Netflix’s Last Blockbuster Comedy Series Adds Five to Cast

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMckenna Grace has joined the upcoming Peacock limited series “A Friend of the Family.”Grace joins previously announced cast members stars  Anna Paquin, Jake Lacy, Colin Hanks, and Lio Tipton. The series is based on the true story of the Broberg family, whose daughter Jan was kidnapped multiple times over a period of years by a charismatic, obsessed family “friend.”Grace will star as Jan Broberg in the later years. Jan is the oldest daughter of Bob (Hanks) and Mary Ann Broberg (Paquin) and leads a happy, traditional life in an idyllic American city.

Netflix’s Viking drama series The Last Kingdom is a big hit!

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAdina Porter and Clark Backo have been cast opposite LaKeith Stanfield in the upcoming Apple drama series “The Changeling,” Variety has learned.The series is based on the book of the same name by Victor LaValle. It is descirbed as a horror story, a parenthood fable, and a perilous odyssey through a New York City you didn’t know existed.Stanfield stars as Apollo. Porter will play Lillian, his mother.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Interview with the Vampire” series at AMC has cast Eric Bogosian in the role of Daniel Molloy.The series, which is currently in production, is based on the Anne Rice book of the same name and follows follows Louis de Pointe, Lestat De Lioncourt and Claudia’s epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality. Bogosian joins previously announced cast members such as Sam Reid as Lestat, Jacob Anderson as Louis, and Bailey Bass as Claudia.Molloy is described as an investigative journalist nearing the end of his career who’s given a second chance at the interview of a lifetime.

EXCLUSIVE: Rhys Ifans (Spider-Man: No Way Home) has signed on to star alongside Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in the Netflix film Nyad, which marks the narrative directorial debut of Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (The Rescue, Free Solo).

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetflix has commisioned a new “Kung Fu Panda” animated series with Jack Black returning to voice the main character, Po.In the series, titled “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight,” a mysterious pair of weasels set their sights on a collection of four powerful weapons. Po must leave his home to embark on a globe-trotting quest for redemption and justice that finds him partnered up with a no-nonsense English knight named Wandering Blade.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has ordered the comedy pilot “Bammas” written by and starring Opeyemi Olagbaju and Biniam Bizuneh, Variety has learned.The show follows a pair of young Ethiopian- and Nigerian-American best friends as they struggle to overcome their loser reputations in a magical realist version of Washington DC.Olagbaju and Bizuneh serve as executive producers in addition to starring and writing. Danny Chun (“The Office” “The Simpsons”), who mentored the pair at the Sundance Lab in 2019, will serve as showrunner and executive producer.

Lost Ark has just dropped and it includes plenty of additions to the MMO, including a kart racing-inspired grand prix race.The game’s March update went live recently (March 10) and it includes plenty of extra content additions and bug fixes, but perhaps the most interesting is the inclusion of a grand prix in the game.Only available for the next month, the Arkesia Grand Prix pits two teams of seven against each other whilst transformed into a creature, with progress measured by “reaching the goal and eating cakes!”To access the race all players need to do is find an NPC called the Arkesia Grand Prix Master in any of the game’s major cities (other than Prideholme), who will give players a quest to start the race. Players also need to be at least level 50 to enter the event.The March update for Lost Ark also includes new skins and new log-in daily bonuses for 25 days, with additional rewards on consecutive days.The Kadan Story Episode has also been added, and will feature a new storyline, new quests, new islands and cinematics as well.“Players will need to have completed Feiton, alongside completing the following quests: ‘Yorn – Let There Be Light’, ‘Whispering Islet – Start of Our Story’, and ‘Illusion Bamboo Island – End of the Trials’ as a prerequisite before embarking on the new end-game quest lines.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Quantum Leap” sequel series pilot at NBC has rounded out its main cast with three new additions.Caitlin Bassett, Nanrisa Lee, and Mason Alexander Park have all joined the cast of the project. They join previously announced cast members Raymond Lee and Ernie Hudson.In the followup to the original “Quantum Leap,” the new version takes place 30 years after Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRenée Zellweger has lined up another TV role with NBCUniversal. Variety has learned exclusively that the actress is set to star in the drama “Avenger Field” that is in development at Peacock.The one-hour drama series, which hails from MGM Television, tells the story of those that established a clandestine all female US Airforce program called the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) to battle Hitler from home. Inspired by the true story of WASP leader Jackie Cohran (Zellweger) and the diverse group of women who fought the system, skeptics and even sabotage to bring everyone home safely.Felicia D.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Never Have I Ever” has been renewed for Season 4 at Netflix, which will also be the show’s last season, Variety has confirmed.News of the fourth season renewal comes before Season 3 of the series even has a premiere date. Production on the third season recently wrapped and will debut over the summer.The comedy series hails from co-creators Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMia Katigbak has been cast in the upcoming ABC comedy pilot “Josep.”Katigbak will appear opposite previously announced series lead Jo Koy and Rory O’Malley. The show follows a recently divorced Filipino American nurse (Koy) attempting to navigate dating, fatherhood and a very Filipino mother who loves to “help.”Katigbak will star as Lorna, Jo’s mom. She is described as a little Filipino force of nature.

