Barry Jossen Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy winner Bradley Whitford has signed on for a key recurring role in Parish (fka The Driver), AMC’s remake of the British drama series that is set to launch next year on AMC and AMC+. Production is currently underway in New Orleans.

EXCLUSIVE: A+E Studios and Telemundo Global Studios are teaming up on a drama series starring Blanca Soto.

Netflix has dropped the trailer for the second half of The Lincoln Lawyer and…no surprise, Mickey Haller survives that brutal beating.

The Lincoln Town Car is pulling back into Los Angeles.

Darby Kane’s international bestseller “Pretty Little Wife” is coming to the small screen. Amazon Studios is developing an adaptation of the novel starring Gabrielle Union, who is also set to executive produce.The drama will be written and executive produced by Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin, who are both known for their work on HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” along with Kristen SaBerre (“4400”). Barry Jossen and Tana Jamieson will produce the project for A+E Studios and Range Media Partners.

Darby Kane’s bestselling suspense novel Pretty Little Wife is getting the small screen treatment. Amazon Studios is developing a series based on the book with Gabrielle Union set to star and executive produce. Meredith Lavender, Marcie Ulin and Kristen SaBerre will write and executive produce the project for Prime Video, from A+E Studios and Range Media Partners.

EXCLUSIVE: AMC Studios is in early development on Diligence, a drama from Sheldon Turner and Jennifer Klein’s Vendetta Productions, for AMC and AMC+.

Legendary Mexican actress Angélica María has joined the second season of Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” in a recurring role.She will play Elena, the mother of Mickey (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). In the show, Elena is described as a prominent film and television actress who regards herself as a star who was married to a star attorney in Mickey’s father — a self-centered mother who wants to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.

EXCLUSIVE: We hear that Oscar nominee Tom Hardy and Atlanta Primetime Emmy nominee Zazie Beetz are set to star in the Apple TV+ drama series Lazarus, a project which is still nearing development and closing deals. The project is a co-production between A+E Studios and Range Studios and being sold to Apple.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer has added Matt Angel (Dave) to its Season 2 cast in a recurring role. Angel joins previously announced Season 2 cast, Yaya DaCosta and Lana Parrilla.

EXCLUSIVE: A+E Studios and Range Media Partners have prevailed in a competitive auction surrounding Swedish crime novelist Christoffer Carlsson’s International bestseller Blaze Me a Sun and its follow-up, Under the Storm, securing film and TV rights to both titles.

EXCLUSIVE: Yaya DaCosta (Chicago Med, Our Kind of People) has joined the Season 2 cast of Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer in a recurring role.

EXCLUSIVE: Lana Parrilla (Why Women Kill, Once Upon a Time) has joined the cast of Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer for Season 2 in a recurring role.

EXCLUSIVE: Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid’s Tale) is set for a key recurring role opposite Giancarlo Esposito and Skeet Ulrich in The Driver, AMC’s remake of the British drama series that is set to launch next year on AMC and AMC+.

William Earl Variety’s annual Showrunners Dinner will return in-person on Sept. 8, to celebrate the year in television ahead of the 74th Emmy Awards. The event will be presented by A+E Studios and will feature opening remarks by Barry Jossen, president and head of A+E Studios.   The Creative Conscience Award will be given to writer and producer David E. Kelley for his prolific career in television. David remains one of the most influential figures in television – having created iconic roles for women in “Ally McBeal,” “Big Little Lies” and “Big Sky.” Kelley is a trailblazer for creating complex female characters on television, especially in his early career when such characters were unknown in primetime television.  

EXCLUSIVE: Demetrius Grosse, coming off playing one of the leads in ABC’s untitled Kay Oyegun drama pilot, has been cast by the network as a lead opposite Neve Campbell in another drama project, Avalon. The series, based on Michael Connelly’s short story, comes from David E. Kelley, A+E Studios and 20th Television.

EXCLUSIVE: The Walking Dead: World Beyond star Alexa Mansour has been cast as a lead opposite Neve Campbell in Avalon, ABC’s drama series based on Michael Connelly’s short story, from David E. Kelley, A+E Studios and 20th Television.

EXCLUSIVE: Roslyn Ruff (Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector) has been tapped as a lead opposite Neve Campbell in Avalon, ABC’s drama series based on Michael Connelly’s short story, from David E. Kelley, A+E Studios and 20th Television.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC has opted not to pick up the drama pilot “Criminal Nature” to series.This is now the second time the project has been passed over at the broadcast network. A different iteration of the pilot with a different creative team — which included Kevin Costner as co-writer — was in the works at ABC in 2021 before being axed in July.The new version, which had been titled “Criminal Nature,” was part of ABC’s 2022 pilot season slate.

ABC will not be moving forward with drama pilot Criminal Nature, from Rashad Raisani, 20th Television and A+E Studios. Criminal Nature was one of two remaining “second cycle” ABC pilots that had not heard their fates, along with fellow drama The Company You Keep, starring and executive produced by This Is Us alum Milo Ventimiglia. I hear the latter continues to look promising for a series pickup. Like drama pilot Will Trent, which just picked up to series, The Company You Keep also had started a writers room in anticipation of a series order. In another encouraging sign,The Company You Keep also has brought on seasoned writer-producer Phil Klemmer as co-showrunner, I hear.

