Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION

FOX has pulled the plug on the drama Monarch after only one season. (TV Line)

ANOTHER ONE SIGNED ON

Actress Nikki DeLoach has signed an exclusive, multi-picture overall deal with Hallmark Media. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Hugh Grant will appear in a guest starring role in the upcoming HBO limited series The Palace that will star Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Andrea Riseborough. The drama tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. Exact character details for the series are being kept under wraps, though. (Variety)

Netflix has ordered a 6-episode limited series American Primeval that will star Taylor Kitsch that will be a raw, adventurous exploration of the birth of the American West. Kitsch will play Isaac, a traumatized man struggling to overcome his demons and find a reason to live in this brutal and punishing world. (Variety)

Margarita Levieva (In From the Cold and Revenge) and Sandrine Holt (House of Cards and 24) have joined the cast of the Disney+ drama Daredevil: Born Again, but character details are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

STREAMING MOVIES

Reese Witherspoon will reprise her role as go-getter Tracy Flick in Tracy Flick Can’t Win, a sequel to the 1999 movie Election that picks up with Tracy in adulthood as she continues to struggle to fight her way to the top at work. She’s the assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey, but she sets her sights on the top job as her boss announces plans to retire. The movie will air on Paramount+.  (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Broadway vet Ethan Slater has joined the cast of Wicked that is set to star Ariana Grande as Glinda, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. Additional cast members include Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman) as Miss Coddle and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University. (Variety)

The upcoming movie The Book of Clarence has added a boot load of cast members to its roster, including Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Anna Diop along with already announced cast members LaKeith Stanfield and Omar Sy. Set in Biblical times, it tells the tale of Clarence, a down-on-his-luck denizen of Jerusalem embarking on a misguided attempt to capitalize on the rise of celebrity and influence of the Messiah for his own personal gain. It is a journey that leads him on an exploration of the idea of faith and to a highly unexpected path of his own. Stanfield is playing Clarence. (The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hi All,

Here are the news items for the past two weeks:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

The Apple TV+ series Surface, which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (who also executive produces) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, has been renewed for a second season. (TV Line)

AMC has pulled the plug on the series Moonhave despite it being given a second season renewal earlier. It’s reported the change in status is due to sweeping cost-cutting measures. (Deadline)

The Netflix supernatural thriller The Midnight Club has been cancelled. (TV Line)

Paramount+ has given Tulsa King a second season renewal. (TV Line)

Miss Scarlet and the Duke has been given a fourth season renewal by PBS. (TV Line)

The Hulu drama Tell Me Lies has been renewed for a second season. (TV Line)

PULLED THE PLUG

Despite being given a straight-to-series order back in February, ABC has pulled the plug on the drama series Avalon, which comes from David E. Kelley and was set to star Neve Campbell in the lead role. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

New cast members have been announced for the fourth season of The Boys on Amazon. Rosemarie DeWitt (The Staircase), Rob Benedict (Supernatural) and Elliot Knight (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II) will appear in the new season. DeWitt will play Hughie’s mom (series regular Jack Quaid). There are no details as to what characters Benedict and Knight will play, though. (Deadline)

Joseph Mawle, who played the villaninous Adar, the leader of the Orcs in the Amazon drama The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, is leaving the show ahead of its second season. He has been replaced by Sam Hazeldine (Peaky Blinders). (TV Line)

Scarlett Johansson will star in the upcoming limited series based on the John Katzenbach novel Just Cause. The series was given a straight-to-series order, marking her first major TV role. The series centers on Miami reporter Matt Cowart with Johansson set to play a female version of the character named Madison “Madi” Cowart. (Variety)

Isaiah Mustafa (It Chapter Two and Shadowhunters) and Ryan Eggold (New Amsterdam) have joined the cast of the upcoming Amazon series based on the James Patterson character Alex Cross that will star Aldis Hodge in the title role, a detective and forensic psychologist who’s uniquely capable of digging into the minds of killers and victims. Mustafa will play John Sampson, aka “Two-John” and “Man-Mountain” while Eggold will play Ed Ramsey, a charming Midwesterner who also has sharp enough elbows to carve out a space in elite social and political circles in Washington and New York. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Gilmore Girls alum Keiko Agena will appear in the fourth season of Doom Patrol, but it is unclear who she will play. (Startefacts)

