Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Hulu has renewed Marvel’s Runaways for a third season. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Supernatural will be coming to an end after its 15 season, which will consist of 20 episodes, airing this fall. (Variety)

OWN has given a straight-to-series order to the new drama Cherish the Day that hails from Ava DuVernay. The anthology series will chronicle the romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel people to hold true to the ones they love, from the extraordinary to the everyday. The show is currently slated to debut in winter 2020. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actress Miranda Richardson will be a series regular on the highly anticipated yet-untitled Game of Thrones prequel series. (Variety)

Actress Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) and young actor Jaeden Martell (IT) will star alongside actor Chris Evans in the upcoming Apple limited series Defending Jacob based on the 2012 best-selling novel of the same name by William Landay that tells the story of Andy Barber (Evans), a father whose 14 year old son Jacob (Martell) is accused of murder. Dockery will star as Laurie Barber, Andy’s wife and Jacob’s mother. (Variety)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Florence Pugh (The Little Drummer Girl) is anticipated to star alongside Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming Black Widow box office film that has been in development for quite some time. It’s unclear whether Black Widow will be an origin tale or set after the next Avengers film. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

RENEWALS

NBC has given The Blacklist a 7th season renewal. (Variety)

American Gods has been given a season 3 renewal by Starz. (Variety)

AMC is currently in the early development stages of a new series set in the universe of the cult popular series Orphan Black. Supposedly, this series will not be a spinoff or reboot of the original series, but rather a completely new story set in the same world. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) has landed the titular role in The CW pilot Katy Keene, the Riverdale spin-off that will follow the lives of four characters, including fashion legend-to-be Katy Keene, as they chase dreams in New York City. The musical dramedy chronicles the origins and struggles of four aspiring artists trying to make it on Broadway, on the runway and in the recording studio. The character of Katy is described as a bold, big-hearted and independent twenty-something New Yorker, who aspires to be a fashion designer. When she’s not working as a personal shopper at a luxury department store, she’s navigating friendship and dating in the big city. (Variety)

Actor Ethan Hawke will star in the 8-part Showtime limited series Good Lord Bird based on the award-winning novel of the same name by James McBride. The story is told from the point of view of Onion, an enslaved teenager who becomes a member in 19th-century abolitionist John Brown’s motley family during the time of Bleeding Kansas, eventually participating in the famous 1859 raid on the Army depot at Harpers Ferry. Brown’s raid failed to initiate the slave revolt he intended, but was the instigating event that started the Civil War. (Variety)

Actor Esai Morales (NYPD Blue and NCIS: Los Angeles) has been cast as Deathstroke in the DC Universe series Titans when it returns for its 2nd season. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actors Bailey Chase (Longmire) and David Andrews (Shooter) will appear in the fourth season of the USA Network drama Queen of the South. Chase will play Eddie Brucks, a musician attempting to overcome his personal demons who crosses paths with Teresa while Andrews will play Judge Cecil Lafayette, a member of one of the oldest blue blood families in Louisiana who may prove to be one of the most dangerous adversaries Teresa has ever encountered. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actresses Megan Hilty (Smash and The Good Wife) and Jessie Mueller (Broadway’s Waitress) will appear in the newly greenlit Lifetime move Patsy & Loretta with Hilty playing Patsy Cline and Mueller as Loretta Lynn. The telefilm will tell the untold true story of the friendship between the two country music icons. (The Futon Critic)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

CANCELLATION NEWS

The next season of Arrow – the show’s 8th season – will be its last on The CW. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actor Santiago Cabrera (Heroes) and Michelle Hurd (The Glades and Blindspot) have joined the cast of the Captain Jean-Luc Picard Star Trek series that will air on CBS All Access. Exact details on what roles they will play is being kept under wraps. (Variety)

The Sinner has been picked up for a third season by the USA Network and actor Matt Bomer (White Collar) will star opposite Bill Pullman. The new season will follow Detective Harry Ambrose as he begins a routine investigation of a tragic car accident on the outskirts of Dorchester. Ambrose uncovers a hidden crime that pulls him into the most dangerous and disturbing case of his career. Bomer will play Jamie, an upstanding Dorchester resident and expectant father who looks to Ambrose for support in the wake of an accident. (Variety)

True Blood alum Sam Trammell will have a recurring role on the final season of Homeland, playing Vice President Benjamin Hayes, a political survivor with an aptitude for optics who crosses the aisle to serve alongside new president (to be played by Beau Bridges. (The Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic)

Actor Ernie Hudson will guest star in an upcoming episode of Arrow, playing four-star general of the Defense Intelligence Agency who shares a history with Diggle. (Deadline and TV Line)

BROADWAY HERE WE COME

The TV series Nashville may have left the air, but the theatrical rights have been sold to producer Scott Delman, who is planning a Broadway stage show based on the series. (The Hollywood Reporter)

SERIES ORDERS

Captain Marvel star Brie Larson will star and executive produce a drama that has been given a straight-to-series commitment at Apple. The untitled series is based on the real life experiences of CIA undercover operative Amaryllis Fox and her upcoming memoir, Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA. The series will take a look at a young woman’s (Larson) journey in the CIA, told through the prism of her closest relationships. (Variety)

