Taika Waititi to Play Blackbeard in HBO Max Pirate Comedy Series ‘Our Flag Means Death’

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRebecca Ferguson will star in a series adaptation of Hugh Howey’s “Wool,” which has been ordered to series at Apple.“Wool” is a set in a ruined and toxic future where a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO Max’s upcoming “Green Lantern” series is eyeing actor Jeremy Irvine for the role of Alan Scott.Irvine would join Finn Wittrock in the series, who has been cast in the lead role of Guy Gardner. HBO Max declined to comment.Scott was Earth’s first Green Lantern, who, true to the comics, is a gay man.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJon Bernthal, Josh Charles, and Jamie Hector are set for three of the lead roles in the HBO limited series “We Own This City” from the team behind “The Wire.”In addition to the castings, Reinaldo Marcus Green has joined the series as director and executive producer. Variety reported that the series was set up at the premium cabler back in March.Based on the book of the same name by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, “We Own This City” is a six-hour limited series

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA new Batman animated series has been ordered at HBO Max and Cartoon Network, with “Batman: The Animated Series” co-creator Bruce Timm attached as an executive producer.“Batman: Caped Crusader” will be executive produced by Timm along with J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterKumail Nanjiani will play Chippendales founder Somen “Steve” Banerjee in a limited series that has been ordered at Hulu, Variety has learned.The eight-episode series is titled “Immigrant.” It will tell the true story of Banerjee, the Indian-American entrepreneur who started Chippendales.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe ABC single-camera comedy pilot “Adopted” is no longer moving forward at the broadcaster, Variety has learned.The project was a holdover from the 2020 pilot season that was delayed due to the pandemic. It hailed from the team of Shawn Vance, Daril Fannin, and Jimmy Kimmel.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJackée Harry and George Wallace have joined the cast of the Freeform comedy pilot “Everything’s Trash” in recurring roles, Variety has learned exclusively.The iconic pair join previously announced series star Phoebe Robinson in the half-hour pilot. It follows Phoebe, a 30-something podcast star navigating her messy life.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe long-delayed “Friends” reunion special at HBO Max will finally be there for you, with the streamer announcing the official premiere date.“Friends: The Reunion” will debut on HBO Max on May 27. In addition, HBO Max debuted the first teaser trailer for the special, which can be viewed above.“Friends: The Reunion” will now debut on the one year anniversary of the launch of HBO Max and exactly one year after it was originally supposed to air.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The White House Plumbers” series at HBO is rounding out its main cast.Kiernan Shipka, Ike Barinholtz, Yul Vazquez, David Krumholtz, Rich Sommer, Kim Coates, and Liam James have all been cast in the series. They join previously announced cast members Woody Harrelson, Justin Theroux, Domnhall Gleason, and Lena Headey.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGillian Jacobs and Wood Harris have both joined HBO’s upcoming drama series about the Los Angeles Lakers, Variety has learned.The untitled series was ordered at HBO in December 2019. It is described as chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties, in what came to be called the Showtime Era.Jacobs will appear as Chris Riley.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMichael Showalter and Jordana Mollick of Semi-Formal Productions have signed a two-year first-look deal at HBO Max.Showalter is a co-creator and executive producer on the critically-acclaimed series “Search Party,” which moved over to HBO Max from TBS for its third season. The fourth season of the series debuted on Jan.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterFox has ordered the single-camera comedy “Pivoting” for its 2021-2022 broadcast season lineup.The half-hour series stars Eliza Coupe, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Maggie Q as three women dealing with the death of their childhood best friend.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMj Rodriguez will star opposite Maya Rudolph in an upcoming Apple comedy series that hails from Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, Variety has learned.The series was ordered at Apple in March. It follows Molly (Rudolph), a woman whose seemingly perfect life is upended after her husband leaves her with nothing but 87 billion dollars.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon” at HBO has unveiled its first official images.“House of the Dragon” is set a few hundred years prior to the events of “Game of Thrones” and tells the story of House Targaryen and the Targaryen civil war that became known as the “Dance of the Dragons.” The cast includes Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, and Fabien Frankel.The photos

Joe Otterson TV ReporterElizabeth Olsen is set to star in a new HBO Max limited series that boasts an all-star lineup behind the camera as well.Olsen will star in “Love and Death,” which hails from writer and executive producer David E. Kelley.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJessica Williams and Chris “Comedian CP” Powell have joined “Love Life” Season 2 at HBO Max.The pair joins William Jackson Harper, who will star in Season 2 of the anthology series.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterFinn Wittrock has been cast in a lead role of the upcoming “Green Lantern” series at HBO Max, Variety has learned.Wittrock will star as Guy Gardner, who is described as a hulking mass of masculinity, and, as rendered in the comics, an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism. And yet, Guy is somehow likable.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterToni Collette will star alongside Colin Firth in the HBO Max limited series “The Staircase,” Variety has learned.The eight-episode series is based on the docuseries of the same name as well as various books and reports about the case of Michael Peterson (Firth), who was accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen (Collette), in 2001.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLena Headey has joined the HBO series “The White House Plumbers,” which delves into the Watergate scandal, Variety has learned.Headey joins previously announced cast members Woody Harrelson, Justin Theroux, and Domhnall Gleeson. The five-episode series tells the story of how President Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Walker” Season 2 at The CW has upped Odette Annable to series regular status.Annable currently recurs on the series as Geri, an old friend of Walker (Jared Padalecki) and his late wife.