Mandy Moore (This Is Us) has landed the female lead opposite Edgar Ramirez in the upcoming second season of the Peacock anthology series Dr. Death. Season 2 will focus on the “Miracle Man” that centers of Paolo Macchiarini (Ramirez), a charming surgeon, renowned for his innovative operations that earn him the nickname “Miracle Man.” When investigative journalist Benita Alexander (Moore) approaches him for a story, the line between personal and professional begins to blur. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Lance Reddick will reprise his role as Charon in the John Wick spin-off movie Ballerina that will star Ana de Armas as a young female assassin who seeks revenge against those who killed her family. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWED

HBO has ordered a third season of The White Lotus, which will introduce a new cast at a new location and could possibly include Jennifer Coolidge returning as Tanya McQuoid. (TV Line)

COMING TO AN END

Amazon has announced that the upcoming second season of Hunters, set to premiere on January 13, will be the dramas final season. (Variety)

CHANGE OF PLANS

The upcoming third season of the Syfy series Resident Alien has been shortened. It’s been reduced from 12 episodes to 8 episodes. (Deadline)

TV NEWS

Kate Winslet will star opposite her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton in the third season of I Am Ruth, the UK drama series that was conceived by Winslet and filmmaker Dominic Savage. Winslet will star as Ruth, a concerned mother who struggles to help her teenage daughter Freya (Threapleton) as she becomes increasingly consumed by social media. (Variety)

TV CASTING

More cast members have been added to the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Jay Duplass (Somebody Somewhere) and Timothy Omundsen (Pysch and This Is Us) will play Hades, the God of the Underworld and Hephaestus, the God of Blacksmiths respectively. (Variety)

Millie Gibson (Coronation Street) will appear as the new companion on Doctor Who when actor Ncuti Gatwa takes over the role of the Doctor. She will play Ruby Sunday. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Bradley Cooper will star in the upcoming Steven Spielberg film based on the Steve McQueen character of Frank Bullitt, the no-nonsense San Francisco cop in the 1968 action-thriller Bullitt. (Variety)

It is possible that a third Princess Diaries movie MIGHT be in the making. Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews have not been confirmed to be returning; although Hathaway has continually expressed interest in reprising her role of down-to-earth Mia Thermopolis. Plot details haven’t been confirmed, but the threequel is expected to continue the story in The Princess Diaries and the sequel Royal Engagement rather than rebooting the film franchise. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION

Netflix has pulled the plug on the legal drama Partner Track after only one season. (TV Line)

COMING TO AN END

Carnival Row will be back on Amazon for a second season on February 17, 2023, but that will be the show’s second and final season, as the streamer isn’t renewing the series beyond its second season. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Lily Collins will star in the series adaptation of the Lisa Lutz novel The Accomplice, which is currently under development at Amazon. The series will tell the story of Luna Grey and Owen Mann, best friends in college, bonded together forever by an unexplained death in their social circle, whose lives are once again rocked years later when Owen’s wife is brutally murdered. (Variety)

AMC is developing a series adaptation of the film Good Night, and Good Luck as a 6-episode series from George Clooney and Grant Heslov, who co-wrote the film and which was directed and starred Clooney. The series would follow Sy Steingartner, a young cameraman for Edward R. Murrow’s ‘See It Now,’ who is forced to juggle his admiration for Murrow with his own ambition. With the CBS brass pushing an anti-Communist Loyalty Oath on Murrow and his staff, Sy has an opportunity to rise straight to the top, but only by betraying his mentor in the process. With wit and keen observation, the series confronts how we respond to chaos and the values that pull us through. (Variety)

POTENTIAL SMALL SCREEN ADAPTATIONS

Netflix has ordered a series version of the Judy Blume novel Forever that will be an epic love story of two Black teens exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts. Mara Brock Akil (The Game, Being Mary Jane and Black Lightning) will be the showrunner and executive producer. (Variety)