The 90’s comedy Mad About You is being revived as a limited event series, set to premiere later this year, on Spectrum Originals. (Variety)

Freeform has given a 10-episode order to a new witch-themed drama Motherland: Fort Salem that will be set in an alternate, present-day America where witches ended their persecution 300 years before by cutting a deal with the government to fight for their country. Traditional power and gender roles have been flipped, with women on the front lines of defense and threats that seem familiar to our world, but with supernatural weapons and tactics. Motherland: Fort Salem will center on three young witches: Raelle (Taylor Hickson from Deadly Class), a reluctant recruit whose mother was killed in the line of duty; Tally (Jessica Sutton from The Kissing Booth), a kind, strong-willed and curious witch who enlisted over her mother’s objections; and Scylla (Amalia Holm), a playful yet dark and mischievous recruit who’s not what she appears to be. (The Hollywood Reporter)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actor Idris Elba will be taking over the role of Deadshot from Will Smith in the Suicide Squad sequel. Smith had to bow out of the movie due to scheduling conflicts. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL NEWS

NBC has picked up Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. for new seasons. (Variety)

Star Trek: Discovery has been renewed for a third season. (Variety)

Cinemax has renewed Strike Back for a 7th and final season (The Futon Critic)

SERIES ORDER NEWS

Syfy has given a series order to Resident Alien, a comic book adaptation that will star Alan Tudyk of Firefly fame. The series is a twisted and comedic fish-out-of-water story that follows a crash-landed alien named Harry (Tudyk) who, after taking on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor, slowly begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his secret mission on Earth. The show will also star Corey Reynolds (The Closer). (TV Line)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Jacqueline Grace Lopez (East Los High) has landed the lead role in the Jane the Virgin spin-off pilot Jane the Novela. The pilot will be based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself. The first installment takes place at a Napa Valley Vineyard, where family secrets (and family members) don’t stay buried for long. It centers on Estela (Lopez), an up and coming art curator who has spent years playing it safe and coloring within the lines. But a shocking secret changes everything and forces her to live a double life. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CANCELLATIONS

Netflix has canceled The Punisher after its recently aired second season and Jessica Jones will end after its upcoming third season. (Variety)

The Man in the High Castle will come to an end on Amazon Prime after it airs its fourth season this fall. (Variety)

Syfy has cancelled the drama Nightflyers after one season. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill and Chicago P.D.) will guest star in the upcoming 5th and final season of Jane the Virgin. She will play a character named Julie, but no other details have been announced. (TV Line)

Actor Dougray Scott will appear in The CW pilot Batwoman, appearing as Jacob Kane, a former military colonel with a chip on his shoulder for Batman. He now commands Gotham’s private security firm The Crows, and has made it his mission to protect his city better than the Dark Knight ever could. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Alicia Witt will have a recurring role in the final season of Orange Is the New Black, playing Zelda, a professional fundraiser for various high-end non-profit organizations. A strong, chic and low-key New York sophisticate who went to Dartmouth, she strives to be in control of every situation. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Robin Lord Taylor (Gotham) will recur in the Netflix (formerly Lifetime series) You, playing Will, who deals with unsavory sorts as part of his job, but is himself a thoughtful, personable, and highly intelligent guy who marches to the beat of his own drummer. That is, until he gets trapped in a bad situation. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Amy Smart and actor Neil Jackson (Absentia) will both appear in the DC Universe live-action series Stargirl that follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore (aka Stargirl, Brec Bassinger) as she inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. Smart will play Barbara Whitmore, Courtney’s mother and new wife of Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson). Details about who Jackson will be playing have yet to be announced. (Deadline)

Actress Stella Maeve (The Magicians) will appear in an upcoming March episode of God Friended Me, playing Sophia, a sous chef who works at her father’s restaurant and dreams of opening her own dining establishment. After Miles and Cara are sent her name by the God account, they discover that Sophia’s plans are in danger of falling apart. (TV Line)

Actress Rachael Leigh Cook (Perception) will appear in the 15th and final season of Criminal Minds playing Max, a quirky, kind-hearted, candid woman who strikes up an unusual relationship with Spencer (series regular Matthew Grey Gubler). (TV Line)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Tiffany Marie Smith and Charlie Field have landed the lead roles in the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Lifetime made-for-TV movie entitled Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal, the sequel to the 2018 movie about their romance. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actor Chris Hemsworth (Avengers/Thor franchise) will play wrestler and pop culture icon Hulk Hogan in a Netflix movie. The biopic is expected to center on the rise of Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, and his “Hulkamania.” (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

