TAGGED AS: Apple TV+, Legendary, Monsterverse, television, TV
This week in TV and streaming news is really all about Comic-Con International: San Diego, and if you want to follow all of the news dropping there, we’ve dedicated a special place for it in our Comic-Con Ketchup features hub. In news that’s fit for that Southern California annual event — which is live and in-person again this year, by the way — the father-and-son Russell duo has joined Apple TV+’s series from the Legendary Monsterverse. That means Godzilla, y’all!
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(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures; Todd Williamson/Getty Images)
Kurt Russell is making his first regular TV series starring role since a short-lived NBC drama in the ’70s, and he’s got a familiar co-star for the occasion: his son Wyatt Russell will star alongside the Escape from New York star in Apple TV+’s untitled live-action monster battle between Godzilla and the Titans.
Previously announced stars include Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe, Kiersey Clemons, Joe Tippett, and Elisa Lasowski, who join the Russells in a story about one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch, after a “thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco” and revealed a shocking new reality that monsters are real.
Emmy Award-nominated director Matthew Shakman (WandaVision) will direct the first two episodes and serve as executive producer on the series, which is also executive produced by co-creators Chris Black (Star Trek: Enterprise) who serves as showrunner, and Matt Fraction (Hawkeye).
Legendary’s Monsterverse is an expansive story universe of multi-layered experiences centering around humanity’s battle to survive in a world that is under siege by a catastrophic new reality: the monsters of our myths and legends are real.
Just as Godzilla is coming off a win on the big-screen after pummeling his fellow Monsterverse beast King Kong in last year’s Godzilla vs. Kong, Wyatt Russell comes off a string of TV starring roles that includes Under the Banner of Heaven, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Good Lord Bird, and Lodge 49 and earned him critical praise.
The Apple TV+ series will be the father and son’s first major co-starring project, though Wyatt has made small appearances in his father’s movies, including Escape from L.A., Soldier, and Goon: Last of the Enforcers.
As for TV, Kurt Russell’s last regular TV series role was the aforementioned 1976 NBC drama The Quest.
Read Comic-Con News:
• Comic-Con Ketchup Day 1: Chris Pine Spreads the Gospel of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Ben Stiller Makes His SDCC Debut
• Comic-Con Ketchup Day 2: Stephen Colbert Reveals The Rings of Power, The Walking Dead Returns, and Marvel Does Animation
• Comic-Con Ketchup Day 3: Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods Light Up the Morning, Marvel and Wakanda Forever Say Goodnight
• Comic-Con 2022: All the Movie and TV Trailers
• 2022 San Diego Comic-Con Cosplay Gallery
Ahead of its inaugural Comic-Con appearance, fantasy series House of the Dragon, starring Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, and Emma D’Arcy, released its first full trailer. Based on George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, the Game of Thrones prequel is set 200 years before the events of the older HBO series and tells the story of House Targaryen’s bloodiest period, one that set Targaryen against Targaryen and dragon against dragon. The 10-episode HBO Original drama, which also stars Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans, debuts Sunday, August 21 on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
Related: Everything We Know About Game of Thrones Prequel Series House of the Dragon
• The White Lotus season 2 is spotlighted in HBO Max’s coming-soon preview, with the confirmation that, in addition to returning season 1 star Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya, Jon Gries also returns as Greg (are they still coupled?) in the series, which recently received 20 Emmy nominations (including one for Coolidge as Outstanding Supporting Actress).