Disney is looking to develop an Indiana Jones TV show for Disney+. As some TV viewers will recall ABC had the short lived The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles that aired in 1992-1993. This new version would be set in the world of the globe trotting archaeologist. (Variety)

PROMOTION

Brandon Larracuente has been promoted to series regular on The Good Doctor where he has been recurring as first-year intern Dr. Danny Perez. (TV Line)

ANOTHER SIGNED ON

Soap star Hunter King has signed a multi-picture deal with Hallmark Media, making her the latest talent to join the ever-growing list of faces at the cable network. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Marlee Matlin will guest star in an upcoming episode of New Amsterdam, playing a mentor to Dr. Elizabeth Wilder (Sandra Mae Frank). (People)

Lauren Stamile (Complications and Burn Notice) and Damon Dayoub (Stitchers and Monarch) will have recurring roles in the DC Comics-based series Gotham Knights that is anticipated to air on The CW [depending, of course, on what the network’s new majority owner Nextstar plans to do with shows that are hanging in the balance]. Gotham Knights picks up in the aftermath of Bruce Wayne’s murder, with his rebellious adopted son forging an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies when they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader. Dayoub and Stamile will play Lincoln and Rebecca March, parents of Brody March. (Deadline)

Travis Fimmel (Vikings) has joined the cast of the prequel series Dune: The Sisterhood that is set to air on HBO Max. The show is set 10,000 years before the events of Dune and is based on the novel Sisterhood of Dune that follows the Harkonnen Sisters (Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson) as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit. Fimmel will play Desmond Hart, a charismatic soldier with an enigmatic past, who seeks to gain the Emperor’s trust at the expense of the Sisterhood. (Variety)

Edgar Ramirez (The 355, Jungle Cruise and Yes Day) has been cast in the lead role for season two of the Peacock series Dr. Death. He will play Paolo Macchiarini, a charming surgeon, renowned for his innovative operations that earn him the nickname ‘Miracle Man.’ When investigative journalist Benita Alexander approaches him for a story, the line between personal and professional begins to blur, changing her life forever. As she learns how far Paolo will go to protect his secrets, a group of doctors halfway across the world make shocking discoveries of their own that call everything about the ‘Miracle Man’ into question. (Variety)

The Star Wars Disney+ series The Acolyte has announced its full cast, including Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Jodie Turner–Smith (Queen & Slim and The Last Ship) and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix franchise) [among others]. Amandla Stenberg was already announced as the lead. The series will be a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated. (Variety)

Lin-Manuel Miranda will join the cast of the upcoming Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, based on the book series and the movie franchise, starring as the Greek God Hermes. (Variety)

Saturday Night Live alum Sasheer Zamata has joined the cast of the Disney+ WandaVision spin-off series Agatha: Coven of Chaos, joining Kathryn Hahn, in the lead role. It is believed Zamata will play a villainous role, but details are being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) will join Ryan Gosling in the big screen adaptation of the TV show The Fall Guy. In a switch from the original 1980s show that starred Lee Majors, the story doesn’t focus on a stuntman with a side hustle as a bounty hunter. Instead, the film will focus on a battered and past-his-prime stuntman (Gosling) who finds himself back on a movie with the star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) for whom he doubled long ago and who replaced him. The wrinkle, however, is that the star has gone missing. Waddingham will play the producer of the stunt-packed movie which is now in trouble. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Keanu Reeves is expected to make an appearance as John Wick in the female-centric spin-off Ballerina that will star Ana de Armas (Knives Out and No Time to Die) in the title role, a young female assassin who seeks revenge against those who killed her family. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

The new Starz period piece drama Dangerous Liaisons has been renewed for a second season before its debut. (Variety)

HBO has pulled the plug on the drama Westworld after four seasons. (TV Line)

With all the changes that will be taking place over on The CW, another DC series is being pulled. Stargirl will come to an end after its current, 13-episode season. (TV Line)

Netflix has cancelled the drama Fate: The Winx Saga after two seasons. (TV Line)

NEW SERIES ADAPTATION

The spy thriller The Day of the Jackal is getting a reimagined TV adaptation and will air on Peacock. The new series is described as a “contemporary reimagining of the beloved and respected novel and film.” The project will remain true to the DNA of the original IP, but will delve deeper into the “anti-hero” of the story in a high-octane “cat and mouse thriller” that’s set amid a turbulent geo-political landscape. (Variety)

MORE EPISODES ORDERED

Netflix has ordered more episodes of The Sandman. While the series hasn’t been official renewed for a second season “more episodes and stories (are) to be adapted from multiple graphic novels.” (TV Line)

NOT MOVING FORWARD

HBO Max has scrapped plans to reboot the popular, long-running Canadian series Degrassi after all. (Variety)

STREAMING NEWS

Peacock and Hallmark Media are teaming up to bring live and on-demand programming from the Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama to the streaming service. It’s a first-of-its-kind linear plus SVOD deal for the network. In addition to the live Hallmark channels, Peacock subscribers will have access to Hallmark content on demand, including live and next-day access to series like When Call the Heart and the new dramas Ride and The Way Home. (Deadline)

CHANGES IN SERIES ORDERS

As mentioned above, there are a lot of changes happening at The CW, and two new dramas – The Winchesters and Walker: Independence are being capped at only 13 episodes for each of their debut seasons. Season 2 renewals are still a possibility, though. (Deadline and TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

The box office movie The Gentlemen is bringing adapted to the small screen at Netflix. The cast will include Theo James (Sanditon and The White Lotus), Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner franchise), Joely Richardson, Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul) [among others]. (Variety)

Joe Locke (the star of the Netflix hit series Heartstopper) has joined the cast of the Disney+ WandaVision spin-off series Agatha: Coven of Chaos that will star Kathryn Hahn in the title role. Details about what role Locke will play are being kept under wraps, though. In addition, Aubrey Plaza is also joining the streaming series and as-yet announced role. (Variety)

Jacob Elordi (Euphoria) will play the lead in the upcoming limited series The Narrow Road to the Deep Earth for Sony Pictures Television. He will play Dorrigo Evans, an army surgeon whose short but forbidden affair with Amy, the young wife of his uncle, sustains and haunts him through his darkest days as the reluctant leader of men held prisoner in a Thai-Burmese camp during WWII. (Variety)

Chicago Med is bidding goodbye to another actor. Asjha Cooper has exited the show and her role as Vanessa Taylor. (Variety)

The Batman spin-off series, which will be centered on Colin Farrell in the role of The Penguin has added Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother). Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Milioti will play Sofia Falcone, the daughter of Gotham mob boss Carmine Falcone. (Variety)

New cast members have been added to season two of the Apple TV+ drama Severance. Those new cat members include Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) and John Noble (Fringe), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Merritt Wever (Unbelievable), Bob Balaban (The Chair) and Robby Benson (the voice of Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, American Dreams). (TV Line)

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Watchmen and Aquaman) will star in the Disney+ series Wonder Man, playing Simon Williams, who transforms into the titular superhero. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) will play Constance Lloyd, an Irish author who was married to Oscar Wilde, in the upcoming box office film An Ideal Wife. Plot details are still being kept under wraps, though. (Variety)

Thomas Doherty (from the HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl) will star opposite Kiki Layne in the box office movie Dandelion, a romantic drama which centers on an aspiring singer-songwriter named Dandelion (Layne), who can’t seem to make her dream come true when she reluctantly takes a gig at a motorcycle rally that’s ways away from her hometown of Cincinnati. At the event, she meets Casey (Doherty), a guitarist who walked away from his dream long ago. As Dandelion joins Casey’s electric and nomadic group of struggling musicians, the two kindred spirits make music together and strike up an intoxicating whirlwind romance that changes her artistic journey. (Variety)

Lupita Nyong’o (Black Panther and 12 Years a Slave) is set to star in the spin-off movie A Quiet Place: Day One. Story details are being kept under wraps, though. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATION

HBO has given the drama Industry a third season renewal. (Variety)

Starz has given the period piece drama The Serpent Queen a second season renewal. (Variety)

The CW has pulled the plug on the drama Nancy Drew, which will come to an end after its upcoming fourth season. A premiere date will be announced at a later time. (TV Line)

Showtime has cancelled the drama City on a Hill after three seasons. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Disney+ has a WandaVision spin-off, currently titled Vision Quest, centered on the character Vision in development. Exact plot details are currently under wraps, but it is believed the show would follow the newly-created Vision as he tries to regain his memories. (Variety)

RELOCATING

The Peacock comedy Girls5eva will move over to Netflix for its upcoming third season. Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Busy Philipps are all set to return, which is expected to debut next year. The first two seasons will also be available to stream on Netflix as well as on Peacock. (TV Line)

SERIES GREENLIT

FX has given a greenlight to the drama series Never Let Me Go, inspired by the 2005 sci-fi novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. The thriller series will follow Thora (Viola Prettejohn), a rebellious teenage clone who escapes from the boarding school where she and her fellow clones are kept hidden from society. As she starts living undercover in the outside world, she unwittingly sets in motion events that will spark a revolution and test the boundaries of what it means to be human. The cast will include Tracey Ullman and Kelly Macdonald [among others]. (Variety)

Aldis Hodge (Black Adam, City on a Hill and Leverage) will star as the titular detective Alex Cross in the Amazon Prime small screen adaptation of the legendary James Patterson books. In this version Cross is a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, in order to identify — and ultimately capture — the murderers. (TV Line)

ANOTHER DEAL MADE

Erin Cahill and Will Kemp are the latest talent to sign multi-picture deals with Hallmark Media (aka the Hallmark Channel). (Deadline and Variety)

TV NEWS

It looks like the Yellowstone prequel 1923 will actually be extended to two seasons (rather than just one). Series creator Taylor Sheridan has decided he needs two eight-episode seasons in order to tell the epic story he has in mind. Producers are in negotiations now to bring the cast back for Season 2. (Deadline and TV Guide)

TV CASTING NEWS

There is a major shake-up happening at the Netflix fantasy drama The Witcher. Henry Cavill is leaving the lead role of Geralt of Rivia. The role will be taking over by Liam Hemsworth. (TV Line)

Jon Cor, who has recurred as Blaine (aka Chillblaine) on The Flash has been promoted to series regular for the show’s 9th and final season on The CW. (Deadline)

The Hulu drama Interior Chinatown, currently in the works, has added Chloe Bennet (Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD) and Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians) to the cast. The show is based on the book by Charles Yu and it follows the story of Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang, also from Crazy Rich Asians), a background character trapped in a police procedural trying to find his way into the larger story–and along the way discovers secrets about the strange world he inhabits and his family’s buried history. Bennet will play Detective Lana Lee, a new lead making her debut appearance in the procedural cop show ‘Black & White’ while Chieng will play Fatty Choi, Willis’ best friend. (Variety)

Jesse Williams will be joining the third season of Hulu’s comedic murder-mystery series Only Murders In the Building in a recurring role, playing a documentarian with a particular interest in the case. (Deadline and Entertainment Weekly)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It’s being rumored that William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) will appear in the box office movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, though his role remains a closely guarded secret. (Variety)

Garrett Hedlund (Mudbount) and Mel Gibson (Braveheart) will star in the upcoming box office thriller Desperation Road that tells the story of ex-con Russell Gaines (Hedlund) who attempts to rebuild his life with help from his father Mitchell (Gibson). (Variety)

Paul Mescal (Normal People) will star in the modern espionage thriller A Spy By Nature, an adaptation of the first novel in the Charles Cumming best-selling Alec Milius spy series, that will follow Milius, a disillusioned twenty-something whose gift for deception catches the eye of MI6. Caught up in the thrusts of a geopolitical war on commodities involving the British and the Americans, at home he struggles to preserve his relationship with his girlfriend and build a future together. As his web of lies grows, Milius is forced to confront his own nature – whether he can be a good man as well as a good spy. (Variety)

Guy Pearce and Jeffrey Dean Morgan will appear in the box office movie Neponset Circle, a dark and gritty crime thriller based on a real-life murder that shook the Boston area and remains unsolved to this day. (Variety)

It looks like Jeff Goldblum just might be joining the cast of the two-part box office movie Wicked that will star Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the lead roles along with Bridgerton hunk Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. Goldblum is slated to play the Wizard. (Variety)

Henry Cavill and Eiza Gonzalez (Ambulance) will star in the Guy Ritchie World War II action spy movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warface. The movie, inspired by real events, will chart UK PM Winston Churchill’s and James Bond scribe Ian Fleming’s secret WWII combat organization. The clandestine squad’s unconventional and entirely ‘ungentlemanly’ fighting techniques against the Nazis helped change the course of the war and in part gave birth to the modern Black Ops unit. Cavill will play the leader of the secret combat organization while González will play a military sniper with extraordinary spy-craft abilities. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

FULL SEASON ORDERS

CBS has given full season orders to East New York, Fire Country and So Help Me Todd. (TV Line)

ABC has also given a full season order to The Rookie: Feds. (TV Line)

TV NEWS

While Jesse Lee Soffer has left the cast of Chicago P.D. he will be back to direct in the show’s 10th season. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Heroes alum Sendhil Ramamurthy will recur in the upcoming 4th season of HBO Max’s Doom Patrol, playing Mr. 104, a charming and mysterious man of many elements. (TV Line)

Missy Peregrym will be back from her maternity leave on the CBS drama FBI starting on November 15. (TV Line)

Natalie Morales (White Collar) will recur on season 3 of The Morning Show, playing Kate Danton, Stella’s (Greta Lee) best friend from Stanford where they were part of a start-up incubator run by Paul Marks (Jon Hamm). (Variety)

Temuera Morrison (Star Wars franchise and Aquaman) will join Jason Momoa in the upcoming Apple limited series Chief of War that will follow the epic and unprecedented telling of the unification and colonization of Hawaii from an indigenous point of view. Morrison will play King Kahekili, the King of Maui. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Harrison Ford will replace the late William Hut as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” ross in the Marvel Universe, appearing in 2024’s Captain America: New Wolrd Order that will star Anthony Mackie. (Variety)

Angelina Jolie will star in the biopic Maria, playing famous opera singer Maria Callas. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

FULL ORDER

Quantum Leap has been given a full-season order by NBC. (TV Line)

RENEWAL/CANCELLATION

The Hardy Boys has been renewed for its third and final season by Hulu, set to air at some point in 2023. (TV Line)

The Man Who Fell to Earth has not been renewed for a second season by Showtime. (TV Line)

SERIES ORDER

Netflix has given a series order to the Western action drama The Abandons from Kurt Sutter. The series, which received a 10-episode order, will follow a group of diverse, outlier families who pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon where a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law. The Abandons will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Disney+ has added cast members to the small screen adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Adam Copeland (retired wrestling star known as Edge) will recur as Ares, the god of War; Suzanne Cryer (All Rise) guest star as Echidna, The Mother of Monsters; and Jessica Parker Kennedy (The Flash and Black Sails) will guest star as Medusa, the infamous gorgon. (Variety)

Former 007 actor Timothy Dalton has joined the cast of the Yellowstone prequel series 1923. He will play Donald Whitfield, a powerful, self-confident man who reeks of wealth and the lack of empathy it requires to attain it. He is intimidating and nefarious and is used to getting what he wants. (Variety)

Bailee Madison (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Good Witch) has joined the cast of the upcoming third and final season of The Hardy Boys set to air on Hulu sometime next year. She will guest star as Drew Darrow, a fun but often frustrating new ally with a brilliant mind and appetite for magic and mysteries. (TV Line)

Series regular Brian Tee will be leaving NBC medical drama Chicago Med later this year after eight seasons. His last episodes will air on December 7 (but he will be back to make his directorial debut with episode 16). (Deadline and TV Line)

Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) has joined the cast of the third season of the Apple TV+ series Physical. She will play Kelly, a former sitcom star who jumps into the burgeoning fitness industry. (Variety)

The 7th season of Outlander will find some familiar faces returning along with a few new faces as well. The familiar faces include Graham McTavish will reprise his role as Jamie’s uncle Dougal MacKenzie; Nell Hudson will be back as Laoghaire Fraser; Steven Cree as Old Ian Murray; Andrew Whipp as Brian Fraser, Jamie’s father; Layla Burns as Joan MacKimmie, Marsali’s sister and Jamie’s stepdaughter; and Lotte Verbeek as Geillis Duncan, Claire’s former friend-turned-enemy and a fellow time traveler. The new faces will include Gloria Obianyo (Dune) as Mercy Woodcock, a free Black woman navigating the hardships of life in Colonial America; Rod Hallett (The Last Kingdom) as Benedict Arnold, the notorious Revolutionary soldier turned traitor; Chris Fulton (Bridgerton) as Rob Cameron, a new acquaintance of Roger and Brianna; Diarmaid Murtagh (Vikings) as Buck MacKenzie, the illegitimate son of Dougal MacKenzie and Geillis Duncan, and Roger’s ancestor and Kristin Atherton (Shakespeare & Hathaway) as Jenny Murray, Jamie’s sister and Young Ian’s mother (the role that was originated by Laura Donnelly in seasons one to three). (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It’s been nearly 30 years, but a sequel film to The Joy Luck Club by novelist Amy Tan is in the works. A director hasn’t been announced yet. (Variety)

Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria) is set to star in a new version of Barbarella, the 1960s film that starred Jane Fonda. The film hasn’t been confirmed yet, but rumors abound. (Variety)

A third Hercule Poirot film, starring Kenneth Branagh as the title characters, is in the works along with Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh [among others] set to star. The film will be set in post-WWII Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, following another mystery inspired by “Hallowe’en Party,” where the now retired and living in self-imposed exile Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a haunted palazzo when one of the guests is murdered, and the former detective must once again find out who did it. (Variety)

The box office movie The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat” has rounded out its cast with Kyanna Simone (American Horror Stories), Tati Gabrielle (You and The 100), Abigail Achiri (The Underground Railroad) joining the cast. Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis and Sanaa Lathan lead the movie, which is based on the Edward Kelsey Moore 2013 best-selling novel, playing best friends affectionally dubbed “The Supremes.” The trio — Clarice, Odette and Barbara Jean — have weathered life’s storms together for two generations through marriage and children, happiness and the blues and they find their paths at a crossroads that test their lifelong bond. Simone, Gabrielle and Achiri will play younger versions of Ellis, Lathan and Aduba’s characters, respectively. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Amazon has renewed Outer Range for a second season. (TV Line)

COMING TO AN END

Netflix will bring Firefly Lane to a close after its upcoming second season. The first 9 episodes of season two will be released on December 2 while the final 7 episodes will air sometime in 2023. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Michael Rady (Timeless and Chicago Med) will recur on Magnum P.I.on its new home on NBC. He will play Detective Chris Childs of the Honolulu PD. (TV Line)

Star Trek: Discovery has added new cast members to its upcoming season. Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica, Due South and The Umbrella Academy) will play Rayner, a gruff, smart Starfleet Captain who holds a clear line between commander and crew and Eve Harlow (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will play Moll, a former courier-turned-outlaw equipped with an impressive strategic mind and a sharp wit. (TV Line)

Tom Welling (Smallville and Lucifer) has joined the cast of The Winchesters, recurring as family patriarch Samuel Campbell (originally played by Mitch Pileggi in Supernatural), Mary Campbell’s father, and Dean and Sam’s maternal grandfather. (TV Line)

Keanu Reeves will no longer star in the Hulu series adaptation of The Devil in the White City. (Variety)

Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone and Red Sparrow) will star opposite Kate Winslet in the upcoming HBO limited series The Palace that tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. No character details have been released, though. (Variety)

Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why and Knives Out) will star in the upcoming Starz psychological thriller The Venery of Samantha Bird. The 8-episode series centers on the title character, who while visiting family in New England, reconnects with her childhood sweetheart and falls headlong into what seems like a storybook romance. Underneath their fever dream, however, lurks a more unsettling interpretation of this affair. (The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Jared Leto will star and produce a biopic about Karl Lagerfeld, the iconic fashion designer whose career spanned more than 50 years, who died in Feb. 2019. (Variety)

Sir Ben Kingsley will star in the film adaptation of Violent Cases, the first ever graphic novel from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. The story journeys into the mind of Neil Gaiman, as a famous author recounts fragmented childhood memories and visits an osteopath, who once worked for Al Capone. It will weave a dark and twisting tale about stories, our memory, violence and the ways we can’t escape our past. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

NAME CHANGE

The cable network EPIX (owned by MGM) will change its name in mid-January 2023 to MGM+. This rebranding comes following Amazon’s $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM in March. (Variety)

AND ACCOMPANYING NEWS TO NAME CHANGE

The EPIX to MGM+ name change will be timed to the season 3 premiere of the Forest Whitaker led-series Godfather of Harlem, which will be followed by a new season of the thriller series From. The network will also debut the new series Hotel Cocaine, that will be set in the 1970s and early ‘80s following the Miami drug trade; and the sequel series Belgravia: The Next Chapter, that takes place 25 years after the original series. (Variety)

RENEWAL/CANCELLATION

EPIX has pulled the plug on the Edward Burns dramedy Bridge and Tunnel after two seasons. (Variety)

Meanwhile, AMC gave Interview With the Vampire a second season renewal ahead of its series premiere. (TV Line)

ORDERED TO SERIES

Hulu has given an 8-episode limited series order to Under the Bridge, which is based on the Rebecca Godfrey novel that follows the 1997 true story of 14-year-old Reena Virk who went to join friends at a party and never returned home. (Variety)

TV DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman will team to produce the Civil War spy drama The Gray House, which has been given a 6-hour limited series order for Paramount Global. The series will focus on the unsung women who turned the tide of the American Civil War in favor of the North, including a Richmond Socialite and her daughter, a formerly enslaved African-American and a courtesan, who built the first successful female spy ring, operating right under the noses of the Confederate High Command. They risked life and liberty to help win the war and preserve American Democracy. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Jennifer Ehle (Pride & Prejudice) is the latest addition to the cast of the Yellowstone prequel series 1923. She will play Sister Mary O’Connor, an Irish nun that teaches at the School For American Indians in Montana. (Variety)

New recurring cast members have been added to the upcoming 4th season of 9-1-1: Lone Star. Neal McDonough will be back as Sgt. Ty O’Brien, D.B. Woodside (Lucifer) will play Trevor, a wholesome, handsome, charismatic, father and preacher and Amanda Schull (Suits) will play Special Agent Rose Casey, an FBI agent investigating the members of an extremist group. (Deadline)

Alice Braga (Queen of the South) and Jimmi Simpson (Westworld and Psych) have joined the cast of the upcoming Apple series Dark Matter [not to be confused with the Syfy sci-fi series] that will star Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly. The series will follow Jason Dessen, (Edgerton) a physicist, professor and family man who – one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago – is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the multiverse of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of mind-bending realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself. Braga will play Amanda, a psychiatrist and Simpson will play Ryan, a brilliant neuroscientist and friend of Jason. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Hugh Jackman will be back as Wolverine in Deadpool 3. (Variety)

Russell Hornsby (Grimm and The Hate U Give) will star alongside Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis and Sanaa Latha in the upcoming box office movie The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, which is based on the Edward Kelsey Moore 2013 best-selling novel. Aduba, Ellis and Lathan will play best friends dubbed “The Supremes,” who have weathered life’s storms together for two generations through marriage and children, happiness and the blues and find their paths at a crossroads that test their lifelong bond. Hornsby will play a key role in the project, but specifics on his character are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons and Margaret Qualley will star in the upcoming movie called And that will be directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the filmmaker behind the dark comedies The Favourite and The Lobster. Plot details for the film have been kept under wraps. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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