Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items from this past week:

RENEWALS

Amazon Prime has given a second season order to the biblical drama House of David. (Variety)

When Calls the Heart has been given a 13th season renewal by the Hallmark Channel. (TV Line)

Paramount+ has given a season three order to the Sylvester Stallone-led drama Tulsa King. The streaming service has also given School Spirits a third season renewal. (TV Line)

Apple TV+ has given a third season order to Severance. (TV Line)

RELOCATION

NBC will be moving its new Sunday night drama Grosse Pointe Garden Society to Friday nights starting on April 4. This is typically a sign that the network could very well pull the plug on the show and/or not renew it. (TV Line)

NEW TV SHOW NEWS

The latest 9-1-1 spin-off series – 9-1-1: Nashville has landed NCIS: Los Angeles alum Chris O’Donnell in one of the lead roles. He will play Captain Don Sharpe, a rugged fire captain and rodeo rider who runs Nashville’s busiest firehouse with his beloved son. The show will premiere on ABC during the 2025-26 broadcast season. (TV Line)

Four years after the original series came to an end, the Canadian drama Private Eyes will be back with Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson reprising their roles as Matt Shade and Angie Everett. The new “spin-off” (so to speak) will be called Private Eyes West Coast with Matt and Angie solving cases in Victoria, British Columbia. Now leading different lives from their Toronto crime-fighting days, they encounter a world of different cases along with a new group of friends. (Deadline)

The Hallmark Channel is working on a new limited series for the upcoming holidays that will star Mae Whitman, Mary McDonnell and Jane Seymour. The Twelve Dates of Christmas, based on the novel by Jenni Bayliss will follow Saville Row textile pattern designer Kate (Whitman), who lives in the quaint village of Blexford, England next door to her father Mac, who is long-divorced from Kate’s mother Delilah (McDonnell), a globe-trotting American always on an adventure. When not at work, Kate looks after Mac, who’s recovering from a motorbike accident and is inclined to spend his days sitting in his recliner. Unbeknownst to Kate, her best friend Laura signs her up for The 12 Dates of Christmas – a holiday-themed matchmaking program in the days leading up to the holiday featuring carefully curated, yuletide dating experiences, in an attempt to get Kate out of her rut. Lovingly coerced by Laura and longtime best friend Callum, a reluctant Kate ultimately gets into the spirit of the program and is caught off guard when she meets someone who reinvigorates her zest for life. But when Delilah unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep – literally – Kate and Mac’s life and holiday season get upended. Meanwhile, Mac may be embarking on his own romance with local Evelyn (Seymour), a widow who slowly helps him step outside the confines of his house and open his heart. As Kate wends her way through the 12 dates, she takes a circuitous route to romance while also making some important discoveries about herself. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Janet McTeer has joined the cast of the Guy Ritchie crime drama MobLand that will premiere on Paramount+ starting on March 30. She joins a cast that already includes Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. The series will center on a London-based Irish crime family headed by Brosnan’s Conrad Harrigan, that’s fighting for power within a global syndicate. Mirren plays his wife, Maeve and Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, the family’s fixer. McTeer will play a Kat, who is as charming as she is violent. Crime bosses from London to Beijing are anxious never to cross swords with her. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Marcia Gay Harden (So Help Me Todd) has joined the cast of the FOX drama Murder in a Small Town for its upcoming second season. She will play the series regular role of Mayor Christie Holman, a beloved figure in the community and also a consummate political operator. She’s still a practicing doctor and has the best interests of the people of Gibsons at heart, but sometimes she lets her personal interests take precedence. She will complicate life for Karl (Rossif Sutherland) and Cassandra (Kristin Kreuk), as she uses the competing priorities of the community to advance her own agenda. (Variety)

LL Cool J will reprise his role of Sam Hanna in an upcoming episode of NCIS. He will appear in the April 21 episode of the long-running series. (TV Line)

Oscar winner Christoph Walz will appear in season five of Only Murders in the Building in a recurring role that is being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Sarah Pidgeon (The Wilds) has been cast as Carolyn Bessette in the upcoming American Love Story anthology series on FX. The first season of this new anthology series will focus on JFK Jr. and his wife Carolyn. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton) will star in and produce a new version of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. (Deadline and Collider)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Disney+ has renewed Percy Jackson and the Olympians for a third season in advance of the upcoming premiere of season two which is tentatively expected to air this December. (Variety)

Amazon Prime has pulled the plug on the small screen adaptation of Cruel Intentions after only one season. (TV Line)

Paramount+ has given a second season renewal to Landman. (TV Line)

