Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

SERIES ADAPTATION

Netflix has landed the series adaptation of the Dan Brown novel The Secret of Secrets. The as-yet titled drama, which was given a straight to series order, is set in the world of Brown’s anticipated mystery thriller novel about Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon. Brown and Lost EP Carlton Cuse will serve as co-creators, writers and executive producers. In the book, symbologist Robert Langdon races against ancient forces and time to rescue a missing scientist and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity’s understanding of the mind. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Netflix has announced more cast members to the new version of Little House on the Prairie, including New Amsterdam alum Jocko Sims and Hallmark hunk Warren Christie, who will play characters from the books. Sims will play Dr. George Tann, a generous and kind-hearted man with a charming bedside manner that makes him a connector within the community. Christie will play John Edwards, a Civil War veteran from Tennessee, who is a gregarious and mysterious man who catches the eye of every single woman in the county. Also, Wren Zhawenim Gotts (Echo), Meegwun Fairbrother (Burden of Truth), Alyssa Wapanatahk (Peter Pan & Wendy) and Xander Cole (People of the West) will play newly created characters, members of the same extended Osage family. (Deadline)

The Harry Potter small screen adaptation has found its Harry, Ron and Hermione. Newcomers Dominic McLaughlin has landed the title role with Arabella Staton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. (TV Line)

NOTE: You can see a picture of the new Harry Potter cast members below:

The one and only J.K. Simmons will play the lead in the MGM+ period crime drama The Westies, which will be set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promised a financial windfall for the Irish-American organized crime gang. Despite being outnumbered 50-to-1 by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente. But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia. Simmons will play Eamon Sweeney, the charismatic but ruthless leader of The Westies whose old-school charm and neighborhood loyalty mask fierce criminal ambition and calculated brutality. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Yellowjackets co-stars Courtney Eaton and Sophie Nelisse will star in the box office indie film The Space Program, an adaptation of the Kathleen Glasgow novel “Girl in Pieces.” It follows Charlie Davis, a young woman recently released from a psychiatric ward in Minnesota after a suicide attempt. After a move across the country to Tucson, Ariz., Charlie tries to piece her life back together among a band of artists and musicians while dealing with the trauma of childhood abuse, self-harm and homelessness. A toxic relationship with a local musician and the reappearance of her friend from the psych ward threaten the delicate life she’s putting together. (Variety)

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Showtime has given Yellowjackets a season 4 renewal. (Variety)

Unfortunately, Amazon Prime has pulled the plug on The Wheel of Time after three seasons. (Variety)

Sesame Street has been saved by the folks over at Netflix after Warner Bros. Discovery opted to not renew its deal for new episodes. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

It looks like CBS Studios is in early development to reboot the once popular family drama 7th Heaven that aired on The WB for all but its last season when the network changed over to The CW. It would seem that former star Jessica Biel will be one of the executive producers. It is said that the new show will focus on a diverse family but none of the original cast members are expected to appear. As the project is still in the very early stages, deals are still being worked out and no network or streamer is attached. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Severance star Dichen Lachman has joined the cast of the live-action Netflix series Avatar: The Last Airbender for its upcoming second season. (Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

The next Hallmark Channel movie centered around the NFL will be Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story that will air during the network’s upcoming 16th Annual Countdown to Christmas. The movie will focus on the Quinns and DeLucas, who have lived next door to each other for decades in the shadow of Highmark Stadium, the home of their beloved Buffalo Bills. With their longtime friendship rooted in being proud members of Bills Mafia, the two clans have enjoyed cherished traditions that revolve around cheering for their favorite team – especially at the holidays when they celebrate the last home game before Christmas. Pediatric doctor Morgan Quinn (Holland Roden) and the Bills’ VP of Stadium Development Gabe DeLuca (Matthew Daddario) have always been close friends, but Gabe has always held a torch for her – a fact obvious to their families (Tracy Pollan, Caroline Aaron and Steve Schirripa) and everyone else who crosses their path. When Morgan learns from her Uncle Tommy (Tony Danza) that someone anonymously helped her family get by after he was drafted more than 60 years ago – and that he continues to receive a Christmas gift each year to this day –she decides to find his benefactor and give her uncle a Christmas he’ll always remember. Aided by Bills Mafia friends of theirs, Morgan and Gabe work together to unwrap the gifter’s identity. Along the way, Gabe’s love for Morgan deepens and in turn, she begins to see him in a new light though neither is daring enough to admit their feelings. Meanwhile, Morgan’s hopes of pulling off her surprise for Uncle Tommy get sacked. That is, until Gabe takes matters into his own hands and uses his connections with the Bills to pull off the surprise of a lifetime for Morgan and both their families that will make this a Christmas they’ll never forget. Broadway alum and Hallmark star Patti Murin has also joined the cast, but details about the character for which she will play has not been announced yet. (Variety and Entertainment Now)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Elle Fanning has joined the ever-growing cast of next prequel movie The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, playing the younger version of Effite Trinket, who was played by Elizabeth Banks in the original movies while recent Oscar winner Kieran Culkin will play Caesar Flickerman, who was played by Stanley Tucci in the original movies. (USA Today and Variety)

