Jameela Jamil, Tim Meadows Among Five Cast in Natasha Lyonne & Rian Johnson’s ‘Poker Face’ at Peacock (EXCLUSIVE)

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Showtime comedy series “The Curse” has cast Corbin Bernsen, Barkhad Abdi, and Constance Shulman, Variety has learned exclusively.The show, which was picked up to series in December 2020, explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring on their problematic new HGTV show. Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie co-created the series and will also star alongside Emma Stone.Bernsen is known for his Emmy-nominated performance as Arnie Becker in the NBC legal drama “LA Law” as well as for playing Henry Spencer in the popular USA Network series “Psych.” He will next be seen in a season-long arc in the third season of the Showtime series “City on a Hill.” He has also starred in films like the “Major League” franchise, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” and “Shattered.” He is repped by A3 Artists Agency and Randy James Management.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple’s limited series adaptation of “Lady in the Lake” has rounded out its cast.Byron Bowers (“Irma Vep,” “Kimi,” “No Sudden Move,” “Honey Boy”), Josiah Cross-Wiggins (“A Thousand and One,” “King Richard,” “Masters of the Air”), Mike Epps (“The Upshaws,” “Survivor’s Remorse”), Noah Jupe (“Franklin,” “Honey Boy,” “A Quiet Place”), and Pruitt Taylor Vince (“Bird Box,” “Gotti”) are the latest additions to the series. They join previously announced cast members Natalie Portman, ’Lan Noel, Mikey Madison and Brett Gelman, as well as Moses Ingram. The series is an adaptation of Laura Lippman’s novel of the same name.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple’s upcoming live-action series about Godzilla and the Titans has added its first five cast members, Variety has learned.Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe, Kiersey Clemons, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski have all joined the untitled series, which hails from Legendary Television.In the show, following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking new reality that monsters are real, one family journeys to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch.Sawai (“Pachinko,” “F9”) will star as Cate, a former schoolteacher and a G-Day survivor. She travels to Japan to settle family affairs but instead uncovers a family secret.

EXCLUSIVE: S. Epatha Merkerson and Judith Light have been tapped to star in an episode of Peacock’s Poker Face, a mystery drama series from Rian Johnson, his T-Street banner and MRC Television.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterShowtime’s comedy pilot based on the 1999 film “The Wood” has set its main cast, Variety has learned exclusively.Vince Staples, Xavier Mills, Karen Obilom, Melvin Gregg, and Essence Renae will star in the pilot, with Richard T. Jones and Tamala Jones set to reprise their roles as Slim and Tanya respectively from the film.Rick Famuyiwa, who wrote and directed the film, will direct and executive produce the pilot.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Power Book IV: Force” Season 2 at Starz has added four new cast members, Variety has learned exclusively.Carmela Zumbado (“Chicago PD”), Miriam Hyman (“The Chi,” “The Laundromat”), Manuel Eduardo Ramierz (“Snowfall,” “Queen of the South”), and Adrienne Walker (“Law &. Order: Organized Crime”) will all join the new season of the show as series regulars.“Power Book IV: Force” follows fan-favorite “Power” character Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) after he leaves New York following the original series finale. But what was supposed to be a quick stop in Chicago quickly spirals into Tommy being pulled into the city’s drug game.

The Toronto Film Festival said Wednesday that Netflix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Rian Johnson’s follow-up to his hit 2019 murder mystery pic, will world premiere at this year’s edition of the festival, which runs September 8-18.

In addition to showcasing Daniel Craig’s dialectical range, Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” proved that the lone detective whodunit is still alive and kicking. It grossed over $300 million at the box-office (on a budget of $40 million), and its critical reception was nothing short of adoring (read ThePlaylist’s A-grade review here).