Hallmark+ has given a second season renewal to Mistletoe Murders. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Jason Ritter, who is currently starring in TV’s reboot of Matlock, has joined the cast of the upcoming HBO series Lanterns that will star Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as intergalactic heroes who wear rings that give them extraordinary powers. Ritter will play Billy Macon, son of William Macon, who will be played by Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood and High Potential). (ComicBook.com)

Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries) and Cody Kearsley (Riverdale) will have recurring roles in the upcoming 7th season of Netflix’s Virgin River. Canning will play Victoria, an ex-cop who was shot in the line of duty and is now working for the state medical board as an investigator. While Kearsley will play Clay, the kind of guy that gets noticed when he enters a room, who has experience working the rodeo circuit and grew up in the foster care system with his younger sister, whom he hasn’t seen since he was a teenager; he’s been looking for her ever since. (Deadline)

Franka Potente (Run Lola Run, the Bourne movie franchise) has joined the cast of Dark Winds in a key guest role, which has yet to be announced. (Deadline)

Alan Tudyk went on record at Emerald City Comic Con 2025 that his Firefly co-star Jewel Statie will be appearing in season 4 of Resident Alien, but no other details have been released. (PopVerse.com)

Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate and Matador) has joined season two of the Amazon Prime series The Terminal List in the recurring role of Freddy Strain, a former SEAL Team 6 Senior Chief and current officer with CIA’s Ground Branch, who is a man of two worlds – equal parts elite sniper and dedicated family man. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The new, upcoming Catherine Hardwick directed movie Street Smart has added Skeet Ulrich (Scream and Jericho), Skylar Astin (So Help Me Todd and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Sally Struthers (All in the Family), Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River and So Help Me Todd) and Tyson Ritter (lead singer of the All-American Rejects and TV’s Preacher) to its cast. The movie will offer a gripping look into the lives of a lively group of unhoused young adults in the iconic beach town of Venice, CA. They come together with humor and a bit of Robin Hood-style larceny, forging unbreakable bonds and redefining what it means to be a family. The cast already includes Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Yara Shahidi (black-ish), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows) [among others]. (Deadline)

Kate Beckinsale (Underwrodl and Lewis Tan (Cobra Kai) will appear in the upcoming box office movie Lioness that will be about an ex-black ops team who reunite to pull off a desperate heist to save the life of their leader’s (Beckinsale) eight-year-old daughter. (Deadline)

Isabel May (1883) is in negotiations to join David Corenswet (the upcoming Superman movie) in the football drama flick Mr. Irrelevant that will focus on John Tuggle, who was given the title after being the last pick of the last round of the 1983 NFL draft. The film will tell the inspiring and heartfelt true story of Tuggle, drafted by the New York Giants and his enduring impact on his team and teammates. (Deadline)

Stranger Things alum Sadie Sink has been cast in Spider-Man 4, but it is unclear who she will play in the film just yet, but it’s rumored she could possibly play X-Men mutant Jean Gray. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

Syfy has ordered a third season for The Ark with new episodes slated to begin sometime in 2026. (TV Line)

The Amazon Prime drama The Summer I Turned Pretty will come to an end after its upcoming third season, which is set to premiere in July. (TV Line)

Netflix has pulled the plug on The Recruit after two seasons. (TV Line)

Paramount+ has given Criminal Minds: Evolution a renewal order before its current new season is set to premiere on May 8. (TV Line)

The Hallmark Channel has given a fourth season order to its drama The Way Home. (TV Line)

CBS has pulled the plug on both FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted as well as S.W.A.T. All three shows will end their runs this season. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Krysten Ritter has joined the cast of the next spin-off series Dexter: Resurrection that will find Michael C. Hall back in the title role. Ritter will guest star as a character name Mia, but there are no other details about that character. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Rachel Weisz will star and executive produce the new Netflix limited series Vladimir, which will focus on a woman’s life as it unravels and she becomes obsessed with her captivating new colleague. (Variety)

Chicago Fire alum Eamonn Walker will reprise his role of Deputy Commissioner Wallace Boden in the NBC drama in the April 16 episode. (TV Line)

Sam Worthington will star in the upcoming Netflix series I Will Find You based on the book by Harlan Coben. He will play David Burroughs, a father serving a life sentence for the murder of his own son— a crime he didn’t commit, yet a tragedy he punishes himself for every day. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor-turned director Michael B. Jordan will be remaking The Thomas Crown Affair for which he will act and direct. Actress Taylor Russell (Lost in Space and the box office movie Bones and All) will star opposite him in the movie. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

FOX has given a second season renewal to the medical drama Doc. (TV Line)

