Kristoffer Polaha, but two sequel films are going to be happening with the working titles of Buried in Barstow: Blood for Blood and Buried in Barsto: The Reckoning. The franchise follows former assassin Hazel King (Harmon) as she tries to build a quiet life for herself and her daughter, but her dark past keeps coming back to haunt her. As new threats and unexpected connections emerge, Hazel must navigate loyalty, motherhood, and the possibility of redemption, while confronting who she used to be. Reprising her role of Hazel’s daughter Joy is Lauren Ashley Richards with Anne of Green Gables alum Megan Follows joining the cast as Zadie, the enigmatic matriarch of a powerful construction family whose interests in Barstow and Harmon’s own daughter Finley Sehorn who will play a young Hazel in flashbacks. (Deadline)

STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Alan Ritchson is in negotiations to star in the upcoming Netflix movie Maelstrom, which will follow a Federal Marshal guarding the fiancée of an arms dealer seeking witness protection. Events unfold over the course of one evening as a hurricane rolls in, blocking outside communication and preventing reinforcements from arriving. Together they must fight to survive the onslaught of men working for the arms dealer, as well as the escalating elements of the natural disaster raging outside. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Carey Mulligan will appear in the upcoming film adaptation of The Bell Jar by famed author Slyvia Plath. Pop star Billie Eilish will make her film acting debut in this production too. Mulligan will play Mrs. Greenwood — mother to Eilish’s protagonist Esther Greenwood. (Variety)

An ensemble of actors have joined the upcoming Glenn Powell and Meghann Fahy box office movie called The Girlfriend. They include Rosario Dawson, Lamorne Morris, Stephen Root and Edi Patterson. The movie is about Eve (to be played by Dawson) who gives up her perfect New York City life and moves to Alabama for her husband Elliot’s dream job. Seeing her isolated, friendless, and unhappy, Elliot does what any loving husband would do: he secretly hires an escort (Fahy) to be her new best friend. (Deadline)

The upcoming animated movie Steps will reimagine Cinderella’s “evil” stepsisters (to be voiced by Ali Wong and Stephanie Hsu) as the protagonists. Other voices will be provided by Amanda Seyfried as Cinderella, Bette Midler as the Fairy Godmother, Daniel Radcliffe as the Prince and Peter Dinklage as Roderick, a murderous man-nanny. (What’s on Netflix)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION

Amazon Prime Video has pulled the plug on the faith-based drama It’s Not Like That, which starred Scott Foley, after only one season. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Colin Woodell (Pulse) will star in the new Netflix drama series Myron Bolitar alongside Riverdale hunk KJ Apa and Doom Patrol alum Diane Guerrero. The series is inspired by the Harlan Coben book series that will follow what happens to Myron Bolitar (Woodell) after an injury ends his NBA dreams. He reinvents himself as a sports agent, using charm, smarts and a ruthless partner to navigate the high-stakes and dirty world of sports, where saving his clients often means risking himself. Apa will play Win Lockwood, who walked away from the family business to build something of his own alongside his closest friend, Myron. Meanwhile, Guerrero will play Esperanza Diaz, a former professional wrestler-turned-Myron’s indispensable right hand at MB Sports. (Deadline)

The Gilded Age alum Morgan Spector is in talks to play Professor Robert Langdon in a series adaptation of the Dan Brown novel The Secret of Secrets that is set to air online on Netflix. (Deadline)

Julia Garner will star in the upcoming Apple TV adaptation of the Mikita Brottman true crime “Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida that will delve into the psyche of a torrid romance and subsequent act of murder between two young, adulterous but God-fearing lovers, unraveling their complex lives and the emotional toll of living as killers for 18 years. (Variety)

