Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for yesterday and today:

TELEVISION

Actress Zuleikha Robinson (Rome and Lost) will have a major recurring role on the second season of Homeland. She will play a Middle Eastern woman Roya Hammad, a field journalist with a special relationship to Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban) who delivers an ultimatum to Brody (Damian Lewis). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Wanda de Jesus (CSI: Miami) has been cast in a multiple-episode arc Sons Of Anarchy. She will play Carla, a smart and sexy associate of Nero (Jimmy Smits), a Latino gangbanger with an exit strategy who becomes a dangerous mentor for Jax (Charlie Hunnam). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Michael Weatherly (NCIS) is the first high-profile guest star for the new TNT series Major Crimes, which is the spinoff from The Closer. He will play Arthur “Thorn” Woodson, a charming con artist who currently works as an “intuitive life strategist” for a group of Israeli mob wives (all of whom he is bedding). Major Crimes will debut on August 13 at 10 right after the series finale of The Closer. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actor James Frain (True Blood) has been cast as the brother of Captain Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz) on Grimm. He will play Eric Renard in what is being described as a recurring guest star. It seems the brothers don’t have that great of a relationship; and he is in town after a very bad creature makes its way into Portland. (David Eckstein at Zap2It)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Here are the top 10 box office moves for the long holiday weekend courtesy of Box Office Mojo and E! Online:

1. Men in Black 3 – $70 million
2. The Avengers – $46.9 million
3. Battleship – $13.8 million
4. The Dictator – $11.8 million
5. Chernobyl Diaries – $9.3 million
6. Dark Shadows – $9.4 million
7. What to Expect When You’re Expecting – $8.9 million
8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $8.2 million
9. The Hunger Games – $2.9 million
10. Think Like a Man – $1.8 million

Actress Malin Akerman (Watchmen) will play Blondie singer Debbie Harry in the upcoming independent film called CBGB, after the iconic New York hotspot that she and her band often frequented. The film will chronicle the legendary music venue that stars Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal, the owner of CBGB, and Rupert Grint as Cheetah Chrome, the guitarist for the Dead Boys. (Bruna Nessif at E! Online)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All

Here are the news items for yesterday and today:

TELEVISION

Actress Vanessa Ray (Suits and White Collar) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Pretty Little Liars, playing Cece, a charming blonde who works as a stylist in a hip boutique, but as it turns out, she is actually Jason’s ex-girlfriend and the person that schooled Alison in the wicked ways of the world, she taught her everything she knows. Pretty Little Liars will be back on ABC Family on June 5. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

WEB SERIES

Actor Ryan McPartlin (Chuck) will co-star in Daybreak, a six-episode web series loosely connected to Touch, the FOX drama. This web series will center on the Dodecahedron, an object that was recently introduced on the Kiefer Sutherland series. The web series will launch following the May 31 Touch finale episode. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Lifetime is developing a drama series based on Clarice Starling, the character created by novelist Thomas Harris and portrayed by Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs. The project would follow a pre-Hannibal Lecter Clarice soon after she graduates from the FBI academy. (TV Guide and TV Line)

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actor Grant Bowler (True Blood) will portray Richard Burton opposite Lindsay Lohan in the Lifetime original movie Liz & Dick, the biopic about Elizabeth Taylor. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Rupert Grint (of Harry Potter fame) will appear in two upcoming films. The first is called The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman in which actor Shia LaBeouf plays a young man who falls for a woman (Evan Rachel Wood) who belongs to a dangerous crime boss (Mads Mikkelsen). Grint’s role is unknown at this point. The second is CBGB, the film about the famous New York nightclub and its effects on the underground music scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Alan Rickman leads the cast as club founder Hilly Kristal while Grint will play Cheetah Chrome, lead guitarist of short-lived ‘70s punk band The Dead Boys. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Gary Oldman will star opposite actor Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) in the remake of Robocop. Kinnaman plays Alex Murphy who is brought back from the brink of death and turned into a cyborg police officer. Oldman will play Norton, the scientist who creates Robocop and finds himself torn between the ideals of the machine trying to rediscover its humanity and the callous needs of a corporation. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

Actress Nikki Reed (Twilight Saga franchise) and actors Michael Angarano (Almost Famous), Paul Ben-Victor (In Plain Sight) and Chris Diamantopoulos (The Starter Wife) have joined the cast of the film Empire State. The film is set in 1980’s and is about two friends who plan to rob an armored car company. Dwayne Johnson, Emma Roberts and Liam Hemsworth are already part of the cast. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific holiday weekend!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items, few though they may be, for today:

TELEVISION

Four actors have been ousted from the NBC musical drama Smash. The actors who are not expected to be around next season (or at the very least appear perhaps once or twice to complete their storylines) include: Raza Jaffrey, who played Karen’s philandering fiancé Dev, Jaime Cepero, who played devious assistant Ellis, Brian d’Arcy James, who played Julia’s husband Frank and Will Chase, who played Julia’s former lover Michael and is Joe DiMaggio in the musical “Bombshell”. (James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly)

Actor Seth Gabel will not be back as a series regular on the fifth and final season of Fringe; but it is possible he could make an appearance or two during the final 13 episodes. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

The First Trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ Adaptation

Watch: First Official TV Spot for Len Wiseman’s ‘Total Recall’ Remake

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items, few though they may be, for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Gabriel Byrne has been cast as Earl Haraldson in the History channel’s first scripted series called Vikings that will premiere next year. He will play a powerful figure in the historical telling of the Norsemen who raided and explored during Medieval times. Vikings will be a 10-episode drama. (Deadline)

Actor Jason Gedrick (Luck) will appear in a multi-episode arc on Dexter, which is back with new episodes starting on September 30. He will play the manager of a Miami-area gentlemen’s club that becomes linked to a high-profile murder case. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor James McAvoy and actress Jessica Chastain are to star in the dual-film project called The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby that tells the story of a New York restaurant owner and his wife, who goes back to college. The twist is the story will be played out across two feature-length movies — one from the husband’s perspective and the other from the wife’s. Each film will be stand-alone though watching them both will give better insight into their relationship. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actresses Jessica Biel and Chloe Moretz and actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan will star in the upcoming film called The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea that will be set in New Orleans and tells the story of a grieving widower (Morgan) who recently lost his wife (Biel) in a car accident. He will find refuge helping a wisecracking young girl (Moretz) fulfill her dream of building a raft and sailing across the Atlantic. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actress Rachel McAdams has joined Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film adaptation of the John le Carre novel A Most Wanted Man. The story follows a mysterious man who comes to Germany searching for a Russian fortune. Hoffman plays a German spy out to find this man’s true identity, and McAdams will be a civil rights lawyer who is caught in international espionage. (First Showing and The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Natalie Portman is expected to star and produce the upcoming film called Jane Got a Gun, which will center on a woman whose outlaw husband returns home barely alive and riddled with bullet wounds. She is forced to reach out to an ex-lover and ask if he will help defend her farm when her husband’s gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job. (Borys Kit and Pamela McClintock at The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

There are a number of guest stars showing up on Suits when the series returns to the USA Network for its second season next month. First, actor Scott Grimes (ER and Party of Five) will appear as Tommy Walsh, an entrepreneur with a penchant for making high-stakes gambles and succeeding, forcing Harvey to raise his game. Actor Matthew Glave (Army Wives) will appear as slick, no-nonsense attorney Alex Shelton, who puts Harvey on the defensive. And, actor Peter Outerbridge (Nikita) will play Keith Hoyt, Harvey’s good friend who lands in some trouble in Atlantic City. With Keith’s future on the line, Harvey makes a dangerous play that could either be Keith’s salvation or his ultimate demise. Suits is back with new episodes starting on June 14. (Philiana Ng at The Hollywood Reporter)

Actress Sarah Wynter (24) will have a recurring role on the next season of Californication, playing the wife of rock star Atticus Fetch, who is being described as a combination of Bowie, Bono and Lennon rolled up into one. Fetch has been drafted to write the music for the Broadway musical A Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which is based on the hit romantic comedy of the same name adapted from Hank Moody’s (David Duchovny) breakthrough novel. Wynter is set to appear in at least six episodes. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Well-known actors Ronny Cox and Fred Ward will both be guest starring on an upcoming episode of Leverage when it returns for new episodes on TNT starting on July 15. There are no details on what parts the actors will be playing, though. (Matt Mitovich and Megan Masters at TV Line)

Syfy has cancelled Sanctuary. The show started out as a web series and aired on the network for four seasons. (SciFiPulse)

CONDOLENCES

Legendary Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb passed away over the weekend. He was 62. (E! Online)

ME: Rest in Peace, Mr. Gibb. Deepest condolences to his family, friends and fans!

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

FX is development a drama project from actor Tim Roth and Homeland co-executive producer Alexander Cary. The as-yet-untitled project, which would star Roth is being described as a drama about addiction, bank robbery, and an extremely volatile family dynamic. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

AWARD WINNERS

Congrats to the winners at last night’s Billboard Music Awards, including Adele, U2, Lady Antebellum, Coldplay and Foster the People [among others]. (E! Online)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Naveen Andrews (Lost) is set for the male lead in the upcoming feature called Diana where he will play Dr. Hasnat Khan, the heart surgeon who had a brief relationship with Princess Diana before her death in 1997. Actress Naomi Watts will play Diana. (The Guardian and Dark Horizons)

Actors Scott Speedman and Bill Pullman and actress Ali Larter are set to star in the film adaptation of the Barry Malzberg sci-fi novel called Beyond Apollo that deals with the first two-man mission to Venus that is aborted mid-flight and abruptly returns back to Earth. When rescue crews retrieve the space capsule, they discover The Captain is missing and the lone surviving astronaut has no clue as to what took place. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actress Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are set to star in a currently untitled buddy cop movie that will be about the tense working relationship between a high-strung FBI agent (Bullock) and an unconventional Boston cop (McCarthy) as they team to take down a Russian gangster. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Colin Firth will star as actor, director, playwright and singer Noel Coward in a new comedy drama called Mad Dogs and Englishmen. The story follows Noel’s two weeks at The Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 1955, when he performed for huge crowds. (Associated Press and Dark Horizons)

Here are the top 10 box office films for this past weekend courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:

1. The Avengers, $55.1 million
2. Battleship, $25.4 million
3. The Dictator, $17.4 million
4. Dark Shadows, $12.8 million
5. What to Expect When You’re Expecting, $10.5 million
6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, $3.3 million
7. The Hunger Games, $3 million
8. Think Like a Man, $2.7 million
9. The Lucky One, $1.8 million
10. The Pirates! Band of Misfits, $1.5 million

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

The First “Skyfall” Trailer Is Online

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Dorian Missick (Southland and The Cape) will join the cast of Haven when it returns this September. He will appear in the recurring role of Tommy Bowen, a street smart, big city detective who comes to Haven investigating a suspected serial killer case. A shrewd, calculating policeman, he’s also a fish out of water, completely mismatched with this small town. (Showcase)

A&E cancelled the police drama Breakout Kings. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Harold Perrineau (Lost) will have a critical recurring role on Sons of Anarchy, playing Damon Pope, the ex-drug kingpin whose daughter was murdered by Tig in the Season 4 finale. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Morgan Freeman will join Michael Douglas and Robert De Niro in the comedy film Last Vegas that is about four old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single. Freeman is set to play Archie Clay, an army veteran, who looks to escape the watchful eyes of his son and daughter-in-law and accompany his best friends on a trip to Vegas. (Deadline)

Actress Juno Temple has joined the cast of the live-action film Maleficent, a revisionist retelling of Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie as the title character. Temple will play one of three pixie fairies who are tasked with taking care of Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) in the cottage in the woods. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Watch: First ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ Trailer with Bill Murray as FDR

That’s it. Enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items, few though they may be, for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Noah Bean has been promoted to series regular on Nikita; that means now that the show has been renewed, Ryan Fletcher will be a regular member of Team Nikita. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

CONDOLENCES

The Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, passed away this morning at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer. (TMZ and Twitter)

ME: Rest in Peace, Ms. Summer. Deepest condolences to her family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Lily Rabe (American Horror Story) will play silent actress and key film industry pioneer Mary Pickford in the as-yet untitled upcoming movie based on the Eileen Whitfield biography about the film legend. (Deadline and Dark Horizons)

Actresses Helena Bonham Carter and Kathy Bates will star in the English-language 3D project called The Young and Prodigious Spivet, which is based on the Rief Larsen novel. The story follows a 12-year-old boy (Kyle Catlett) with extraordinary skills who leaves his family in Montana and takes off on a cross-country adventure to the Smithsonian Museum to receive a prize. Callum Keith Rennie (The Killing and The Firm) has already been cast as the boy’s father. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE TRAILER

Watch: Bradley Cooper & Jeremy Irons in First Trailer for ‘The Words’