Netflix has pulled the plug on the Australian based series Territory after only one season. (Tom’s Guide.com)

AMC has given a 4th season renewal to Dark Winds. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Resident) and Megalyn Echikunwoke (Almost Family) will recur in the upcoming 3rd season of the FOX drama Alert: Missing Persons Unit. Warner will play Chief Inspector Bill Houston, who steps into an interim role with oversight of the MPU. A former Army Captain, Houston believes in structure and rules and, in the past, had issues with Jason’s cowboy tactics. He begins to come around to the idea that some rules need to be broken once he sees the results the team gets with their unorthodox approach. He will become the father figure MPU didn’t know they needed. Echikunwoke will play Lt. Gabrielle Bennett, who started her career in Philly PD as Jason’s trainee. His departure under clouded circumstances was followed by her fast rise. Not a coincidence. Bennett is tough, ambitious, and has a cutting sense of humor. She supports getting things done by any means necessary, just so long as nothing comes back to bite her. (Deadline)

Patrick Wilson will join Amy Adams and Javier Bardem in the upcoming Apple TV+ Cape Fear adaptation that will follow a happily married couple whose lives are turned upside down when a notorious killer from their past gets out of prison. Adams will play the wife, Anna, while Bardem will play the killer. Wilson’s role has yet to be officially disclosed. (Variety)

Director and Emmy winner Lena Waithe will make a rare acting appearance in the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, playing Dr. Evynn Moore, a brilliant and savvy former student of Catherine Fox’s (Debbie Allen) who visits Grey Sloan to help her on a unique case which happens to be for her wife (Andrea Bordeaux. She will appear in two episodes. (Deadline)

The Reacher spin-off series Neagley, which will center on Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), has added some series regulars including Greyston Holt (Riverdale) as Detective Hudson Riley, Matthew Del Negro (Mayor of Kingstown) as Pierce Woodrow and Damon Herriman (Justified) as Lawrence Cole. The series will focus on Frances Neagley, a private investigator in Chicago. When she learns that a beloved friend from her past has been killed in a suspicious accident, she becomes hell-bent on justice. Using everything she’s learned from Jack Reacher and her time as a member of the 110 Special Investigators, Neagley puts herself on a dangerous path to uncover a menacing evil. (Variety)

There will be a Supernatural reunion on The Boys when series regulars Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins will both appear in the superhero dramas’s upcoming 5th season. What roles they will play, though, are being kept under wraps. (TV Line)

Box office actress Sharon Stone will appear in the upcoming third season of Euphoria, but details about her role have yet to be announced. (Variety)

Actors Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan have joined the cast of the upcoming third season of the Amazon Prime fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but details on their characters have not be announced yet. (Variety)

Peacock has announced that even more guest stars have been added to the upcoming 2nd season of Poker Face. Those latest additions are David Alan Grier, Lauren Tom, Lili Taylor, Natasha Leggero and Richard Kind, but details on their roles are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

Zendaya has joined the cast of the upcoming animated movie Shrek 5 in which she will provide the voice for Felicia, the daughter of Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) and Fiona (voice by Cameron Diaz). (Variety)

Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler will star in the upcoming box office movie Deep Cuts, which will be based on the recently released debut novel by Holly Brickley. The film centers on a love story between two music-obsessed twenty-somethings as they navigate the messy realities of ambition, belonging, and adulthood in the 2000s. (Indie Wire)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Looks like Adele Lim has been set as showrunner and executive producer of a series adaptation of 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians, which is based on the Kevin Kwan book of the same name. Lim co-wrote the film. It is not yet known whether the series will feature returning cast members from the film, though. (Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

Disney has given a greenlight to the 5th Descendants movie in the franchise with Kylie Cantrall and Malia Baker set to reprise their roles of Princess Red and Princess Chloe respectively. Leonardo Nam will return as Maddox Hatter as well. The 5th film will pick up shortly after the events of the 2024 film Descendants: The Rise of Red, exploring what happily ever after is really like for Red and Chloe following their return from their time-traveling adventures and delves into the warning at the end of The Rise of Red. (Deadline)

NEW SERIES CASTING

Scott Foley will star as a modern-day minister named Malcolm in the new Amazon Prime series It’s Not Like That, which has been given a cast contingent series order. The series will be about Lori who is freshly divorced with two teens. Malcolm is a minister and a recently widowed dad of three. Their families once did everything together, but now Lori and Malcolm must navigate their newly minted singledom, parenthood and the complexities of Malcolm being a modern-day minister. Is this the beginning of a love story? It’s not like that. Or is it? (Variety)

Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany will star in the new comedic thriller series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed at Apple TV+, which will follow a newly divorced mom who falls down a dangerous rabbit hole of blackmail, murder and youth soccer. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