Steven Pasquale has been tapped as the male lead opposite Neve Campbell in Avalon, ABC’s drama series based on Michael Connelly’s short story, from David E. Kelley, A+E Studios and 20th Television. Avalon, which received a straight-to-series order from ABC, takes place in the city of Avalon on Catalina Island, where L.A. Sheriff’s Department Detective Nicole “Nic” Searcy (Campbell) heads up a small office. Catalina has a local population that serves more than 1 million tourists a year, and each day when the ferries arrive, hundreds of potential new stories enter the island. Detective Searcy is pulled into a career-defining mystery that will challenge everything she knows about herself and the island.

Neve Campbell is returning to television.The star, who rose to prominence on “Party of Five” and had a main role on “House of Cards” in its later seasons, is reuniting with her collaborators on Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer,” creators/executive producers Michael Connelly and David E. Kelley, for a new ABC series called “Avalon.” “Avalon” is based on a short story by Connelly, whose novels inspired “The Lincoln Lawyer” and who once again executive produces and serves as the co-creator.

EXCLUSIVE: Skeet Ulrich is set as a lead opposite Giancarlo Esposito in The Driver, AMC’s remake of the British drama series that is set to launch next year on AMC and AMC+.

EXCLUSIVE: Bonnie Mbuli (Invictus) has been cast as a series regular opposite Giancarlo Esposito and Paula Malcomson in The Driver, AMC’s remake of the British drama series that is set to launch next year on AMC and AMC+.

EXCLUSIVE: Paula Malcomson (Redemption) is set as a series regular opposite Giancarlo Esposito in The Driver, AMC’s remake of the British drama series.

EXCLUSIVE: Julia Chan (Archive 81) has been cast as a series regular opposite Michaela McManus and Parker Young in Criminal Nature, ABC’s drama pilot from Rashad Raisani, 20th Television and A+E Studios. Ian Duff also stars.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterIan Duff has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot “Criminal Nature,” Variety has learned.The project is described as a soapy procedural set in the stunning world of America’s great outdoors. The story revolves around the tangled, messy lives of the agents who work for the Investigative Services Branch (ISB) — an elite law enforcement unit responsible for solving all serious crimes that occur in our country’s 81,000 square miles of protected land.Duff joins previously announced cast members Yasha Jackson, Michaela McManus, and Parker Young in the pilot.

Ian Duff (We Own This City) is set as a lead opposite Michaela McManus and Parker Young in Criminal Nature, ABC’s drama pilot from Rashad Raisani, 20th Television and A+E Studios.

Netflix has renewed “Lincoln Lawyer” for a second season, the streamer’s head of global television Bela Bajaria announced Tuesday at the Banff World Media Festival.Dailyn Rodriguez of “Queen of the South” joins the legal drama as co-showrunner and executive producer with Ted Humphrey, who developed the show with David E. Kelley.The 10-episode second season will be based on the fourth book in Michael Connelly’s “Lincoln Lawyer” series, “The Fifth Witness.”Since its May 13 launch, “Lincoln Lawyer” has ranked high on Netflix’s Global Top 10 and the Top 10 most-watched TV series in the U.S.

Netflix has renewed The Lincoln Lawyer for Season 2 with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Neve Campbell, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole, and Angus Simpson set to return. The 10-episode second season will be based on the fourth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly, The Fifth Witness.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Lincoln Lawyer” series has been renewed for Season 2 at Netflix.The series adaptation of the book series by Michael Connelly debuted its first season back in May. The first season consisted of 10 episodes and was based on the book “The Brass Verdict.” Season 2 will also be 10 episodes and will be based on the book “The Fifth Witness.”It was also announced that Dailyn Rodriguez will board the show in its second season in the role of co-showrunner and executive producer.

Netflix’s cutbacks have worried some in the industry that the content gold rush is ending. Producers at the “IP IQ” panel, sponsored by Deadline, at the Produced By conference, said there’s no need to worry. Girl From Plainville and The Dropout Executive Producer Liz Hannah, A&E Studios Head Barry Jossen, and UTA partner and Co-head of Media Rights Jason Richman said they don’t anticipate any slowdown in streamers needing content.

EXCLUSIVE: United States Of Al star Parker Young has been tapped as a lead opposite Michaela McManus in Criminal Nature, ABC’s drama pilot from Rashad Raisani, 20th Television and A+E Studios. The network snagged Young quickly after he became available following CBS’ cancellation of the Chuck Lorre comedy series after two seasons.

EXCLUSIVE: Yasha Jackson (The Flight Attendant) is set as a lead opposite Michaela McManus in ABC’s national parks drama pilot from Rashad Raisani and A+E Studios.

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.

Selome Hailu While “Ozark” Season 4 continues in the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s newly released Top 10 rankings with 48.6 million hours viewed, David E.