Jake McLaughlin & Iantha Richardson Join ABC Drama Pilot ‘Will Trent’

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Lucas is set to star opposite Kristen Wiig in Apple TV+ comedy series Mrs. American Pie, executive produced by Laura Dern. Based on Juliet McDaniel’s book, Mrs. American Pie hails from creator Abe Sylvia (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and director Tate Taylor (Breaking News in Yuba County). Dern also is eyeing a “key role” in the series.

EXCLUSIVE: Marking her first feature since she won a Best Actress Oscar for The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, Jessica Chastain and Dopesick and The Batman star Peter Sarsgaard have just wrapped on Michel Franco’s (New Order) new film, which we can reveal is called Memory.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaScoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas are set to star in “Blood for Dust,” an upcoming action thriller that will be directed by Rod Blackhurst.Former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal-weapons dealer making serious money, reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Lucas).

Selome Hailu ABC announced that Sarah Wayne Callies, James Saito, Tim Chiou, Freda Foh Shen and Felisha Terrell have been cast in the drama pilot “The Company You Keep.”Based on the Korean format “My Fellow Citizens,” the pilot follows con-man Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) after a night of passion leads to love between him and undercover CIA officer Emma (Catherine Haena Kim). The two are unknowingly on a collision course professionally.

Sarah Wayne Callies, James Saito, Tim Chiou, Freda Foh Shen and Felicia Terrell are set as leads in ABC drama pilot The Company You Keep, starring Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim, from 20th Television.

EXCLUSIVE: Michaela McManus (The Village) is set as the female lead in ABC’s national parks drama pilot from Rashad Raisani and A+E Studios.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe NBC drama pilot “Found” has cast Kelli Williams, Variety has learned exclusively.Williams joins previously announced series lead Shanola Hampton in the project along with fellow cast member Mark-Paul Gosselaar.The show is built around the fact that, in any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about. Public relations specialist Gabi Mosley (Hampton) — who was once herself one of those forgotten ones — and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people.

Reba McEntire has joined David E. Kelley’s ABC drama Big Sky as a series regular for the upcoming third season.

ABC has passed on its half-hour pilot Josep, starring comedian Jo Koy. While ABC is not proceeding with the existing pilot, the network brass want to get a comedy headlined by Koy on the air. The hope is to redevelop the idea, which is built around Koy playing a character loosely based on himself. It is too early to say whether that will happen and whether the current creative team will remain involved but the intent is to stay in business with Koy.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaJosh Peck and Kea Ho have joined the cast of “Junction,” an upcoming drama about the opioid crisis. The film is written and directed by Bryan Greenberg, who is best known for his work as an actor on “How to Make It in America” and “One Tree Hill.” “Junction” will be his feature directorial debut.Peck and Ho join an ensemble that includes Griffin Dunne (“After Hours”), Sophia Bush (“Chicago P.D.”), Hilarie Burton (“One Tree Hill”), Jamie Chung (“Dexter: New Blood”), Michaela Conlin (“Bones”), Hill Harper (“The Good Doctor”) Ashley Madekwe (“Country Lines”), Ryan Eggold (“The Blacklist”), Dascha Polanco (“Orange Is the New Black”), Dash Mihok (“I Am Legend”), Geoff Stults (“Wedding Crashers”), Eddie Kaye Thomas (“American Pie”) and Hannah Dunne (“Marriage Story”).

EXCLUSIVE: UnReal alum Josh Kelly is heading to Port Charles. Kelly is joining the cast of ABC’s long-running drama series General Hospital as a series regular at the end of this month.

Sonja Sohn is set as a lead opposite Ramón Rodríguez in ABC’s drama pilot Will Trent, from 20th Television.

Selome Hailu Sonja Sohn will star as Amanda in “Will Trent,” ABC’s drama pilot adapted from Karin Slaughter’s book series of the same name.“Will Trent” will star Ramón Rodríguez as Will Trent, a special agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) who was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system. But now, determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was, Will Trent has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.Amanda is Will’s boss, the head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring and executive produced by John Krasinski, has an end date in sight, I hear. Season 4 of the Prime Video action series, which is currently filming, will be its last, sources tell Deadline.

Jake McDorman (Dopesick, The Right Stuff) has been tapped as the male lead opposite Betty Gilpin in Mrs. Davis, Peacock’s new drama series written and executive produced by Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof and produced by Warner Bros. Television, where both Hernandez and Lindelof are under overall deals..

Paramount+ Acquires Drama ‘Compulsion’ From Eccho Rights: Paramount+ has added a drama from its Paramount Global stablemate Channel 5 to its collection in several territories around the world. The streamer has tapped distributor Eccho Rights for Compulsion, which recently aired in the UK, for exclusive rights in Australia, Latin America and the Nordics. Moving On producer LA Productions made the show in association with Sweden-based Eccho. The family drama, from writer Sarah Deane, follows a woman on the edge of losing everything who meets a stranger who seems to have the answers to her problems. Leanne Best (Cold Feet) stars alongside Anna Chancellor (The Watch) and Hayley Mills (Pollyanna).

EXCLUSIVE: Jack Huston (House of Gucci) has signed on to star alongside Isabelle Fuhrman and Don Johnson in Andy Tennant’s thriller Unit 234, which is currently in production in the Cayman Islands.

Josh Hartnett and Josh Peck have been spotted on the set of Oppenheimer!

Wilson Chapman editorRobert Bailey Jr. has been cast in “The Son in Law,” an ABC comedy pilot from writer and executive producer Ajay Sahgal.Bailey will play Benjamin Greene, an EMT in a relationship with Charlie (Evangeline Young), a recent college graduate with plans to go to law school that get upended when she unexpectedly becomes pregnant.