‘Orphan Black’ Sequel Series at AMC Sets Anna Fishko to Write (EXCLUSIVE)

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMichael Chiklis is set to star in the first episode of the upcoming Fox crime anthology series “Accused.”The series is based on the BBC crime anthology of the same name. Each episode opens in a courtroom on the accused, with the audience knowing nothing about their crime or how they ended up on trial.Chiklis will play Dr.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCAA has signed Lee Myoungwoo for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. He continues to be represented by manager Chris S.

Sci-fi revivals are all the rage these days, and Showtime is looking to bring back a lesser-known classic that starred the late David Bowie as they’ve made a television series version of “The Man Who Fell To Earth.” The new version follows a new alien character who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Fallout” TV series at Amazon has cast Walton Goggins in a lead role, Variety has learned.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.Amazon had no comment on the character Goggins will play in the series. According to sources, he will play a character based on the ghouls from the games.

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.

Last year, we saw the premiere of “The Many Saints of Newark,” the first spinoff project based in the world of “The Sopranos.” While the idea of the film was met with excitement from fans when it was announced, the film wasn’t very well received by critics and it seemed like fans were mixed with their feelings. All that to say, ‘Many Saints’ seems like a classic case of “be careful what you wish for.” Now, according to the head of HBO, it doesn’t seem like there’s any interest in bringing back “The Sopranos” in any sort of sequel/prequel.

The streaming wars have seen both ups and downs, with Disney+ and HBO Max making significant strides by adding subscribers in the shadow of Netflix that looms large. Peacock and other budding streaming services are still trying to grow their audience, and that means putting together more exclusive original content to get eyeballs with compelling television shows.

The Blade Runner universe is being brought to the small-screen!

Last year, director Ridley Scott shocked “Blade Runner” fans with the announcement that a live-action series was in the works at rights holders Alcon. Scott stopped short of giving concrete details about the series’ setting or where it would air.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA live-action “Blade Runner” sequel series is in development at Amazon, Variety has learned.Titled “Blade Runner 2099,” the series will serve as a follow-up to the “Blade Runner” sequel “Blade Runner 2049.” Silka Luisa will write and executive produce, with Ridley Scott set to executive produce via Scott Free Productions. Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson of Alcon Entertainment are also executive producing along with David W.

EXCLUSIVE: The replicants are heading to the small-screen as Amazon Studios has put a live-action series set in the Blade Runner universe into development.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAndrew Rannells has been cast in a recurring role in the upcoming Hulu limited series “Immigrant.”The darkly comedic series tells the true story of Somen “Steve” Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani), the Indian-American entrepreneur who started Chippendales. Along with Nanjiani and Rannells, the cast also includes Murray Bartlett and Annaleigh Ashford.Rannells will play the rich kid investor in Chippendales New York and the love interest of Bartlett, who stars as producer-choreographer Nick De Noia.Rannells’ recent onscreen roles include “Black Monday” at Showtime and “Girls5Eva” at Peacock.

Channing Tatum’s abs and Brad Pitt’s heroism in “The Lost City” teaser have landed a commercial spot during Sunday’s big game.

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.

Orphan Black sequel series is officially in the works at AMC.The project, which was first reported in 2019, has found its writer with the writers’ room now having opened for the forthcoming show.Orphan Black ran from 2013 to 2017, with Tatiana Maslany playing a woman named Sarah and her “cloned sisters” in a present-day science-fiction thriller.According to Variety, Anna Fishko has joined the project to write and executive produce the series although plot details remain under wraps at the time of writing.It remains unclear whether Maslany will reprise her roles for the project, while it’s been confirmed that it will be a sequel set in the same universe (as opposed to a reboot).Meanwhile, Maslany was cast in the lead role of Marvel’s spin-off series She-Hulk at Disney+ in 2020.She will play Jennifer Walters, cousin of Bruce Banner, who inherits Banner’s Hulk powers via a blood transfusion, and is said to keep the character’s “personality, intelligence and emotional control”.The series will be directed by Kat Coiro, who will also act as executive producer. Jessica Gao will write the series and also act as the show’s executive producer and showrunner.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming FX limited series “The Patient” has cast Alex Rich in a recurring role, Variety has learned exclusively.Rich joins previously announced series leads Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson as well as cast members Linda Emond, Laura Niemi, and Andrew Leeds in the series, which hails from “The Americans” duo Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields.In the half-hour series, a psychotherapist (Carell) finds himself held prisoner by a serial killer (Gleeson) with an unusual request: curb his homicidal urges. But unwinding the mind of this man while also dealing with the waves of his own repressed troubles creates a journey perhaps as treacherous as his captivity.Rich previously appeared in the critically-acclaimed Netflix series “GLOW” in the role of Florian, the butler and best friend of Sebastian “Bash” Howard.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming “American Born Chinese” series adaptation at Disney Plus has found its main cast, Variety has confirmed.Ben Wang, Michelle Yeoh, Yeo Yann Yann, Daniel Wu, Chin Han, Ke Huy Quan, Jim Liu, and Sydney Taylor will all star in the series, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Gene Luen Yang.The series follows Jin Wang (Ben Wang), a teenager juggling his high school social life with his immigrant home life. When Jin meets a new foreign exchange student (Jim Liu) on the first day of school, their worlds collide as Jin becomes entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods.

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.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “LA Law” sequel series pilot at ABC has added John Harlan Kim to its cast, Variety has learned exclusively.The new iteration of the Emmy-winning series features familiar characters working alongside new ones on the most hot button issues of the day.Kim joins previously announced returning original series cast members Blair Underwood and Corbin Bernsen. Kim will star as Chad Park, an up-and-coming attorney at the firm described as a “shark-in-training” whose ambition sometimes gets ahead of his ethical standards.