Matt Barr (Blood & Treasure) has joined the cast of the upcoming AMC drama Thunder Road, the multi-generational saga of the fictional Whitlock family, whose legacy in stock car racing is as deep as the family’s ties to the Southern hill country roots that shaped them. He joins Dennis Quaid who will star as racing legend Duane Whitlock, a towering figure who built a racing empire from a legacy of moonshine runs and dirt tracks and refuses to let it die. Barr will play Duane’s oldest son, Calvin Whitlock, an attractive and ambitious man who’s been driven out of the business of auto racing for good and doesn’t like to be reminded of it. (Deadline)

Flashdance star Jennifer Beals has joined the upcoming CBS spin-off NCIS: New York that will find LL Cool J back as Sam Hanna and Hawaii Five-0 alum Scott Caan. She will play Robyn Wells, the head of NCIS’ New York field office. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Blair Redford (The Gifted and Three Women) will have a recurring role in the Baywatch reboot happening on FOX in January. He will play Hunter, a rugged, seen-it-all camera guy who has worked everywhere from Hollywood film sets to war zones. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Dwayne Johnson will star in the upcoming action-drama flck Free Byrd, starring as a Las Vegas motorcycle stuntman who conceals his dementia diagnosis from everyone, including his mechanic brother, as he risks everything on one last jump. (Variety)

1883 alum Isabel May will star in the upcoming rom-com flick Love Love that will follow a struggling tennis phenom who falls for a charismatic local ball boy at the US Open. Their unlikely romance just might be the spark she needs to make it to the finals. (Deadline)

The Arnold Schwarzenegger, Liam Hemsworth and Kelsey Asbille (from Yellowstone fame) movie The Kellys has added the following cast members Noomi Rapace (the original The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Michael Biehn (Terminator), Laz Alonso (The Boys) and Dan Fogler (The Rainmaker) [among others]. The movie follows Jack Kelly, a disgraced NYC cop whose wife, Molly, is taken hostage by terrorists inside an old armory building. To save her, he’ll have to join forces with the people he fears most: his family. There are no details about who these new cast members will play, however. (Deadline)

Liam Neeson and Zachary Levi will star in the upcoming action-thriller movie Iran (formerly known as Hotel Tehran), which follows Larry (Neeson), Tucker (Levi) and a group of former CIA operators who hope to pull off a daring rescue in the Iranian capital to redeem themselves after a failed Afghanistan mission. The cast will include Wes Chatham and Titus Welliver [among others]. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Elle Fanning and Julianne Moore will star in the upcoming film Moonsong: A Life In Seven Verses that tells the story of famous children’s book author Margaret Wise Brown. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news updates for this past week:

RENEWAL

Netflix has given the crime drama Nemesis a second season renewal. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Olivia Thirlby has joined Fire Country for its 5th season where she will play Cecilia Jade “CJ” Ryan, a quick-witted, fiercely independent, blue-collar, decorated urban firefighter who bolted her station house and city for mysterious reasons. After six months on the road, trying to outrun whatever happened, and herself, fate strands her in Edgewater where she crosses paths with Bode. (Deadline)

Veteran actor Mark Harmon will make a full-time return to TV on NCIS: Origins not just as the show’s narrator but also reprising his long-time role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, appearing on screen in every episode of the prequel series upcoming third season. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Also, Michael Weatherley will be rejoining the mothership NCIS as Tony DiNozzo, but details on the story that brings him back into the fold are being kept classified for now. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Long-time Chicago P.D. cast member LaRoyce Hawkins is leaving the police procedural as a series regular in its upcoming 14th season. He will appear in the first two or three episodes to wrap up his character Kevin Atwater’s storyline. (Deadline)

It looks like Tom Hardy will be returning to MobLand after all as the “issues” that saw him removed from the show have been “resolved.” This will pave the way for the show’s third season renewal. (Deadline)

SERIES FINALE NEWS

MGM+ has ordered a two-hour series finale for the crime drama Godfather of Harlem that stars Forest Whitaker. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Josh Gad has joined the growing cast of the Ocean’s 11 prequel that will feature director-costar Bradley Cooper and cast member Margot Robbie. It also looks like Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro just might be joining the cast too. (Variety and Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »