Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

RENEWALS/BROADCAST RIGHTS/CANCELLATION

Freeform has renewed The Bold Type for its 5th and final season, expected to air later this year. (TV Line)

NBC has renewed The Blacklist for a 9th season. (Variety)

FOX has acquired the first two seasons of the Canadian legal drama Diggstown that is about a star corporate lawyer (Vinessa Antoine) who, after her beloved aunt commits suicide following a malicious prosecution, decides to reconsider her priorities. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

The Canadian broadcaster CBC has cancelled plans for a 2nd season of the drama Trickster (which is currently airing on The CW with its finale set to air on February 16) in the wake of a controversy over the co-creator of the series not being Indigenous despite claims of being such for the past TWO DECADES. (TV Line)

TV AND STREAMING CASTING NEWS

Actor Joel Kinnaman (The Killing, Altered Carbon and For All Mankind) will star opposite Orange Is the New Black alum Uzo Aduba in the revival of the HBO drama In Treatment. Kinnaman will play Adam, the long-time on-again, off-again boyfriend of Dr. Brooke Lawrence (Aduba’s character). (Variety and The Futon Critic)

Relative newcomer Jay Lycurgo (who will be seen in the upcoming DC film The Batman) will recur on Season 3 of the DC series Titans, playing Tim Drake, a streetwise kid who’s managed to grow up on the toughest streets without losing his indelible belief in heroism. In DC lore, Tim is fated to become the third Robin, succeeding Jason Todd (and Dick Grayson before him) in carrying the superhero mantle. Titans‘ Dick (Brenton Thwaites), after a bit of an identity crisis, has transitioned to the Nightwing persona, while Jason Todd (Curran Walters) is due to become Red Hood in Season 3. (TV Line)

Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto will star in the Apple series WeCrashed based on the Wondery podcast of the same name, which is described as following the greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of WeWork, one of the world’s most valuable startups, and the narcissists whose chaotic love made it all possible. (Variety)

Actor Dylan McDermott (The Practice and American Horror Story) will star opposite Christopher Meloni in the latest spin-off Law & Order: Organized Crime that finds Elliot Stabler returning to the NYPD after a devastating personal loss and joins a new, elite task force designed to take down New York’s most powerful criminal syndicates. Details on the character McDermott will play is being kept under wraps, however. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Tian Richards (the movie Dumplin’ and Being Mary Jane) has landed the title role in the Nancy Drew spin-off Tom Swift at The CW. The series follows the titular Black, gay, billionaire inventor who is thrust into a world of sci-fi conspiracy and unexplained phenomena after the shocking disappearance of his father. (Variety)

Actors Jamie Dornan (The Fall and the recent box office movie Wild Mountain Thyme) and Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings franchise) and actresses Daniell Macdonald (Patti Cake$ and I Am Woman) and Shalom Brune-Franklin (the streaming series Cursed) will star in the HBO Max 6-episode limited series The Tourist. Dornan will star as a British man who finds himself in the glowing red heart of the Australian outback being pursued by a vast tank truck trying to drive him off the road. An epic cat and mouse chase unfolds and the man later wakes in the hospital, hurt, but somehow alive. Except he has no idea who he is. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, The Man’s search for answers propels him through the vast and unforgiving outback. Macdonald will star as Helen Chambers, a fledgling Probationary Constable; Brune-Franklin will play Luci, a waitress who’s swept into The Man’s journey for answers; and Weaving will play Agent Lachlan Rogers, one of the most highly regarded detective inspectors in Australia, leading Major Crime for the state police. (Variety)

Actors Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs) and Kyle Schmid (Blood Ties, Copper and Six) have joined the cast of the new ABC drama Big Sky. Levine, a new series regular, will play Horst Kleinsasser, who has run a ranch empire for decades with a petty ruthlessness, buying up failing ranches, making deals, expanding his grip on the small, rural Lochsa County while Schmid will recur as John Wayne Kleinsasser, who clings to the old ways of the ranch with a ferocity and forcefulness. Also, actress Michelle Forbes (True Blood and Battlestar Galactica) will recur in the show as Margaret, the picture perfect ranch wife who knows her place, likes to bake and loves all of her children equally, but scratch the surface and there’s real steel beneath; actress Britt Robertson (Life UnExpected and Under the Dome) will recur as Cheyenne, Horst’s daughter, who ran off and made poor life choices; actor Michael Raymond-James (True Blood, Terriers and Once Upon a Time) will recur as Blake, who turned his back kon the ranch, going to the city to make his own way; actor Ryan Dorsey (Pitch and Ray Donovan as well as the ex-husband to the late Naya Rivera) will recur as Rand and actor Omar Metwally (Mr. Robot and Treadstone) who will recur as Frank Lindor, a bounty hunter. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Alan Cumming will recur on the FOX drama Prodigal Son, playing Simon Hoxley, a supremely confident and cocky Europol agent known as The MindSleuth, who is considered one of the most celebrated criminal profilers in the world. He travels to New York to solve the murder of Nicholas Endicott (played by Dermot Mulroney last season), which puts Malcolm in his crosshairs. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Dan Bucatinsky (Scandal) will recur in the upcoming new ABC drama Rebel that will star Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy) in the title role. Bucatinsky will play Jason Erickson, an edgy, somewhat bitter university professor who Rebel seeks out to enlist his help. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Jodie Turner-Smith (the box office movie Queen & Slim and the TV series The Last Ship) is the first cast member of the spin-off series The Witcher: Blood Origin. She will play Éile, a fierce warrior with the voice of a goddess. (Netflix and The Futon Critic)

Actor Paul Campbell (Battlestar Galactica and numerous Hallmark Channel movies) has joined the cast of the Disney+ small screen adaptation of Turner & Hooch, the show about a detective who solves crimes with the help of an oversized dog. Campbell will play Grady Garland, the ex-husband of Laura Turner (to be played by Lyndsy Fonseca from Nikita). (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actress Shiva Negar (the box office movie American Assassin) has landed a recurring role on SEAL Team, playing Chief Petty Officer Mina Hassan, a diligent and uniquely skilled Navy Cryptologist and Special Activities Senior NCO who has developed valuable assets and built an impressive network in the Middle East. (Deadline)

The 2009 Black List script for the music-driven project Mixtape will finally show up as a movie on Netflix, starring Julie Bowen (Modern Family) and Jackson Rathbone (the Twilight movie franchise) as well as newcomer Gemma Brooke Allen. The movie focuses on what happens on the eve of Y2K when orphaned, awkward 12-year-old Beverly Moody (Allen) discovers a broken mixtape crafted by her teen parents. Raised by her grandmother Gail (Bowen), a former teen mom herself who finds it painful to speak about her late daughter, Beverly sees this mixtape as a chance to finally learn more about her parents. So she sets out on a journey to find all the songs on the tape. Rathbone will play Wes, a rocker who knew Beverly’s mother back in the day. He’s now a bitter man who is still playing in a crappy local band. (Deadline)

Actor Jason Scott Lee (Mulan and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) has joined the cast of the upcoming Disney+ comedy series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., which will be set in present-day Hawaii, reimagining Doogie Howser M.D. as a ½ hour medical dramedy with a female lead. The show will follow Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), a 16-year-old mixed-race girl who juggles a budding medical career and life as a teenager. Lee will play her father, who struggles to accept that his daughter is no longer his little girl. (Deadline)

Actresses Nicole Beharie (Sleepy Hollow) and Tovah Feldshuh (The Walking Dead and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and actor Corey Stoll (House of Cards) will have supporting roles in the HBO limited series Scenes from a Marriage, which is an adaptation of the classic Ingmar Bergman mini-series that is set to star Jessica Chastain (who will also executive produce) and Oscar Isaac. The series reexamines depictions of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage and divorce through the lens of a contemporary American couple. (Deadline)

Actress Jessica Barden (Penny Dreadful and the box office film Hanna) and actors Omari Hardwick (Power), Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones), David Wenham (The Lord of the Rings franchise) and Jacob Scipio (the box office movie Bad Boys for Life) will star opposite Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote in the upcoming Netflix series Pieces of Her, which is based on the best-selling novel by Karin Slaughter. In a sleepy Georgia town, a random act of violence sets off an unexpected chain of events for 30-year-old Andy Oliver (Heathcoate) and her mother Laura (Collette). Desperate for answers, Andy embarks on a dangerous journey across America, drawing her towards the dark, hidden heart of her family. Barden will play Jane, a piano prodigy and the only daughter of a Getty-like billionaire; Hardwick will play Gordon Oliver, a successful lawyer in Savannah; Wenham will play Jasper, the eldest of the three siblings, forever driven to surpass his domineering billionaire father; and Scipio will play Michael Vargas, an enigmatic stranger tracking Andy Oliver as she searches for the truth about her mother. (Variety)

Actor Tom Sturridge (Sweetbitter) has landed the lead role of Dream, Lord of the Dreaming in the Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. The series will follow Dream — as well as those who’ve been affected by him — as he goes about putting right the mistakes he’s made during his very long existence. Among the cast will be Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), who will play Lucifer, the ruler of Hell; Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) , who will play Roderick Burgess, a charlatan, blackmailer and magician; and Boyd Holbrook (Narcos, The Fugitive), who will play The Corinthian, an escaped nightmare who wishes to taste all that the world has in store. (TV Line)

Relative newcomer Charmaine Bingwa will join the upcoming 5th season of The Good Fight as a series regular, filling the void left by original cast member Cush Jumbo. Bingwa will play Carmen Moyo, a tough, unsentimental, young lawyer whose working-class background allows her to bond with Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart’s most infamous, difficult clients. (Deadline)

The upcoming new drama Delilah from Craig Wright, the creator of the network’s popular series Greenleaf, will air on OWN. The series revolves around Delilah (Maahra Hill), who left a demanding white-shoe law firm a decade ago and hung up her own shingle so she could make raising her kids her number one priority. Now she takes on cases the big firms ignore and finds herself, more often than not, going head-to-head with the powerful and privileged as she fights for the disenfranchised. The cast will include LaMonica Garrett (Arrow and Designated Survivor), Jill Marie Jones (Girlfriends) and Lyriq Bent (Rookie Blue and Carter). (Deadline)

Actress Jen Landon (Yellowstone) will have a recurring role on FBI: Most Wanted, playing Sarah Allen, a horse riding instructor who will work with Special Agent Jess LaCroix’s daughter, Tali (Yaya Gosselin). (TV Line)

Taron Egerton has been tapped to star in the 6-episode Apple TV+ limited series In With The Devil from author Dennis Lehane, which will be centered around an intimate relationship between two prisoners, exploring the lengths that people will go to in order to seek redemption — and if true absolution is ever really possible. (TV Line)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Zach Braff (Scrubs) and Gabrielle Union (Being Mary Jane and L.A.’s Finest) are set to appear in a new film adaptation of Cheaper by the Dozen from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris being developed for Disney+. This new version will center on a multiracial, blended family of 12, navigating a hectic home life while managing their family business. (Deadline)

Actress Samara Weaving (the box office movie Ready or Not) will star in the biopic film Liz that will focus on one of America’s forgotten founding mothers Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte. The film will tell the story of the country’s first modern celebrity, who gained prominence as the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest brother, Jerome. She revolutionized America’s social scene in the time of Jefferson’s presidency; she has been called one of America’s first international celebrities known for her fashion, wit and independence. (Variety)

Kevin Hart will join Cate Blanchett in Borderlands, the upcoming movie adaptation of the popular video game. Hart will play Roland, a skilled ex-soldier-turned-mercenary. (Variety)

Newcomer Alton Mason will play Little Richard in the box office movie Elvis from director Baz Luhrmann. He joins Austin Butler, who stars in the title role and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker. (Deadline)

Actor Luke Evans (The Alienist and 2017’s Beauty and the Beast) will play The Coachman in the upcoming live-action retelling of Pinocchio that will star Tom Hanks as Geppetto. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Netflix has given Bridgerton a second season renewal. (Variety)

TNT has given Snowpiercer a third season ahead of the show’s second season premiere on January 25. (TV Line)

The hit BBC drama Peaky Blinders will come to an end after its upcoming 6th; however, due to the pandemic that 6th and final season may not air until late 2021 or early 2022. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actor Kenneth Branagh will play UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a new series that will air on Sky TV, the British broadcaster and telecommunication company. The 5-part series, entitled This Sceptred Isle, will detail Britain’s muddled response to the COVID-19 crisis. The series will launch on Sky TV in fall 2022. (Variety)

Actress Brie Larson will star in and executive produce the new series Lessons in Chemistry that received a straight-to-series order at Apple that will be based on the upcoming debut novel from author, science editor, and copywriter Bonnie Garmus. The series is set in the early 1960s, following Elizabeth Zott (Larson), whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a society deeming that women belong in the domestic sphere, not the professional one. When Elizabeth finds herself pregnant, alone and fired from her lab, she musters the ingenuity only a single mother has. She accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives – and the men who are suddenly listening – a lot more than recipes, all the while craving a return to her true love: science. Lessons in Chemistry is set to be published in spring 2022 by Doubleday. (Variety)

Actress Lesley Manville (The Crown and World on Fire) will star in the 6-part PBS and Brtibox series Magpie Murders, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz. Manville will star as Susan Ryeland, an editor who receives an unfinished manuscript of the latest novel by a writer named Alan Conway, but she has little idea it will change her life. (Deadline and TV Insider)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey there,

Here are the news items for this past week:

GENERAL NEWS

Donald Trump has become the only president in US history to be impeached TWICE (and deservedly so!) after inciting the insurrection/riots on Washington DC and the Capitol Building. (TV Line)

PROGRAMMING NEWS

For years The CW had been airing crossover episodes of their DC shows, but this year the planned crossover between Batwoman and the new drama Superman & Lois will not be happening due to the pandemic. It was also announced that Kara Danvers (aka Supergirl) will not be dropping by Gotham on Batwoman anytime soon. (TV Line)

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

TNT has renewed Animal Kingdom for its 6th and final season. (Variety)

OWN has renewed Queen Sugar for a 6th season. (Variety)

The last half of season 8 of the Tyler Perry drama The Haves and the Haves Nots will be the OWN dramas last. There will be no season 9. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

FX has ordered a limited series about the infamous punk band The Sex Pistols. The 6-episode series will be based on the Steve Jones 2018 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistols with Academy Award winner Danny Boyle set to direct and executive produce. The limited series, Titled “Pistol,” will star Toby Wallace as Steve Jones, Anson Boon as John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Fabien Frankel as Glen Matlock, Dylan Llewellyn as Wally Nightingale, Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen, and Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan. (Variety)

Netflix has ordered a series adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer with David E. Kelley as co-writer and executive producer. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo will star as Mickey Haller, an iconoclastic idealist, who runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles. The series is based on the best-selling novels by author Michael Connelly. (Variety)

HBO Max has given a series order to a new drama based on the life of legendary chef Julia Child, who will be played by British actress Sarah Lancashire. The show has been given an 8-episode order, and the cast include David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Isabella Rossellini, Jefferson Mays and Fran Kranz. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actor Xander Berkeley (24 and The Walking Dead) will appear in the upcoming new series The Republic of Sarah, which centers on a small New Hampshire town that is thrust onto the world stage when the discovery of a valuable resource within its borders compels the residents to declare themselves an independent nation. He will recur as Paul, the father of Sarah (Stella Baker) and Danny (Luke Mitchell), who has been long absent from the lives of his family. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Luke James has been promoted to series regular as the character of Trig on the Showtime series The Chi. (Deadline)

Actor Jon Cor (Shadowhunters and several Hallmark Channel movies) will have a recurring role on the upcoming season of The Flash on The CW. He will play the role of Mark Stevens aka Chillblaine, who is described as a charismatic bad boy obsessed with cryogenic technology, who, when he’s not breaking into corporate safes, he’s busy breaking hearts with his irresistible charm and roguish style. Armed with his own cold weapons, he’ll become a new thorn in the side of Team Flash as the DC Comics villain Chillblaine. (TV Line)

Succession has added three new cast members for its upcoming 3rd season. Sanaa Lathan will play Lisa Arthur, a high profile well-connected New York lawyer; Linda Emond will play Michelle-Anne Vanderhoven, a senior White House aide; and Jihae will play Berry Schneider, a leading public relations consultant. Jihae is a highly-regarded musician, having released four albums and performing at major events like the London Olympics and the Cannes Film Festival. (Variety)

Actress Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack and Secret Society of Second-Born Royals) has landed the lead role in the Doogie Howser reboot at Disney+. Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. will focus on Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha, a mixed race 16-year-old girl who works as a doctor in Hawaii. The 10-episode ½ hour comedy follows “Doogie” as she juggles a budding medical career and life as a teenager. (Variety)

Actor Ethan Hawke has landed a leading role in the Moon Knight series at Disney+, but the exact details of what character he will play is being kept under wraps. Moon Knight tells the story of Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac), an elite soldier and mercenary who decides to fight crime after he becomes the human avatar of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon. (Variety)

Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy will consist of 10 episodes and a handful of new characters, who are members of the Sparrow Academy. As viewers may recall (SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T SEEN SEASON 2 YET!!), at the end of the 2nd season, the original adopted children of Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) returned from their trip to the 1960s to find their disruption of the timeline yet again caused some major changes, namely in the creation of a class of Sparrows — one that included Ben (series regular Justin H. Min), who had previously died. Those new cast members follow along with the details of their characters, as well as details about the new version of Ben:

Ben aka Sparrow No. 2 is not the sweet one audiences have come to know and love. This Ben is a Machiavellian tactician, wrapped up in a pretty boy body with a rumbling inner-squid. Vicious, pragmatic, and hyper-vigilant, Ben is determined to gain his status as the leader at all costs.

Justin Cornwell (Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, The In-Between and I Am the Night) will play Marcus, aka Sparrow No. 1, who is charming, chiseled and colossus, but also honest, virtuous and demanding. He will keep this family of children with special abilities together. He is disciplined, rational and in control, oozing confidence and leadership without ever having to raise his voice.

Britne Oldford (Blindspot and The Flash) will play Fei, aka Sparrow No. 3, a woman who sees the world in a special way and comes across as a misanthrope who would rather be alone than spend even a second with you; but, deep down, she wishes she did have a friend. Most of the time she will be the smartest person in the room and willing to work things out, until she is crossed.

Jake Epstein (Degrassi: The Next Generation, Designated Survivor and Suits) will play Alphonso, Sparrow No. 4, a man who spent years fighting crime, which has left him physically scarred by battles but also with a caustic and biting sense of humor. The only thing he likes better than verbally battering anyone foolish enough to get in his face, is a good pizza and a six-pack of beer.

Genesis Rodriguez (the box office movie Man on a Ledge and the Quibi series The Fugitive) will play Sloane, Sparrow No. 5, who is romantic; a dreamer, who feels a higher cosmic calling that leaves her eager to see the world and experience life beyond her upbringing. It is obligations to her fellow Sparrows (and fear of crossing a family line) that keep her tethered to the Academy.

And, relative newcomer Cazzie David will play Jayme, Sparrow No. 6, a loner hidden under a hoodie, who is not one to say much because she doesn’t have to: she has a fear-inducing snarl. She is as smart and sharp as a knife”and as someone who spends most time with Alphonso.

There will also be a new piece of VFX in season 3 billed as “Existential Dread-Inducing Psykronium Cube,” aka Sparrow No. 7, otherwise known as Christopher, who is a telekinetic cube of unknown origin that can turn the room freezing cold and induce paralyzing fear. But among the family, he acts as a consulted oracle, hands out incredible advice, and serves as the family mediator. To the Sparrows he is trustworthy and loyal, but like all of them he is a force with which to be reckoned. (Variety)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Nicole Kidman and actor Javier Bardem are expected to appear as iconic Hollywood couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the upcoming movie called Being the Ricardos that will take place during a production week on the set of “I Love Lucy,” starting with a Monday table read through an audience shoot on Friday. (Variety)

Netflix is developing a film adaptation of the award-winning musical Matilda, based on the beloved Roald Dahl book. Newcomer Alisha Weir will play the title role, a young girl whose vivid imagination, powers of telekinesis, and love for reading clash with her small-minded parents and abusive school principal, Miss Trunchbull, who will be played by the one and only Emma Thompson. Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel and 007’s No Time To Die) will play Matilda’s kindly teacher Miss Honey. (Entertainment Weekly)

It looks like the MCU (that’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in case you’re not familiar) is eyeing to have Chris Evans (who hung up his shield as Captain America in Avengers: Endgame) return in some “nebulous capacity.” He won’t anchor his own movie, but will show up in another Avengers stand-alone adventure. (Variety and Deadline)

MOVIE NEWS

Netflix has landed the worldwide rights to the Gal Gadot-led espionage thriller Heart of Stone, which is now the second major movie that Skydance Media has siphoned off this week. The other movie is The Tomorrow War, a sci-fi spectacle that will star Chris Pratt. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hi All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Roku has bought the majority rights to the original programming provided by the recently defunct Quifi, making more than 75 shows available free to stream in 2021 on the Roku Channel (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actress Camille Guaty (Scorpion and Daytime Divas) will have a multi-episode arc on The Rookie, playing Sandra De la Cruz, a businesswoman with nefarious connections who has been the target of a murder attempt. (Deadline)

Actor Clancy Brown (Emergence, Billions and Sleepy Hollow) will play the primary villain on the Dexter revival that is in the works at Showtime. Brown will play Kurt Caldwell, the unofficial mayor of the small town of Iron Lake. It’s unclear if Iron Lake will serve as the setting for the 10-episode revival, which will pick up in real-time seven years after the 2013 series finale. The controversial closer sent Dexter into fake death-imposed exile in the woods of Oregon. (TV Line)

Actress Aliyah O’Brien (Rookie Blue and Take Two) has landed a recurring role on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, playing Kayla, a fearsome warrior with a high body count and low patience for human incompetence. (Deadline)

Big screen actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago and The Mask of Zorro) will appear in the upcoming season of Prodigal Son, playing Dr. Vivian Capshaw, the on-screen foil to Michael Sheen’s character Martin Whitly. She will appear in the latter half of the season. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO Max has made it official. The Sex and the City revival, which will have the new title And Just Like That…, will be happening with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon all reprising their roles. Kim Cattral will not be involved in the revival, which will follow Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s. (TV Line)

A BBC adaptation of the best-selling thriller The Girl Before will star Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Morning Show) in the lead role of Jane, a traumatized woman who falls in love with an extraordinary minimalist house, which remains under the spell of the architect who originally designed it. When she discovers that another damaged woman died in the same property three years earlier, she starts to wonder if her own story is just a rerun of the girl before. (Deadline)

The CW has decided not to move forward with the Arrow spin-off Green Arrow and the Canaries that would have starred Katherine McNamara as Mia Smoak, Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, and Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake. The network is still thinking about the potential spin-off to The 100 and a number of other new superhero shows. (Variety and Deadline)

Actor Keegan-Michael Key (The Prom) is set to executive produce and star in the ABC drama series based on the August Snow crime novels from author Stephen Mack Jones. The tagline for the show is this: The son of an African-American father and a Mexican-American mother, August grew up in the city’s Mexicantown and joined the police force only to be drummed out by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. But August fought back; he took on the city and got himself a $12 million wrongful dismissal settlement that left him low on friends. He has just returned to the house he grew up in after a year away, and quickly learns he has many scores to settle. (TV Line and Deadline)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Raven Goodwin (The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel) will play legendary actress Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to ever win an Oscar, in the upcoming box office film Behind the Smile. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

The news for this past holiday week is very slim, but here it is:

CASTING NEWS FOR TV AND MOVIES

Actor-Comedian John Bishop has joined the cast of Doctor Who where he will play Dan, who joins Yaz and the Doctor on the TARDIS, traveling through space and time. (Deadline)

Actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. has been cast in the upcoming Baz Luhrmann box office film Elvis that will star Austin Butler in the title role. Harrison will play legendary blues musician B.B. King. Tom Hanks is set to play Colonel Tom Parker. The film delves into the complex dynamic between Presley and the enigmatic Parker spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Central to that journey is one of the most significant and influential people in Elvis’s life, Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge). (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

RENEWAL

HBO has renewed His Dark Materials for a third and final season. (TV Line)

TV NEWS

The Book of Boba Fett – the spin-off from The Mandalorian – is already filming with an anticipated December 2021 premiere, and then Mandalorian Season 3 will begin filming in 2021with Pedro Pascal back in the lead role. (TV Line)

CASTING NEWS

Actor-singer Christian Borle (Smash) will recur in the second season of FOX’s Prodigal Son, playing Friar Pete, who became famous for a notorious killing spree that has landed him in the psych ward with Martin Whitley (Michael Sheen). A former friar ejected from his church for extremist views, Pete is a careful listener who offers respite to the other patients and he becomes a key consultant in Bright’s latest case. (TV Line)

Actress Nikki DeLoach (Awkward and numerous Hallmark Channel movies) will appear in the season premiere of 9-1-1, playing Janell, a cyclist who gets caught in the middle of a dam break; Maddie (series regular Jennifer Love Hewitt) in the call center must try to locate and rescue her. (TV Line)

MOVIE NEWS

A third Wonder Woman movie is in the works now that Wonder Woman 1984 has finally been released (it came out in theatres and on HBO Max on Christmas Day). Patty Jenkins will direct again with Gal Gadot back as Diana Prince. (Variety)

The animated movie Sing 2 will be happening with the one and only Bono, actress Letitia Wright (Black Panther) and singer/producer Pharrell Williams lending their voices alongside new characters to be voiced by Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Eric Andre and Chelse Peretti. Those returning to the sequel include Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton and Nick Kroll. The sequel is expected out on December 22, 2021. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

The Wilds has been renewed for a second season by Amazon. (Variety)

Locke & Key has been given a third season renewal well ahead of its season 2 premiere that is set for sometime in 2021. (TV Line)

The Flight Attendant has been renewed for a second season by HBO Max. (Variety)

Hulu has cancelled the thriller series Helstrom after only one season. (Variety)

Virgin River has been given a third season renewal by Netflix. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Disney+ has picked up the action-adventure drama Secret Guide to Celestial Creatures, which will center on a Korean American family of legendary guardians who protect the supernatural community that lives among us in plain sight. (The Futon Critic and Deadline)

The CW is considering a spin-off of its drama All American, which would be set at a historically Black university, following college-bound Simone Hicks (Geffri Maya, who joined All American in its second season). (TV Line)

The CW is also developing an adaptation of the book The Disasters by M.K. England that is described as The Breakfast Club meets Guardians of the Galaxy, as it’s set in a near-future where humans have colonized space to save Earth from climate crisis. It follows a group of washouts from Earth’s prestigious military academy who are framed for treason and forced to go on the run to the Colonies to clear their names. (Deadline)

SERIES PICK-UP

Actress Alicia Vikander is working with French director Olivier Assayas on the HBO series Irma Vep, loosely based on the 1996 film of the same name. Assayas will write and direct while Vikander will play the lead role. The project revolves around Mira (Vikander), an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, who comes to France to star as “Irma Vep” in a remake of the French silent film classic, “Les Vampires.” Set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, Mira struggles as the distinctions between herself and the character she plays begin to blur and merge. (Variety)

Showtime has given a series order to the drama Yellowjackets, an epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama about a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later. The cast will include Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci and Tawny Cypress as well as Ella Purnell, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Nelisse and Jasmin Savoy Brown (among others). (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actors Russell Hornsby and Steve Harris will star in the Starz original series Black Mafia Family, which is inspired by the true story of two brothers who rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980’s,giving birth to one of the most influential crime families in this country. Hornsby will play Charles Flenory, the principled patriarch of the Flenory family; a struggling musician who uses faith, fortitude and humor to keep his family on the straight and narrow. Harris will play Detective Bryant, a 20-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department, who has a longstanding relationship with Charles’s brother Demetrius Flenory. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Matthew Rhys will star in the FX series Wyrd, which is the story of the ultimate immigrant, an extraterrestrial in exile. The series centers on Wyrd (Rhys), who was sent to earth in an attempt to better understand humanity. When his people don’t come back for him, he’s forced to assimilate – all while investigating paranormal activity and searching for a way home. (The Futon Critic and Deadline)

Actor Adam Rayner (Tyrant) will appear as sinister media mogul Morgan Edge in the upcoming CW series Superman & Lois. (ComicBookMovie.com)

Actor Jeffrey Nordling (Big Little Lies) will recur in the upcoming CW series Walker as Stan Morrison, a businessman and networker who is a close friend of the Walker family. (TV Insider and TV Line)

Actress Merrin Dungey (Alias) will appear in the 6th and final season of Lucifer (airing now on Netflix). She will play Sonya, a no-nonsense cop who forms an unlikely bond with Amenadiel (DB Woodside). (Netflix and TV Line)

Actress Jessica Lucas (Gotham and Gracepoint) will appear in The Resident, playing Billie, who was once a top neurosurgery resident at Chastain who was cut after a tragic error and left under a cloud. (Deadline)

Actor Ray Fisher (Justice League) will appear in the ABC limited series Women of the Movement that centers on Mamie Till-Mobley (Adrienne Warren), who devoted her life to seeking justice for her son Emmett Till (Cedric Joe), following his brutal killing in the Jim Crow South. Fisher will play Gene Mobley, the man who would have been Emmett Till’s stepfather, if not for his murder. A devoted partner to Emmett’s mother, Mamie, Gene was considered the love of her life. They later married. (Deadline)

Actor Samuel L. Jackson will star in the Apple limited series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, based on the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley. He will play Ptolemy Grey, a 91 year old man forgotten by his family, by his friends, by even himself. On the brink of sinking even deeper into a lonely dementia, Ptolemy experiences a seismic shift when he’s given the tremendous opportunity to briefly regain his memories, and uses this precious and fleeting lucidity to solve his nephew’s death and come to terms with his past. (Variety)

Additional cast members have been added to the HBO Max Suicide Squad spin-off series Peacemaker, including Loclyn Munro and Christopher Heyerdahl, but exact character details have yet to be announced. (Variety)

Hulu is planning a limited series centered around Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson and rocker Tommy Lee focusing on their salacious relationship in the 1990s, including the leak of their private honeymoon video and the legal battle that ensued. Lily James (Downton Abbey and Cinderella) and Sebastian Stan (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) have been cast in the lead roles. (Deadline and TV Line)

Actress Michaela Conlin (Bones) has joined the cast of Apple TV’s upcoming 2nd season of For All Mankind, playing Helena Webster, a former pilot who is now an astronaut. (Deadline)

Actors David James Elliott (JAG) and Joel Murray (Mad Men) will have recurring roles in the 8-episode Starz drama series Heels that is set in the outrageous world of independent professional wrestling, following a family-owned wrestling promotion as two brothers and rivals, Jack Spade (Stephen Amell from Arrow) and Ace Spade (Alexander Ludwig from Vikings), war over their late father’s legacy. Elliott will play patriarch Tom Spade, a former wrestler and proprietor of the Duffy Wrestling League (DWL); and the father of Jack and Ace. Murray will portray Eddie Earl, a local proprietor and sponsor to the DWL, and one of the most successful and determined men in town. (Deadline)

STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Jennifer Lopez will be working with Netflix on the film adaptation of the best-selling book The Cipher. Lopez will executive produce and star in the series, playing FBI agent Nina Guerrera, who finds herself drawn into a serial killer’s case after he strategically posts complex codes and riddles online. The codes correspond to recent murders, designed to lure her into a cat-and-mouse chase. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Actress Kiersey Clemons (the thriller box office movie Antebellum) will star in the darkly comic thriller Susie Searches, which centers on Susie (Clemons), an awkward college student who seizes the opportunity to bolster her popularity and her under-the-radar true-crime podcast by solving the disappearance of a classmate. Her investigation reveals that the truth and Susie aren’t at all what they seem to be. (Variety)

Actor Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) has joined Letitia Wright (Black Panther) and actor Jamie Bell (the box office movie Rocketman) in the film Surrounded that follows former Buffalo Soldier Moses “Mo” Washington (Wright) who, five years after the Civil War, travels West to lay claim on a gold mine bequeathed by her late slave owner father. Donovan will play Wheeler, a successful rancher who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Deadline)

Actress Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) will play Whitney Houston in the Sony-Tristar biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody. (Deadline)

Actress Rachael Leigh Cook has joined the cast of He’s All That, the gender role-flipped remake of She’s All That in which Cook starred as Laney Boggs. In this new version Addison Rae will play Padgett Sawyer, who accepts a challenge to turn the school’s least popular boy (Tanner Buchanan from Cobra Kai) into prom king, attempting to avenge herself following a humiliating fallout with her boyfriend. Cook will play Padgett’s wise and caring mother. (Deadline)

Actress Eiza Gonzalez will star alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Yaha Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman and Watchmen) in the action-thriller Ambulance, an action thriller along the lines of Speed and Bad Boys, but the storyline is being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

Actress Florence Pugh (Black Widow and Little Women) will play the title character in the upcoming film The Maid that is set at the Regency Grand Hotel, where Molly the maid leaves every room perfect and pristine, while getting to know each guest’s dirty secrets. A Clue-like, locked-room whodunnit, the movie explores Molly’s descent into the murderous underbelly of her gilded workplace, while telling a timely story about the strengths of our differences. (Deadline)

Actor Simu Liu (who will star in the upcoming Marvel film Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will next appear in the Mark Wahlberg flick Arthur the King. Inspired by a true story, the film will follow Lindnord, captain of a Swedish adventure racing team who met and befriended a wounded stray dog during a 400-mile race through the Ecuadoran jungle where they crossed rivers and battled illness and injury through some of the world’s toughest terrain. Wahlberg will play the Swedish adventurer, while Liu will play the role of Liam. (Deadline)

Actor Chirs Pine is anticipated to star in a film adaptation of the popular fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Hulu has renewed Handmaid’s Tale for a 5th season. (Variety)

The 2nd season of the already renewed Canadian medical drama Transplant has been picked up by NBC. (TV Line)

Apple TV has renewed the drama For All Mankind for a third season. (Variety)

Industry” has been renewed for Season 2 at HBO. (Variety)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

HBO is supposedly developing a new iteration of True Blood from Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Alan Ball, who created the original, is expected to return as executive producer. (TV Line)

A U.S. remake of the Canadian drama Being Erica is being developed with actress Allison Williams (HBO’s Girls and the box office movie Get Out) taking on the lead role. In the original series actress Erin Karpluk played Erica Strange, a woman whose therapist sends her back in time to revisit her biggest regrets in life. This new iteration would tell the story of two women, both of whom are sent back in time, discovering their lives are inextricably intertwined. (Deadline and TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actor Andrew Leeds (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) will appear on A Million Little Things playing Peter, a highly skilled music teacher who works with young artists; but his style is decidedly not gentle — which likely will be a shock to Sophie, Danny, Theo or whatever kid winds up on the other side of his music stand. (TV Line)

Actress Julia Roberts has signed on to executive produce AND star in the TV series adaptation of the upcoming Laura Dave novel “The Last Thing He Hold Me” at Apple. The series follows a woman (Roberts) who forms an unexpected relationship with her sixteen-year-old stepdaughter while searching for the truth about why her husband has mysteriously disappeared. (Variety)

Actor Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and actress Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel and box office movie Ready Player One) have joined the cast of the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragons. (Variety)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Paul Schneider (Lars and the Real Girl), Shantel VanSanten (The Shooter and The Boys), Kevin Corrigan (Pineapple Express and Ray Donovan) and Moises Arias (Five Feet Apart) have joined the cast of the upcoming box office film American Murderer, which tells the story of a charismatic con man turned party king who bankrolls his high living through a series of scams. The cast already includes Tom Pelphrey, Ryan Phillippe, Idina Menzel and Jacki Weaver. (Variety)

Actor Alfred Molina will reprise his role of Doctor Octopus (from the 2004 Spider-Man movie) in the third installment of the Tom Holland Spider-Man blockbuster. It’s also being reported that Jamie Foxx just might appear as Electro, the villain from the Andrew Garfield movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2. And (yes, there’s more!) actor Benedict Cumberbatch will appear as Doctor Strange in the next movie in the current franchise. (Variety)

MASSIVE DISNEY NEWS [From Variety]

For Disney Films:

Christian Bale is joining the cast of Thor: Love and Thunder where he will play the villain Gorr the Godbutcher.

Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer will return for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaina that will introduce Kathryn Newton (Supernatural, Big Little Lies and the recent box office movie Freaky) as Cassie Lang.

Chinese actor Simu Liu landed the lead role in the upcoming box office movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; and cast members for that film has finally been revealed, including Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung, Ronny Chieng, Fala Chen and Florian Munteanu.

Disney is also in very early development on (another!) reboot of the Fantastic Four; and it’s been confirmed there will be no recasting of Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther 2.

There will be a Sister Act 3 with Whoopi Goldberg returning to the film franchise with Tyler Perry serving as a producer.

Newcomer Iman Vellani will star in the Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel; and she will also appear in the upcoming Captain Marvel 2, starring opposite Brie Larson.

For Disney Plus:

Mark Ruffalo will reprise his role of Bruce Banner (aka The Incredible Hulk) in the small screen adaptation of She-Hulk that will star Orphan Black alum Tatiana Maslany in the title role. Tim Roth will also reprise his role of Abomination the series as well.

Don Cheadle will reprise his role of James Rhodes (aka War Machine) in the standalone series Armor Wars, based on the comic book series of the same name, in which Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor designs fall into the hands of those who would use them to do harm rather than good.

In 2022, there will be a Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special, featuring the popular film characters.

Secret Invasion, based on the comic book series of the same name, will see Samuel L. Jackson return as Nick Fury with Ben Mendelsohn reprising his role of Skrull leader Talos from Captain Marvel.

Dominique Thorne (Judas and the Black Messiah) will star in the new series Ironheart will follow genius inventor Riri Williams, the creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man.

Other new Disney Plus series will include:

Andor: A Rogue One prequel that will focus on Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). Set for 2022.

Ahsoka: Rosario Dawson will reprise her role of Ahsoka Tan from The Mandalorian

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader

Lando: Will focus on rogue Lando Calrissian, but it’s unclear with Donald Glover, who played the character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, will return for the series

The Acolyte: A female-centric series billed as a “mystery-thriller” set in the final days of the High Republic era

Disney Animation includes:

An animated series based on Moana is being developed.

Baymax, which will follow the medical robot from the feature film Big Hero 6 is set for a fall 2021 premiere.

Zootopia Plus, based on the talking-animal feature, will premiere in early 2022.

Tiana, based on the heroine from the animated feature The Princess and the Frog is set for 2022.

Pixar’s Dug Days, a spinoff from the feature film Up, focusing on the titular talking dog, will premiere in fall 2021.

Pixar’s Cars, a series based on the box office movie, will debut in fall 2022.

Pinocchio, with Tom Hanks, and Peter Pan and Wendy, with Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell and Jude Law as Captain Hook are skipping their planned theatrical releases and will debut on Disney Plus instead.

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Fear the Walking Dead has been renewed for a 7th season by AMC. (Variety)

SCHEDULING NEWS

CBS will debut the reboot of The Equalizer series, starring Queen Latifah in the lead role, for February 7 right after the Super Bowl. The show stars Latifah as an enigmatic woman who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. Chris Noth, Lorraine Toussaint, Tory Kittles [among others] also star. The series will then move to its regular timeslot on Sunday at 8 PM on February 14. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

The upcoming Hawkeye series at Disney+ has added cast members to join Jeremy Renner, who reprises his film role for the small screen. Hailee Steinfeld has already been cast as Kate Bishop, and now her mother Eleanor Bishop will be played by Vera Farmiga; Florence Pugh will reprise her role of spy and assassin Yelena Belova, the sister of Black Widow; and Zahn McClarnon will play William Lopez, a take of Willie “Crazy Horse” Lincoln from the comics. (Variety)

Actor Raul Esparza will return to Law & Order: SVU, reprising his role of former ADA Rafael Barba. (TV Line)

Actress Dichen Lachman has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple thriller Severance, starring alongside Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette. The series takes place at Lumen Industries, a company that’s looking to take work-life balance to a new level with a severance procedure, which separates work and out-of-work memories. Lachman will play Ms. Casey, an employee at Lumen Industries. (Deadline)

Actor Brandon Routh will have a potential season-long story arc in The Rookie, playing Doug Stanton, an 11-year veteran of the LAPD, whose views prove to be polarizing at the Mid-Wilshire station. (Deadline)

The upcoming FOX ballet-themed hour-long dramedy pilot The Big Leap has announced some recasting. The series is a funny and contemporary tale about second chances, chasing your dreams and taking back what’s yours, revolving around a group of diverse underdogs from all different walks of life who compete to be part of a competition reality series that is putting on a modern, hip remake of Swan Lake. Actress Piper Perabo will take over the role of Paula Dirks from Laura Benanti. Paula is a dancer and white-collar former VP at one of the major car companies who decides that The Big Leap is a chance to just be vulnerable, let go of her fears and explore her artistic side. Actor Kevin Daniels will take over the role of Wayne Sleep from Matt Lucas. Wayne Sleep ia a gay, joyful fellow who is one of the co-hosts of The Big Leap. A former dancer, he is entertaining, enthusiastic and encouraging. And actress Mallory Jansen has been added to the cast, playing Monica Sullivan, a former ballerina with an acid tongue who has come on to co-host and choreograph The Big Leap. She is intimidating, ruthless and convinced that this show is going to be an absolute disaster. The cast already includes Teri Polo, Scott Foley and Ser’Darius Blain. (Deadline)

The new ABC drama Big Sky is adding cast members, including actress Camille Sullivan and actor Chad Willett, who will play Joanie and Robert Sullivan, the parents of the two kidnapped sisters; while actor Patrick Gallagher will play Sheriff Walter Tubb, an officer for the Lewis and Clark County sheriff’s department. (Deadline)

Twenty cast members have been added to the ensemble cast of The Lord of the Rings small screen TV series, including actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson, actors Benjamin Walker, Augustus Prew and Peter Mullan [among countless others]. (TV Line)

Actor Armie Hammer will star in the upcoming limited event series The Offer from Paramount+ (aka CBS All Access), which is about the making of the iconic Oscar-winning film The Godfather. The 10-episode drama is told from the perspective of film producer Al Ruddy (to be played by Hammer), who also serves as an executive producer on the series. (TV Line)

Actor Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole will exit their roles of Graham and Ryan, two of the three new companions on Doctor Who after the holiday special “Revolution of the Daleks” airs on New Year’s Day on BBC America. (TV Line)

Actress Julianna Margulies will recurring in the second season of the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, appearing as Laura Peterson, the newest talking head of UBA News. Season 2 is slated for 2021. (TV Line)

Actress Helen Hunt will appear in the upcoming 8-episode half-hour dramedy Starz drama Blindspotting, based on the film of the same name that stars Jasmine Cephas Jones (reprising her role) as Ashley, who is nipping at the heels of a middle class life in Oakland until her partner Miles is suddenly incarcerated, leaving her to navigate a chaotic and humorous existential crisis when she is forced to move in with Miles’ mother Rainey (to be played by Hunt). (Variety)

Actor David Ramsey will be back in front of AND behind the camera on The CW. He will not only return to direct 5 episodes in the DC Universe, including the new series Superman & Lois, and Supergirl; but he will also guest star in 5 episodes across the Arrowverse, returning as John Diggle in Superman & Lois, Supergirl, The Flash, Batwoman and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. (Deadline)

Actress Imogen Poots will star in the upcoming Amazon drama series Outer Range which centers on Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin), a rancher fighting for his land and family, who discovers an unfathomable mystery at the edge of Wyoming’s wilderness. Poots will play Autumn, an itinerant woman who charms the Abbotts enough to let her camp on their land. A seeker of cosmic truths with a checkered past, she lives without regrets and embraces the unknown with reckless abandon. The cast includes Lili Taylor and Tom Pelphrey. (Variety)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actor Oscar Isaac is expected to play Solid Snake in the action movie Metal Gear Solid, based on the video game franchise that launched on PlayStation in 1987, which follows Solid Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from Foxhound, a renegade special forces unit. (Variety)

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith is set to star in the Netflix drama film Redd Zone, which is based on the true story of Tia Magee (to be played by Pinkett Smith), a single mother who helps her sons and their high school football teammates, “The Bros,” heal after the murder of their best friend, Dominic Redd. One by one, the boys start moving into her house, and soon, 17 of “The Bros” are living under her roof. Eventually, all of them go to college, and four make it to the NFL. Magee’s son, Brandon Magee, became a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and was later drafted by the Boston Red Sox to play outfield. (Variety)

MOVIE NEWS

Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that it will release its entire 2021 theatrical slate direct to HBO Max, the same day they hit theaters. Those movies include: The Matrix 4, Dune, The Suicide Squad, the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, The Little Things (starring Denzel Washington), Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In The Heights, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Reminiscence, Malignant, King Richard and Cry Macho. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT/PICK-UP NEWS

Director Ava DuVernay and Arrow writer and EP Jill Blankenship are teaming up to executive producer Naomi, based on the DC Comics character. The potential series follows a teen girl’s journey from her small northwestern town to the heights of the multiverse. When a supernatural event shakes her hometown to the core, Naomi sets out to uncover its origins, and what she discovers will challenge everything we believe about our heroes. (Variety)

Netflix has inked a multimillion-dollar deal for the rights to the sci-fi survival thriller Stowaway, that stars Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette, Daniel Dae Kim and Shamier Anderson. The movie charts how, on a mission to Mars, an unintended stowaway (Anderson) accidentally causes severe damage to the spaceship’s life-support systems. Facing dwindling resources and a potentially grim outcome, a medical researcher (Kendrick) emerges as the only dissenting voice against the clinical logic of both her commander (Collette) and the ship’s biologist (Kim). (Deadline)

Apple has given an 8-episode straight-to-series order to the drama series Surface that will star Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the series is to be a psychological thriller that includes Reese Witherspoon as an executive producer. Mbatha-Raw will co-executive produce as well. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Amazon has given a 6th and final season order to The Expanse. The show’s 5th season will premiere on Amazon on December 16. (TV Line)

Amazon has cancelled Gillian Flynn’s apocalyptic conspiracy thriller ‘Utopia’ after one season. (TV Line)

CASTING NEWS

Actor John Barrowman will be reprising his role of Captain Jack Harkness in the upcoming Doctor Who holiday special “Revolution of the Daleks. He will be “on hand to help ‘the fam’ as they discover a disturbing plan involving one of the Doctor’s most feared and dangerous enemies, the Daleks.” (TV Line)

Actress Marianne Jean-Baptise (Blindspot and Without a Trace) will join the cast of the third season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Amazon. She will play Elizabeth Wright, the Chief of Station. (Deadline and The Futon Critic)

Actor Xavier de Guzman (the Netflix movie Operation Christmas Drop and The 100) has joined the cast of the Netflix series Maid, inspired by the best-selling memoir by Stephanie Land that centers on Alex (Margaret Qualley), a single mother who turned to housekeeping to make ends meet as she battles against poverty, homelessness and bureaucracy. The cast also includes Nick Robinson. (Deadline)

Actor Nic Bishop (Body of Proof) will guest star in an upcoming episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow where the show will riff on Dr. Strangelove, an homage to the dark 1964 feature comedy. In the episode: Nate (Nick Zano) and Zari (Tala Ashe) must infiltrate the Kennedy White House to stop Bishop’s warmongering General Kilgore from steering JFK to start WWIII when an alien begins wreaking havoc in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 1962. (TV Line)

Actor Anthony Konechny (Supergirl and Witches of East End) will recur as the younger version of Billy (Denis Leary) in the TNT series Animal Kingdom for the show’s upcoming 5th season. (The Futon Critic and Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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