Grammy nominated artist FKA Twigs is in negotiations to star in a biopic about pioneering American-born French dancer, singer and actress Josephine Baker. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Starz has announced that Power Book III: Raising Kanan will end with its upcoming 5th season. The show’s 4th season finale just aired, by the way. (Variety)

Netflix has given its popular period piece drama Bridgerton a 5th AND 6th season renewals. The Diplomat has also been renewed for a 4th season. The new series Forever has been given a 2nd season renewal and the young adult series My Life With the Walter Boys will get a third season. (TV Line)

Amazon Prime has given its sci-fi series Fallout a 3rd season renewal, but the streaming service has pulled the plug on the Kevin Bacon-led action horror series The Bondsman after only one season. (Variety and TV Line)

SERIES ORDERS/PICK UP NOTES

FOX has given a greenlight to the drama series Memory of a Killer, which will star former Grey’s Anatomy hunk Patrick Dempsey in the lead role. The show, inspired by a Belgian film, will be a dramatic thriller about a hitman (Dempsey) who develops early onset Alzheimer’s. The show is set for the 2025-2026 TV season. (Variety)

The CW has acquired the US broadcast rights to the first two season of the Canadian drama Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent as part of its 2025-2026 TV season line-up. The show follows the Specialized Criminal Investigations Unit’s detective duo, Detective Sergeants Henry Graff (Aden Young) and Frankie Bateman (Kathleen Munroe), as they investigate high-profile homicides in Canada’s largest metropolis. Their unique investigative skills are showcased through psychological tactics, with a heavy focus on the motives and actions of the criminals. These cases delve into the worlds of high finance, politics, real estate, media, and more. (Variety)

It seems like S.W.A.T. isn’t so dead after all. A spin-off series – S.W.A.T. EXILES (yep, it’s in all caps) – will find lead Shemar Moore back as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, being pulled out of forced retirement to lead a last-chance experimental SWAT unit made up of untested, unpredictable young recruits. It should be noted, though, that this spin-off has not yet been attached to a Stateside network or streaming service. (TV Line)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Alias alum Jennifer Garner is set to appear in the sci-fi drama flick Zygote, which is the working title right now. The movie will center on Parisa (Garner), an elite crisis negotiator who is sent 254 miles from Earth as a response to hostages on the International Space Station. Due to the unexpected nature of the expedition, Parisa quickly realizes this could be her final mission, as she is forced to confront the limits of her life’s work alongside her own mortality. (Deadline)

Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the Yellowstone franchise, will be teaming up with 1923 star Brandon Sklenar for the big screen movie F.A.S.T., a crime thriller about a former special forces commando who is tapped by drug enforcement officials to lead a black op strike team against CIA-protected drug dealers. (Variety)

More casting news for the next The Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping movie have been announced. Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Elvis and Waves) will play Beetee (who was played by Jeffrey Wright in the mothership franchise). Maya Hawke (daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman) will play Wiress, who became the District 12 champion turned mentor. Ben Wang (the upcoming The Karate Kid: Legends star and the Disney+ short-lived series American Born Chinese) will play Wyatt Callow and Ralph Fiennes will play villainous President Coriolanus Snow. (Variety)

Luke Evans will star opposite Noomi Rapace in the action-thriller flick Traction that will be about a former U.S. soldier leading a humanitarian mission through war-torn Chechnya. Kate (Rapace), accompanied by her trusted Chechen ally Magomed, are forced to take on a cynical American war photographer (Evans), a schoolteacher and her injured student. Together, the group must navigate treacherous terrain and evade both Russian forces and guerrilla fighters. (Variety)

Kathryn Newton (Supernatural and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) and Lana Condor (To All the Boys franchise) will star together in the upcoming survival thriller Devil’s Mouth that follows college friends who, while on a trip to get to Thailand, get trapped in an underwater cave system with a bull shark. Old tensions and power struggles resurface as they fight to survive. (Deadline)

TV CASTING NEWS

Minnie Driver is joining the 5th season of Emily in Paris, playing Princess Jane, a friend of Sylvie’s (series regular Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) who married into a royal family. (Variety)

Jude Law and Andrew Garfield will star in the Apple TV+ limited series that will focus on iconic magicians Siegfried & Roy with Law starring as Siegfried and Garfield as Roy. The series will focus on the wild ride relationship of two of the greatest showman-magicians in history who, along with their white tigers, are tasked with turning Sin City into a family-friendly destination. The duo push the concept of illusion versus reality to the extreme, personally and professionally, until tragedy reframes and opens a mystery surrounding their last fateful Las Vegas show. (Variety)

Amanda Arcuri (Watson) and Caroline Rhea (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) have joined the cast of the spin-off series Sheriff Country that will follow straight-shooting sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin), the stepsister of Cal Fire’s division chief Sharon Leone (from the CBS series Fire Country) who investigates criminal activity as she patrols the streets of small-town Edgewater while contending with her ex-con father (W. Earl Brown) and a mysterious incident involving her wayward daughter. Arcuri will play Skye, the aforementioned daughter while Rhea will play Gina, Sheriff Mickey’s assistant and the face of the Edgewater County Sheriff’s Office. (Deadline)

Ernie Hudson has joined the cast of the Blue Bloods spin-off Boston Blue, starring Donnie Wahlberg and Soneque Martin-Green. He will play Reverend Peters, the grandfather of Det. Lena Silver (Martin-Green). (Deadline)

Kelli Giddish is returning to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on a full-time basis, reprising her role of Amanda Rollins. (TV Line and Deadline)

The new slayer has been chosen for the potential Hulu reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that will feature original series star Sarah Michelle Gellar. Star Wars: Skeleton crew cast member Ryan Kiera Armstrong has landed the coveted role. (Deadline and TV Line)

Krysten Ritter will reprise her role of Jessica Jones in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again over on Disney+. (TV Line)

STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson and Daisy Edgar-Jones will star in the Netflix heist film Here comes the Flood that will tell the story of a bank guard plotting with a master thief to steal. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

In advance of next week’s upfront presentations in New York by the major networks, FOX and NBC have announced some of their renewals and cancellations, including the following:

NBC has renewed Law & Order, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and all three Chicago One drama for a new season each while the network has pulled the plug on The Irrational and Found after only two seasons each and Suits LA after only one episode. (TV Line)

FOX has pulled the plug on the new drama Rescue: Hi-Surf after only one season. (TV Line)

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime (aka Prime Video) has pulled the plug on the new police drama On Call after only one season, but sources are reporting that the drama is already being shopped around to other platforms. (Deadline and TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actress Arden Cho (Partner Track and Teen Wolf) and comedian Margaret Cho will star in the upcoming rom-com movie Cheap AF that tells the story of a money-saving influencer (Cho) seeking her big break, who risks losing her wedding and relationships when she goes all out to win Wedding Magazine’s “Best Wedding on a Budget” social media competition. (Deadline)

Kevin Pollak will appear in season 3 of Tulsa King on Paramount+, playing the series regular role of Special Agent Musso, an FBI agent who has an axe to grind. (Variety)

Singer turned actress LeAnn Rimes and Kimberley Williams-Paisley have joined the cast of the upcoming spin-off 9-1-1: Nashville, joining the already cast Chris O’Donnell and Jessica Capshaw. There are no specifics on what characters they will play, however. (Variety)

Watson lead Morris Chestnut will be back on season 3 of Hulu’s legal drama Reasonable Doubt, reprising his role of Corey Cash, a charming, media-savvy defense attorney on a recurring basis. Other recurring guest stars will be Rumer Willis, Richard Brooks (9-1-1) and Kyle Barry (Ginny & Georgia [among others]. (Deadline)

True Detective: Night Country alum Kali Reis has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple TV+ heist drama 12 12 12 that will follow a disgraced FBI agent (Anthony Mackie) and an American career criminal (Jamie Dornan) who play a zero-sum game of cat and mouse across Europe. At the center of it all is the daring, epic raid on a bank vault deep beneath the streets of Zurich. (Variety)

Emmanuelle Chriqui (Superman & Lois) will guest star in the upcoming 4th season of The Lincoln Lawyer on Etflix, playing Jeanine, the girlfriend of a local gangster who finds herself mixed up in a criminal enterprise, giving her information pivotal to Mickey’s defense. Also, Jason O’Mara (Fire Country and The Man in the High Castle) will guest-star as Jack Gilroy, Maggie’s (Neve Campbell) current boyfriend who is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine. (TV Line)

New cast members for season 2 of the Netflix comedy A Man on the Inside, that stars Ted Danson, have been announced. Those new members include Constance Marie (Switched at Birth and With Love), David Strathairn (The Bourne Legacy and Alphas), Gary Cole (NCIS), Max Greenfield (The Neighborhood and New Girl), Michaela Conlin (Bones) and Sam Huntington (the American version of Being Human). (Variety)

Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the original Harry Potter franchise of movies has tased that he will be playing a small role in the small screen adaptation of the Harry Potter books planned as a series on HBO. (The Daily Mail and Parade)

Hugh Laurie (House) will star alongside Thandiwe Newton (Westworld), Stephen Dillane (Game of Thrones) and Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk) [among others] in the upcoming, new Apple TV+ thriller series The Wanted Man that will follow the rise and fall of Felix Carmichael (Laurie), the elusive and powerful head of notorious British crime syndicate ‘The Capital.’ (Variety)

