News

Tomorrow Studios has announced the promotion and hiring of Alissa Bachner and Josh Bratman. After joining the company in 2016, Bachner has been elevated to EVP of development where she will continue to oversee the production of the company’s slate of TV dramas and comedies. Bratman joins Tomorrow Studios as its new head of features.

“As we continue our acquisition and development of unparalleled IP, and our work with the leading creatives in Hollywood, we want to maximize our storytelling ability for all formats and produce each project for the format that best tells its story, including opportunities for feature run/streamer double play,” said Tomorrow Studios CEO/Partner Marty Adelstein and President/Partner Becky Clements. “Josh brings a keen eye for developing feature films to the team, and Alissa’s instincts for television are consistently unmatched. We are excited for the greatness to come from them.”

Bachner began her...

Exclusive: Mandeville Films and Television partners and co-owners David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman could be ending their 20-plus-year run together.

Deadline understands that the pair, who are behind feature films including Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast and Amazon’s The Aeronauts and have racked up more than $4 billion in domestic box office receipts, are in talks to go their separate ways.

The company, which also was behind USA Network’s hit series Monk, was founded in 1995 by former Disney president of production Hoberman, with Lieberman becoming his partner in 2001.

The duo are considering a number of possible scenarios in which they pursue their own projects, while still occasionally partnering on films. Reps for the company declined comment.

It would mark a split at one of Hollywood’s longest-running film and television partnerships. The company, which had a long-running deal on the film side at Disney Studios Motion Pictures since the 1990s,...

It was an “Offer” that writer/producer Nikki Toscano couldn’t refuse. Toscano has sealed a three-year overall deal with Paramount Television Studios, where she’ll develop premium TV series for the studio across all platforms. Toscano is currently showrunner and executive producer on Paramount Plus’ “The Offer,” a limited series about the making of “The Godfather.” The show, from Paramount Television Studios, premieres next year.

“Nikki is a supremely talented writer and showrunner,” said Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount TV Studios and Paramount Plus original scripted series. “Her contribution to ‘The Offer’ as its fearless leader and North Star is immeasurable. We look forward to many more successful collaborations.”

Toscano also has a pilot at Paramount Plus with Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman, a pilot with Ellen Pompeo and Regina King at Netflix, and a project in the works with Keri Russell based on the novel “Long Bright River.

Exclusive: The remarkable story of Josephine Baker, one of the most influential female entertainers of the 20th century, will be the subject of Josephine, a limited drama series in development at ABC Signature, with Ruth Negga attached to star as the legendary Jazz age performer and civil rights activist. Negga also executive produces the project, which hails from David Makes Man showrunner Dee Harris-Lawrence, Emmy-nominated director Millicent Shelton (30 Rock), LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Springhill Company and ABC Signature. Josephine stems from The Springhill Company’s overall deal with ABC Signature.

Written by Harris-Lawrence and to be directed by Shelton, Josephine is a raw and unflinching look at the force of nature that was Josephine Baker, the biggest Black female artist of her time. From international superstar and decorated WW2 spy, to Civil Rights activist and flawed mother, Josephine delves into the raw talent, sexual fluidity, struggles,...

Dee Harris-Lawrence has signed a multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.

Harris-Lawrence is currently an executive producer and showrunner on the OWN series “David Makes Man” as well as executive producer and co-showrunner on the CBS legal drama “All Rise,” both of which are produced by Warner Bros.

“I am thrilled to be continuing my relationship with Warner Bros,” Harris-Lawrence said. “They’ve been collaborative and supportive on both ‘David Makes Man’ and ‘All Rise,’ and I am looking forward to the next chapter of creating new content and amplifying visionary storytelling.”

Under terms of the deal, she will continue work on both current shows while also developing, creating and producing new scripted programming for the studio across all platforms.

Harris-Lawrence was named one of Variety’s 10 TV Scribes to Watch in 2019. Prior to her work on “David Makes Man” and “All Rise,” her credits included working as...

Exclusive: CBS is developing Repeat, a drama series executive produced by Masi Oka and Sabrina Wind, from ABC Studios.

Written and executive produced by David Zabel Repeat is based on the award-winning book of the same name by Kurumi Inui and the 2018 TV series, which aired on Yomiuri Television in Japan.

The project was originally set up by Oka and Wind at CBS last year with a different writer, David Hayter. It did not go to pilot but CBS remained high on the concept and put it in redevelopment. Zabel came on board to pen a new take on the underlying material.

In Repeat, after a group of strangers is mysteriously propelled back 10 months in time, giving them the chance to right wrongs, undo mistakes, and set their lives on a better path, these “repeaters” soon find that changing their fate is a tricky endeavor with unforeseen and even deadly consequences.

Hulu is no longer developing John Grisham’s “The Rainmaker” and “Rogue Lawyer” for the streaming platform, Variety has learned.

Michael Seitzman, creator of CBS dramas “Code Black” and “Intelligence,” had been tapped to oversee the multi-series so-called “Grisham Universe” alongside “Detroit 1-8-7” creator Jason Richman.

The two Grisham series were envisioned as two separate shows based on separate books, with story lines that would cross over.

It remains to be seen whether the pair of shows, which were initially slated to be produced by ABC Signature, will find a new home elsewhere at one of Disney’s many distribution platforms. Disney took full operational control of Hulu in May after Comcast struck a deal with Disney, relinquishing its control and agreeing to sell its stake in the streaming platform for at least $5.8 billion within five years. Hulu, once jointly owned by several media conglomerates, is now solely under Disney’s purview.

Exclusive: Writer-producer Jason Richman is extending his relationship with ABC Studios, signing a new, multi-year overall deal with the studio. Under the pact, Richman will continue to work on his current ABC Studios projects as well as develop new ones for broadcast, cable, and streaming services.

Richman is behind one of ABC’s hottest drama pilots this season, Stumptown. He created, wrote and is showrunninga the project, starring Cobie Smulders. Additionally, Richman is co-writing and co-showrunning with Michael Seitzman The Rainmaker and Rogue Lawyer, the first two series in Hulu’s proposed John Grisham Universe franchise. All three shows hail from ABC Studios.

Inspired by the graphic novels published by Oni Press, Stumptown follows Dex Parios (Smulders), a strong, assertive, and unapologetically sharp-witted Army veteran working as a P.I. in Portland, Or. With a complicated personal history and only herself to rely on, she solves other people’s messes with...

ABC has bought two projects from studios-based Mandeville TV — police drama Safe Harbor from Detroit 1-8-7 creator Jason Richman, and business start-up drama Mavericks from Brooklyn Girls author Gemma Burgess. Both projects are executive produced by Mandeville TV’s David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Laurie Zaks. Richman is returning to the cop beat with Safe Harbor, moving from Motor City, where his ABC series Detroit 1-8-7 was set, to Los Angeles. Written and executive…...

TV trends come and go, but who would’ve thought that, with all the focus on inclusion in the past few years, there would now be an uptick of, as IndieWire’s Michael Schneider puts it, “white dudes in crisis” on TV?

To fill the diversity void, the networks have added actors of color to supporting roles. It’s heartening to see that this has created a more realistic picture on TV of what the world looks like, such as the marriage between Zach Braff’s and Tiya Sircar’s characters on “Alex Inc.” representing the growing number of mixed-race marriages in America. Unfortunately, it’s also disappointing to see so many of these favorite actresses get shunted from one supporting role to the next.

Read More: The 4 Worst New Fall Show Titles and How We’d Fix Them

It’s time for many of these actresses to move out...

One of best-selling author Nelson DeMille’s most popular protagonists, John Corey, is headed to the small screen. ABC has given a script commitment plus penalty to John Corey, a drama series project based on DeMille’s book series about the brash, quick-witted, and cocky NYPD homicide detective set in today’s social environment. Written by Detroit 1-8-7 creator Jason Richman, John Corey hails from Sony TV, John Davis’ studio-based Davis Entertainment and veteran producer Ma…...

More and more movies are being adapted into TV series, and the latest additions have a similar affiliation: they're both based on gangster plots. Find out how and when The Departed and Get Shorty will make their way to the small screen below.    The Departed  Martin Scorsese's Best Picture-winning remake of Infernal Affairs is getting reworked again and is heading to Amazon, according to Variety. This time, instead of Boston, the setting is Chicago, where a young cop infiltrates a Latino gang while a member of that gang infiltrates the city's police force. Jonathan Richman, who scripted the Bangkok Dangerous remake and created the cop show Detroit 1-8-7, is writing the series, which now apparently has to...

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Despite displaying early signs of promise, The Departed was one of the early movie-to-tv adaptations that seemed to tumble off Hollywood’s proverbial radar. After all, this is a project that we haven’t heard of in close to six months, and it’s only now that the repackaged, serialized version has been snapped up by Amazon Studios and Warner Bros. that the mob thriller has reemerged to the fore.

Featuring a script penned by Detroit 1-8-7 creator Jason Richman, this version in particular is dubbed as a new spin on the undercover cop set-up glimpsed in Martin Scorsese’s beloved Oscar-winner – itself an adaptation of Hong Kong thriller Internal Affairs.

Case in point: The Departed TV series will swap Boston for the Windy City and is said to be set “at present-day Chicago, amidst the shifting tides of warring ethnic drug gangs. In it, a young cop goes undercover...

Like a detective going so deep undercover that only a few are even aware he exists, Martin Scorsese’s The Departed is joining the growing litany of movie-to-tv adaptations as a series for Amazon—though only the barest traces of its identity will remain. Detroit 1-8-7 creator Jason Richman, Warner Bros. TV, and the same production groups behind Scorsese’s Oscar-winning 2006 film (though not Scorsese himself) are developing a new take on the crime drama set in present-day Chicago, where a young cop embeds himself within a Latino gang and butts heads with the gang’s own plant inside the city’s police department, who feeds his bosses information in whatever downtime he gets between shooting black men.

The Departed itself took the Hong Kong setting of its source material, the 2002 thriller Infernal Affairs, then turned it into a loose retelling of Boston gangster Whitey Bulger where Matt ...

Tony Sokol Aug 24, 2016

Martin Scorsese’s modern gangster classic The Departed is heading to TV via Amazon Studios and Warner Bros...

The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s 2006 modern mob classic starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg, is coming to TV as a series. The Oscar-winning movie will get a reboot as a crime drama series from Amazon Studios as well as the original film’s producers Vertigo Entertainment, Initial Entertainment Group and Plan B Entertainment. This is the first time Amazon has bought anything from Warner Bros. TV.

The script for The Departed series was written Jason Richman, who created Detroit 1-8-7.

The original film was set in Boston where Irish Mob boss Francis "Frank" Costello, played by Nicholson, paid for Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) to complete police training and get set up in the Massachusetts State Police. DiCaprio plays William "Billy" Costigan, who pretends to get...

The TV-shows-based-on-movies trend continues. After yesterday’s news that Crackle is developing a series based on Guy Ritchie’s “Snatch” comes the announcement that Amazon is adapting Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed.” “Detroit 1-8-7” creator Jason Richman is writing the series, which shifts the action from Boston to Chicago and centers around a cop who goes undercover to infiltrate a Latino gang — which has a mole of its own on the police force.

Read More: Rupert Grint to Star in ‘Snatch’ Series for Crackle

Scorsese’s film, which won the celebrated filmmaker a long-awaited Oscar for Best Director and also took home prizes for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay, was released in 2006 to critical and financial success. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon played the two main characters; it’s yet to be announced who will star in the equivalent roles (or any other, for that matter).

Read More: Amazon Pilot Reviews: ‘The Tick,...

Amazon is shipping up to Boston Chicago.

The streaming video service is developing a series based on Martin Scorcese’s 2006 Oscar-winning movie The Departed, our sister site Deadline reports.

RelatedTom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Officially a Go at Amazon, John Krasinski to Star

The film, with a cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, was set in Boston and involved Irish-run organized crime. The series, written by Jason Richman (Detroit 1-8-7), will take place in the Windy City and will be a rebooted blend of The Departed and the movie that inspired it, Infernal Affairs.

The TV series will unfold in modern-day Chicago,...

ABC has relaunched its streaming service with not just a new name — ABCd — but a bevy of new bells and whistles.

RelatedBrothers & Sisters Exclusive: Find Out What Would’ve Happened to the Walkers in Season 6

For one, full seasons of 38 “throwback” series — including Brothers & Sisters, Felicity, My So-Called Life, Body of Proof and Sports Night — will be available via the free, ad-supported service.

Other past programs now streaming include 8 Simple Rules, Benched, Betrayal, Commander in Chief, Detroit 1-8-7, Dinosaurs, Dirty Sexy Money, Ellen, FlashForward, Happy Town, Hope and Faith, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, The Knights of Prosperity, Less Than Perfect,...

Onetime Under the Dome/CSI: NY/Detroit 1-8-7 law enforcer Natalie Martinez will again wield a shield, as the female lead on the Fox pilot A.P.B.

RelatedPilot Season ’16: Scoop on This Fall’s (Possible) New Shows and Stars

Inspired by the New York Times Magazine article “Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans?” and penned by Person of Interest‘s David Slack, the drama project follows a tech billionaire who purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a loved one’s murder, asking the question: Can this eccentric and enigmatic figure’s cutting-edge approach fix...

The blood-soaked battles between neck-chomping culebras and those who hunt them continue in the second season of From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series. The second season of the Robert Rodriguez series hits home media on February 2nd from eOne, and we've been provided with three Blu-ray copies to give away.

From Dusk Till Dawn Season 2 Synopsis: "Across 10 explosive, SFX-filled episodes in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series - The Complete Season Two, core relationships deepen and become more complicated as everyone tries to put their lives back on track after one very insane day. Santánico and Richie are now partners in crime, resembling a more modern version of Bonnie and Clyde; Seth and Kate are scraping by as small time criminals south of the border; and Freddie Gonzalez has an almost obsessive focus on protecting his wife and young daughter in the suburbs. Carlos Madrigal and Scott Fuller emerge from the Titty Twister,...

The continued blood-soaked battles between neck-chomping culebras and those who hunt them are collected in the second season Blu-ray / DVD of From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, as well as the Amazon exclusive home media release that includes both seasons of the Robert Rodriguez series:

Press Release: The Original Crime Drama, Executive Produced by Robert Rodriguez, Swoops Into Retail in a Loaded 3-Disc Set (Blu-ray/DVD) Featuring All 10 Episodes from Season Two, Audio Commentary from Rodriguez, Cast & Crew, 13 Featurettes, "After Dusk: Inside the Episode" Segments - and More!

Also Available Will Be From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series - The Complete Seasons One & Two, Exclusively at Amazon

Street Date: February 2, 2016

Blu-ray/DVD Srp: $49.98/$39.98

Program Description

Spun off from Robert Rodriguez's cult classic film franchise, Season One of Miramax/El Rey Network's From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series centered on bank robber Seth Gecko (D.J. Cotrona) and his violent,...

First rule of The Astronaut Wives Club: Don’t talk about the crushing fear and loneliness you know as the spouse of one of America’s first space cowboys.

Second rule of The Astronaut Wives Club: When in doubt, don pearls and a little lipstick.

ABC’s 10-episode period drama, which premiered Thursday (8/7c), centers on the spouses of the Mercury Program astronauts and their part in the late ’50s/early ’60s scramble to put a man in space. Written by Stephanie Savage (Gossip Girl) and based on the book by Lily Koppel, the premiere focuses on the proper-to-a-fault,...

The world of mixed martial arts is brutal enough, but DirecTV's freshman series Kingdom throws something else into the ring: family. The show, executive produced by Byron Balasco (Without A Trace, Detroit 1-8-7), centers on Alvey Kulina (Frank Grillo), who owns an Mma gym and attempts to take care of his fighters while also maintaining a relationship with his sons (Jonathan Tucker and Nick Jonas). DirecTV has already ordered a 20-episode second season of Kingdom, which wraps up Season 1 Wednesday night. Balasco took time to answer our TV Guide Magazine showrunner survey and explain why viewers should tap in.

TV Guide Magazine: I've got room in my life to watch just one more show. Why should it be yours?

Byron Balasco: We will fill your void.

Read More >...

"Kingdom" will continue to reign on Directv. Just a week after the series premiere, the platform has ordered an additional 20 episodes of the one-hour drama from creator Byron Balasco ("Detroit 1-8-7") and Endemol Studios ("Hell on Wheels"). Production will begin in spring 2015, with the first 10 episodes airing on the Audience Network next fall. The following 10 episodes will air sometime in 2016. Starring Nick Jonas and Frank Grillo ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier"), "Kingdom" is a brutal family saga that takes place in the rough and tumble world of Mixed Martial Arts in Venice, California. "Kingdom" also stars Kiele Sanchez ("Lost"), Matt Lauria ("Friday Night Lights"), Jonathan Tucker ("Parenthood") and Joanna Going ("House of Cards"). “Directv could not be more thrilled by the response that last week’s premiere of 'Kingdom' elicited from both critics and our viewers,” said Directv's Chris Long in a press statement. “The series very...

Kingdom Season 1, Episode 1, “Set Yourself on Fire”

Directed by Adam Davidson

Written by Byron Balasco

Airs Wednesdays at 9pm on the Audience Network

Kingdom is a different beast for the land of pay cable shows. Byron Balasco — he of such procedurals as Without a Trace, Detroit 1-8-7, and FlashForward — wrote the script on spec. DirecTV’s third scripted series ever (not counting their role as savior of Friday Night Lights) and only the third show out of Endemol Studios, the show is very much a mix of experience and newer hands both behind the camera and in front of it. Balasco’s expertise in the world of Mma is sketchy at best, and before now he was better know as an executive producer or co-producer than a show runner. Even after taking all of this into account, the pilot is a more cohesive look at the damaged and problematic Kulinas...

CBS may have a big, easy hit on its hands, as NCIS: New Orleans this Tuesday night premiered to 17.2 million total viewers (per finals), up 5 percent from what NCIS: La did a year ago.

In the demo, however, New Orleans (with a 2.5 rating) was down 17 percent from La‘s most recent premiere. TVLine readers gave it an average grade of “B-.”

Related Read Our Recaps for NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans and Person of Interest

Opening the Eye’s night, NCIS (average grade: “A-“) returned to 18.2 mil and a 2.9, up from its finale but down 10 and 19 percent from its Season 11 premiere...

If you missed the Gecko brothers face off against the neck-chomping creatures of the night on El Rey Network earlier this year, don’t despair: you can pop season one of the series into your Blu-ray or DVD player. For those that have already seen it, we have a breakdown of the special features that may be worth your while:

“From executive producer Robert Rodriguez comes the first season of the original El Rey Network series, From Dusk Till Dawn, swooping onto Blu-ray and DVD, featuring all 10 Season One episodes, including episodes directed by Rodriguez and Eduardo Sánchez(The Blair Witch Project). This supernatural series, based on Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s 1996 cult classic film of the same name (starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Salma Hayek and Tarantino), centers on bank robbers Seth and Richie Gecko, who are wanted by the authorities after a heist leaves several dead. Escaping across...

From executive producer Robert Rodriguez comes the first season of the original El Rey Network series, From Dusk Till Dawn, swooping onto Blu-ray and DVD, featuring all 10 Season One episodes, including episodes directed by Rodriguez and Eduardo S&#225nchez (The Blair Witch Project). This supernatural series, based on Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's 1996 cult classic film of the same name (starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Salma Hayek and Tarantino), centers on bank robbers Seth and Richie Gecko, who are wanted by the authorities after a heist leaves several dead. Escaping across the Mexican border with a family of hostages, the Gecko brothers take a detour to a strip club that's populated by bloodsucking creatures of the night.

From Dusk Till Dawn returns to El Rey Network in 2015 with brand-new episodes for its eagerly awaited second season.

Cast

D.J. Cotrona (G.I. Joe Retaliation, Dear John, Detroit 1-8-7)

Zane Holtz (The Perks of Being a Wallflower,...

Outlander

"Outlander" showrunner Ron Moore has released a photo of himself making a cameo in this coming Saturday's episode of the 18th century Scotland-set Starz drama.

Moore will appear alongside author Diana Gabaldon in a scene in the Great Hall, the pair will have no dialogue though. [Source: The Live Feed]

Nod

Fox has handed out a script plus penalty commitment to the drama series "Nod" based on the book by Adrian Barnes. Jason Richman ("Detroit 1-8-7") will pen the script which deals with what happens when most of humanity inexplicably loses the ability to sleep.

We then explore the world through the eyes of inter-somnial couple Tanya and Paul. She is awakened and flourishing, he is still handicapped by the need for sleep. Soon though, signs of deprivation start to show among the Awakened. [Source: The Live Feed]

Sons of Anarchy

FX has released a bloody and super violent trailer for the upcoming seventh and final season...

Fox is working on a new drama, and it’s no snooze: The network confirmed on Wednesday that it is developing Nod, a prospective series based on Adrian Barnes’ novel about most of the world’s citizens losing the ability to sleep, but for some mysterious reason, they aren’t getting tired.

Jason Richman (Lucky 7, Detroit 1-8-7) will executive produce and write the script for the show, which is focused through the eyes of Tanya and Paul, an “intersominial couple.” As one of “the Awakened,” Tanya is thriving without sleep while Paul is the one of the few people...

DirecTV is opening the gates of its buzzy new Kingdom to reveal a jacked Matt Lauria and Nick Jonas in near-constant states of undress.

Related Fall TV Preview: Photos and Video From 50+ New Shows

The series, billed as a gritty family drama set against the backdrop of the renegade subculture of Mixed Martial Arts, stars Prison Break alum Frank Grillo as Alvey Kulina, an Mma legend and owner of a Venice, CA-based gym. Jonas plays Nate, Alvey’s prize-fighter son and younger brother to Jay (an unrecognizable Jonathan Tucker). Lauria, meanwhile, portrays a world-class athlete who had (and lost) it all.