• Kevin Can F**k Himself will end with season 2, in which the dark comedy/sitcom spoof finds Allison (Annie Murphy) and Patty (Mary Hollis Inboden) scrambling to deal with Neil (Alex Bonifer), pushing Allison to find a better way out. Altering the original escape plan, Patty once again agrees to help Allison, but this time, on her own terms. Also stars Eric Petersen. Premieres Aug. 22. (AMC)
• The Idol’s brief teaser promises “the sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood,” a drama about the L.A. music industry and the leader of a cult, co-created and starring The Weeknd, with Lily-Rose Depp. Coming soon (HBO)
• Look Both Ways is about Natalie (Lili Reinhart), on the eve of her college graduation, as her life diverges into parallel realities: one in which she becomes pregnant and remains in her hometown, and another in which she does not and moves to Los Angeles. Also stars Danny Ramirez, David Corenswet, Aisha Dee, Andrea Savage, Luke Wilson, and Nia Long Premieres Aug. 17. (Netflix)
• This Fool is a comedy series inspired by the life and stand-up of star and co-creator Chris Estrada, and is set in working class South Central Los Angeles. The show centers around Julio Lopez (Estrada), a 30-year-old who still lives at home, has been dating his girlfriend on and off since high school, and finds any excuse to avoid dealing with his own problems while working at Hugs Not Thugs, a gang rehabilitation non-profit, where he butts heads with his older cousin Luis (Frankie Quinones), an ex-gang member who just got out of prison and moved in with Julio and his family. Also stars Michael Imperioli. Premieres Aug. 12. (Hulu)
• Welcome to Wrexham is a docuseries that follows It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Mystic Quest star Rob McElhenney and his friend Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) as they buy the world’s third oldest pro soccer team, in the working class Wales town of Wrexham, and navigate operating it. Premieres Aug. 24. (FX)
• They/Them is a slasher horror film, set at an LGBTQIA+ conversion camp. Kevin Bacon plays Owen Whistler, as several queer and trans campers join him for a week of programming intended to “help them find a new sense of freedom.”. As the camp’s methods become increasingly more psychologically unsettling, the campers must work together to protect themselves. When a mysterious killer starts claiming victims, things get even more dangerous. Premieres Aug. 5. (Peacock)
• Mike is the eight-part drama exploring the controversial life of champion boxer Mike Tyson. Stars Trevante Rhodes as Tyson. Premieres Aug. 25. (Hulu)
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(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Hugh Jackman will lead the voice cast of the new Hulu animated comedy Koala Man, about Kevin, a rules-obsessed suburban Australian dad who turns superhero — Koala Man — when his neighborhood is plagued with dastardly problems like supernatural terrors, the most villainous baddies … and neighbors who don’t like to take their trash cans to the curb on garbage day. The series is created by Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland and Michael Cusack, who will also voice Kevin. Jackman will voice Big Greg, Kevin’s very capable, well-liked boss, who often gets the credit for the good works Kevin/Koala Man is responsible for. During a July 21 San Diego Comic-Con panel, Hulu also announced the casting of Sarah Snook and Demi Lardner.
Another recent Emmy nominee, Under the Banner of Heaven star Andrew Garfield, will star as British entrepreneur and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson in the limited series Hot Air. Several streaming services are interested in the six-part series, which is based on the book Dirty Tricks from investigative journalist Martyn Gregory, about an intense rivalry between Branson and his Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, Deadline reports. Paddington 2 writer Jon Crocker will write the script, and the series will be directed by Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. (Deadline)
When They See Us Emmy winner Jharrel Jerome will star in and produce the Sony Pictures Television limited series Night of the Assassins, a thriller based on the bestselling book by Howard Blum, from Terminator 3 director Jonathan Mostow and 24 and Homeland producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa and their executive Glenn Geller. The series is the fact-based story about a low-level African American soldier (Jerome) who helped stop a Nazi plot to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin during WWII. (Deadline)
ABC has cast its Belle for the December live-action/animated hybrid special Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration: R&B singer H.E.R. will play the Disney princess in a musical celebration that will be taped before a live audience at Disney Studios, air on ABC on Dec. 15, and then be available on Disney+ on Dec. 16. The two-hour special will include H.E.R.’s performance, as well as new sets and costumes inspired by the Beauty and the Beast story.
Mad Men and Good Girls alum Christina Hendricks will star in Apple TV+’s adaptation of The Buccaneers, Edith Wharton’s unfinished final novel about the titular group of wealthy American girls who are sent to London in the 1870s to attend a ball and to find husbands and shake up the “stiff upper lip” attitude of their British counterparts. She’ll play Mrs. George, the mother of Buccaneers Nan and Jinny (played by Kristine Froseth and Imogen Waterhouse) and once a belle of the ball herself who is now a wealthy, but not necessarily happy, wife. Alisha Boe, Josie Totah, Aubri Ibrag, and Mia Threapleton also star. (Deadline)
(Photo by Aaron Epstein/Roku)
Abbott Elementary Emmy-nominated star Quinta Brunson will star as Oprah Winfrey in Roku’s upcoming all-star movie Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Daniel Radcliffe is playing Yankovic, who co-wrote the movie, which also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Rainn Wilson.
