Prepare for an X-Men television series as Fox has just greenlit a pilot for an untitled series based on Marvel’s X-Men comic book franchise. Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Matt Nix will executive produce along with Marvel’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory. The sci-fi action series’ pilot will be written by Matt Nix and will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Marvel Television.
“Developing a Marvel property has been a top priority for the network–and we are so pleased with how Matt Nix has led us into this thrilling universe,” said David Madden, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company Madden. “There’s comic book adventure, emotional and complicated relationships, and a rich, existing mythology from which to draw. With the brilliant production crew behind this project, it has all the makings of a big, fun and exciting new series.”
“Working with Marvel on a television series for FOX has been a professional dream for our head of development, Michael Thorn, and all of us at the studio,” stated Jonathan Davis, President, Creative Affairs, 20th Century Fox Television. “Matt, Lauren, Bryan, Simon, Jeph and Jim are a powerhouse team of creative artists, and we can’t wait to get started on what will easily be one of this development season’s most exciting new projects.”
“Marvel Television is thrilled to be co-producing with 20th Century Fox Television on our first project,” added Jeph Loeb, Executive Producer and Head of Marvel Television. “Matt’s a huge fan of X-Men and his take on the X-Men universe, with its rich characters and high-stakes adventure, is exactly the show we want on FOX. It’s a great team of creative producers who will be making something entirely unique.”
The Plot: The Untitled Fox Marvel Project will focus on two ordinary parents who discover their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.
Warner Bros Television’s The Flash, Supernatural, Supergirl, and Blindspot will be gracing the covers of special Comic Con editions of TV Guide Magazine. The collectible editions will feature Grant Gustin of The Flash, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles of Supernatural, Melissa Benoist of Supergirl, and Sullivan Stapleton and Jaimie Alexander of Blindspot. This year’s special covers mark the seventh year WBTV and TV Guide Magazine have worked together on the Comic Con editions.
The magazines featuring the special covers will be available at the Warner Bros. booth #4545 on the San Diego Comic Con convention floor. They’ll be available beginning with the preview night on July 20th through the end of the Con on Sunday, July 24th. They’ll also hit newsstands on July 19th and will be online at www.tvguidemagazine.com/comiccon on July 18th.
In addition to the WBTV shows featured on the covers, the magazines will include news and photos on The 100, Arrow, The Big Bang Theory, DC’s Legends of Tomorrrow, Gotham, iZOMBIE, Lucifer, The Originals, and The Vampire Diaries. They’ll also include updates on new shows Frequency, People of Earth, Powerless, Riverdale and Time After Time.
Each magazine will include two pull-posters as well as the scoop on DC Universe’s original animated movie Batman: The Killing Joke.
Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan star in ‘Catastrophe’ (Photo Credit: Channel 4)
The critically acclaimed half-hour comedy series Catastrophe has earned third and fourth seasons as just announced by Channel 4. The series starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney will have a six episode season three airing in 2017, with season two averaging 1.4 million on the UK’s Channel 4. Filming’s expected to begin on the new season this November.
Horgan and Delaney, who write the series as well as lead the cast, commented on the renewal saying, “We are thrilled to be making a third series of Catastrophe. Rob and Sharon are a blast to spend time with. And we’re not talking about ourselves in the third person, we’re talking about the characters. We’re eager to breathe life back into Rob and Sharon. Okay, now we are talking about us. In the first series Rob and Sharon went through a lot (us) and even more in the second series (back to the characters). We’re looking forward to putting Rob and Sharon (both us and the characters) through further pain for your enjoyment (now we’re talking about you).”
“I am thrilled to commission a third and fourth series of the multi award-winning Catastrophe,” said Phil Clarke, Head of Comedy at Channel 4. “It’s a welcome return for the brave, razor edged, excruciatingly honest and painfully funny portrayal of a modern, long term relationship.”
Ben Taylor directs and Jack Bayles produces, with Delaney, Horgan, Richard Allen-Turner, Kara Baker, and Jon Thoday executive producing. The series is available online to Amazon Prime members.
The Plot:Catastophe is comedy following an Irish woman (Sharon Horgan) and an American man (Rob Delaney) who make a bloody mess as they struggle to fall in love in London.
The CW is teasing season three of The Flash with two new photos of Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West dressed in his Kid Flash costume. The third season premiere of the hit comic book-inspired series will find Lonsdale wearing the Kid Flash costume in the episode titled ‘Flashpoint,’ which introduces that storyline from the comics.
Season two’s finale found Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) going back in time to save his mother. That action will create a different future in which heroes are villains, and villains are lauded as superheroes. Season three will premiere on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 8pm ET/PT, but before that you can expect to hear lots of news about the new season when the cast and executive producers take the stage at the San Diego Comic Con on July 23rd. Gustin’s already taken to Twitter to proclaim the third season will be the show’s best season yet.
Focus Features has released the first official trailer for Loving, an inspirational film based on a true story. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special, Mud), the cast is led by Joel Edgerton (The Gift, Black Mass) and Ruth Negga (Preacher, Warcraft)and includes Martin Csokas, Nick Kroll, and Michael Shannon. Loving is opening in limited cities on November 4, 2016 and will open in wider release later that month.
The Plot: From acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols, Loving celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving (portrayed by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry – and their love story has become an inspiration to couples ever since.
Gravitas Ventures released the official trailer for the action film Billionaire Ransom from director Jim Gillespie (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Venom). Written by Alexander Ignon, the cast includes Jeremy Sumpter (Friday Night Lights), Phoebe Tonkin (The Originals), Ed Westwick (Wicked City), Dominic Sherwood (Shadowhunters), Elliot Knight (American Gothic), and Sebastian Koch (Homeland). Billionaire Ransom will open in theaters and On Demand on August 19, 2016.
The Plot: An action thriller of monetary proportions, Billionaire Ransom follows a group of over-privileged, out-of-control young adults who have been sent by their frustrated, billionaire parents to a tough-love wilderness school on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Kyle (Jeremy Sumpter) and Amy (Phoebe Tonkin) find themselves in this group as a last opportunity for them to take responsibility for their own lives and abandon their reckless ways, or risk being disinherited. Suddenly, a group of mercenaries led by Billy Speck (Ed Westwick) invade the island and hold the privileged lot hostage for the largest ransom in history: one billion dollars. When Kyle learns they are all to be killed even if the ransom is paid, their wilderness survival training is the only hope of outwitting the mercenaries and staying alive.
Conan O’Brien will be hosting the Warner Bros Pictures presentation in Hall H on Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 11:30am PT. Other celebrities set to make the trek to San Diego include Chris Pine, Colin Farrell, Brie Larson, and John Goodman.
Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution, stated, “Comic-Con is one of our favorite annual events and we’re thrilled to have an extraordinary lineup of films to highlight this year. It’s always exciting for us to give these fans a taste of what we’re bringing to theaters in such a direct way, connecting them with the talented actors and filmmakers who work so hard to make everyone’s movie-going experience a memorable one.”
Warner Bros Pictures Comic Con Schedule:
Wonder Woman – Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and Connie Nielsen, and director Patty Jenkins
Wonder Woman hits movie theaters around the world next summer when Gal Gadot returns as the title character in the epic action adventure from director Patty Jenkins. Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.
Joining Gadot in the international cast are Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner and Saïd Taghmaoui. Jenkins directs the film from a screenplay by Allan Heinberg and Geoff Johns, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg, based on characters from DC Entertainment. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston. The film is produced by Charles Roven, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Richard Suckle, with Rebecca Roven, Stephen Jones, Wesley Coller and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with RatPac-Dune Entertainment, an Atlas Entertainment/Cruel and Unusual production, Wonder Woman. The film is scheduled for release on June 2, 2017, and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Suicide Squad – Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Scott Eastwood, Cara Delevingne, Adam Beach, and Karen Fukuhara, along with writer/director David Ayer
From director David Ayer comes Suicide Squad, starring Oscar nominee Will Smith, Oscar winner Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and Oscar nominee Viola Davis. It feels good to be bad… Assemble a team of the world’s most dangerous, incarcerated Super-Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government’s disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it’s every man for himself?
Written and directed by Ayer based on the characters from DC, the film also stars Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Cara Delevingne, Adam Beach, and Karen Fukuhara in her feature film debut. It is produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle, with Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Colin Wilson and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, an Atlas Entertainment production, a film by David Ayer, Suicide Squad. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film opens worldwide in 3D, and in 2D, and in select IMAX 3D theaters August 5, 2016. Suicide Squad is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language.
The LEGO Batman Movie – Director Chris McKay and star Will Arnett
In the irreverent spirit of fun that made The LEGO® Movie a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – LEGO Batman – stars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker’s hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.
Will Arnett reprises his starring role from The LEGO Movie as the voice of LEGO Batman, aka Bruce Wayne. Zach Galifianakis stars as The Joker; Michael Cera as the orphan Dick Grayson; Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon; and Ralph Fiennes as Alfred. The LEGO® Batman Movie is directed by Chris McKay and produced by Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It is written by Seth Grahame-Smith and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers, with additional screenplay material by Jared Stern & John Whittington, based on LEGO Construction Toys, in association with LEGO System AS. Chris McKay also serves as an executive producer, alongside Ryan Harris. A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, The LEGO Batman Movie will open in theaters on February 10, 2017. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – Charlie Hunnam
Acclaimed filmmaker Guy Ritchie brings his dynamic style to an original King Arthur epic, a sweeping fantasy action adventure starring Charlie Hunnam. Starring with Hunnam are Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Oscar nominee Jude Law, and Eric Bana. Ritchie directs the film from a screenplay by Joby Harold and Guy Ritchie & Lionel Wigram, story by Joby Harold. The film is produced by Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman, Joby Harold, Tory Tunnell, Lionel Wigram, Guy Ritchie and Steve Clark-Hall. David Dobkin and Bruce Berman are executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Weed Road/Safehouse Pictures Production, a Ritchie/Wigram Production. Slated for release on March 24, 2017, the film will be distributed in North America by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.
Kong: Skull Island – Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, and Jason Mitchell and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ Kong: Skull Island reimagines the origin of the mythic Kong in a compelling, original adventure from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. In the film, a diverse team of explorers is brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Pacific—as beautiful as it is treacherous—unaware that they’re crossing into the domain of the mythic Kong.
Kong: Skull Island stars Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Oscar winner Brie Larson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly. The international ensemble cast also includes Tian Jing, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, John Ortiz, Thomas Mann, Shea Whigham, Toby Kebbell and Eugene Cordero. Vogt-Roberts directs the film from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, John Gatins, Dan Gilroy and Derek Connolly. Kong: Skull Island is produced by Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni with Mary Parent. The executive producers are Eric McLeod and Alex Garcia. Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Present a Legendary Pictures Production, Kong: Skull Island. The film will be released worldwide in 2D, 3D in select theatres, and IMAX March 10, 2017, from Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Director David Yates with stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller and Colin Farrell
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne stars in the central role of wizarding world magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter blockbusters. The film opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Starring with Redmayne are Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton, Oscar winner Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Carmen Ejogo, Jenn Murray, Faith Wood-Blagrove and Colin Farrell. The film marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, whose beloved Harry Potter books were adapted into the top-grossing film franchise of all time. Her script was inspired by the Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by her character Newt Scamander. The film reunites a number of people from the Harry Potter features, including producers David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Warner Bros. Pictures has slated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for worldwide release in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX on November 18, 2016.
Other Warner Bros Activities:
In the Warner Bros. Booth: a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Wand Station and talent signing; The LEGO Batman Movie Selfie Booth; and an autograph signing with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword star Charlie Hunnam.
