Catherine Zeta-Jones to star in ‘National Treasure’ series

Former Coronation Street star Bruce Jones has spoken about the moment he discovered a body believed to be that of a Yorkshire Ripper victim.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterKeri Russell has been cast in the lead role of the upcoming Netflix series “The Diplomat.”The series was ordered at the streamer in January. In the series, in the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat (Russell) lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future.Debora Cahn created the series and also serves as executive producer and showrunner.

Angelique Jackson Bleecker Street has secured North American rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s new action-comedy, “Mafia Mamma,” starring Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel.Collette stars in the film as a suburban American woman, who inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire and must learn navigate her new role as the head of the family business, defying everyone’s expectations.Based on an original idea by acclaimed French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers, Hardwicke directs from a screenplay written by Debbie Jhoon and Michael J. Feldman (Peacock’s “AP Bio,” Hulu’s”Deadbeat”).

Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s action-comedy Mafia Mamma, starring Toni Collette (The Staircase, Nightmare Alley), Monica Bellucci (The Matrix franchise, The Man Who Sold His Skin) and Rob Huebel (The Descendants, The Goldbergs), which is heading into production in Italy in May.

Bleecker Street has acquired domestic rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s new action comedy “Mafia Mamma” starring Toni Collette, the company announced on Wednesday.The film also stars Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel. The film is set to go into production this May in Italy.“Mafia Mamma” centers on a suburban American woman who inherits her grandfather’s Mafia empire, and guided by the Firm’s trusted consigliere defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.“Mafia Mamma” is a Vocab Films, IDEA(L) and New Sparta Production based on an original idea by French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers.

Kristen Wiig is taking on a new role!

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered the dark comedy series “Sunny” with Rashida Jones set to star, Variety has confirmed.The 10-episode series is based on the book “Dark Manual” by Colin O’Sullivan. In the half-hour show, Jones stars as Suzie, an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash. As “consolation” she’s given Sunny, one of a new class of domestic robots made by her husband’s electronics company.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV+ has handed a formal 10-episode series order to Sunny (fka Dark Manual), a half-hour darkly comedic drama starring and executive produced by Rashida Jones, from Katie Robbins (The Affair, The Last Tycoon) and A24. Lucy Tcherniak (Station Eleven, The End of the F***ing World) is attached to direct.

Kristen Wiig is set to star in a period comedy series about gorgeously impossible people in Palm Beach for Apple.

Jon Burlingame editorJohn Williams turns 90 years old on Feb. 8.

Disney just announced that Catherine Zeta-Jones will play a series regular role in the Disney+ original series National Treasure, which is an expansion of the universe created in the Nicholas Cage films.

Catherine Zeta-Jones has signed on as a co-lead opposite Lisette Alexis in National Treasure, Disney Branded Television’s TV series for Disney+ produced by ABC Signature.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCatherine Zeta-Jones has been cast in the upcoming “National Treasure” series at Disney Plus, Variety has learned.Zeta-Jones joins previously announced cast members Lisette Alexis, Zuri Reed, Jordan Rodrigues, Antonio Cipriano, and Jake Austin Walker, and Lyndon Smith in the series continuation of the film franchise of the same name. Production is set to begin this month in Baton Rouge, LA.The series focuses on a young heroine, Jess (Alexis), a brilliant and resourceful DREAMer who embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover the truth about her family’s mysterious past and save a lost Pan-American treasure.Zeta-Jones will portray Billie, described as a badass billionaire, black-market antiquities expert, and treasure hunter who lives by her own code.

Hulu and BBC Three today offered a first look at Conversations with Friends, their upcoming limited series starring Alison Oliver, Sasha Lane (American Honey, Hearts Beat Loud), Joe Alwyn (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, The Favourite) and Jemima Kirke (Sylvie’s Love, Girls), which is set to premiere this spring.

Star Jones was one of the original panelists when “The View” launched back in 1997, and she returned to the show for the Friday, Feb. 4 edition.