Director John Madden (Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) has started filming the political thriller Miss Sloane starring Jessica Chastain (Crimson Peak, The Martian). EuropaCorp announced the start of production on the drama which also stars Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alison Pill, Jake Lacy, Sam Waterston, and John Lithgow.
Jonathan Perera wrote the screenplay and Ariel Zeitoun, Ben Browning, and Kris Thykier are producing. EuropaCorp and FilmNation are aiming for a 2017 theatrical release.
Madden’s crew includes director of photography Sebastian Blenkov, production designer Matthew Davies, editor Alexander Berner, and costume designer Georgina Yarhi.
The Miss Sloane Plot:
In Miss Sloane, a ruthless and highly successful political strategist, Elizabeth Sloane (Chastain), exposes the cutthroat world of D.C. lobbyists working on both sides of the gun debate. New legislation requiring more stringent background checks for gun purchases is gaining traction in the Senate, and Sloane is approached to spearhead the campaign, pitting her against formidable and powerful political opponents. Deploying her notorious skills and driven by a desire to win at all costs – she jeopardizes those closest to her, and puts her own career at risk.
Bobby Cannavale stars in ‘Vinyl’ (Photo Credit: HBO)
After airing just one episode, HBO has given the dramatic series Vinyl a second season renewal. The music-driven series comes from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Rich Cohen, and Terence Winter, and is currently airing on Sunday nights at 9pm ET/PT. Jagger, Scorsese, Winter, Victoria Pearman, Rick Yorn, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, John Melfi, Allen Coulter and George Mastras are the executive producers. Mick Jagger also serves as the executive music producer and Terence Winter is the series’ showrunner.
Season one kicked off its 10 episode run on February 14, 2016 with a two-hour premiere directed by Oscar winner Martin Scorsese. The series stars Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Olivia Wilde, Ato Essandoh, Max Casella, P.J. Byrne, J.C. MacKenzie, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Juno Temple, Jack Quaid, James Jagger and Paul Ben-Victor.
The Vinyl Plot:
Richie Finestra (Cannavale), the founder and president of American Century Records, is trying to save his company and soul without destroying everyone in his path. With his passion for music and discovering talent gone by the wayside, and American Century on the precipice of being sold, he has a life-altering event that reignites his love of music, but severely damages his personal life.
Richie Finestra’s wife, Devon (Wilde), a former actress and model who was part of Andy Warhol’s Factory scene in 1960s New York City, is now a suburban mother of two. Richie’s personal and professional crises put additional stress on their relationship, inspiring a desire to return to her Bohemian roots.
Meanwhile, as head of promotions and a partner at American Century, Zak Yankovich’s (Romano) experience in the industry and hundred-dollar handshakes make him an invaluable part of the company, though he works in Richie’s shadow. Their professional relationship is strained by disagreements over how to guide the company through the music landscape of 1973.
Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, and Eric Paslay have earned 51st Academy of Country Music Awards Song of the Year nominations, as just announced by the Academy of Country Music. The ACM also revealed the list of five nominees in the Songwriter of the Year category, a list that includes Shane McNally picking up his ninth nomination in that category as well as Rodney Clawson who’s recognized with his eighth nomination.
Chris Stapleton is now the top nominee for this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards with a total of seven nominations, including Song of the Year. He also earned nominations in the Male Vocalist of the Year, New Male Vocalist of the Year, and Vocal Event of the Year categories.
The 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards will by co-hosted by Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan. The awards show will air live (tape delayed on the West Coast) from Las Vegas on April 3rd on CBS.
“The ACM Board of Directors recently voted to revise the prestigious Song of the Year Award criteria to allow the greater songwriting community a stronger voice in determining the final nominees,” said Tiffany Moon, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the Academy of Country Music. “Songwriters are at the inception of all of this; we’re privileged to have their expertise in choosing the most well-crafted songs.” A professional panel comprised entirely of award-winning songwriters helped select the nominees for the category that were then voted on by the Composer class of ACM Membership to appear on the final ballot.
SONG OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:
• Burning House – Cam
Songwriters: Jeffrey Bhasker, Tyler Johnson, Cam
Publishers: Marvelous Oaks Records (ASCAP), Creative Pulse Music (BMI), One Year Yesterday Publishing (BMI), Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI), These Are Pulse Songs (BMI), Way Above Music (BMI)
• Girl Crush – Little Big Town
Songwriters: Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose
Publishers: HillarodyRathbone Music (ASCAP), Hoodie Songs (BMI), Songs of Crazy Girl Music (BMI), Songs of Universal Inc (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
• Nobody To Blame – Chris Stapleton
Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Barry Bales, Ronnie Bowman
Publishers: House of Sea Gayle Music (ASCAP), WB Music Corp (ASCAP), Quackhead Music (BMI), RayLynn Publishing (BMI)
• Raise ‘Em Up – Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church
Songwriters: Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston, Jeffrey Steele
Publishers: Jeffrey Steele Music (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), TomDouglasMusic (BMI), Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP), Texa Rae Music (ASCAP)
• She Don’t Love You – Eric Paslay
Songwriters: Eric Paslay, Jennifer Wayne
Publishers: Five Stone Publishing (ASCAP), Spirit Two Nashville (ASCAP), Songwriters of Platinum Pen Publishing (BMI)
Season four of BBC America’s award-winning dramatic series Orphan Black will air on a new night and will feature new clones. Orphan Black‘s upcoming season will air on Thursday nights at 10pm ET/PT beginning on April 14, 2016. Along with announcing the premiere date, BBC America has released a new trailer for season four featuring Emmy nominee Tatiana Maslany.
