What’s going on in the TV world?
Marvel has released a new promo for their upcoming series, Cloak and Dagger. The series will debut on Freeform on June 7 with a world premiere at SXSW on March 11. It follows two teenagers, Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph) and Tandy Bowen (Olivia Holt) from different backgrounds. They find out they have superpowers that are linked together. Tyrone can engulf things in darkness and Tandy can emit light daggers. They have to find a way to work together though their feelings may end up getting in the way. The first episode is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, Shots Fired).
Idris Elba is coming back to TV in a series called In the Long Run. Loosely based on his life, Elba will be Walter, the patriarch of the Easmon family. They moved from Sierra Leone to 1980s London. He works in the local factory with his friend and neighbor Bagpipes played by Bill Bailey. Their lives are upended when Walter’s brother arrives in London bringing chaos in his wake and igniting a passion for music in Walter’s son. Elba also serves as an executive producer for the series. It will air on the Sky network in the U.K.
Chosen Jacobs, who played Mike Hanlon in IT and Will Grover in Hawaii Five-O, will be joining the cast of Hulu’s Castle Rock. André Holland stars in the series as Henry Deaver, a death row attorney with a complicated history with Castle Rock, Maine. Jacobs will have a recurring role as his son, Wendell Deaver. Castle Rock serves as the setting for a number of Stephen King’s novels and short stories. The 10 episode series also stars Melanie Lynskey, Jane Levy, Sissy Spacek, Bill Skarsgård, Scott Glenn and Terry O’Quinn.
Priah Ferguson had her breakout role as the scene-stealing little sister of Lucas Sinclair in the second season of Stranger Things. For the third season she’s been promoted from a guest star to a recurring character. This time she will have her own group of friends who aren’t content to sit on the sidelines. Instead, they go on their own mission to save Hawkins from a dangerous threat. As of now, a production date hasn’t been set for the third season.
TNT’s Snowpiercer TV series adaptation has found a new showrunner in Orphan Black co-creator Graeme Manson. Last month Josh Friedman left the show over creative differences. He was also the writer of the pilot. “Graeme’s extensive background in the sci-fi genre coupled with his brilliant work behind Orphan Black made him the perfect choice for this series,” said Sarah Aubrey, Executive Vice President of Original Programming for TNT. “He is the best conductor to navigate the thought-provoking and delicate themes of the series while bringing this frozen, futuristic world to life.” Jennifer Connolly and Daveed Diggs will be starring in the TV series.
Jane the Virgin‘s Gina Rodriguez will soon be guest starring in Fox’s award-winning comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine. No details have been confirmed about her role yet but Rodriguez has previously expressed interest in playing the girlfriend of Stephanie Beatriz’s Rosa Diaz. This season Diaz came out as bisexual. Judging by the post Terry Crews made (and then deleted) to his Instagram, Rodriguez might actually be playing Diaz’s love interest. Bisexuals on TV are rare with Latinx bisexuals being that much rarer. It would be nice to get that representation.
SYFY has renewed supernatural drama The Magicians for a fourth season. From Sera Gamble, the series is based on Lev Grossman’s books of the same name. Jason Ralph, Stella Maeve, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta, Summer Bishil, Rick Worthy and Jade Tailor star as a group of novice magicians trying to find their way in the unfamiliar and dangerous world of Fillory.
Finally, in a new segment I write about all the news concerning TV pilots:
Pilots Corner
Jessica Alba has just joined the cast of NBC’s untitled Bad Boys spinoff. She will co-star opposite Gabrielle Union. The series revolves around former DEA agent Syd Burnett played by Union who is reprising her role from Bad Boys II. She is starting a new life as an LAPD detective. Her new partner, Nancy McKenna played by Alba, is a working mom who can’t help but look at Syd’s freedom with some grass-is-greener envy. Though the two have different lifestyles and professional approaches, they’re both at the top of their field and have to find a way to work together. A release date hasn’t been announced.
After her turn in ABC’s canceled freshman comedy The Mayor, Yvette Nicole Brown has been tapped to star in Most Likely To, another ABC comedy. Written by Diablo Cody, the series follows Liz Cooney who had everything in high school and Markie McQueen, who had nothing. Twenty years later, they find themselves living under the same roof as single mothers. Brown will play McQueen who is described as “radiant and warm, quietly confident, with a successful salon and brilliant daughter — but her insecurities are reignited when her high school bully arrives in town.” The series will be produced by Greg Berlanti.
Lorraine Toussaint will be starring alongside The Soprano‘s Dominic Chianese in the NBC drama pilot The Village. Toussaint has had roles in Rosewood and Orange is the New Black. The Village is described as a “sprawling ensemble drama. Despite differences in age, race, culture, and lifestyle, the residents of a Manhattan apartment building find that the more their lives intertwine, the more complex and compelling their connections become, thus proving that life’s challenges are better faced alongside family, even if it’s the one you make wherever you find it.” Toussaint will play Patricia, a social worker who becomes a caretaker for everyone else. She will also have a series regular role in the upcoming third season of AMC’s Into the Badlands.
Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon are teaming to executive produce and star in a limited series adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere. The series is based on the novel by Celeste Ng and is being produced by ABC Signature Studios, Washington’s Simpson Street and Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. They are currently shopping the series around to premium cable and streaming platforms. Washington and Simpson Street also recently sold the Man of the House pilot starring Alyson Hannigan to ABC.
In Movie News…
That’s a FANTASTIC idea! Done.
Avengers: #InfinityWar in theaters everywhere April 27th. pic.twitter.com/n5JhJWpnqc
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) March 1, 2018
In a twitter exchange with Robert Downey Jr., Marvel announced that they would be moving the release date for Avengers: Infinity War a week up to April 27. The announcement came out of nowhere and quickly spread across social media. This wasn’t the only announcement out of parent company Disney. This week they also announced that their live-action Mulan will be pushed back from November 2, 2018 to March 27, 2020. They also shared the release dates for more than 20 untitled projects, stretching all the way through 2023.
HBO released the teaser trailer for its film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s 1953 literary classic, Fahrenheit 451. Black Panther‘s Michael B. Jordan stars as a 30-year-old firemen named Guy Montag. He becomes increasingly discontent living in a world where media is a drug and firemen burn books. When he decides to make a change, he comes into opposition with his mentor played by Michael Shannon. Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s Laura Harrier, Sofia Boutella, and Lily Singh also star in the film. Ramin Bahrani (99 Homes) is directing and co-writing the adaptation along with Amir Naderi. Jordan is executive producing through his Outlier Productions company.
Academy award winners Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o will be teaming up for TriStar Pictures’ The Woman King. The film is being described as “inspired by true events that took place in the Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Woman King tells the story of Nanisca (Davis), general of the all-female military unit known as the Amazons, and her daughter, Nawi (Nyong’o), who together fought the French and neighboring tribes who violated their honor, enslaved their people and threatened to destroy everything they’ve lived for.” The idea for the film comes from Maria Bello who will producing through her Jack Blue Productions.
Rick Famuyiwa will write and direct Black Hole, the new fantasy thriller from New Regency and Plan B. Based on the graphic novel written by Charles Burns, Black Hole is set in the Pacific Northwest during the 1970s. It follows a group of high school students who all contract a mysterious, sexually transmitted disease known as The Bug. The syndrome causes physical mutations and the students and their community have to deal with the fallout. Famuyiwa wrote and directed 2015’s Dope, The Wood, Brown Sugar, and Our Family Wedding and the HBO movie Confirmation. He also directed the first episode of The Chi. New Regency and Plan B previously worked together on 12 Years a Slave and The Big Short.
Netflix has ordered a new feature film entitled Past Midnight. Rick Famuyiwa is set to direct from a script by TJ Fixman. They’re hoping to get John Wick‘s Keanu Reeves to star. While few details are known about the film, it’s being described as a new kind of vigilante superhero. Anthony and Joe Russo, directors of two of the Captain America films and Avengers: Infinity War, will produce.
Will Packer is teaming up with Universal Pictures for the action comedy Fight Night. The film is set in 1970 on the eve of Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight. It follows the true story of Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams, an Atlanta-based hustler who throws a post-fight party that is attended by the most dangerous gangsters in the country. They’re all robbed at gunpoint for more than $1 million dollars. It was the largest heist in Georgia history. The script will be written by Lars Jacobson. Packer will producer through his Will Packer Productions.