In the DC Booth: Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman talent signings and costume displays; lifesized LEGO Batman character.
In the LEGO® Booth: The LEGO Batman Movie talent signings and Selfie Booth; “building zone” activation for fans to help LEGO Master Builders build life-sized LEGO Batman, Batgirl and Joker from The LEGO Batman Movie.
CBS announced Jennifer Esposito has signed on to the cast of NCIS. Esposito will be a series regular beginning with the season 14 premiere on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 8pm ET/PT. Duane Henry was also upped to a series regular after guest starring in season 13 and Wilmer Valderrama was recently announced as a season 14 regular.
The cast is led by Mark Harmon and includes Pauley Perrette, Sean Murray, Rocky Carroll, Emily Wickersham, Brian Dietzen, and David McCallum.
Per CBS, Esposito will be playing NCIS Special Agent Alexandra “Alex” Quinn who is described as “an experienced agent who left field work and became an instructor at the Law Enforcement Training Center. Gibbs will lure her back into the field as part of his team, where he will take advantage of her sharp wit, quick mind and immense talent as a federal agent.”
“We couldn’t be happier to have Jennifer Esposito joining us for season 14,” stated Executive Producer Gary Glasberg. “She embodies everything that we hoped for in the character of Quinn and we can’t wait to have her come be a part of our team.”
Jennifer Esposito’s credits include Blue Bloods, Judging Amy, Samantha Who?, Mistresses, and The Affair.
Justin Theroux and Carrie Coon in ‘The Leftovers’ (Photo: Van Redin / HBO)
FX has signed up Carrie Coon (Gone Girl, The Leftovers) for a lead role in season three of Fargo. The critically acclaimed award-winning series will return in 2017 with Coon joining Ewan McGregor, soon to be seen in American Pastoral and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, for season three which is described as more contemporary than either seasons one or two.
Coon will playing Gloria Burgle, “a practical woman who grabs the fire extinguisher when the bacon catches fire and everyone else panics. Gloria is the chief of the Eden Valley police, and a newly divorced mother who is struggling to understand this new world around her where people connect more intimately with their phones than the people right in front of them.” Coon’s finishing up the final season of The Leftovers which will debut on HBO in January 2017, and has The Keeping Hours and Strange Weather heading to theaters this year. Coon won the Best Actress in a Drama award from the Critics’ Choice Television Awards for her work in The Leftovers and the Online Film and Television Association’s award for Best Breakthrough Performance for her work in Gone Gone.
McGregor is playing brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy. Emmit is described as a successful real estate mogul while Ray is an unhappy parole office who holds a grudge against his much more successful – and handsome – brother.
Michael Rosenbaum and Mircea Monroe in ‘Impastor’ (Photo Courtesy of TV Land)
TV Land has debuted the first official trailer for the second season of the comedy series, Impastor. The comedy will return to TV Land’s lineup on September 28, 2016 at 10:30pm ET/PT with Michael Rosenbaum back in the starring role. The single-camera series is executive produced by Rosenbaum, Christopher Vane, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, and Rob Greenberg. In addition to Rosenbaum, the cast includes Vane, Sara Rue, Mircea Monroe, Mike Kosinski, and David Rasche.
The Plot: The series revolves around Buddy Dobbs, a gambling, pot-smoking slacker on the run from a loan shark, who steals a man’s identity and ends up posing as the new gay pastor in a small, tight-knit town. Though he’s tempted to immediately run off with the pastor’s money, Buddy has a change of heart when he realizes that the people there, including his prim church assistant Dora (Rue), actually like this new and semi-improved alter ego…and he kind of likes them back. Starring Michael Rosenbaum, the second season of Impastor picks up with Buddy’s life hanging in the balance as he tries to escape capture from both the police and a dangerous criminal from his past. All the while he must juggle his godly responsibilities to his still unsuspecting staff.