Tyler Alvarez (Never Have I Ever, American Vandal), Madeleine Arthur (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Devil In Ohio) and Olga Merediz (In the Heights, Encanto) are set as series regulars and JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Kamaia Fairburn (Overlord and the Underwoods, Endlings) will recur in Blockbuster, Netflix’s upcoming single-camera workplace comedy. They join previously announced leads Randall Park and Melissa Fumero.

Tyler Alvarez (Never Have I Ever, American Vandal), Madeleine Arthur (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Devil In Ohio) and Olga Merediz (In the Heights, Encanto) are set as series regulars and JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Kamaia Fairburn (Overlord and the Underwoods, Endlings) will recur in Blockbuster, Netflix’s upcoming single-camera workplace comedy. They join previously announced leads Randall Park and Melissa Fumero.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRobin De Jesús has joined the Hulu series “Immigrant,” which tells the story of the founding of Chippendales.He joins previously announced series lead Kumail Nanjiani as well as series regulars Annaleigh Ashford, Murray Bartlett, and Dan Stevens.“Immigrant” is the true story of Somen “Steve” Banerjee (Nanjiani), the Indian-American entrepreneur who started Chippendales. The series will detail the darkly comedic, crime-ridden story behind the unique male revue that became a cultural phenomenon.De Jesús will appear in the recurring role of Ray Colon. Described as a proud Nuyorican from the Bronx, Colon comes on the Chippendales scene as the resident handyman and self-proclaimed jack of all trades.

Sarah Lancashire becomes Julia Child in the new biographical comedy series, “Julia”.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSam Esmail’s “Metropolis” series has been greenlit at Apple, Variety has learned.The drama series is inspired by the 1927 Fritz Lang sci-fi film of the same name. Hailed as one of the greatest and most influential films of the silent film era, the story takes place in the futuristic city of Metropolis.While the city’s wealthy elite enjoy a lavish life of comfort and ease in penthouses and pleasure gardens, scores of workers labor at dangerous machinery in the bowels of the city to keep everything running. Freder Fredersen, the son of the most powerful man in Metropolis, has an awakening after meeting a young worker named Maria and witnessing a number of workers die in an industrial accident.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMichael Douglas will star as U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin in a new limited series for Apple, Variety has learned.The untitled series is based on the book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff. Kirk Ellis, the writer behind HBO’s “John Adams” series, will write the show for Apple and serve as an executive producer.Emmy-winning director Tim Van Patten will direct and executive produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Sam Mendes has begun principal photography on the south coast of England for his upcoming feature, Empire Of Light. From Searchlight Pictures, the drama is written by Mendes — his first solo screenplay — and stars Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clark and Tanya Moodie.