Star Trek Discovery alum Sonequa Martin-Green has joined the cast of the spin-off series Boston Blue, starring opposite Blue Bloods alum Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Danny Reagan who leaves New York City with his family to take a position with the Boston Police Department. There, he will be partnered with Detective Lena Silver (Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family. (TV Line)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Brandy and Rita Ora will appear in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, the 5th movie in the musical fantasy movie franchise Descendants that follows the teenage progeny of Disney’s most iconic characters. They will reprise their respective roles of Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts alongside Paolo Montalban as King Charming and Melanie Paxson as Fairy Godmother as well as Kylie Cantrall and Malia Baker as Princesses Red and Chloe, the daughters of the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella, respectively. Picking up shortly after the events of the previous movie The Rise of Red, this new movie will explore what “happily ever after” is really like for Red and Chloe following their return from their time-traveling adventures and will delve into the warning at the end of the film — that “there are consequences when you alter the fabric of time.” (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Michael Sheen (Good Omens) and Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) will star in the upcoming family holiday comedy The 12 Days of Christmas, which will follow the dysfunctional Sullivan family, who for the 5th year in a row have cancelled Christmas, that is until a mysterious someone starts sending strange gifts to hopeless widower Henry (Sheen) and his two bickering children, Will and Ella. First, a partridge in a pear tree, the next day two turtle doves are sent, followed by three calling birds on day three. Before they know it, the house is full of boisterous animals and house guests, all relating to the famous Christmas song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” The family’s lives are turned upside down as they try to figure out just who the mystery gift giver is, and to top it off, Mariana (Longoria) from Animal Protection Services is on their case. (Variety)

The Gentleman alum Theo James will be taking over for Adrien Brody in the upcoming gangster thriller The Bookie & the Bruiser that will be set in 1959 New York City, featuring a pensive, Jewish fellow named Rivner (James) and an oversized Italian American tough named Boscolo (Vince Vaughn). Having served in World War II, the two return as changed men, no longer fitting into their old lives. Unwilling to take orders or play by the rules of polite society, the two partner up as a bookmaker and his enforcer and run an illicit gambling operation that proves highly profitable — but dangerous. Their operation thrives until they’re caught in a violent power struggle between the Mafia and an Irish gang, forcing them into a violent fight for survival. (Variety)

Oscar winner Natalie Portman will star in the upcoming movie Photograph 51 that will uncover the story behind the brilliant scientist whose pioneering work in x-ray crystallography captured the image that revealed DNA’s double-helix structure, the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for all known life. (Deadline)

Oscar nominees Demi Moore and Colman Domingo are set to star in the epic romance flick Strange Arrivals that will be inspired by the incredible true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who, in 1961, became the first reported case of an alien abduction, as they journeyed back from their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Their experience catapulted them to fame and celebrity, but underneath that notoriety simmered the truth of what really happened that night, which would test even the most epic of romances. (Variety)

Star Trek alum Chris Pine will star in and produce the upcoming action film Run the Night that follows a banker accused of betraying the Penose (the Dutch mob), who is dumped naked in the heart of Amsterdam with a $10 million bounty on his head. Hunted by the city’s most violent gangs, he must fight his way across the city by dawn to save the lives of his wife and child, a mission that reveals he was never just the money guy. (Variety)

Wednesday alum Jenna Ortega and screen legend Robert De Niro will star in Shutout that follows Jake Kejeune (De Niro), one of the last masters of a vanishing craft, the pool hustler. Having lived and lost by the roll of a ball in smoky backroom halls, Jake encounters Mia (Ortega), a young prodigy whose raw, electrifying talent reignites a fire he thought long extinguished. Sensing a rare opportunity to shape a legend, Jake takes Mia under his wing, honing her instincts and sharpening her natural gift. Together, they plunge into the ruthless world of high-stakes pool, where the line between unimaginable fortune and devastating failure is razor-thin. (Variety)

International singer Celine Dion, actor Himesh Patel (Yesterday and The Franchise) and actress-stage performer Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) will provide their voice in the upcoming 3D animated film High in the Clouds, which is inspired by the children’s adventure book by Beatles legend Paul McCartney. Other voices that will also be featured in the animated fare include the following: Idris Elba, Lionel Richie, Ringo Starr, Jimmy Fallon, Clémence Poésy, Pom Klementieff and Alain Chabat. The story is a tale about the power of family and freedom of expression through music, following Wirral, a teenage squirrel who embarks on an extraordinary journey to set music free, after accidentally sparking a revolution against Gretsch, the bossy diva-owl who has banned all music from his town. (Variety)

Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) and Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) will star in the upcoming movie called Fish, a genre-bending drama set in a dreamlike Venice. Roth will play Professor Fish Osborne, a brilliant but reclusive art historian who is undergoing a mysterious transformation: he is slowly becoming a fish. As the professor’s secret unravels, Billie (Schafer) and other students of his begin to perceive their own identities through new lenses. (Variety)

Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) will star in the psychological thriller The Midnight Pool that centers on Johnny Black (Paul), a jaded journalist whom, after a personal tragedy, is lured into the shadows of an elite, exclusive society, where the pursuit of a career-defining story becomes a descent into illusion, manipulation and altered realities. (Variety)

Charles Meton (Warfare and May December) and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once) will provide their voices to the animated feature In Waves, a California surf-themed movie that follows AJ, a shy teenager in Los Angeles, who falls deeply in love with Kristen, a vibrant surfer. Their shared passion for the ocean becomes a source of strength as they face the devastating impact of illness together. (Variety)

