TAGGED AS: Animation, Horror, streaming, television, TV
After Keanu Reeves’ exit hit the news last week, Hulu’s The Devil in the White City lost executive producer/director Todd Fields, according to reports. Amid layoffs, Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation will merge their production teams as part of Warner Bros. Television’s ongoing restructuring plan. Netflix offered a first look at The Crown season 5 and announced a November launch for its ad-supported $6.99 subscription tier. Prime Video teased two new super-powered characters from The Boys season 4. Plus, trailers for Prime Video’s The English, Netflix’s second season of Warrior Nun, and season 3 of Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest, and more of the week’s biggest news in TV and streaming.
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(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Hulu’s limited series adaptation of Erik Larson’s bestselling nonfiction book The Devil in the White City has hit another production speed bump. After it was announced that Keanu Reeves, who was set to star, had left the project for undisclosed reasons last week, executive producer Todd Field has also made his exit, Variety reported.
Similar to Reeves, no reason was given for Field’s move to detach himself from the series. The search has already begun to replace Field, who was on-board to helm the first two episodes.
Released in 2003, Larson’s novel takes readers back in time to Chicago’s World’s Fair in 1893 where two unlikely characters come together. On one side of the proverbial coin in architect Daniel Burnham (whom Reeves was set to play), the other finds serial killer H.H. Holmes, who ended up being a different sort of architect, constructing what would later be referred to as “the Murder Castle.”
While there’s no word yet regarding who will play Holmes, Leonardo DiCaprio, who bought the film rights to the book back in 2010, was in line to play the part. Martin Scorsese was on board to direct. When the project evolved into the eight-episode series currently in development at Hulu, both men backed off in their involvement, while keeping their names attached as executive producers.
(Photo by Adult Swim)
Warner Bros. Television Group made headlines on Tuesday when the company laid off 82 scripted, unscripted and animation employees, with 43 more vacancies remaining permanently unfilled. In total, these 125 positions represent over a quarter of the entertainment entity’s workforce.
In a company-wide memo published by Variety, Chairman Channing Dungey called the moves a “strategic realignment” and mapped out plans to merge Cartoon Network Studios’ development and production groups under Warner Bros. Animation.
Development and production of future animated projects will happen under one roof, now. According to Variety, “output will remain the same as Cartoon Network Studios continues to produce original animated fare for internal outlets including Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and HBO Max.”
Dungey also announced closure of the Warner Bros. Television Workshop program, but the announcement was reversed later in the week following an outcry. Warner Bros. Discovery announced Wednesday that the Writers Workshop and Directors Workshop will move under its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion unit in a new, to-be-announced format, Variety reported.
Brian Miller, Cartoon Network Studios’ former general manager, responded to the news in a tweet: “RIP CNS.”
VARIETY:
“Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. Those three LABELS will continue to exist, but development and main production teams for Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios will now merge.”
RIP CNS— Brian A. Miller (@bfredmuggs) October 12, 2022
Prime Video’s new Western series The English, takes place in 1890s middle America and stars Emily Blunt as Lady Cornelia Locke, an Englishwoman of aristocratic sensibilities who ends up partnering with Pawnee ex-cavalry scout Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer) to traverse America’s violent landscape.
And violent, it most definitely is.
Hugo Blick created the series, is executive producer and directs the six-episode series, set to drop on November 11 on Prime Video. The trailer teases a quickly-paced, blood-soaked, highly-saturated production.
The English follows this unlikely pair as they find themselves connected by destiny.
More trailers and teasers released this week:
• The Mosquito Coast season 2 finds Allie, Margot, Dina, and Charlie continuing their on the lam adventure in the Mexican rainforest. Something tells us this idyllic new locale isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Premieres November 4. (Apple TV+)
• Mood stars pop singer Lecky as Sasha Clayton, a singer striving to become a major recording artist, who gets sidelined by the allure, and dangers of becoming internet famous. Premieres November 6. (BBA America & AMC+)
• God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty pretty much says it all in the title. The upcoming documentary explores the scandal that ended up leading to Evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr.’s downfall. Premieres November 1. (Hulu)
• The Capture is back with more deepfake-inspired intrigue for season 2. A new conspiracy will challenge DCI Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) like never before. How can she solve the case, if she can’t even trust her closest colleagues? Premieres November 3. (Peacock)
• Warrior Nun, Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the manga “Warrior Nun Ariela,” continues the story of divinely powered Ava (played by Alba Baptista) in season 2. Now member of an ancient crew of nuns that battles demons on Earth, Ava and associates must again contend with the demon Adriel, who continues growing in power and influence as he attempts to build his following. Warrior Nun season 2 premieres November 10. (Netflix)
• Mythic Quest dropped a new trailer for its third season, which finds Ian and Poppy partnering up with a brand company and a brand new game. With David taking on leadership duties at Mythic Quest, it’s clear a different brand of chaos will most certainly ensue. Premieres November 11. (Apple TV+)
• Riches follows the exploits of the Richards family after a death in the family puts the future of the business on uncertain grounds. Rich, privileged and powerful, this power vacuum is sure to drum up drama between the potential heirs to the throne. Premieres December 2 (Prime Video)
• The BMF Documentary: Blowing Money Fast docuseries takes viewers inside the Black Mafia Family’s history as told by former members, insiders, associates, and celebrity figures close to the family. Premieres November 23. (STARZ)
• Shotgun Wedding stars Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel as a married couple-to-be who, after bringing their dysfunctional families together for their destination wedding, find themselves in the unfortunate position of being taken hostage. Premieres January 27. (Prime Video)
For all the latest TV and streaming trailers subscribe to the Rotten Tomatoes TV YouTube channel.
(Photo by Netflix)
The new season of Netflix’s The Crown is right around the corner, premiering on Wednesday, November 9 on Netflix. To further tease the series’ return, the streamer released images of the new cast, as well as quotes from the talent exclusively from TUDUM.com, as the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family enters the 1990s.
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
(Photo by Netflix)
“What has been nice, and I hope I don’t prove them wrong, is people saying, I’m really looking forward to seeing her as the queen,’’ Staunton said. “So, let’s just hope that works out for them because I’ve done it. Nothing I can do about it now!”
“Doing this and looking into Philip’s background and finding out what made him the man he was, that was the interest to me,” Pryce said. “I’m more interested in their life, their emotional life, which is what The Crown explores.”
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales
(Photo by Netflix)
“That’s the amazing thing about playing these people at this time, because in the journey of The Crown so far out of all the seasons, this is the most visual content we have of the Royal Family,” Debicki said. “In the ‘90s everything had started to be filmed and also it was the birth of the 24-hour news cycle so there’s just this incredible amount of content that we have access to. Diana was the most photographed person in the world at that time. As an actor you open the portal and this huge tsunami of information comes at you. I happily swam around in it.”
Dominic West as Charles, Prince of Wales and Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker-Bowles
(Photo by Netflix)
“I think people understand, because the cast has changed every two seasons, that this is not an imitation,” West revealed. “This is an evoking of a character. That’s really where the show lives: in the imagined conversations of their private life, which is something that no one knows. I think that’s what it gets a lot of criticism for. How can you know what they talk about in their private lives? The obvious answer is we don’t, but we have an incredible writer, a dramatist, who imagines based on exhaustive research, and that’s really part of the fascination of the show.”
“One of the great things about The Crown is we get to see those sort of imagined intimate moments, which maybe give us a better perspective on someone that we’ve judged,” she said. “Charles and Camilla seem to have a very healthy sense of humor about what at times must be an unbearable predicament. And that is the thing that I most want to show.”
Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret
(Photo by Netflix)
“I had a lot of documentaries to watch, pictures, loads to read, but finally the scripts arrived, and that’s it,” Manville admitted. “All the books I read have different people’s versions of events. So you’ve got to let it go in and just sink in, but then you almost forget about it because finally the scripts come and that’s what you work with.”
Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne
(Photo by Netflix)
“Anne’s an extraordinary character. She’s not there to make people feel better about themselves, but she is superb at her job and is a proper feminist. She’s someone we can really look up to and I think she has no sense of entitlement.
Jonny Lee Miller as Prime Minister John Major
(Photo by Netflix)
“I think Jonny Lee Miller is an absolute triumph in the role and a real surprise,” said show creator Peter Morgan.
(Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for STARZ)
With a premiere date still unannounced, Starz has released exciting news about Outlander season 7: some fan favorite cast members will be returning to the network’s hit time-travel series.
Leading the charge is Graham McTavish, who will be returning to the role of Dougal MacKenzie, the uncle who Jamie killed right before the battle of Culloden. Nell Hudson is back as Laoghaire Fraser, Jamie’s ex-wife and Marsali’s mother; Steven Cree returns as Old Ian Murray, Young Ian’s father and Jamie’s brother-in-law; Andrew Whipp is Brian Fraser, Jamie’s father; Layla Burns returns as Joan MacKimmie, Marsali’s sister and Jamie’s stepdaughter; and Lotte Verbeek reprises the role of Geillis Duncan, Claire’s friend-turned-enemy and a fellow time traveler from the 1960s.
“One of the many joys of our epic story is the element of time travel which allows us to revisit some of our favorite characters in different times and places, and we’re thrilled to welcome back so many familiar faces for season seven,” teased Matthew B. Roberts, showrunner, writer and executive producer on the series. “In addition to our returning cast, we’re also excited to welcome several new actors to the Outlander family and cannot wait to introduce them to fans in our extended season.”
The new additions to the cast includes: Gloria Obianyo as Mercy Woodcock, a free Black woman navigating the hardships of life in Colonial America; Rod Hallett as Benedict Arnold, the notorious Revolutionary soldier turned traitor; Chris Fulton as Rob Cameron, a new acquaintance of Roger and Brianna; Diarmaid Murtagh as Buck MacKenzie, the illegitimate son of Dougal MacKenzie and Geillis Duncan; and Kristin Atherton as Jenny Murray, Jamie’s sister and Young Ian’s mother, a role that was originally played by Laura Donnelly in the first three seasons of the series.
More Casting News:
Joel McHale (Community) has been cast in the lead role of, and will executive-produce, Fox’s upcoming straight-to-series workplace comedy, Animal Control, which “will follow a group of local Animal Control workers whose lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple, but humans are not. McHale will portray Frank, an opinionated, eccentric Animal Control officer who may not have gone to college but is still the most well-read person in the room.”
Timothy Dalton has been added to the cast of 1923, the highly-anticipated Yellowstone prequel series coming to Paramount+. He will play the powerful, confident and intimidating Donald Whitfield, a man flush in wealth and lacking in empathy. (Variety)
Blake Shelton will exit The Voice after season 23, which will air in 2023. The long-running singing competition series will introduce new coaches coaches Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper, with Kelly Clarkson making her return after a hiatus from the program.
Zooey Deschanel has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s Physical for season 3. She’ll be playing the role of Kelly, a network sitcom star who chooses to pivot into aerobics and the burgeoning Fitness Industry.
Chris Messina will star opposite Kaley Cuoco in Peacock’s highly-anticipated dark comedic thriller Based on a True Story from showrunner Craig Rosenberg. Messina is set to play the role of Nathan, with Cuoco stepping into the character of married woman, Ava Bartlett in the series which the press release described as being “about a realtor, a plumber and a former tennis star whose lives unexpectedly collide, exposing America’s obsession with true crime, murder and the slow close toilet seat.”
Fargo has added David Rysdahl, Sam Spruell, Jessica Pohly, and Nick Gomez to its upcoming fifth season. The roles, as we know them so far, are: Rysdahl as Wayne Lyon, Spruell as Ole Munch, Pohly as Agent Meyer and Gomez as Agent Joaquin. The rest of the character details have not been released. (Variety)
Canadian comedy Bria Mack Gets A Life has cast Malaika Hennie-Hamadi and Hannan Younis as its leads. From the producer of Letterkenny, the series follows Hennie-Hamadi as Bria “Mack” McFarlane, a young Black woman tasked with navigating a mainly white world. Thankfully, she receives support from Black Attack (Younis), her invisible hype girl. (THR)
Walter Perez (Queen Sugar, Quantum Leap) has joined the Fatal Attraction TV adaptation at Paramount+ in a recurring role. He will play easygoing, sweet, and genuine DDA Jorge Perez, who succeeds in his own work ethic without any pesky locker room talk. (Deadline)
Katelyn Tarver and John Stamos will star in Amazon Freevee’s Open Book, inspired by Jessica Simpson’s bestselling memoir. (Deadline)
After eight seasons, Chicago Med actor Brian Tee (who plays the role of Dr. Ethan Choi) will exit the series. His final appearance in the program will be in episode 9, titled, “Could Be The Start Of Something New,” airing December 7. He will return for episode 16 to mark his directorial debut. (Variety)
Showtime’s Your Honor adds Mark Margolis and Mark O’Brien to the cast for season 2. Margolis takes on the role of feared mob boss Carmine Conti. O’Brien will play the Baxter family’s priest Father Jay. (Variety)
Game of Thrones alum Indira Varma will join the cast of HBO Max’s Dune prequel series Dune: The Sisterhood as Empress Natalya. Her character is described as, “a formidable royal who united thousands of worlds in her marriage to Emperor Corrino.” Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson, who will play Valya Harkonnen and Tula Harkonnen, were previously announced. (Variety)
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series at Disney+ has added Adam Copeland, Suzanne Cryer and Jessica Parker Kennedy to the cast. Copeland will play Ares, the god of War; Cryer will guest star as Echidna, The Mother of Monsters; and Kennedy will guest star as the notorious gorgon Medusa. (Variety)
Disney+’s live-action Goosebumps series has added Zack Morris and Isa Briones as series regulars, joining previously announced cast-members Ana Yi Puig, Miles McKenna, Will Price and Justin Long. (Variety)
For All Mankind had tapped Maria Mashkova (McMafia) and Dimiter Marinov (Green Book) to play key recurring roles in the fourth season of Apple TV+’s acclaimed space drama. Mashkova will play a co-pilot named Svetlana, with Marinov playing Iyla, a Mars space veteran. (Deadline)
Stephen Colbert will host a two-hour pickleball tournament, aptly titled Pickled, to benefit the non-profit Comic Relief US. Celebrities that will appear in the sporting event will include: Jimmie Allen, Murray Bartlett, Dierks Bentley, Jaime Camil, Will Ferrell, Max Greenfield, Luis Guzman, Phil Keoghan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tig Notaro, June Diane Raphael, Kelly Rowland, Paul Scheer, Aisha Tyler and Emma Watson. It will premiere Thursday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. on CBS. (Variety)
Two new Supes have begun employment under Vought International’s purview: Firecracker (played by Valorie Curry) and Sister Sage (Susan Heyward). Monday, Prime Video released two first-look images from The Boys season 4 to drum up fresh anticipation for the new run of episodes currently in production in Toronto.
Laura Jean Shannon, who designed Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy outfit for season 3 of the series, is the costume designer responsible for creating the new supersuits, pictured below:
Meet Sage. She’s already a thousand steps ahead of you.
And let's just say Firecracker has a short fuse. pic.twitter.com/Ci3li8j1LJ
— THE BOYS (@TheBoysTV) October 10, 2022
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Netflix has granted a 10-episode series order for Kurt Sutter’s Western, The Abandons. The official synopsis for the series, reads: “As a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law. The Abandons will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.” (Variety)
The Lazarus Project, a new scripted action thriller, has been acquired by TNT. Starring Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), Anjli Mohindra (Bodyguard), Tom Burke (Strike), Caroline Quentin (Bridgerton), Rudi Dharmalingam (Wakefield) and Charly Clive (Pure), the eight-hour drama follows George, the latest recruit to The Lazarus Project – a secret organization that has harnessed the ability to turn back time whenever the world is at the threat of extinction.When a freak accident affects someone close to George, his allegiance to the project is put to the test, as the series poses the question, “If you had the power to rewrite your past, what would you sacrifice to do it?”