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

BBC One is moving ahead with an eight-episode series loosely based on the Emile Zola novel Au Bonheur Des Dames. The series will be called The Ladies’ Paradise and will be set in England’s first department store. It will follow the rags-to-riches story of Denise Lovett, a young girl who works in the store and gets caught up in the charms of the modern world. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights) has landed a major recurring role on the upcoming fifth season of Breaking Bad. He will play Todd, a dependable, innocuous, working-class guy, but his character may not be what he appears to be. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actors Sam Claflin, Matthew Goode and Tom Wilkinson as well as actresses Miranda Richardson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sarah Gadon and Emily Watson have all joined the cast of the upcoming film Belle, a biopic of Dido Elizabeth Belle. Dido (Mbatha-Raw) was the half-black illegitimate daughter of renowned Admiral Sir John Lindsay, who was eventually taken in and raised as an aristocratic lady in 18th Century England by Lindsay’s uncle William Murray, the Earl of Mansfield. Gadon and Claflin will play Belle’s cousin and love interest respectively, but no other cast details are known. (Screen Daily and Dark Horizons)

Actress Keira Knightley will replace Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming film Can A Song Save Your Life?, where she will play a singer who moves to New York with her boyfriend only to be dumped by him and subsequently discovered by a producer. Hailee Steinfeld also stars. (Screen Daily and Dark Horizons)

Actor Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!) will star opposite Pierce Brosnan in the long-gestating dream project called November Man. The film is an espionage action-thriller based on the Bill Granger novel There are No Spies. Brosnan would play an ex-CIA operative who finds himself pitted against his former pupil (Cooper) in a deadly game involving high-level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect. (The Hollywood Reporter and Dark Horizons)

Actress Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan and The Hunger Games) will play the lead role in the remake of the remake of the 70’s horror classic Suspiria, which follows a young girl who travels to Europe to attend a world-renowned school, only to learn that the academy is a front for a coven of witches. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor James Badge Dale (24 and Rubicon) has joined the cast of Iron Man 3. He will play a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army put in charge of Project: Ultra. After stepping on a land mine, cybernetic surgery is performed on him and he’s resurrected as the cyborg Coldblood. (Variety and Coming Soon)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

Maggie Gyllenhaal & Viola Davis in First Trailer for ‘Won’t Back Down’

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Richard Burgi (Desperate Housewives and One Tree Hill) will appear as a villain in an upcoming episode of Burn Notice as Morris, a duplicitous, backstabbing loan shark with a vile temper who’s looking to move up the criminal ladder. Burn Notice will be back with its new season starting on June 14 at 9 PM on the USA Network. (Vlada Gelman at TV Line)

Actress Lorraine Toussaint (Saving Grace) will guest star on a July episode of Drop Dead Diva, as law professor, Gretchen Daily, who invites her former student, Jane, and Grayson (Jackson Hurst) to deliver a lecture to one of her classes at Stanford Law School. The attorneys decide to help one of the students with a complicated case against a Silicon Valley company. But, the pupils will have to take on their mentor when the company hires the best attorney they can find: Gretchen Daily. Drop Dead Diva will be back with a new season on Lifetime on June 3. (Jethro Nededog at The Hollywood Reporter)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

ABC is also pursuing its long-gestating plans for a Hulk TV series (seems the Hulk’s popularity is bigger than ever because of the success of the box office film The Avengers. And, while the “Hulk” series didn’t come together in time for the 2012-13 season, it could be a possibility for the season after that. (Tim Molloy at The Wrap)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) and Megalyn Echikunwoke (House of Lies and The 4400) have joined the supporting cast of the upcoming film A Good Day to Die Hard that will star Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney as John McClane and his estranged son Jack (respectively) who take on Russian villains. Nolasco will play Willis’ friend early in the film while Echikunwoke’s role is unknown at this time. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Channing Tatum (Dear John) will appear in the upcoming action thriller called White House Down. He will play a Secret Service agent and single dad who must save the president when his official residence is taken over by paramilitary group. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

Actor Alan Rickman has landed the lead role as famed New York nightclub owner Hilly Kristal in the upcoming film called CBGB that will tell the real-life story of how Kristal’s CBGB club impacted the underground music scene and made famous such talents as Talking Heads, the Ramones and Blondie. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Mark Deklin (GCB) has joined the cast of the 3D/CGI motion-capture film Tarzan in which he will play Tarzan’s father, who is exploring the site of a mysterious ancient meteorite and is on the brink of a discovery when he dies alongside his wife (Jaime Ray Newman). Kellan Lutz and Spencer Locke will play Tarzan and Jane respectively. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

BOX OFFICE TRAILER

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (3D) – 4 MINUTE SUPER PREVIEW:

That’s it. Enjoy!

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