‘Dune’ Prequel Series at HBO Max Taps ‘Chernobyl’ Director Johan Renck to Helm First Two Episodes

Joe Otterson TV ReporterReba McEntire is boarding “Big Sky” Season 3 at ABC in a series regular role.The news comes just days after the third season renewal announcement for the drama series, at which time it was also announced that both Jensen Ackles and Jamie Lynn-Sigler are also going to appear as series regulars in the new season.McEntire will play Sunny Brick, described as the mercurial matriarch of the Brick Family, a successful backcountry outfitter with a secret history of missing customers.McEntire is an incredibly accomplished musician, winning numerous top industry awards with 35 chart-topping singles and over 56 million albums sold worldwide. But she is also an accomplished actress.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterStephanie Beatriz is set to star opposite Anthony Mackie in the “Twisted Metal” series currently in the works at Peacock, Variety has learned.The show was ordered to series at the NBCU streamer back in February. It is an adaptation of the video game series of the same name.In the half-hour show, Mackie will play John Doe, a motor-mouthed outsider who is offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Big Sky” has been renewed for Season 3 at ABC.In addition, Jensen Ackles will join the show’s third season as a series regular. He recently guest starred in the Season 2 finale as Beau Arlen, described as a confident and charming good ol’ boy from Texas who steps in as temporary Sheriff as a favor to his friend, Sheriff Tubb (Patrick Gallagher).This is the second good piece of broadcast TV news for Ackles in as many days, as the “Supernatural” prequel “The Winchesters” was just ordered at The CW. Ackles will narrate the series and serves as an executive producer.Jamie-Lynn Sigler has also been upped to series regular for Season 3.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe CW has ordered the “Supernatural” prequel “The Winchesters,” the “Walker” prequel “Walker: Independence,” and “Gotham Knights” to series.The three shows were the only pilots The CW had ordered this year. All three one-hour dramas feature a connection to “Supernatural.” Jensen Ackles narrates and executive produces “The Winchesters,” Jared Padalecki executive produces “Walker: Independence,” and “Gotham Knights” stars Misha Collins as Harvey Dent. “Gotham Knights” is also a new DC series for The CW after the network recently canceled “Batwoman,” “Legends of Tomorrow,” and “Naomi.”In “Gotham Knights,” In the wake of Bruce Wayne’s murder, his rebellious adopted son (Oscar Morgan) forges an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies when they are all framed for killing the Caped Crusader.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSkydance Television, Concord Originals, and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions are teaming to develop a limited series based on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella.”Rachel Shukert will write the adaptation in addition to serving as executive producer and showrunner. Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, and Benny Medina will executive produce for Nuyorican.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGarrett Hedlund has joined the cast of the Sylverster Stallone-led Paramount+ series “Tulsa King,” Variety has learned exclusively.The series follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone) just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, OK. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.Hedlund will appear in the series regular role of Mitch Keller, an Oklahoma native and ex bull-rider who retired prematurely after injuries led to addiction.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Apple limited series “Manhunt,” which details the hunt for presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth, has added seven new cast members.Brandon Flynn, Betty Gabriel, Will Harrison, Hamish Linklater, Damian O’Hare, Patton Oswalt and Lili Taylor have all joined the cast of the show. They join previously announced cast members Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle, Lovie Simone, and Matt Walsh.“Manhunt” is a true crime series based on the events of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” by James Swanson.

Have you heard about the new dance craze? That was the first line to the 1978 disco hit “Le Freak” by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, who performed with a large cast as Chic.

