It’s been a super busy seven days for television, with announcements cropping up all over the place for various reasons. Here, we’ve put together a roundup of the most exciting pieces of news so that you don’t have to go searching around to figure out exactly what’s going on in the TV industry!
Mr. & Mrs. Smith reboot with Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Head of Amazon Studios, Jennifer Salke revealed this week via Instagram, that Amazon Prime Video would be looking after a television adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Expected to arrive in 2022, it was also announced that both Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge would be starring in the series.
Waller-Bridge is also credited as a co-creator for the show, alongside Francesca Sloane; there's no mention of Glover in terms of writing for the Prime Video original, but it could be that negotiations are still ongoing. Of course, Glover could just be starring rather than working with the creative team.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey cast in The Last of Us
Naughty Dog took to social media this week to announce that Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal had been cast in the lead roles of Ellie and Joel respectively, for the upcoming television adaptation of The Last of Us, coming to HBO.
They certainly weren’t the first names to spring to mind when fans were thinking about who could take on the characters and bring them to life, so it’s going to be very interesting to see just how they do when they step in front of the camera and play their parts.
There were rumours circulating that Mahershala Ali would be playing Joel, but it was confirmed that the actor, in the end, hadn’t signed on.
DC’s Wonder Girl series cancelled
The CW have given the green light to a number of projects this week, but Wonder Girl from Greg Berlanti wasn't among them. The showrunner and writer for the series, Dailyn Rodriguez, confirmed that it wouldn't be moving ahead on the network.
Of course, just because The CW don’t feel like Wonder Girl is a good fit for their slate right now, doesn’t mean that Warner Bros. won’t be trying to get it picked up elsewhere. We’re expecting to hear a lot more from the creative team in the coming months, as they do their best to find a home for this Amazonian hero.
Hugh Jackman teams with Game of Thrones creators for Netflix original
Though D.B. Weiss and David Benioff were criticised for their handling of the conclusion of beloved HBO series Game of Thrones, there's plenty of hope that they will be able to bring critically-acclaimed novel The Overstory to life with excellence; especially now that Hugh Jackman is teaming up with the pair.
According to Deadline, the Richard Powers novel will see Jackman serve as an executive producer, helping to tell the story of "activism and resistance" in the natural world.
Meanwhile, Benioff and Weiss are also working as writers and executive producers on another Netflix original, bringing science fiction trilogy The Three-Body Problem to life for the streaming platform.
They're also working on half-hour drama/comedy The Chair, starring Sandra Oh, alongside co-executive producer Amanda Peet.
Jamie Chung cast in Dexter revival
Technology and entertainment platforms have moved on a lot since Dexter left the small screen, but it looks like the reboot of the series will move with the times, after it was revealed Jamie Chung will play a true crime podcaster when the show returns for Season 9.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chung will play a character called Molly, who's based in Los Angeles and has a passion for all things criminal.
She'll star alongside Oscar Wahlberg, who plays the captain of the Iron Lake High School wrestling team, Zach. He's described as "the gateway to the in-crowd, which includes the daughter of the chief of police."
True Blood reboot won’t bring back old cast
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is working on bringing True Blood back to HBO, but according to Deadline, the original stars of the series won't be making a comeback with the reboot.
Speaking as part of a Q&A during the HBO and HBO Max portion of TCA, HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys confirmed that there would be a whole bunch of new stories to tell, which meant a whole bunch of new faces coming along for the ride. Exactly who those faces will be and what those stories will entail however, remains to be seen.
Riverdale showrunner teases major tragedy
Head of Riverdale Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa sent fans’ minds into overdrive this week, when he hinted that there could be some bad news on the horizon for those who love the series’ major characters; and especially those who have been around from the start.
Speaking with TV Line, Aguirre-Sacasa made it clear that the end of the show's "Chapter Eighty" episode would connect directly to a major character in a potentially "tragic" way.
He said: “I think it’s in the next episode that you’ll see that mystery is really entwined with the possibly tragic fate of one of our major characters that we’ve known since Season 1.”
Those who are up-to-date with the show will have seen Squeaky hitch a ride with an unknown trucker. Pop Tate looked on with concern as they left; could he be the one referred to? We’ll have to wait and see.
MORE: Our weekly Movie News Roundup
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