PBS has given Miss Scarlet a sixth season renewal. (TV Line)

BBC has given a third season order for the police drama Vigil that stars Suranne Jones and Game of Thrones alum Rose Leslie. (Deadline)

CBS has given series renewals to the following dramas: Tracker, Elsbeth, Fire Country, NCIS, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney. They join the already renewed FBI and Matlock. However, word of a renewal for the following shows has NOT been made yet: The Equalizer, FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted, Watson and S.W.A.T. (TV Line)

Amazon Prime has pulled the plug on the Margo Martindale series The Sticky after only one season. (TV Line)

Hulu has given a second season order to the Sterling K. Brown-led drama Paradise. (Variety)

NOTE: The first season of the series will get its network debut on ABC starting on April 7.

SERIES PICK-UP ORDERS

ABC has announced a series pick-up for another 9-1-1 spin-off. The new show aptly entitled 9-1-1: Nashville will take place in the Music City during the 2025-2026 TV season. (Deadline and TV Line)

CBS has announced a spin-off series to Blue Bloods that will star series lead Donnie Wahlberg. Boston Blue will find Danny Reagan (Wahlberg) taking a position with the Boston PD where he will be partnered with Detective Lena Peters, the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family. The series is expected to be part of the 2025-2026 TV season. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Mary Louise Parker (Weeds) and David Alan Grier (St. Denis Medical) have landed guest starring roles in season two of the CBS hit series Elsbeth, which stars Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni. Parker will play Freya, a decluttering guru with a minimalist lifestyle brand and a controlling personality while Grier will play Arthur Greene Jr., the highly professional owner of a family mortuary that caters to the one percent. (Variety)

The Flash alum Matt Letscher will show up on the new spin-off series Suits LA, playing the dad of Ted Black, who is played by Arrow alum Stephen Amell. (TV Line)

Megan Follows, who came to fame portraying legendary book character Anne Shirley in the PBS series Anne of Green Gables, will portray the author of that legendary franchise of books Lucy Maud Montogomery in a new series to be called Lucy. Maud (and yes there is an actual period between the title of the series). Follows will play Maud, from her forties through the end of her life, and the actress will also serve as executive producer on the series. There are no specific details on where this series will air, though. (Variety)

Nepotism is alive and well over on Nobody Wants This, the Adam Brody and Kristen Bell-led Netflix series. Brody’s real-life wife, actress Leighton Meeter will appear in the show’s upcoming second season, playing Abby, Joanne’s (played by Bell) middle school nemesis who is now an Instagram mommy influencer. (Variety)

More recognizable faces will be showing up in season two of the Peacock series Poker Face. Among those familiar folk will be Haley Joel Osment, John Cho, Justin Theroux, Jason Ritter, Alia Shawkat, Carol Kane, David Krumholtz and Melanie Lynskey (the real-life wife of Ritter and star of Yellowjackets). They join an already impressive list of guest stars for the upcoming season that includes Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Holmes, Gaby Hoffmann, Kumail Nanjiani, Cynthia Erivo, BJ Novak, Margo Martindale, John Mulaney, Awkwafina, Corey Hawkins, Simon Rex and Method Man (among others). Details regarding their characters are under wraps, though. (Deadline)

Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte star Golda Rosheuvel will appear in the BBC TV adaptation of The Dream Lands, which is based on the apocalyptic climate change novel by Rosa Rankin-Gee that will also include among its cast Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies and Monarch). (Deadline)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Claire Danes will reunite with My So-Calle Life creator Winnie Holzman for a new family drama being developed by HBO. The Applebaum Curse will focus on a dysfunctional family with Claire Danes in the lead role. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

The next new movie starring Chris Pine will be Nowhere Fast, a Texas crime thriller following a small-town criminal who inadvertently kills the nephew of his boss. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Amazon Prime has renewed The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for a 3rd season. (TV Line)

Netflix has renewed the YA series XO, Kitty for a third season. (TV Line)

MAX has given a season two order to the medical drama The Pitt. (TV Line)

Hulu has pulled the plug on the TV adaptation of the wildly popular book series A Court of Thorns and Roses based on the books by Sarah J. Maas. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Actress Jackie Tohn has been promoted to series regular for season two of the Netflix hit rom-com Nobody Wants This. She plays Esther Roklov, the wife of Sasha (Timothy Simons) and sister-in-law to Rabbi Noah (Adam Brody). (TV Line)

Perry Mason and The Americans alum Matthew Rhys will star in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Widow’s Bay that will be about a mysteriously cursed New England island and its superstitious citizens, led by a mayor (Rhys) who refuses to believe their warnings. (Variety)