Hannibal alum Mads Mikkelsen will star opposite Boyd Holbrook (Logan and A Complete Unknown) in the upcoming box office movie Last Meals with Mikkelsen playing Walter Karat, a former White House Chef whose fall from grace lands him in the kitchen of a maximum-security prison cooking for death row inmates. Boyd Holbrook will play Jeffrey Reed, a death row inmate who decides to go on a hunger strike and whose constant rejection of his meals frustrates him at every turn. Their animosity reaches a boiling point until Walter confronts Reed, triggering an unexpected deeper connection: Walter starts to believe Reed is innocent. As the two bond, Walter is determined to find out the truth. (Variety)

Xolo Mariduena (Blue Beetle and Cobra Kai) and Leah Lewis (Matlock)will star in the indie romance flick Dog Years that follows two former best friends who unexpectedly meet up in their hometown seven years after admitting they were in love. Reunited for one exhilarating night, they break into their old high school and question whether they would upend their lives to be together now. (Deadline)

The Gilded Age and The White Lotus alum Carrie Coon and Downton Abbey and Pam and Tommy star Lily James will star opposite The Last of Us and Game of Thrones alum Bella Ramsey and The Narrow Road to the Deep North star Odessa Young in the upcoming thriller Harmonia that will be set in 1980s and will revolve around an insidious cult. Rita (Coon), unraveling from past wounds, meets a radiant young spiritual leader (James) after a chance encounter. Following her into the all-female commune known as Harmonia, Rita leaves her life and family behind until her daughters, Ella (Ramsey) and Jo (Young), embark on a dangerous journey to rescue their mother. Once immersed in the commune, they find themselves inexorably drawn into the leader’s labyrinthine web of pseudo-spiritual and psychological manipulation. (Variety)

Outlander alum Caitriona Balfe will star opposite Loki alum Tom Hiddleston in the upcoming film Tenzing, which is about the inspirational life of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and his summit of Mount Everest in 1953 alongside fellow outsider New Zealander Edmund Hillary. Balfe will play Jill Henderson, a friend of Tenzing who helped organize trips up Mount Everest. (Deadline)

Fast & Furious star Michelle Rodriguez and box office legend Richard Gere will star in the plane survival thriller Left Seat that will focus on a pharmaceutical representative (Rodriguez) who is forced to take control of a small charter plane after the pilot falls unconscious mid-flight. She must rely on the help of a stranger (Gere) over the radio to navigate through deadly storms and land the aircraft before the fuel runs out. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Tonight’s episode of The Equalizer will actually serve as the series finale since CBS has decided to pull the plug on the drama after 5 seasons. (Variety)

The Canadian series Wild Cards has been renewed for two more seasons, but there is no confirmation on whether the CW will air either of those seasons in the US just yet. (Collider)

FX is giving Shogun a second season with Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis reprising their roles of Lord Toranaga and John Blackthorne respectively. (TV Line)

The Netflix comedy North of North has been renewed for a second season. (Variety)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Scandal alum Kerry Washington and her production company Simpson Street is currently working on a reboot of the once-popular ABC drama Desperate Housewives – or more to the point – an offshoot series based on that dramedy to be called Wisteria Lane. The series would be set among a group of five very different friends and sometimes frenemies who all live on a picture-perfect cul de sac called Wisteria Lane. On the surface, all the Wisteria neighbors are living the dream: beautiful homes, gorgeous families, shiny SUVs in the driveway. But behind those white-picket fences and smiling Insta posts are secrets. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

CBS recently picked up the drama series Einstein to series, but the network has decided not to air the drama until the 2026-2027 TV season; and in doing so, female lead Rosa Salazar has asked the network not to pick up her option, which basically means she will not be starring in the show after all. (Deadline)

Netflix is working on a new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie, casting Lessons in Chemistry young actress Alice Halsey as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Luke Bracey (Hacksaw Ridge) and Crosby Fitzgerald (Palm Royale) as Charles and Caroline Ingalls respectively and Skywalker Hughes (Joe Pickett) as Mary Ingalls. (Variety)

Friday Night Lights alum Matt Lauria has joined the cast of the spin-off series Sheriff Country that will debut this fall on CBS, starring Firefly and Homeland alum Morena Baccarin. Lauria will play Boone, Mickey’s (Baccarin) longtime partner, a smart, tough and capable deputy with a different style of law enforcement, being from Oakland. (Variety)

Stephen Root (Barry) will guest star in the upcoming 4th season of Resident Alien, playing the father of Harry (series lead Alan Tudyk). (Variety)

Brat Packer Anthony Michael Hall will appear in season two of Wednesday on Netflix in an undisclosed role. This role will mark a reunion for him and series director and executive producer Tim Burton, as they worked on the 1990 classic Edward Scissorhands together. (Variety)

1883 alum Sam Elliott has joined the cast of season two of the Paramount+ Taylor Sheridan drama Landman, but details about what character he will play is being kept under wraps. (TV Line)

