Hey All,
Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:
RENEWAL
Sullivan’s Crossing has been picked up for season 5 on the CW. The 10-episode season is expected to premiere on the network sometime in 2027. (Deadline)
TV CASTING NEWS
This Is Us alum Susan Kelechi Watson has joined the cast of the upcoming as yet untitled Dakota Fanning thriller over at Apple TV that will have Fanning starring as an undercover Treasury agent in a multi-billion-dollar international conglomerate with world-changing political and criminal tentacles, who becomes conflicted between her mission and a belief that her principal target, the heir apparent to all that corrupt power, is at his core a good man and worthy of her love. Watson will play the series regular role of Dawn, a handler for US governmental covert operations. The previously announced cast also includes Stellan Skarsgård, Daryl McCormack, Grace Gummer and Joely Richardson. (Deadline)
Lost alum Maggie Grace has joined the cast of the upcoming AMC drama series Thunder Road that already boasts cast members Dennis Quaid, Michael Rooker and Matt Barr. The series is the multi-generational saga of the fictional Whitlock family, whose legacy in stock car racing is as deep as the family’s ties to the Southern hill country roots that shaped them. Quaid will play racing legend Duane Whitlock, a towering figure who built a racing empire from a legacy of moonshine runs and dirt tracks and refuses to let it die. Grace will play Laney Whitlock, oldest and smartest of Duane’s children and the CEO of Whitlock Racing. (Deadline)
Amazon Prime Video will recast the lead role of its upcoming adaptation of God of War after lead actor Ryan Hurst, who to play Kratos, the titular god of war, was injured on set. (Deadline and Variety)
Gabriel Luna has joined the cast of the second season of Dexter: Resurrection, playing Ray Ballard, a serial killer operating under the name The Sleepy-Eyed Stranger. (Variety)
Jessica Alba has joined the cast of the Netflix reboot of the Jennifer Garner movie 13 Going on 30, but details about who she will be portraying nor the synopsis of the show have been released. (Deadline)
The second season of the MGM+ period piece drama Robin Hood has added James Purefoy (The Following), Colin O’Donoghue (Once Upon a Time) and Luke Roberts (Hudson & Rex) to its cast. Purefoy will play King Henry, O’Donoghue will play Prince Richard and Roberts will play Amaury D’Montfort. (Deadline)
It looks like Melissa Gilbert will not be back as Georgie McGill in season 14 of the Hallmark Channel drama When Calls the Heart. (Entertainment Now)
LINEAR TV MOVIE NEWS
It’s been four years since Angie Harmon appeared in the Lifetime movie Buried in Barstow alongside Hallmark hunk Kristoffer Polaha, but two sequel films are going to be happening with the working titles of Buried in Barstow: Blood for Blood and Buried in Barsto: The Reckoning. The franchise follows former assassin Hazel King (Harmon) as she tries to build a quiet life for herself and her daughter, but her dark past keeps coming back to haunt her. As new threats and unexpected connections emerge, Hazel must navigate loyalty, motherhood, and the possibility of redemption, while confronting who she used to be. Reprising her role of Hazel’s daughter Joy is Lauren Ashley Richards with Anne of Green Gables alum Megan Follows joining the cast as Zadie, the enigmatic matriarch of a powerful construction family whose interests in Barstow and Harmon’s own daughter Finley Sehorn who will play a young Hazel in flashbacks. (Deadline)
STREAMING MOVIE NEWS
Alan Ritchson is in negotiations to star in the upcoming Netflix movie Maelstrom, which will follow a Federal Marshal guarding the fiancée of an arms dealer seeking witness protection. Events unfold over the course of one evening as a hurricane rolls in, blocking outside communication and preventing reinforcements from arriving. Together they must fight to survive the onslaught of men working for the arms dealer, as well as the escalating elements of the natural disaster raging outside. (Variety)
BOX OFFICE MOVIE NEWS
Carey Mulligan will appear in the upcoming film adaptation of The Bell Jar by famed author Slyvia Plath. Pop star Billie Eilish will make her film acting debut in this production too. Mulligan will play Mrs. Greenwood — mother to Eilish’s protagonist Esther Greenwood. (Variety)
An ensemble of actors have joined the upcoming Glenn Powell and Meghann Fahy box office movie called The Girlfriend. They include Rosario Dawson, Lamorne Morris, Stephen Root and Edi Patterson. The movie is about Eve (to be played by Dawson) who gives up her perfect New York City life and moves to Alabama for her husband Elliot’s dream job. Seeing her isolated, friendless, and unhappy, Elliot does what any loving husband would do: he secretly hires an escort (Fahy) to be her new best friend. (Deadline)
The upcoming animated movie Steps will reimagine Cinderella’s “evil” stepsisters (to be voiced by Ali Wong and Stephanie Hsu) as the protagonists. Other voices will be provided by Amanda Seyfried as Cinderella, Bette Midler as the Fairy Godmother, Daniel Radcliffe as the Prince and Peter Dinklage as Roderick, a murderous man-nanny. (What’s on Netflix)
That’s it. Enjoy!
Rueben's Ramblings 