The season four plot: “The new season sees Sarah (Maslany) returning home from her Icelandic hideout to track down an elusive new ally tied to deceased clone Beth (Maslany), whose identity Sarah stole in the series’ first episode. With the stakes higher than ever before, Sarah and her sisters band together to uncover the missing chapter of the clone conspiracy – following Beth’s footsteps into a dangerous relationship with a potent enemy who holds the key to their survival.”
With Marvel’s Daredevil season two’s premiere one month away, Netflix has released a new character poster featuring Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil. The new character art was also released as a motion poster featuring Daredevil struggling to free himself from the chains that bind him to a chimney.
Daredevil season two will be released on Friday, March 18, 2016 at 12:01am PT. All 13 one-hour episodes will be available then for your binge-watching pleasure.
In addition to Cox as Daredevil, the cast of season two includes Jon Bernthal (Frank Castle/The Punisher), Elodie Yung (Elektra), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple), and Scott Glenn (Stick). The series is executive produced by showrunner Marco Ramirez, showrunner Douglas Petrie, and Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb.
The Plot: “Blinded as a young boy but imbued with extraordinary senses, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) fights against injustice by day as a lawyer, and by night as the superhero “Daredevil” in modern day Hell’s Kitchen, New York City.”
VH1 is adapting Star Jones’ book Satan’s Sisters into a scripted series with Jones on board as an executive producer. The new series, which is expected to debut in 2017, will center on five female talk show hosts. Also attached as executive producers are Drop Dead Diva‘s Josh Berman, The Temptations‘ Suzanne DePasse, Madison Jones, and Susan Levison. Writers Amy Engelberg and Wendy Engelberg will also executive produce.
“I’m so excited that Satan’s Sisters, which was such a fun book to write, is finally coming to the small screen,” stated Star Jones. “I would be lying if I said that Satan’s Sisters wasn’t influenced by the soap opera life of daytime TV but it is a work of fiction. All the characters are inspired, in parts, by someone I’ve worked with, worked for, interviewed, was interviewed by and/or even prosecuted.”
“Daytime TV now comments on and creates pop culture,” added VH1 General Manager Chris McCarthy. “Star Jones’ book is the perfect project for VH1 and our partners to bring to life.”
The Satan’s Sisters Plot:
Set in the bright lights of daytime television, Satan’s Sisters is the story of The Lunch Hour — a long-running, popular ladies’ talk show in which alliances are forged, careers are made, and bridges are burned. The series will focus on the five female co-hosts of a popular daily TV talk show and the fireworks that ensue each weekday when they discuss life, love, family, politics, and gossip. These five women, with very different points of view, are best friends and sisters…while they’re on TV. But behind the scenes, they are “Satan’s Sisters” — a backstage world filled with power struggles, personal demons, diva fits, love affairs, man troubles, cat fights…and cocktails.
The second season of the critically acclaimed dramatic series The Missing has begun filming with The Walking Dead‘s David Morrissey and The Casual Vacancy‘s Keeley Hawes joining the series in key roles. Tchéky Karyo returns as detective Julien Baptiste. The cast also includes Roger Allam, Laura Fraser, Anastasia Hille, Lia Williams, Abigail Hardingham, Jake Davies, Florian Bartholomäi, and Daniel Ezra.
Season two of BBC One and Starz’ The Missing will consist of eight episodes. Harry and Jack Williams are back as writers and Ben Chanan (The Last Kingdom) is directing all eight episodes.
“While we were writing the first series, we began talking about what the show would have been had Oliver Hughes been found. This story grew out of that discussion,” said writers Harry and Jack Williams. “It’s the other side of the coin to series one – an exploration of loss, of freedom, of how the past can shape the present in myriad ways that we cannot fully understand. It’s bigger, more ambitious, and we’re delighted to have such a brilliantly talented cast joining Julien Baptiste for a new case.”
Willow Grylls, Executive Producer for New Pictures, stated: “I am so proud to have such a high calibre of cast attached to this project and, with the genius of Harry and Jack Williams’ scripts, I know the audience will be gripped to this series just as much as they were to the first. And the beloved Julien Baptiste is back! I am also thrilled to have the wonderful Ben Chanan as director leading the charge, telling the story as it twists and turns over two time frames. The Missing series two will be just as thrilling, heart-wrenching and character driven as you’d hope it to be.”