Nick Jonas and Frank Grillo are mving off of “Navy St.” Jonas and Grillo's DirecTV series formerly titled “Navy St.” has been re-chistened “Kingdom” and will premiere on DirecTV's Audience Network on Oct. 8 at 9 p.m., DirecTV said Thursday. See video: Nick Jonas Hooks Up with Dermot Mulroney's Hot Wife in ‘Careful What You Wish For’ Teaser The one-hour drama series, which was created by “Detroit 1-8-7” alum Byron Balasco and hails from Endemol Studios, takes place in Venice, California, and is set against the backdrop of Mixed Martial Arts (Mma). “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” actor Grillo stars as gym.

Spartacus: Blood & Sand alumna Erin Cummings has been cast as one of the leads in ABC’s 10-episode summer drama series The Astronaut Wives Club, from Fake Empire, Groundswell Productions and ABC Studios. Written by Stephanie Savage based on Lily Koppel’s book and directed by Nick Casavettes, it tells the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history during the height of the space race. Cummings, repped by Untitled and Paradigm, will play Marge, Deke Slayton’s outspoken wife, whose colorful past is not in keeping with the cookie-cutter image that the astronaut wives are expected to present to the world. Maternal and funny, she becomes the glue that holds the Astronaut Wives Club together. Cummings’ series credits also include ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7 and CBS’ Made In Jersey. She has three features coming out: Cold Comes The Night, Late Phases and The Last Word.

The veteran director who worked as an Ad on dozens of TV and film projects ranging from Mixology, Rizzoli & Isles and ER to Running With Scissors and the Shaquille O’Neal starrer Steel died Monday after a long illness. Dirk Wallace Craft was 48. A 1991 grad of the DGA Trainee Program, he served as an assistant director on more than 50 productions and also directed episodes of Nip/Tuck and Burn Notice. The Pontiac, Mi, native’s Ad credits also include TV’s Detroit 1-8-7, Alien Nation, VIP and numerous telefilms as well as the 1996 feature The Crucible starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Survivors include his wife Sande Alessi Craft, who runs Sande Alessi Casting in Hollywood; their children Shaelyn and Kai; his mother Juanita Craft Hawisher; and sister Krista Craft Strongman. A celebration of Craft’s life is set for March 28 in Agoura Hills. Details: sandealessisocialmedia@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, donations...

Anthony Lapaglia is back in business with CBS. The “Without a Trace” star has been cast in CBS's upcoming drama pilot from Nikki Toscano (“Revenge,” “Detroit 1-8-7”) and Kerry Ehrin (“Bates Motel,” “Parenthood”). Also read: Pilot Season 2014: TheWrap's Complete Network Guide The pilot follows the aftermath of a terrorist event that rocks Washington, D.C. Lapaglia will play Coach Holden Weller, an intense, high school football coach/athletic director in Virginia — who happens to be a retired, well-respected CIA operative. When the attack happens, Weller is pulled back into action to investigate closer to home where the next generation of terrorists are.

The Sopranos alum Michael Imperioli has been tapped as the lead in Saint Francis, Chris Moynihan’s multi-camera comedy pilot for ABC. The project, from ABC Studios and Tagline, centers on Francis Quinlan (Imperioli), a blue-collar, no-nonsense Long Island cop and family man who butts heads with the modern, liberal world when his 29-year-old sister gets pregnant out of wedlock. This marks Imperioli’s return to ABC where he starred on two drama series, Detroit 1-8-7 and Life On Mars. He has a major recurring role on the upcoming seventh and final season of Showtime’s Californication.

Blu-ray, DVD & Digital Release Date: March 4, 2014

Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $40.99

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Spike Lee (Malcolm X) gets back to grittier fare with 2013 movie Oldboy, a remake of the 2003 South Korean cult hit of the same name.

The action film stars Josh Brolin (Gangster Squad) as Joe Doucett, who was kidnapped and locked in solitary confinement for 20 years. Now that’s he’s free, he’s got vengeance on his mind and sets up to find out who took him and why.

Elizabeth Olsen (Silent House), Samuel L. Jackson (Marvel’s The Avengers) and Michael Imperioli (TV’s Detroit 1-8-7) also star in the R-rated movie.

Lee’s Oldboy was released to a limited number of theaters and received mixed reviews from critics and moviegoers. Time Magazine critic Richard Corliss said, “A vivid yet academic remake, this Oldboy is shorter, leaner and lesser.”

Bonus features on the...

Friday Night Lights alumna Adrianne Palicki is returning to television in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series , a 10-episode supernatural crime drama to air on Robert Rodriguez’ about-to-launch cable channel El Rey Network, EW.com reports.

Related | Cable Renewal Scorecard: What’s Cancelled? What’s Returning? What’s on the Bubble?