CANCELLATION

Counterpart has been cancelled by Starz after two seasons. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Once Upon a Time alum Ginnifer Goodwin has been tapped to star in the CBS All Access straight-to-series dark comedic drama Why Women Kill that revolves around three women living in different decades: a housewife in the 1960s, a socialite in the 1980s and a lawyer in 2018, each dealing with infidelity in their marriages. The series will examine how the roles of women have changed, but how their reaction to betrayal has not. Goodwin will star as Beth Ann, who in 1963, wants to be the ideal ’60s housewife. Goodwin joins the previously announced Lucy Liu (Elementary), who will play Simone, an elegant, stylish woman who is the picture of urbane confidence and moves through the world as if it were a delightful movie starring her. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Amy Acker (Person of Interest) will appear in an upcoming episode of Grey’s Anatomy as Kathleen Shepherd, the fourth Shepherd sister. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

The cast of the upcoming Dune reboot includes Timothee Chalamet, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, and Charlotte Rampling as well as Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa. Set in the distant future, the film follows Paul Atreides, whose family assumes control of the desert planet Arrakis. As the only producer of a highly valuable resource, jurisdiction over Arrakis is contested among competing noble families. After Atreides is betrayed, he leads a rebellion to restore his family’s reign. (Variety)

TV MOVIE NEWS

Psych-O’s rejoice. The USA Network has formally greenlit a two-hour follow-up movie to the 2017 Psych: The Movie, that finds Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dule Hill) going back to where it all began: Santa Barbara Police Chief Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) is ambushed on the job and left for dead. In a vintage Psych-style Hitchcockian nod, he begins to see impossible happenings around his recovery clinic. Shawn and Gus return to Lassie’s side in Santa Barbara and are forced to navigate the personal, the professional, and possibly the supernatural. Separated from their new lives in San Francisco, our heroes find themselves unwelcome in their old stomping grounds as they secretly untangle a twisted case without the benefit of the police, their loved ones, or the quality sourdough bakeries of the Bay Area. What they uncover will change the course of their relationships forever. The returning cast also includes Maggie Lawson, Kirsten Nelson and Corbin Bernsen. (TV Line)

A sequel to the Netflix movie The Kissing Booth is happening with the main cast set to return, but plot details are not being released just yet. (Variety)

Actress Rose Williams (Reign) and actor Theo James (Downton Abbey and the Divergent franchise) will star in the ITV and PBS Masterpiece adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished final novel Sandition, written only months before the legendary author’s death in 1817. The story of the impulsive, spirited and unconventional Charlotte Heywood (Williams) and her spiky relationship with the charming Sidney Parker (James). When a chance accident transports her from her rural hometown of Willingden to a would-be coastal resort, it exposes Charlotte to the intrigues and dalliances of a seaside town on the make. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

AMC has given The Walking Dead a 10th season renewal. (Variety)

New Amsterdam has been given a second season renewal by NBC. (Variety)

Legion will end after its upcoming third season on FX. (Variety)

Freeform has given the new drama Good Trouble a season 2 order. (Variety)

ABC has renewed The Good Doctor and A Million Little Things for new seasons. (Variety)

The History Channel has renewed Project Blue Book for a second season. (Variety)

SERIES PICK-UPS

Freeform has given a series pick-up order to a reboot of the FOX drama Part of Five, which will follow the five Acosta children as they navigate daily life struggles to survive as a family unit after their parents are suddenly deported to Mexico. (Freeform)

FX has picked up the series adaptation of the comic book series Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra. The series will be called Y and will traverse a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event has decimated every male save for one lone human. The new world order of women will explore gender, race, class and survival. Diane Lane stars alongside Imogen Poots, Marin Ireland and Amber Tamblyn [among others]. (Variety)

CASTING NEWS

Actress Danai Gurira will appear in a handful of episodes of The Walking Dead for its current 10th season, but then she will be leaving the show. (Variety)

Actress Rachel Skarsten (Lost Girl and Reign) will star opposite Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black) in the small screen adaptation of Batwoman in which Rose has the lead role. Skarsten will play the villainous role of Alice. If Batwoman had a Joker, it would be Alice, the leader of her Lewis Carroll–inspired Wonderland Gang. Swinging unpredictably between maniacal and charming, Alice has made it her mission to undermine Gotham’s sense of security. (Deadline)

Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider and Game of Thrones) will star alongside Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck and Charmed) in FBI: Most Wanted, the spin-off series to FBI. She will play Lynn Khanna, a cowboy boot-wearing FBI analyst from a conservative Dallas family, who is a master of data-mining and social engineering with a sharp, earthy sense of humor. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill) will appear in The CW series Riverdale, playing Edgar, the enigmatic leader of the cult-like Farm, who arrives in Riverdale to spread his teachings and heal the ravaged soul of this once wholesome town. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Carl Lumbly (Alias and Supergirl) will appear in This Is Us as Beth’s (series regular Susan Kelechi Watson) dad, Abe Clarke. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time) has joined the cast of the upcoming CBS All Access series The Twilight Zone. She will star in the upcoming episode entitled “Point of Origin.” (Deadline)

Actress Lyndie Greenwood (Sleepy Hollow) has landed a role in the fourth season of The Expanse that will now air on Amazon Prime. She will play a character named Dr. Elvi Okoye. (TV Line)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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