NBC’s Quantum Leap reboot series has received an additional six-episode order from the network, bringing the total number of episodes this season to 18. The freshman season of the sci-fi time travel series is the network’s number one new show in the 18-49 demographic. (Deadline)
Starz has ordered the eight-episode drama series, The Venery of Samantha Bird with Katherine Langford (Knives Out, 13 Reasons Why) set to play the title role of Samantha. The program is described in the official press release as a “haunting portrayal of addictive love and the repercussions that a relationship has on the families in a small New England town.”
A three-part docuseries exploring the Fox musical series Glee, and the behind-the-scenes controversies attached to the show, is in the works at Discovery+ and ID. (Variety)
Amazon Freevee has greenlit the coming-of-age sports docuseries, God. Family. Football. The unscripted series will follow Denny Duron, a former football player and high school football coach who comes out of a 30-year retirement to lift the football program he founded at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana back to national prominence.
Peacock is developing an adaptation of the 1996 cult film Fear, which starred Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon. The updated take on the story will center around two young lovers caught in a psychological game of cat and mouse … but who’s the cat, and who’s the mouse? (Deadline)
St. Donatus is a new supernatural mystery drama in development at Peacock centered in a small town in Iowa with a dark secret. The story will follow a family, who relocates from Brooklyn to a newly-renovated farmhouse, and soon begins experiencing unsettling incidents, bringing them closer to the town’s secret … and whatever the thing is that’s trapped in their cellar. (Deadline)
Hulu has ordered 10-episodes of drama series Interior Chinatown, based on Charles Yu’s award-winning book of the same name. Jimmy O. Yang will star, with Taika Waititi set to direct. (Variety)
(Photo by Netflix)
Netflix will offer a cheaper ad-supported tier priced at $6.99 a month, starting November 3. The “Basic With Ads” tier will provide the ability to stream on one device at a time and is said to support up to 720 HD quality for its video content. The ad-supported tier will not offer access to the streamer’s full library of content “due to licensing restrictions, which we’re working on,” Netflix said in a press release. There will be no ability to download titles.
Opening on Friday, October 14th for a limited run on the renowned Bleecker Street in the heart of NYC’s West Village, the AHS: NYC Shop will be the go-to spot for fans of FX’s landmark horror anthology to immerse themselves into the the series’ world like never before. From custom goods to leather accoutrements, the Shop’s owners will invite visitors in to explore all the store’s collection of dark and twisted creations. Guests will receive items inspired by the shop, and even be able to commemorate the visit in a unique photo op.
Visitors must be 18+ to attend. Reservations for the AHS:NYC Shop experience are required for entrance and are now open at experience-ahs.com.
Where: New York City – 328 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014
When: Open October 14-16, October 21-23, and October 28-30 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET
Starting in December, residents of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and visitors will have the opportunity to, as Lighthouse Immersive’s Global Creative Director David Korins put it, “experience 100 years of Disney animation by standing inside of it.” The partnership between Lighthouse and Walt Disney Animation Studios is called “The Disney Animation Immersive Experience,” an exhibit that will feature a section celebrating the studio’s century of animation (and the animators responsible) and an interactive gallery similar to Lighthouse’s Immersive Van Gogh. Of course, there will be a Disney twist as the two companies and their creative partners are building a narrative component to the 47-minute experience.
“It had to have that magical quality,” producer J. Miles Dale explained during a press conference on Thursday.
Following that initial “script-to-screen” installation, which will showcase how Disney creates characters and full animation, the interactive gallery will allow visitors to be enveloped in iconic Disney moments projected on a huge scale. According to immersive experience producer César Moheno Plá, some of the environments presented in the immersive gallery will include standing in the ocean (or lava flow) alongside Moana, a glacier from Frozen, or getting lost in the courtyard from Encanto. Disney films from the classic era, like Pinocchio and Peter Pan, will also be featured. “We’re aiming to allow the audience to not only experience the visual, but engage with it as active participants,” he added. That interactivity will be realized via wearable tech that will also help move the narrative component forward.
The Disney Animation Immersive Experience will open in Toronto in December with a rollout to cities in the US starting early in 2023 and an expansion to more US and international locations to follow. More information is available at disneyimmersive.com.