Palicki will play Vanessa Styles, a woman from Seth Gecko’s (Detroit 1-8-7‘s D.J. Cotrona) past. The series, based on Rodriguez’ 1996 movie of the same name, also features Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show), Zane Holtz (Make It or Break It), Jesse Garcia (Sons of Anarchy), Jake Busey (Good Vibes...

DirecTV seems to think they’ve found the next Friday Night Lights, though what exactly that means is open to interpretation. Is it supposed to be another critically beloved series with a strong, almost cult-like, following? Does it seek to tackle many of the same issues plaguing contemporary American culture? Will it be family oriented? Will football or some other sport be a main focus? What exactly is causing some to draw comparisons between this new, untested series and the late, great Friday Night Lights? Those are a lot of questions that don’t have immediate answers, but I think I can shed some light on the mystery that is Navy St.

According to TVLine, Frank Grillo has been tapped to star in DirecTV’s latest project, which received a 10-episode straight-to-series order in the summer. It’s being referred to as a gritty family drama fixated around a mixed...

DirecTV’s new original drama series Navy St. has enlisted former Prison Breaker Frank Grillo to star, TVLine has learned exclusively.

The project, which received a 10-episode straight-to-series order from DirecTV over the summer, is being billed as a gritty family drama set against the backdrop of a mixed martial arts (Mma) gym in Venice, California. The series has drawn comparisons to the late, great Friday Night Lights, which completed its five-year run on the satellite giant.

Byron Balasco (Detroit 1-8-7) will serve as exec producer/showrunner.

Grillo, whose TV credits also include The Gates, The Kill Point and Guiding Light,...

We recently provided the early details and a few stills from director and cinematographer Ryan (Roid Rage) Lightbourn's Sleepwalkers, and now we're back with two new images and the film's official trailer.

From the Press Release:

“Hell Is Empty. All the Devils Are Here.”

Ryan Lightbourn is ready to reveal his first horror feature, Sleepwalkers, a micro-budget creature feature now in post-production. The film stars a shining cast of newcomers, including starlets Ansley Gordon and Amanda Phillips, horror movie veteran J. Larose (Insidious 2), porn star Dale DaBone, and Doo Doo Brown ("Detroit 1-8-7," B.E.T.’s "ComicView," and "P. Diddy Presents the Bad Boys of Comedy"). Together, this cast and their characters are drawn to the murky woods of Wekiva Springs, Florida, for an exciting spring break. In the darkness they find more thrills than they expected when creatures emerge from the local swamps.

The first trailer for Lightbourn...

As we previously reported, El Rey, Comcast's upcoming cable network run by Robert Rodriguez, is going into production on the network's flagship show, a TV adaptation of Rodriguez's 1996 vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn. Like the film, the show concerns two criminal brothers, who find themselves in a vampire-infested strip club while on the run from the law. And now it's been announced that D.J. Cotrona (Detroit 1-8-7) and Zane Holtz will take on the roles originally held by George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, respectively. But the big casting news is that Don Johnson ...

by Seth Metoyer, MoreHorror.com

After the success of short film Roid Rage, Ryan Lightbourn has wrapped his first feature film Sleepwalkers.

Check out a few images and official details below. A full trailer will be releasing soon!

From The Press Release:

From the mind that first introduced the world to killerhemorrhoids with his decorated short film Roid Rage (screened at over 50 film festivals internationally such as Screamfest La, Another Hold in the Head, Sacramento Horror Film Fest), Bahamian filmmaker Ryan Lightbourn has just wrapped his first feature length film, Sleepwalkers.

Sleepwalkers was completed over the course of only two weeks to accommodate both the most modest of budgets, and a crew that consisted of less than 10 people. In addition, Lightbourn wrote, directed, produced, cast and will be solely responsible for all the post production of the movie (editing, scoring, visual effects, etc.).

What Sleepwalkers lacked in resources, it will...

Not to be confused with Stephen King's Sleepwalkers, what we have here is a beast of a different kind. From director Ryan Lightbourn (Roid Rage) comes a new indie tale riddled with the good stuff!

From the Press Release

From the mind that first introduced the world to killer hemorrhoids with his decorated short film Roid Rage (screened at over 50 film festivals internationally such as Screamfest La, Another Hole in the Head, Sacramento Horror Film Fest), Bahamian filmmaker Ryan Lightbourn has just wrapped his first feature length film, Sleepwalkers.

Sleepwalkers was completed over the course of only two weeks to accommodate both the most modest of budgets and a crew that consisted of less than 10 people. In addition, Lightbourn wrote, directed, produced, cast, and is solely responsible for all the post-production work of the movie (editing, scoring, visual effects, etc.).