Game of Thrones alum Peter Dinklage has joined the cast of the upcoming series Dexter: Resurrection. There are no plot details for the series though, but it will serve as a direct follow-up to the prequel series Dexter: New Blood. This new series will include Uma Thurman, David Zayas, James Remar, and Jack Alcott. Dinklage will play Leon Prater, a billionaire venture capitalist. (Variety)

Amy Adams has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple TV+ series Cape Fear that will star Javier Bardem. The series is based on the John D MacDonald novel and the box office movies based on that novel. The official logline is: A storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Adams) and Tom Bowden when Max Cady (Bardem), a notorious killer from their past, gets out of prison. (Variety)

John Lighgow is close to taking overe the role of Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster, in the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series. (Deadline and TV Line)

Succession star Jeremy Strong will star in the Netflix series adaptation The Boys From Brazil, which is based on the Ira Levin novel. In the novel, Nazi hunter Yakov Liebermann receives a tip that the notorious Dr. Josef Mengele is alive and living under an assumed name in Brazil. Liebermann travels to the South American country to track down the so called “Angel of Death,” only to discover a sinister conspiracy at work. Sources say that Strong would star as Liebermann. (Variety)

Amazon Prime is working on a prequel series to Legally Blonde, the movie that starred Reese Witherspoon. The series, Elle, has cast Lexi Minetree (The Murdaugh Murders) in the lead role. (TV Line)

Catherine Zeta-Jones will star in the Amazon Prime revenge thriller Kill Jackie that is based on the novel “The Price You Pay” by Nick Harkaway (aka Aidan Truhen). Zeta-Jones will play Jackie Price, who has been living a wealthy, luxurious existence for the last 20 years, traveling the world, selling fine art using sophisticated tax loopholes and, above all, trying to stay anonymous after escaping a dangerous past as an international cocaine dealer. She will also serve as an executive producer. (Variety)

The Good Place’s D’Arcy Carden will appear in the 6th and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, but there are no details on what her role will be, though. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Country singer Jelly Roll will make his acting debut in an upcoming episode of the third season of the CBS hit drama Fire Country. (Good Housekeeping)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce will join Jacob Elordi in the upcoming dystopian thriller The Dog Stars from director Ridley Scott and based on the novel by Peter Heller. The story centers on a civilian pilot living on an abandoned airbase with his dog and an ex-Marine amid a devastating pandemic. A random transmission picked up by the pilot’s radio from his 1956 Cessna offers hope for a better life. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Selma Blair will star in the upcoming supernatural thriller Silent, playing Skylar, a sound designer hired anonymously to create the audio for a rare silent film. Disturbed by its contents, Skylar is nonetheless increasingly obsessed with her work and unwittingly finds herself caught up in a dark ritual that unlocks an ancient evil, threatening to consume her and her young daughter. (Variety)

Top Gun: Maverick alum Miles Teller will star as Italian cycling champion and WWII hero Gino Bartali in the upcoming biopic Bartali. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION NEWS

The horror-comedy series Hysteria! has been canceled by Peacock after only one season. (TV Line)

SEQUEL NEWS

It looks like a sequel series to Buffy the Vampire Slayer just might be getting a pilot order at Hulu; and what’s more series lead Sarah Michelle Gellar is in final talks to reprise her role as Buffy Summers. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

The For All Mankind spin-off series Star City has added Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill and House of the Dragon) and Anna Maxwell Martin (Philomena and Good Omens) to its cast. The spin-off is being described as a propulsive, paranoid thriller that takes us back to the key moment in the alt-history retelling of the space race – when the Soviet Union became the first nation to put a man on the moon. But this time, we explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, showing the lives of the cosmonauts, the engineers, and the intelligence officers embedded among them in the Soviet space program, and the risks they all took to propel humanity forward. Ifans will play the Chief Designer, the driving force behind the Soviet Space program while Martin will play Lyudmilla, the head of the KGB surveillance department at Star City. (Deadline and Variety)

Justified star Timothy Olyphant has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Lucky that will star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) and Annette Bening. Based on the book by Marissa Stapley, the series will follow a young woman who left behind the life of crime she was raised in years ago, but must now embrace her darker, criminal side one final time in a desperate attempt to escape her past. Olyphant will play John, Lucky’s father. (Variety)

Mark Strong (Shazam! and Kingsman: The Secret Service) has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple TV+ series adaptation of Neuromancer based on the novel by William Gibson that follows a damaged, top-rung super-hacker named Case (Callum Turner from Master of the Air) who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high stakes crime with his partner Molly, a razor-girl assassin with mirrored eyes, aiming to pull a heist on a corporate dynasty with untold secrets.” Strong will play a character named Armitage. (Variety)

