Jon Stewart Sets Showrunner, Creative Team for Apple Current Event Series

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“One Night in Miami” star Kingsley Ben-Adir has been cast alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn in the Disney Plus Marvel series “Secret Invasion,” Variety has learned.Exact character details for Ben-Adir’s character are being kept under wraps, but according to sources he will be playing a main villain.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNatalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o will star in a series adaptation of the Laura Lipman novel “Lady in the Lake,” which has been ordered straight-to-series at Apple.The series will be co-written by Alma Har’el and Dre Ryan, with Har’el writing the pilot. Endeavor Content is the studio.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDominique Fishback has signed on to co-star with Samuel L. Jackson in the Apple drama series “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” Variety has learned.In addition, Ramin Bahrani has come onboard to direct and executive produce the limited series, which is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley.Jackson stars as Grey, a 91 year old man forgotten by his family, by his friends, by even himself.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetflix has set an all-star cast for the animation-live action hybrid limited series “Lost Ollie.”Mary J. Blige, Gina Rodriguez, Jake Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Kesler Talbot, and Jonathan Groff have all been cast in major roles in the four-episode series.The show is inspired by the book “Ollie’s Oddyssey” by William Joyce.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMalala Yousafzai has signed a multi-year programming partnership with Apple TV Plus.Under the deal. her original programming for the streamer will cover dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation, and children’s series.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRay Liotta has signed on the upcoming Apple drama series “In With the Devil,” Variety has confirmed.Liotta joins previously announced series leads Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser.The six-episode series would be based on the 2010 novel “In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption” by James Keene and Hillel Levin.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming NBC drama series “La Brea” has added four new castmembers.Eoin Macken, Jack Martin, Jon Seda, and Lily Santiago have all joined the series. They join previously announced cast members Natalie Zea, Zyra Gorecki and Chiké Okonkwo.In the show, when a massive sinkhole mysteriously opens in Los Angeles, it tears a family in half, separating mother and son from father and daughter.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered a live-action series adaptation of the Korean webtoon “Dr. Brain.” The series will be the first completely Korean-language project at the streamer.Kim Jee-Woon will write and direct, with “Parasite” star Lee Sun-Kyun set to star.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJenny Lumet has signed a four-year overall deal with CBS Studios.According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, the deal is in the eight-figure range. Lumet most recently co-created the CBS drama series “Clarice,” on which she also serves as an executive producer.“I feel genuine support and creative partnership at CBS Studios,” said Lumet.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAlec Mapa has signed on to star alongside Alec Baldwin and Kelsey Grammer in an ABC multi-cam comedy series, Variety has learned.The untitled series revolves around three men who were roommates in their twenties until their warring egos drove them apart. Now, the trio are reuniting decades later for one more run at the lives they’ve always wanted.Mapa will star as Andre, the third roommate from the old days in New York.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterIone Skye has joined the HBO Max series “Made for Love” in a guest star role, Variety has learned exclusively.The dark comedy series follows Hazel Green (Cristin Milioti), a thirty-something woman on the run after 10 years in a suffocating marriage to Byron Gogol (Billy Magnussen), a controlling tech billionaire.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPeacock has ordered a new series hosted by world-famous science educator Bill Nye, Variety has learned exclusively.Each episode of the show, titled “The End is Nye,” dives into the myths and realities of both natural and unnatural threats, from viruses to volcanoes, asteroids to authoritarianism, and climate change to chemical warfare.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDakota Fanning has signed on to play Susan Ford in the Showtime anthology series “The First Lady,” Variety has learned.Susan is the only daughter of Betty Ford and President Gerald Ford, who will be played in the series by Michelle Pfeiffer and Aaron Eckhart respectively.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered a new anthology series from “GLOW” creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch with an all-star cast attached, Variety has learned.The show, titled “Roar,” will star Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Merrit Wever, and Alison Brie. The anthology is described as a series of darkly comic feminist fables.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterIndira Varma has joined the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series at Disney Plus, Variety has confirmed.The details of the character Varma will play are being kept under wraps. She joins previously announced series lead Ewan McGregor, who will reprise the role of Kenobi from the films.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSissy Spacek and Ed O’Neill have been cast in the lead roles of the upcoming Amazon series “Lightyears,” Variety has learned.The series follows Irene (Spacek) and Franklin (O’Neill) York, a couple who years ago discovered a chamber buried in their backyard which inexplicably leads to a strange, deserted planet.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterConstance Wu has been cast in the upcoming Amazon thriller series “The Terminal List,” Variety has learned.She joins previously announced series lead Chris Pratt and recently announced fellow cast member Taylor Kitsch. The series follows James Reece (Pratt) after his entire platoon of Navy SEALs is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA “Terminator” anime series has been ordered at Netflix, Variety has learned.As the project is still in the early stages, plot details are being kept under wraps. Netflix has partnered with Skydance on the series, with Skydance having produced the last two “Terminator” films.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Cobra Kai” has promoted both Vanessa Rubio and Peyton List to series regular status ahead of Season 4 on Netflix.Rubio has been with the show since Season 1 in the role of Carmen Diaz, the mother of Johnny Lawrence’s star pupil, Miguel.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterWagner Moura has signed on to star opposite Elisabeth Moss in the Apple series “Shining Girls,” Variety has learned.The series is an adaptation of the 2013 Lauren Beukes novel of the same name. Moss plays a Chicago reporter who survived a brutal assault only to find her reality shifting as she hunts down her attacker.