As revealed in the season two finale of Elsbeth on CBS, Carra Patterson, who has played NYPD Officer Kaya Blanke since the pilot episode, is leaving the show. (TV Line)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot and Mattias Schoenaerts (The Regime) will star in the World War II thriller Ruin that will be set in post-war Germany, following a recently released camp prisoner (Gadot) who is forced to make an unlikely alliance with a German soldier (Schoenaerts) in a mutual quest to exact revenge on a Nazi SS squad. (Variety)

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock will be starring opposite each other in a romantic thriller that is in development at Amazon MGM Studios, but plot details are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Snow White star Rachel Zegler and Oscar winner Marisa Tomei will star in the comedy drama flick She Gets It From Me that will follow Nicky (Zegler), whose engagement celebration turns into a search for her pill-popping, ex-punk rocker birth mother, Charlotte (Tomei). Together, the two embark on an anarchic mother-and-daughter journey to reconnect. (Variety)

The upcoming thriller flick Billion Dollar Spy, based on the true story of Soviet spy Adolf Tolkachev will star Russell Crowe as Tolkachev, Vera Farmiga as his wife Natasha and Willa Fitzgerald (Pulse) as Mae Lenihan. Additionally, Scandal star Tony Goldwyn, The Diplomat star Rufus Sewell and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actor Justin Theroux will also appear in the film. Adolf Tolkachev was among the CIA’s most invaluable assets during the Cold War. Disillusioned with the Soviet regime, he risked his life to pass thousands of pages of top-secret intelligence to the United States. (Variety)

Chris Hemsworth is set to star in the submarine action flick Subversion that will follow a once-promising Naval commander (Hemsworth) who is blackmailed by a cartel-like operation into piloting a dangerous submarine carrying illegal cargo across international waters, thrusting him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, outmaneuvering blockades, and navigating perilous threats both in and outside of the submarine. The cast is set to include Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Halle Berry and Monica Barbaro. (Deadline)

Dark Angel alum Jessica Alba is set to lead the action thriller The Mark, playing Eden, an enigmatic spy on a covert and dangerous mission, who pulls single father Ben Dawson into her world of high-stakes espionage. (Deadline)

Pam & Tommy star Lily James will star in and produce the emotional thriller Photo Booth that is being described as a gripping emotional thriller that confronts the most primal choices we make about love, ambition, and building a family. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

Netflix has given a fifth season renewal to Sweet Magnolias. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

After the two-hour season finale of Fire Country this past Friday night, the surprise announcements were made that series regular Billy Burke, who plays Vince Leone, is leaving the show and series regular Stephanie Arcila, who plays Gabriela Perez is done a series regular, but the producers hope she will appear from time to time as a guest star. (Deadline and TV Line)

The small screen adaptation of Holes over at Disney+ has announced its cast, including Greg Kinnear and Saturday Night Live alum Aidy Bryant [among others]. Unlike the book, the show will feature a female protagonist and mostly female characters, whereas the book followed teenager Stanley Yelnats as he is sent to a juvenile detention camp for boys in Texas. (Variety)

The Rookie has promoted Deric Augustine, who plays rookie Miles Penn, to series regular for the show’s upcoming 8th season, which will air this fall. (Deadline)

Lucifer hunk Tom Ellis will star in the latest series in the FBI franchise over on CBS that was formerly titled FBI: CIA – not just going by CIA, which will follow two unlikely partners: a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer (to played by Ellis), and a yet-to-be-cast, by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent who believes in the rule of law. (TV Line)

This fall the spin-off series Sheriff Country will debut with series lead Morena Baccarin in the lead role of Sheriff Mickey Fox; and now we know who will be joining her in the cast. Covert Affairs and Ugly Betty alum Christopher Gorham and Michele Weaver (Briarpatch) will star as Travis, a lawyer and Mickey ex-husband; while Weaver will star as Cassidy, a deputy in the Edgewater County Sheriff’s Office. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Norman Reedus, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bridgerton alum Phoebe Dynevor will star in the upcoming horror flick Pendulum that follows young couple Patrick (Gordon-Levitt) and Abigail (Dynevor) on a journey to a new-age retreat in New Mexico, drawn by the possibility of healing after a traumatic event. Patrick is willing to do anything to help his wife but becomes distrustful of the retreat’s enigmatic leader even as Abigail falls under her spell. As paranoia builds, the couple must determine if the group’s unconventional spiritual practices offer genuine healing or mask a terrifying truth that threatens to consume them both. Reedus will play the couple’s friend who introduces them to the retreat. (Deadline)

Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, has assembled an all-star voice cast for his animated adaptation of the classic novel Animal Farm, including Seth Rogen, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons and Kathleen Turner (among others). The classic tale is about a group of animals who rebel against their human owners and take over the farm. (Variety)

Cast members for the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping have been announced with newcomer Joseph Zada set to play District 12 tribute Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in the original franchise of movies) and Whitney Peak (Hocus Pocus 2) set to play his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird. Fargo and Civil War alum Jesse Plemons will play a young version of Plutarch Heavensbee, who was played by the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman and McKenna Grace (Captain Marvel and the reboot of Ghostbusters) will play Maysilee Donner, one of the tributes from District 12. (Variety)