“The talented Williams brothers take us on a thrilling journey in this next installment with a new story, characters and locations that ultimately explores what happens when the missing child you’ve been searching for comes home. We are thrilled to continue this limited series and collaboration with the BBC, New Pictures and Playground,” added Starz Managing Director Carmi Zlotnik.
The Missing Season Two Plot:
The series follows Sam and Gemma, played by David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes, whose daughter Alice went missing in 2003. In 2014, a young British woman stumbles through the streets of her German hometown and collapses. Her name is Alice Webster, played by newcomer Abigail Hardingham (Nina Forever), and she has been missing for 11 years. Alice’s return sends shockwaves through the small community. Told in dual timelines, flitting between 2014 and the present day, we follow Alice’s family as they are thrown back into a turmoil that threatens to tear them apart at the seams. When French missing person’s detective Julien Baptiste races across Europe to pursue a 12-year-old case that he never let die, we begin to explore the murky morality and emotional complexity of what happens when the missing child you’ve been longing to return actually comes back.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just announced another batch of celebrities set to present at the 2016 Oscars. The newly added presenters include Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmmaker J.J. Abrams, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice star Henry Cavill, Sacha Baron Cohen (soon to be seen in The Brothers Grimsby), Oscar winner John Legend, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman. Commenting on the new presenters, Oscar show producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin stated, “We’re thrilled to be joined by a movie icon, a filmmaking dynamo, a larger than life action hero, a master of satire and two world renowned music power-hitters. This year’s show reflects a commitment to showcase cinematic contributions from a variety of genres and this latest list of presenters reflects just that.”
The 88th Academy Awards will be hosted by Chris Rock and will air live from Hollywood on ABC on February 28, 2016. Previously announced presenters and performers:
Jennifer Lopez, currently starring in NBC’s new dramatic cop show Shades of Blue, joined The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon for a new episode of Ew!. Fallon plays Sara, a teenage girl who hosts a Teen Nick show called Ew! in her basement. Lopez shows up as one of Sara’s BFFs, Gabby, who’s shy until Sara turns on the music and Gabby shows off her hidden talent: dancing.
Lopez is finishing up her final season on American Idol while also starring in the new NBC cop drama. Shades of Blue co-stars Ray Liotta and Drea de Matteo and airs on Thursday nights at 10pm ET/PT. The series was recently given a second season renewal by the network. Announcing the renewal NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke said, “We want to thank Jennifer, who is the hardest working woman we know, for her incredible efforts as both the star and producer of this show, as well as well as our other amazing producers and cast for all their tireless work in creating one of the most compelling dramas on television today. We’re so excited to find out where this story will lead and have them raise the stakes even higher in what we know will be a fantastic second season.”
The Shades of Blue Plot: Shades of Blue stars Jennifer Lopez as Harlee Santos, a charismatic single mother and resourceful detective at the heart of a tight-knit crew of Brooklyn detectives, led by enigmatic Lt. Matt Wozniak (Liotta) who often leads the team to step outside the limitations of the law in order to effectively protect their precinct and their own. As a big illegal job looms on the horizon, the FBI catches Harlee in the act and pits her against her own unit. As a newly turned informant, Harlee struggles to safeguard her on-the-job family and avoid arrest in order to stay with her daughter. Harlee engages in a perilous dance with her FBI handler, Special Agent Stahl (Warren Kole), who develops an unhealthy obsession with her. Meanwhile, Wozniak, acting as the unit’s patriarch, begins an all-consuming hunt for the informant. Pressure mounts as the crew struggles to perform their brand of street justice under FBI watch.
Lisa Bonet (The Cosby Show, A Different World) will be featured in a season-long guest starring arc on Showtime’s Ray Donovan season four. Bonet will be playing a character named Marison who is dangerously unstable and has a damaging secret. The new season is currently shooting in Los Angeles and will air later this year.
Emmy nominee Liev Schreiber returns as Ray Donovan in season four. The cast also includes Paula Malcomson, Eddie Marsan, Dash Mihok, Steven Bauer, Katherine Moennig, Pooch Hall, Kerris Dorsey and Devon Bagby. Showtime released details on season four’s guest stars:
– Embeth Davidtz has a season-long arc as Sonia Kovitsky, a businesswoman whose wealth and contacts make her a power player in the art world.
– Ted Levine has a recurring role as Little Bill Primm, the proud owner of a family-run casino in Primm, Nevada.
– Gabriel Mann will be seen in a recurring role as Jacob Waller, an aggressive attorney who represents high-profile clients.
– Ismael Cruz Cordova has a season long arc as Hector, a middleweight boxing champion who forms a bond with Ray.
– Chris Coppola is recurring as Larry, head of security at Little Bill Primm’s casino.
– Billy Lush guest stars as Vincent, a police officer who falls upon a major scandal.