The Sleepwalkers cast is comprised of a range of actors from veterans to newcomers.

Betrayal begins and ends with a bloody crime scene. Photographer Sara Hadley’s (Hannah Ware) blood-soaked clothes fill the screen with a creepy sense of wonder, but that’s where the magic stops. The mystery could have been worth uncovering, if only the road to discovery was not laden with such a lackluster plot.

Developer/executive producer David Zabel (Detroit 1-8-7) attempts to spin a web of intrigue, sex, murder, and family dynamics into this Chicago-based drama, yet struggles to shed any light on why one should care about the events taking place on screen. The show screams of the obviousness it should attempt to avoid. From the first moment we see Sara meeting the tall, dark, and handsome Jack McCutchen (Stuart Townsend), it’s immediately apparent that an ...

Click to continue reading ‘Betrayal’ Series Premiere Review: An Unfortunate Affair...

Lucky 7 is yet another translation of British television for American audiences, and it’s about par for the course. While some efforts (mostly long ago and far away, with the exception of The Office) have come together to create long-lived, and beloved series, this isn’t an avenue of series creation that has a solid, recent track record.

Based on the British show, The Syndicate, it’s the story of a group of coworkers at a gas station who have been playing the same numbers for years, and fear for the jobs as rumors abound that the station is closing. All with their own monetary woes, which are laid out for us in great detail, this rag tag assortment of characters is about to find out that there are a lot of problems that come with their sudden riches.

The main trouble this show is going to have is in the translation of format.

Fox’s The Following is getting Fancy. Or, at least, the man who played him.

James McDaniel, formerly known as NYPD Blue‘s Lt. Arthur Fancy, will join the cast in a recurring capacity for Season 2, TV Guide.com reports.

Related | The Following Exclusive: Boss‘ Connie Nielsen Joins Season 2 as [Spoiler]‘s New Love Interest

He’ll play an FBI agent named Ken Phillips, and he’ll run a task force in New York City — likely filling the hole left by Agent Debra Parker’s death in the first season finale.

McDaniel can currently be seen as Jean Baptiste on the...

Exclusive: I’ve learned that DirecTV is close to picking up its third original series. I hear the satcaster is finalizing the deals for a 10-episode straight-to-series order to Navy St., an hourlong drama from Bryan Balasco (Detroit 1-8-7) and Endemol Studios, the Los Angeles-based scripted TV producing operation of Endemol USA. Written on spec by Balasco, Navy St. is described as a gritty family drama set against the backdrop of a mixed martial arts (Mma) gym based in Venice, California. It deals with survival, ambition, self-destruction and love in all of its messy iterations. Balasco is attached to serve as showrunner on the series, which I heard has begun preliminary casting, with production start eyed for early next year. Navy St. is said to be in the vein of acclaimed family/football drama Friday Night Lights, which ended its run on DirecTV. This would mark the third original series to launch on DirecTV,...

ABC's new series "Betrayal" is about two people who have an affair, but it's not out to make viewers root for the end of two marriages -- at least not necessarily.

"Something that we all decided on the pilot ... was to be truthful about this and not try to construct something that makes it too easy for the lovers," executive producer David Zabel said Sunday (Aug. 4) at the TCA summer press tour. "By that I mean, they're both in relationships that are viable marriages. I think most people could look at it and go, 'That's kind of like my marriage. That's no so far off.'"

The lovers on "Betrayal" are a photographer, Sara (Hannah Ware of "Boss"), and an attorney, Jack (Stuart Townsend), both of whom are married but who embark on a relationship. The complicated feelings they have about what they're doing get more complicated when Sara learns...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 5, 2013

Price: DVD $65.99, Blu-ray $76.99

Studio: CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment

The 13-episode miniseries Under the Dome scored an average of 13.53 million viewers, making it the most watched summer drama premiere on any network since CBS’s 2000 Malibu Road in 1992.

Based on the best-selling science-fiction novel by Stephen King, the TV show follows the inhabitants of small town Chester Mill, who have been trapped under a clear dome, cut off from the outside world.

As the residents try to solve the mystery of the dome, they’ve got more mysteries trapped in the dome with them. The councilman’s (Dean Norris, TV’s Breaking Bad) crooked, his son (newcomer Alexander Koch) has kidnapped his ex-girlfriend (Britt Robertson, TV’s The Secret Circle), kids are having seizures and mumbling weird words and there’s a murderous stranger (Mike Vogel, TV’s Bates Motel) among them.

Under the Dome also...