Winning Time and Mayans M.C. actor Edwin Hodge is the newest cast member of the CBS drama FBI: Most Wanted. He’ll debut in the upcoming fourth season as Ray Cannon, an agent who transfers from the Albany office into the NYC office of team lead Remy Scott (Dylan McDermott).
Blindspotting star Rafael Casal has joined the season 2 cast of Disney+’s Loki. No details about his character have been confirmed, but reportedly could be playing Zaniac, a villain possessed by a murderous entity. (Deadline)
Netflix has announced the cast for Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, an animated, supernatural, musical reimaging of the Charles Dickens classic, starring Luke Evans (voices Scrooge), Olivia Colman (voices Past), Jessie Buckley (voices Isabel Fezziwig), Johnny Flynn (voices Bob Cratchit), Jonathan Pryce (voices Jacob Marley), Fra Fee (voices Harry Huffam), Giles Terera (voices Tom Jenkins), Trevor Dion Nicholas (voices Present), and James Cosmo (voices Mr. Fezziwig). The music and lyrics for the December release are by the late Oscar and Grammy winner Leslie Bricusse (Doctor Dolittle, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Superman, Home Alone).
Jelani Alladin (The Walking Dead World Beyond), Noah J. Ricketts (American Gods), and Linus Roache (Law & Order) have joined the cast of the limited series Fellow Travellers, joining Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, and Allison Williams in the political thriller set in McCarthy-era Washington.
Mena Suvari and Greyson Holt will star in the upcoming Lifetime original movie House of Chains, a “ripped from the headlines” story about a married couple whose religious beliefs lead them to keep their six children imprisoned inside their home for years. (Deadline)
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)
As part of his first-look and three-picture deal with Amazon Studios, Eddie Murphy will star in and produce the comedy movie Candy Cane Lane, which reunites him with Boomerang director Reginald Hudlin, who will direct, and fellow producer Brian Grazer. Deadline reports that details of the movie aren’t being shared yet, but the movie comes from a spec script by Kelly Younger, whose childhood holidays provided the inspiration for the movie. (Deadline)
Cartoon Network is teaming with Craig McCracken for reboots of his beloved cartoons The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. The Powerpuff Girls will be the second reboot of the original series, following a 2016-19 remake, and will again revolve Bubbles, Buttercup, and Blossom’s superhero missions to fight crime in between being students. The Foster’s remake, meanwhile, instead of Mac and Bloo, will feature a new cast of characters aimed at a preschool audience. (THR)
Netflix has had a busy week: The company announced during an earnings call this week that they lost only 970,000 subscribers in the second quarter of the year, after predicting it would lose two million. While the streamer is expected to launch a lower-priced ad tier for subscribers next year, Netflix also admitted that certain licensing deals will mean not all content will be available on the ad tier, and the company is testing in five Latin American countries a way to charge subscribers for sharing passwords.
As part of the 25th anniversary celebration of South Park, the Aug. 9-10 Red Rocks concert with series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and bands like Primus and Ween performing songs from the series, will be taped and shown on Comedy Central on Aug. 13 and stream on Paramount+ the next day, THR reports. Meanwhile, The Wrap reports “South Park: The 25th Anniversary Experience” will launch in New York City on July 23. The travelling exhibit of series memorabilia like scripts, props, storyboards, and other never-before-seen goodies, will be housed in a fabricated storage container, in homage to the real storage unit where many of the items have been kept for the past 25 years. And, of course, fans can purchase limited-edition merch at each stop on the multi-city tour, which also includes Chicago, Los Angeles, and Denver.
Shortly after settling her lawsuit against Netflix for racial and gender discrimination, Oscar winner Mo’Nique will tape her first stand-up special for the streamer, in Atlanta. The comedian is also starring in the Lee Daniels-directed Netflix movie The Deliverance.
Hulu released a music video for “Angel in Flip Flops,” Charles Haden-Savage’s (Steve Martin) hit song (on the German music charts, anyway) from the Only Murders in the Building character’s show-within-the-show, Brazzos. Martin, who co-wrote the song that was produced by Paul Schaffer, said, “I am as proud of ‘Angel in Flip Flops’ as I am of any work I’ve done that is not that good.”