Constance Zimmer (Entourage and UnREAL) has joined the 4th season of the Netflix legal drama The Lincoln Lawyer. The new season will see Mickey Haller (series lead Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) defending himself as he goes on trial for murder. He will face off with the prosecutor on the case, Dana Berg (Zimmer) who has ties to Mickey’s first ex-wife Maggie (Neve Campbell). (Deadline)

Omari Hardwick (Power) and Dana Gourrier (Evil and The Hateful Eight) will star in the upcoming Amazon Prime scripted series about the life of Muhammad Ali. Hardwick will play Ali’s father, Cassius “Cash” Clay Sr., while Gourrier will Ali’s mother, Odessa “Bird” Clay. (Variety)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

James Norton (Joy and Grantchester), Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) and Pip Torrens (The Crown) have joined previously announced cast members Cosmo Jarvis (Shogun), Rosamund Pike, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Benedict Cumberbatch in the upcoming Guy Richie box office movie Wife & Dog that will look into the colorful and backstabbing world of the British upper classes. (Variety)

Charlize Theron, Eric Bana and Taron Egerton will star in the new movie called Apex, which will be about a grieving woman who seeks solace in the Australian wilderness, only to find herself ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a serial killer. (Tudum by Netflix)

Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), James Norton (Joy and Grantchester), Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones and The Last of Us) will star in the upcoming movie Sunny Dancer, a deeply personal, coming-of-age, comedy romance that follows Ivy (Ramsey), a young girl who is less than thrilled when forced to attend a summer camp for young people affected by cancer. (Variety)

Owen Wilson (Loki) and Alan Ritchson (Reacher) will star in the upcoming action-drama Runner, which follows Hank Malone (Ritchson), a high-end courier who has three hours to transport an organ to save a seven-year-old girl in need of an immediate transplant. The seemingly simple mission turns deadly when the leader of a notorious crime syndicate becomes hell-bent on claiming the organ. Wilson will play Ben, the medical courier that Ritchson is begrudgingly forced to transport and protect. (Deadline)

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Lucas Hedges (Manchester By the Sea) will star in the Vietnam War thriller Trust the Man that follows an ambitious Army Intelligence officer during the Vietnam War assigned to investigate a decorated soldier with a mysterious past. As surveillance and interrogation deepen, the line between loyalty and obsession blurs, leading both men into a dangerous and uncontrollable connection. (Deadline)

Madelyn Cline (Netflix’s Outer Banks) will star alongside Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in the upcoming action thriller Day Drinker, which follows a cruise ship bartender who meets a mysterious day drinker — only for both of them to find themselves entangled in a criminal underbelly. (Variety and Deadline)

Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect franchise) will star alongside 24 alum Kiefer Sutherland in the Christmas comedy Tinsel Town. Sutherland will play Bradley Mack, a Hollywood action star with a bloated ego who is blindsided when his iconic action franchise is abruptly canceled. With his career in freefall and worried his Hollywood days are behind him, he heads to England, hoping to rebuild his image as a serious actor on the West End. But his long-suffering agent has other plans, sending Bradley instead to a small, snow-dusted village to star in the town’s eccentric production of ‘Cinderella.’ As he fumbles through rehearsals with a colorful cast of oddball locals, Bradley begins to discover a spark of new beginnings in the form of no-nonsense choreographer Jill (Wilson). (Variety)

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS

The holiday movie My Secret Santa will be part of Netflix’s 2025 Christmas line-up, and the cast will include Virgin River star Alexandra Breckenridge, New Amsterdam and Cross star Ryan Eggold and newcomer Madison MacIsaac as well as Tia Mowry and Diana Maria Riva. The movie will follow a vivacious single mom who, in need of a job, disguises herself as a man in order to get hired as the seasonal Santa at a luxury ski resort. When she starts to fall in love with the hotel manager, complications sure do ensue. (What’s on Netflix)

Hallmark and Great American Family alum Jen Lilley will star alongside Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13) and Michelle Hurd (The Glades and Star Trek: Picard) in the Christmas movie Holiday Hearts that will follow Silver Morgenstern (Lilley), a heart surgeon who returns to her hometown and meets a man with terminal illness at a local hospital. Quinlan will play Silver’s tough mother while Hurd will play a veteran surgeon who goes toe-to-toe with Silver at work. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

CANCELLATION

Netflix has pulled the plug on The Sandman, the fantasy drama based on the Neil Gaiman comic series. The upcoming second season will be the show’s last. (Variety and TV Line)