Gina Rodriguez will soon be producing and starring in a Netflix romantic comedy entitled Someone Great. Sweet/Vicious‘ Jennifer Kaytin Robinson will make her feature directorial debut and write the script. The film follows Rodriguez’s character as she goes on an adventure with friends in New York City after experiencing a tough breakup. They’re aiming to start filming in April. Rodriguez will also star as the voice of Carmen Sandiego in the upcoming Netflix revival set to premiere in 2019.
In Black Panther news, it won its second weekend at the box office with a worldwide gross of $748.1 million. It just passed Wonder Woman and Toy Story 3 in top domestic gross sellers. Following in the footsteps of T’Challa’s outreach initiative, Disney is donating $1 million dollars to help open STEM centers across the country. Black Panther‘s award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter will be joining the team behind Silver & Black. It will be the second Marvel film coming out of Sony following Venom. Gina Prince-Bythewood is directing, making her the first Black woman to direct a major superhero film.
Patty Jenkins is returning to direct the sequel to Wonder Woman which will see Gal Gadot reprise her now iconic role. This time she will also be writing and producing. Warner Bros. and Jenkins are eyeing Kristen Wiig for the role of the villain, Cheetah. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Wiig is currently in talks to join the film. The only thing we know about the film so far besides the villain is that it will be set in the 1980s against the backdrop of the Cold War.
It doesn’t look like Fox’s merger with Disney is halting Fox’s production of X-Men films. They plan on releasing the Deadpool sequel on May 18 and X-Men: Dark Phoenix on November 2. After that, three X-Men movies for 2019 and another three in 2020 are in the works. This includes the unnamed project between Brian Michael Bendis and Deadpool director Tim Miller. In addition to the X-Men films, Fox recently announced that they’re developing a Silver Surfer film written by Brian K. Vaughan. Vaughan is the co-creator of Marvel’s Runaways with artist Adrian Alphona. You can see the adaptation of the series on Hulu and read our interview with one of the stars here.
Doctor Strange‘s Benedict Wong has joined the cast of Ang Lee’s Gemini Man. In the film, Will Smith stars as Henry Brogan, an elite assassin who is targeted by a younger version of himself also played by Smith. Clive Owen stars as a co-villain along with Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the female lead. Wong’s role is currently unknown. He was recently in Annihilation and will reprise his Doctor Strange role in Avengers: Infinity War.
Finally, at the Independent Spirit Awards Saturday night, Get Out went home with the top honor of Best Feature. Jordan Peele also won for Best Director. “I think it’s clear to everybody in this room and across the country and across the world that we are in the beginning of a renaissance right now where stories from the outsider, stories from the people in this room — the same stories that independent filmmakers have been telling for years — are being honored and recognized and celebrated,” Peele said, accepting the Best Feature award. “I’m so proud to be here with this group of people receiving this.” Jordan Peele also took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay at last night’s Academy Awards.
In Other News
In 2016 novelist Ta-Nehisi Coates relaunched the Black Panther series for Marvel comics. Two spin-offs – Black Panther and the Crew and Black Panther: World of Wakanda (the latter written by Roxane Gay) – soon followed. Now Coates will be adding his talent to writing Captain America. “Captain America, the embodiment of a kind of Lincolnesque optimism, poses a direct question for me: Why would anyone believe in The Dream?” Coates wrote in a piece for The Atlantic announcing the new series. “What is exciting here is not some didactic act of putting my words in Captain America’s head, but attempting to put Captain America’s words in my head. What is exciting is the possibility of exploration, of avoiding the repetition of a voice I’ve tired of.” Coates will also continue writing Black Panther.
Speaking of Black Panther, in 2010 BET released a short-lived six episode Black Panther animated series. From famed writer, director, and producer Reginald Hudlin, the series focused on T’Challa dealing with the death of his father, jealously within the Wakandan royal court and trying to find who killed his father. Hudlin also wrote the comic book version of Black Panther, introducing his marriage to Storm and his younger half-sister Shuri. The series featured an all-star lineup of voices including Djimon Hounsou as T’Challa, Kerry Washington as Princess Shuri, Alfre Woodard as Dondi Reese, Jill Scott as Storm and Phil Morris as W’Kabi. Stan Lee even voiced a main character named General Wallace. With the success of the Black Panther film, BET has made the animated series available again.
If you have anything I missed, email me at mel@blackgirlnerds.com or tweet me at @jane_anon. Check back in next Monday for all the exciting news happening next week.