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Fallout” TV series adaptation at Amazon has added Kyle MacLachlan, Xelia Mendes-Jones, and Aaron Moten to its cast as series regulars, Variety has learned exclusively.The trio join previously announced cast members Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins in the series version of the popular video game franchise. As with past casting announcements, exact details on who the new additions will be playing are being kept under wraps.Like the video games on which it is based, the “Fallout” series is set in a world where the future envisioned by Americans in the late 1940s explodes upon itself through a nuclear war in 2077.MacLachlan is an iconic actor of the big and small screen, known for his work with David Lynch in projects like “Twin Peaks” (both the original and the Showtime revival), “Dune,” and “Blue Velvet.” On TV, he is also known for playing the mayor of Portland in the comedy series “Portlandia” and recently appeared in the Peacock limited series “Joe vs.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has struck a multi-year first-look deal with Animal Pictures, the production company run by Maya Rudolph, Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens.The announcement of the deal comes after the premiere of “Loot,” the Apple comedy series in which Rudolph stars and executive produces. Under the terms of the deal, Apple will now have a first-look at all series and digital features developed and produced by Animal Pictures.In addition to “Loot,” Animal Pictures has Lyonne’s second season of “Russian Doll” at Netflix and Rian Johnson’s mystery “Poker Face” and a two-season order of adult animated series “The Hospital” created by Cirocco Dunlap.

Animal Pictures, the production company founded by Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne, has signed a first-look deal with Apple TV+.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDavid Oyelowo is set to star in a dramedy series that is nearing a pickup order at Apple, Variety has learned exclusively.The show is titled “Government Cheese” and is based on the short film of the same name made by Paul Hunter. Hunter serves as co-creator on the series version with Aeysha Carr (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Carmichael Show”).“Government Cheese” follows Hampton Chambers (Oyelowo), a man recently released from prison who struggles to keep his criminal past at bay and win back his family, all while processing moments of divine intervention that seem to happen with increasing frequency.Hunter and Oyelowo originally brought the short film to MACRO and Apple, which will serve as co-studios on the series.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDavid E. Kelley’s upcoming Peacock crime drama “The Missing” has added five new recurring guest stars, Variety has learned exclusively.Constance Zimmer (“Unreal,” “Big Sky”), Chris Sullivan (“This is Us,” “The Son in Law”), Ben Shenkman (“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Billions”) Rafael Cebrián (“Acapulco,” “Narcos”) and Danielle Davenport (“Sneaky Pete,” “The Breaks”) will all appear in the series. They join previously announced series lead Jeff Wilbusch and cast members Juliana Canfield, Karen Robinson, and Michael Mosley.Based on the Dror A.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDana Delany has joined the cast of “Tulsa King” opposite Sylvester Stallone at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively.Stallone leads the series, with other cast members including Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, Jay Will, A.C. Peterson, and Garrett Hedlund.The show follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRob Lowe and John Owen Lowe’s Netflix comedy series “Unstable” has added six new cast members, Variety has learned.Sian Clifford, Rachel Marsh, Emma Ferreira and Aaron Branch have all joined the show as series regulars, while Fred Armisen, Tom Allen and JT Parr will appear in recurring guest star roles.“Unstable” was picked up to series at Netflix in April, with the Lowes having created the series along with Victor Fresco. The show follows an introverted son (John Owen Lowe) who goes to work for his very successful, wildly eccentric father (Rob Lowe) in order to save him and his successful biotech company from disaster.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe Netflix drama series “The Brothers Sun” has set its main cast, which includes Michelle Yeoh, Variety has learned.Yeoh will star alongside series regulars Justin Chien, Sam Song Li, Highdee Kuan, and Joon Lee. Alice Jewkin, Jon Xue Zhang,  Jenny Yang, Madison Hu, and Rodney To will appear in recurring roles.The show was ordered to series at Netflix back in February with an eight-episode pickup. It is set in Los Angeles and Taiwan and features an all-Asian writers room and all-Asian cast.

Knives Out is titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.The director revealed the title in a thread on Twitter, where he explained how novelist Agatha Christie influenced his approach to the sequel.“Something I love about Agatha Christie is how she never tread water creatively,” Johnson wrote. “I think there’s a misperception that her books use the same formula over and over, but fans know the opposite is true.“It wasn’t just settings or murder methods, she was constantly stretching the genre conceptually.

Ever since the release of the first “Knives Out,” film fans have been clamoring for more mysteries involving Detective Benoit Blanc. Thankfully, Netflix (and its massive bank account) came around and paid filmmaker Rian Johnson an obscene amount of money to bring multiple “Knives Out” sequels to the streaming service.