NEW SERIES ORDERS

Peacock has ordered a series adaptation of The Five-Star Weekend, based on the Elin Hilderbrand novel, which will star Jennifer Garner. The official description of the series is this: Hollis Shaw (Garner), a famed food influencer known for her delicious recipes, impeccable taste, and warm demeanor suffers a devastating loss. Unable to move forward, the death starts to expose the cracks in Hollis’s picture-perfect life—her strained marriage, her complicated relationship with her daughter, and her growing pursuit of validation from her followers. In an effort to overcome grief and find herself again, Hollis gets the idea to host a weekend away at her house on Nantucket with three friends from different stages in her life: her childhood, her twenties, thirties, and one surprise fifth star. Set against a luxurious and coastal backdrop, they will mature in ways they could never imagine as boundaries are pushed and secrets are exposed. (Variety)

Netflix has ordered a new series adaptation of Little House on the Prairie, based on the classic novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The official logline goes like this: Part hopeful family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West, this fresh adaptation of the books offers a kaleidoscopic view of the struggles and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Kate Mara (2015’s Fantastic Four and Shooter) will appear opposite Elisabeth Moss and Kerry Washington in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Imperfect Women, which is a psychological thriller examining a crime that shatters the lives of a decades-long friendship of three women, exploring guilt and retribution, love and betrayal, and the compromises we make that alter our lives irrevocably. The series is based on the Araminta Hall novel. (Variety)

Jason Patric (The Lost Boys) will make a rare venture into TV recurring in the upcoming 5th season of Law & Order: Organized Crime, which has moved from NBC to Peacock. He will play Detective Tim McKenna. (Deadline)

Annette Bening will star alongside Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) in the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Lucky, which is based on the novel by Marissa Stapley. The series will focus on a young woman who left behind the life of crime she was raised in years ago, but must now embrace her darker, criminal side one final time in a desperate attempt to escape her past. Bening will appear in the role of Priscilla. (Variety)

James Norton (2019’s Little Women and Grantchester) will appear as Ormund Hightower in the upcoming third season of the HBO series House of the Dragon. Ormund Hightower is the nephew of Otto (Rhys Ifans) and cousin to Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Gwayne (Freddie Fox). He is presently leading the Hightower host in a march on King’s Landing to support his house against Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). (Variety)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Tobias Menzies (The Crown and Outlander) will appear in the box office movie The Entertainment System Is Down, which will be a social satire set on a long-haul flight. When the aircraft’s entertainment systems fails, an eclectic group of international passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored. Previously announced cast members include Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, Nicholas Braun, Samantha Morton and Daniel Brühl. (Deadline and Digital Spy)

Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan and Horizon: An American Saga), Ben Hardy (Bohemian Rhapsody) Scoot McNarity (A Complete Unknown) will star in the dystopian survival thriller Die By Night, which will be set in a post-apocalyptic world where long stretches of ‘Night’ plunge the world into chaos. The story sees creatures known as The Horde hunt in the dark. Runaway Lucia (Fuhrman) must find her way to The Wall where safety awaits, while an injured but determined Barry (Hardy) promises to get them there. But The Horde are not the only threat out there. The Clans — tribes of people whose survival and prosperity depends on selling and trading humans to gain strength in numbers — also stand in their way. (Variety)

It looks like Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and Friends alum Lisa Kudrow are in final talks to return for a sequel to their 1997 cult classic comedy Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. (The Hollywood Reporter and Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

ABC has given the new drama High Potential a second season renewal. (TV Line)

Netflix has given The Lincoln Lawyer a fourth season renewal. (TV Line)

HBO has given The White Lotus a fourth season premiere ahead of the show’s upcoming third season premiere. (TV Line)

NEW SHOW DEVELOPMENT

It looks like there will be another FBI spin-off in the works at CBS. A backdoor pilot is slated to air in the spring with the prospective spin-off to be FBI: CIA, focusing on a dedicated, strait-laced FBI agent and a street-smart CIA agent who join forces as part of a new, clandestine task force charged with solving and preventing domestic terrorism in and around New York City. (TV Line)

TV CASTING NEWS

Netflix is all set with the next adaptation of another Harlan Coben story. This time it will be Run Away, which will follow Simon (James Nesbitt), who seemingly had the perfect life. But then, his eldest daughter Paige ran away and everything fell apart. When he finds her, vulnerable and strung out on drugs in a city park, he finally has the chance to bring his little girl home. The cast will include Minnie Driver and Alfred Enoch. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Suits LA will find Patton Oswalt, Brian Baumgartner and Enrico Colantoni all playing versions of themselves in guest roles in the new spin-off that is set to debut near the end of February. (NBC)