GENERAL TV NEWS

CBS will not be moving forward with a spin-off of The Equalizer, which was to be based on guest stars Titus Welliver and Juani Feliz, who appeared in last week’s episode. In fact, The Equazlier is the last remaining show on CBS that is on the bubble of being renewed or cancelled. (TV Line)

OFFICIAL TV PICK-UP

CBS is moving forward with the new drama Einstein giving it a series order. The series will star Criminal Minds vet Matthew Gray Gubler in the title role. The series will focus on Albert Einstein’s brilliant but directionless great-grandson, who spends his days as a comfortably tenured professor until his bad boy antics land him in trouble with the law and he is pressed into service helping a local police detective (to be played by Rosa Salazar) solve her most puzzling cases. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Anyone Royal Pains fans out there. A revival of the once popular USA Network series is being developed by NBC with former series star Mark Feuerstein set to reprise his role of Dr. Hank Lawson. The revival catches up with Hank several years later and finds him searching for a new purpose in life and about to embark on his biggest project yet. (Deadline and TV Line)

CHANGE OF PLANS ON TV

The popular Netflix LGBTQ+ romance series Heartstopper will come to an end as a movie instead of another season of episodes. The movie will be based on the as-yet unreleased 6th novel in the graphic novel series by Alice Oseman. (TV Line)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Enola Holmes 3 has started production in the U.K. with Strange Things alum Millie Bobby Brown returning in the title role as well as returning cast members Louis Partridge, Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham-Carter, Himseh Patel and Sharon Duncan-Brewster. The third movie will see adventure chase Enola Holmes to Malta, where personal and professional dreams collide on a case more tangled and treacherous than any she has faced before. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION

Citadel: Honey Bunny and Citadel: Diana have both been cancelled by Amazon Prime after only one season each, but their stories will continue in the delayed second season of the mothership series Citadel that stars Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Casting has been confirmed for the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series, including the following: John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore; Janet McTeer as Professor McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid. Casting for Harry, Ron and Hermione is ongoing. (TV Line)

Joel Kinnaman has joined the cast of the upcoming limited series Imperfect Women on Apple TV+ that already includes Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara as part of the cast. The series will be about three women and the destructive harm of their hidden secrets. (The Hollywood Reporter)

9-1-1: Nashville has added Grey’s Anatomy Jessica Capshaw to its cast that also includes NCIS: Los Angeles alum Chris O’Donnell. Exact plot details are being kept under wraps, aside from the fact it will focus on first responders in the titular Tennessee city. (Variety)

James Marsden has joined the second season of the Jon Hamm led Apple TV+ drama Your Friends and Neighbors. He is set for a series regular role, but there are no details about who he will play. (Variety)

Piper Perabo (Covert Affairs and Yellowstone) will appear in three episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, playing Jenna Gatlin, a mother whose 9-year-old daughter Dylan is at Grey Sloan for a high-risk brain surgery. (TV Line)

The entire cast of Emily in Paris will be back for the upcoming fifth season except for French actress Camille Razat, who has played Cami since the beginning of the series. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Peacock is developing a sequel series to the popular box office movie Clueless with the movie’s star Alicia Silverstone set to reprise her role of Cher Horowitz. (Variety)

STREAMING MOVIE NEWS

Hunk Nicholas Galitzine and Bill Skarsgard will star in Mosquito Bowl, the first new film under director Peter Berg’s Netflix deal. The movie will be set after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when four of America’s top college football stars set their fame aside to enlist in the Marines. As they prepare for the brutal invasion of Okinawa, they play in a legendary game featuring some of the greatest players in history – a game that, for many, will be the last they ever play. Their roles are being kept under wraps, though. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Ubiquitous actor Glen Powell will star in the upcoming Judd Apatow comedy about a country western star; in fact, the two will write the script together. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Hallmark+ has given a second season renewal to the family drama The Chicken Sisters – and it should also be noted that JAG star David James Elliott will recur next season playing someone from Gus’s (Wendie Malick) past. (TV Line)

AMC has given Mayfair Witches a third season renewal. (Deadline)

Amazon has not given a second season renewal to the sci-fi series The Power. (TV Line)

HBO has given The Last of Us a season three renewal. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Thomas Doherty (Tell Me Lies) has joined the cast of the second season of Paradise over on Hulu in a recurring role, but no other details about what character he will play has been released. (Variety)

CCH Pounder (NCIS: New Orleans) has joined the cast of the Apple TV+ series Cape Fear, based on the box office movie. Pounder joins cast members Javier Bardem, Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson. The series will focus on the storm that is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Adams) and Tom Bowden (Wilson) when Max Cady (Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison.” (Variety)

Sasha Alexander (Rizzoli & Isles and NCIS) has joined the 4th season of the Netflix legal drama The Lincoln Lawyer in the recurring role of FBI Agent Dawn Ruth. (MSN and Variety)

Emma Corrin (Deadpool & Wolverine and The Crown), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) and Olivia Colman (The Crown) have been tapped to play Elizabet Bennet, Mr. Darcy and Mrs. Bennet respectively in the upcoming 6-part limited series on Netflix dedicated to Pride and Prejudice. (TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

