Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

RENEWALS/CANCELLATION

Peacock has given the Anthony Mackie-led series Twisted Metal a third season renewal. (Variety)

While a fourth season of the Hallmark Channel series The Way Home is upcoming, that will be the show’s final season. (People)

Wild Cards has been renewed for season 3 at the CW. (Deadline)

HBO has given the Mark Ruffalo-led series Task a second season renewal with Ruffalo set to return. (Deadline)

Ahead of its January 18 premiere on HBO, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the prequel to Game of Thrones has been given a second season renewal, which is expected to happen in 2027. (Deadline)

PBS has given a 7th AND 8th season renewal to the PBS Masterpiece series All Creatures Great and Small. (Deadline)

BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS

Star Wars alum Daisy Ridley will star in the upcoming action-thriller flick The Good Samaritan that will have her playing successful entrepreneur Dr. Rosalind Carver. Together with her husband Mark, she rescues a wounded man drifting off the coast of Indonesia, believing she’s saving a life – not stepping into a deadly conspiracy. Within hours, their yacht vanishes, Matt is abducted, and paradise turns into a trap. Hunted by pirates and imprisoned by corrupt officials, Rosalind’s only hope lies in Sean Fuller, a private military contractor whose motives are as mysterious as his past. Together, they must navigate a maze of deceit and violence in a land where no one can be trusted. (Variety)

Betty Gilpin will star alongside Adam Driver and Anne Hathaway in the Ron Howard-directed flick Alone at Dawn based on the 2019 book by Dan Schilling and Lori Longfritz, which tells the true story of U.S. Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman and his fight to the death to save his fellow soldiers during the 2002 Battle of Takur Ghar in Afghanistan. Years later, an intelligence officer works to prove his valor, leading an investigation that would ultimately secure Chapman the Medal of Honor. There is no word, yet, on what part Gilpin will play in the film. (Deadline)

Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones) will play legendary producer of The Beatles George Martin in the upcoming four-part biopic from director Sam Mendes. He joins Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harrison Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. (Variety)

TV CASTING NEWS

Season 2 of the Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw-led Netflix series Black Doves will include new cast members Ambika Mod (One Day), Babou Ceesay (Alien: Earth) and Neve Campbell (Scream franchise and Party of Five). This time around Knightley’s super-spy Helen is still betraying her nation’s secrets to the covert Black Doves organization, but this time with her in-the-dark husband Wallace (Buchan) preparing to become U.K. Prime Minister. As her enigmatic handler Mrs Reed (returning cast member Sarah Lancashire) is ensnared in a ruthless plot to undermine her position, Helen is reunited with her best friend Sam (Whishaw). But the once high-end triggerman is now reduced to lonely drinks in Soho bars and low-rate hits. As they search for answers, loyalties are weaponized, trust is shattered, and the fight to protect the people they love could cost everything. Mod will play Laila, an acerbic and anarchic Black Doves agent who is sent to help Knightley’s agent Helen on a mission; Ceesay will play Mr. Conteh, a Black Doves executive with suspicious motivations and Campbell will play Cecile Mason, but there are no other specifics on this character. (Variety)

Kevin Costner is reportedly circling the role of former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the political drama series United that is in early development with Coster also serving as executive producer. (Variety)

Gretchen Mol has joined the cast of the Paramout+ drama Tulsa King. She will appear as a series regular opposite Sylvester Stallone, playing Amanda Clark, a Tulsa politician. (Deadline)

All’s Fair alum Niecy Nash-Betts and Will and Grace star Eric McCormack and his real-life son Finnigan McCormack are all set to guest star in season two of the NBC drama The Hunting Party, which stars Melissa Roxburgh (Manifest) as FBI profiler Bex Henderson, who is part of a team of investigators who have been tasked to track down and capture the most dangerous killers the world has ever seen. In the season premiere, Eric McCormack will play Ron Simms aka the “Boogeyman” killer, who is at large and targeting women who are searching for love. Finnigan McCormack will make his acting debut as a younger version of Simms in a flashback. Meanwhile, Nash-Betts will appear in the second episode as Erica Burke, a detective with a past connection to rural New Mexico serial killer Adrian Gallo, who “preserved his victims in acrylic resin, the same way people preserve insects. Bex must work with Erica to find Gallo before it’s too late. (Variety)

Looks like there will be a SEAL Team reunion on Fire Country when Alona Tal joins the series in the recurring role of Chloe Mackenzie, everyone’s favorite teacher, who Bode (series lead Max Thieriot) encounters during a drunk-driving safety drill at a local high school. (iNews)

Necar Zadegan (NCIS: New Orleans) has joined the upcoming drama series CIA as a series regular, playing one of the leads in the FBI spin-off. She will take over for actress Michael Michele who left the series earlier this month. The series will center on two unlikely partners – a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer (Lucifer’s Tom Ellis), and a by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent (Chicago Med’s Nick Gehlfuss) who believes in the rule of law. When this odd couple are assigned to work out of CIA’s New York Station, they must learn to work together to investigate cases and criminals posing threats on U.S. soil, finding that their differences may actually be their strength. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!