Lucien Laviscount will return as series regular on the upcoming 5th season of Emily in Paris. His character Alfie was introduced in season two and became a series regular in season three, but then he only appeared in four episodes of season four, but now he’ll be back full time in season 5. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and Billy the Kid) has joined the cast of the upcoming box office movie The Cry of the Guards. The story unfolds over the course of one night near a construction site in Senegal, where a group of workers are confronted by a man seeking justice for his brother’s death at the site. (Variety)

Looks like Ryan Gosling (The Fall Guy and Barbie) just might be starring in an untitled Star Wars movie that will be directed by Shawn Levy. The movie is said to be a standalone project that isn’t connected with the Skywalker Saga, but all other plot details are being kept under wraps. (Variety)

Shogun star Cosmo Jarvis has landed a role in the upcoming movie Wife & Dog from director Guy Ritchie, which will be set in the colorful, backstabbing world of the British upper class, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rosamund Pike and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Jarvis is expected to play the son of Hopkins’ character and the brother of Pike’s character. (Variety)

Awkwafina will star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alan Ritchson in the upcoming holiday family comedy The Man with the Bag. The film revolves around Santa’s (Schwarzenegger) magic bag and after it is stolen, he turns to his naughty list to find Vance (Ritchson), a thief, to help him get it back. Along with his daughter, Santa, and a group of misfits, Vance will have to pull off the greatest heist of his life to save Christmas. Details for her role are being kept under wraps, though. (Deadline)

An impressive ensemble cast is being put together for the film adaptation of the smash hit novel Children of Blood and Bone by author Tomi Adeyemi. The story is set in a mythical African fantasy kingdom named Orïsha, following a young woman, Zélie, who is a member of the group known as the maji, citizens who had special powers before the king attempted to rid the world of magic. When she discovers a way to bring those powers back, and, in turn, help the former maji, who have been disenfranchised and mistreated, she goes on a quest with her brother to ally with the daughter and son of the tyrannical king to fight back against his brutal rule. The cast will include Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King), Amandla Stenberg (The Acolyte), Damson Idris (Snowfall), Tosin Cole (Supacell and Doctor Who), Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Idris Elba (Luther and The Wire), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave). Also, Regina King (Watchmen and If Beale Street Could Talk) is in talks to appear in the movie as well. (Variety)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWAL/CANCELLATION

FOX has given a second season renewal to the new drama Murder in a Small Town. (TV Line)

Peacock has pulled the plug on their horror series Teacup after only one season. (TV Line)

SERIES IN THE WORKS

Looks like Supernatural alum Jared Padalecki just might be teaming up with CBS for a new series. That series could possibly be the as-yet-untitled medical drama, that will be run by Anna Fricke will center on a devoted country doctor (Padalecki) who practices his unique style of improvisational medicine alongside his new protégé, a young doctor running from her past, as they operate a mobile clinic and heal the bodies and souls of their underserved community in the medical desert of rural Texas. (TV Line)

Titus Welliver (Bosch) and Juani Feliz (the box office movie Civil War) will guest star in an upcoming episode of The Equalizer, which could set up a potential spin-off for their characters. This is a spin-off that was reporting on back in November. Welliver will play Hudson Reed, a former top CIA operative with a dark secret who is connected to Robin McCall (Queen Latifah) by an old mentor. Meanwhile, Feliz will play Samanta Reed, who was trained by her father to be a weapons expert, skilled martial artist and true chameleon all while hiding a mysterious past. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water) has joined the cast of the upcoming HBO limited series DTF St. Louis which already includes among its cast Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), David Harbour (Stranger Things) and Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me). The series will focus on the love triangle between three adults experiencing middle-age malaise, which leads to one of them ending up dead. Jenkins will play the role of Detective Donoghue Homer. (Variety)

Season three of Silo, the post-apocalyptic series on Apple TV+ will now include new cast members Ashley Zukerman *(Manhattan and Succession) and Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), who were teased in the final twisty scene of the show’s second season that recently aired on the streaming service earlier this week. Zukerman will play Daniel, a young and hungry congressman while Henwick will play Helen, a whip-smart reporter. (The Hollywood Reporter)

BOX OFFICE CASTING NEWS

David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer and Numb3rs) and British actress Emily Beecham (Cruella and Hail, Caesar!) have joined the cast of the upcoming box office movie Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow that will star House of Dragons alum Milly Alcock in the title role. Krumholtz and Beecham will play Supergirl’s parents. (The Hollywood Reporter)

That’s it. Enjoy!

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