AMC is developing a new anthology series based on the iconic novel The Grapes of Wrath, as part of the new Great American Stories that will focus on a different celebrated work, historical moment, or individual narrative celebrating and highlighting the American spirit. The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family, who are forced to abandon their Oklahoma farm due to the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, striking out for California in search of a better life.  (Variety)

Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, will executive produce and star in the TV series adaptation of the best-selling novel Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum, which follows a sequence of life shattering events when a body is discovered off the side of the boardwalk, and will be centered on frenemies and master manipulators, Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker. They, alongside their husbands, childhood friends Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island for years, but this summer everything will come to a head as lifelong grudges and secrets are unearthed. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

American Horror Story alum Finn Wittrock and San Andreas star Alexandra Daddario will star in the movie Hershey, one of the most famous chocolate companies in the world with Wittrock playing Milton Hershey while Daddario will play his wife Kitty, who built a candy empire that powered a philanthropic legacy. (Variety)

Lost alum Josh Holloway, who will soon be seen in the MAX 1970’s-set drama Duster, will star in the upcoming box office movie Flint, which is an adaptation of the wesstern novel by Louis L’Amour. Holloway will play the lead role of James Kettleman, a ruthless East Coast businessman who, in returning to the unforgiving New Mexico frontier, adopts the name Flint, which belonged to the notorious killer who raised him. As he becomes entangled in a violent range war, his encounters with a strong-willed rancher, Nancy Kennigan, challenge him to reconsider the legacy he wants to leave behind. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Showtime and Paramount+ have given a second season renewal to the prequel series Dexter: Original Sin. (TV Line)

Unfortunately, the Christian Kane-led series Almost Paradise has been cancelled after two seasons. However, the show’s executive producer, Dean Devlin, has shared that they are looking for a new home for the series. (TV Line)

ABC has given season renewals to the following dramas: 9-1-1, Grey’s Anatomy, The Rookie and Will Trent. The only drama left on the bubble is Doctor Odyssey. (TV Line)

SERIES ORDER NEWS

The Handmaid’s Tale sequel series The Testaments have been officially given a series order by Hulu. The series will be based on the 2019 novel by Margaret Atwood, which is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, following a new generation of young women in the dystopian Gilead. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

The cast of the latest Harlan Coben Netflix series adaptation I Will Find You has added Severance cast member Britt Lower and This Is Us alum Milo Ventimiglia to its cast that already includes Sam Worthington. The story will follow an innocent father, David, (Worthington) who is serving life for the murder of his own son. When he receives evidence that his child may still be alive, he must break out of prison to find out the truth. Lower will play Rachel Mills, David’s ex-sister-in-law and a former decorated reporter whose life fell apart after she was fired while Ventimiglia will play Hayden, who is from a prominent Boston family and finds purpose in working for his family’s philanthropic foundations. Although he is Rachel’s ex-boyfriend, they remain close friends and confidants. (Variety)

The Rookie and Castle star Nathan Fillion will appear in the upcoming DC series Lanterns on HBO, playing Guy Gardner, one of the multiple Green Lanterns in the cast. He plays the same role in the upcoming Superman movie. The series Lanters will star Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and will follow new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland. (Variety)

Divergent star Shailene Woodley has joined the cast of the Hulu series Paradise for its much anticipated second season. While it hasn’t been confirmed yet, it is believed that Woodley will play a prominent survivor. (Deadline)

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Hey All,

Here are the latest entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL

CBS has given the new medical drama Watson a second season order. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Jessica Chastain and Adam Driver will star in the Apple TV+ drama series The Dealer which is being described as a biting exploration of power, class, seduction and culture set inside the glittering world of the high-end art market, told through the eyes of an aspiring super gallerist (Chastain) and the tangled relationship with her most gifted and unnerving artist (Driver). (Variety)

Tom Everett Scott has joined the cast of the Legally Blonde prequel at Amazon Prime Video, starring as Wyatt, the father of Elle Wood (to be played by Lexi Minetree). (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Grammy winner Lizzo will play Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel singer who was one of the first to appeal to rock n roll and R&B audiences in the film Rosetta, which will capture a pivotal period in Thrape’s life: one of groundbreaking innovation, defiant passion and secret love. (Deadline)

The next Avengers movie – Avengers: Doomsday – has announced the large ensemble cast, which will include Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America; Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon; Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier; Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man; Tom Hiddleston as Loki; Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther; Winston Duke as M’Baku; Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier; Ian McKellen as Magneto; Kelsey Grammer as Beast; Alan Cummings as Nightcrawler; James Marsden as Cyclops; Channing Tatum as Gambit; Rebecca Romijn as Mystique. But wait, there’s more: Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby as the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing; Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova; David Harbour as Red Guardian; Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent; Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost; Lewis Pullman as the mysterious Bob; Simu Liu as Shang-Chi and Tenoch Huerta Mejía, as Namor (from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And, lastly, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom (NOT as Iron Man). Avengers: Doomsday” hits theaters on May 1, 2026. (Variety)

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