LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature "Devwatch" section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!
BLACK MIRROR (Netflix) - Anthony Mackie and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II have both signed onto the show's fifth season. No specifics about their roles however were given. (Deadline.com)
CASTLE ROCK (Hulu) - Lizzy Caplan, Tim Robbins, Garrett Hedlund, Elsie Fisher, Yusra Warsama, Barkhad Abdi and Matthew Alan are set to star in the anthology's second season, in which "a feud between warring clans comes to a boil when budding psychopath Annie Wilkes (Caplan), Stephen King's nurse from hell, gets waylaid in Castle Rock." Robbins plays Reginald "Pop" Merrill, with Hedlund as John "Ace" Merril, Fisher as Joy, Warsam as Dr. Nadia Omar, Abdi as Abdi Omar, and Alan as Chris Merrill. (Deadline.com)
CHAD (TBS) - Saba Homayoon, Paul Chahidi, Alexa Loo and Ella Mika will round out the cast of the Nasim Pedrad-led comedy pilot, while Rhys Thomas has been tapped to direct and executive produce. Homayoon portrays Naz, "Chad's mother, an attractive, overwhelmed but loving mother of two who is just now venturing out into the dating world after her divorce." Chahidi plays Hamid, "a distant relative of Naz and is living with her family to help raise the kids"; with Loo as Su Chin, "Chad and Peter's best friend, a frail and fragile girl who gets around school in a motorized scooter and suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome"; and Mika as Chad's younger sister Niki, "who is 11 going on 21." (Deadline.com)
DEFENDING JACOB (Apple) - Michelle Dockery and Jaeden Martell have both signed onto the Chris Evans-led limited series, based on William Landay's bestselling novel of the same name. Dockery will play Laurie Barber, the wife of Andy Barber (Evans) and mother of Jacob (Martell). (Deadline.com)
EMPEROR OF MALIBU, THE (CBS) - Deborah S. Craig and director Andy Ackerman are the latest additions to the Ken Jeong-led comedy pilot. She'll play Shiatzy: "A terrifying force of nature, Auggie's mom is sophisticated, a little eccentric and strong-willed. Outraged that Auggie chose his fiancée without her, she does her best to keep Kate (also known as "that one") (TBD) at a distance." (Deadline.com)
I LOVE YOU, AMERICA (Hulu) - Executive producer Gavin Purcell has signed an overall deal with Universal Television for both unscripted and scripted programming. (Deadline.com)
KENAN SHOW, THE (A.K.A. SAVING KENAN) (NBC) - Andy Garcia has signed onto the Kenan Thompson-led single-camera comedy pilot, about "a newly widowed dad (Thompson) determined to be everything for his kids while begrudgingly letting his persistent father-in-law, Percy (Garcia), a retired police officer, become more involved in their lives." (Deadline.com)
MR. MERCEDES (Audience) - Kate Mulgrew, Brett Gelman and Natalie Paul are the latest set to recur on the upcoming third season. Mulgrew will play Alma Lane, "another life-long resident of Bridgton, Ohio and a compelling force in Morris' (Gabriel Ebert) life since he was a boy." Gelman then portrays Roland Finklestein, "a smart, passionate defense attorney who is representing Lou Linklatter (Breeda Wool) in her murder trial"; and Paul will play A.D.A. Sarah Pace, "prosecutor on Lou's case." (Deadline.com)
OUR HOUSE (CBS) - Katherine Heigl is set to star opposite Malcolm Barrett in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about a devoted dad, Shawn (Barrett), and mom, Bridget (Heigl), who are committed to raising their children with the love and support the mom never got as a kid but discover how difficult that is with her insane parents and siblings back in the picture. She'll also receive an executive producer credit on the project. (Deadline.com)
PENNYWORTH (Epix) - Emma Paetz and Jessica Ellerby are the latest to be cast in the upcoming drama, which follows Bruce Wayne's legendary butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon), a former British SAS soldier who forms a security company and goes to work with Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge), Bruce's billionaire father, in 1960's London. Paetz will portray Martha Kane, "who eventually will become Martha Wayne, mother of Bruce"; while Ellerby will recur as The Queen. (Deadline.com)
TRIANGLE (ABC) - Matt Passmore has booked a lead role on the high-concept drama pilot as Liam, "a dark, rash and complicated member of the land's ruling family." (Deadline.com)
UNITED WE FALL (ABC) - Will Sasso and Christina Vidal are set as the leads on the multi-camera comedy pilot, which shows how, when two people, Bill (Sasso) and Jo (Vidal), with young children and overzealous extended families truly love each other, barely anything is possible. Sasso's Bill is "a confident, analytical yet funny and emotional father and husband"; while Vidal's Jo "the youngest of ten siblings, is not a "traditional" mom." (Deadline.com)
WRIGHT (ABC) - Dorian Missick is the latest bound for the Nicholas Pinnock-led drama pilot as Jamal: "A reformed gang-banger who is smart, fit, loyal, savvy, Jamal is a prison inmate and Aaron's (Pinnock) best friend." (Deadline.com)
|