Elvis Presley biopic, showcasing lead star Austin Butler.Set to be released in cinemas on June 24, Elvis charts the iconic musician’s career through his complicated relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).A synopsis reads: “The story delves into the complex dynamic between Presley and Parker spanning 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America.”The clip shows Butler’s Elvis performing at the Louisiana Hayride at the start of his career in 1954, as his shaking hips cause pandemonium among the audience. You can check out the clip below.“Now I don’t know nothing about music,” Parker, played by Hanks, says in the clip.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Paramount+ drama series “Tulsa King” has added A.C. Peterson to its cast, Variety has learned exclusively.Sylvester Stallone will lead the series, with Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza and Jay Will also starring.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Last Thing He Told Me” series adaptation at Apple has added three new cast members, Variety has learned exclusively.Geoff Stults (“Little Fires Everywhere,” “Guilty Party”), John Harlan Kim (“LA Law,” “9-1-1”), and Augusto Aguilera (“Made for Love,” “Promised Land”) will all appear in the series. Jennifer Garner will star along with previously announced cast members including Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Angourie Rice, and Aisha Tyler.The series is based on the Laura Dave novel of the same name. The show follows Hannah (Garner), a woman who forms an unexpected relationship with her sixteen-year-old stepdaughter Bailey (Rice) while searching for the truth about why her husband Owen (Coster-Waldau) has mysteriously disappeared.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Minx” has been renewed for Season 2 at HBO Max.The first season of the comedy series began airing in March and concluded on April 14. HBO Max released two episodes of the half-hour show per week.“All of us at ‘Minx’ have been blown away by the passionate response from audiences across the world, who have mashed-up, TikTok-ed and fanfic-ed us into a renewal,” said series creator Ellen Rapoport. “We are so grateful to our partners at HBO Max and Lionsgate for being true champions of the show, and for the opportunity to continue on this journey.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple is developing a series version of “The Prince of Tides.”The series would be a remake of the 1991 film of the same name, which was itself an adaptation of the 1986 novel by Pat Conroy. Like the film, the series would follow Tom Wingo, who travels to New York after his sister attempts suicide. While there, he develops a relationship with his sister’s therapist, Susan Lowenstein, while also delving into painful memories from his childhood.Tate Taylor will write and executive produce the adaptation, with John Norris executive producing with Taylor under their Wyolah Entertainment banner.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Julia” has been renewed for Season 2 at HBO Max.The series is inspired by the life of Julia Childs and her long-running cooking show “The French Chef.” Through Childs’ perspective, the series explores the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women’s movement, the nature of celebrity and America’s cultural evolution.Sarah Lancashire stars as Childs. The cast also includes David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Bradford, Fran Kranz, and Fiona Glascott.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDerek Kolstad is teaming with Magic Machine and animation company Titmouse to write an animated series based on the NFT fantasy property “Forgotten Runes Wizard’s Cult,” Variety has learned exclusively.Kolstad will write and executive produce the eight-episode series, with each episode being one hour. Titmouse’s Chris Prynoski as well as Magic Machine’s @ElfJTrul, @Dotta and @BearSnake will also executive produce.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterViola Davis is eyeing a return to the role of Amanda Waller in her own spinoff series currently in the works at HBO Max, Variety has learned from sources.Exact plot details are mostly under wraps at this point, but sources say the show will build off of Waller’s appearance at the end of the “Suicide Squad” spinoff series “Peacemaker.”SPOILER ALERT: In the Season 1 finale of “Peacemaker,” Waller’s daughter and spy Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) outs her mother publicly for her work with Task Force X and the Suicide Squad. Davis made brief cameo appearances in the first and last episodes of the show.Davis would executive produce the series in addition to starring.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLouis Partridge has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple psychological thriller series “Disclaimer,” Variety has learned exclusively.Partridge joins previously announced series leads Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline and cast members Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Hoyeon.Based on the novel of the same name by Renee Knight, “Disclaimer” will star Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past.

As production on the sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” is set to begin this summer with Denis Villeneuve returning as director, the spinoff series “Dune: The Sisterhood” has landed a high-profile television director as Villeneuve will instead focus his attention on the sequel. Variety reports that Johan Renck has been tapped to direct the show’s first two episodes, replacing Villeneuve.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA “Harley Quinn” spinoff series titled “Noonan’s” has officially been ordered at HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively.The series will focus on lovable loser Kite Man and his new squeeze, Golden Glider, as they moonlight as criminals to support their foolish purchase of Noonan’s, Gotham’s seediest dive bar. Matt Oberg will reprise the role of Kite Man, whom he voiced on “Harley Quinn.” HBO Max has given the show a 10 episode order.The show is executive produced by “Harley Quinn” co-creators Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey, as well as “Harley Quinn” star Kaley Cuoco via Yes, Norman Productions.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDanielle Deadwyler has been cast in the lead role of the J.J. Abrams HBO series “Demimonde,” Variety has learned.The show was first reported to be in development back in 2018, though few details were available at the time. Now, it is known that the series focuses on Olive Reed (Deadwyler), a woman who is torn away from her husband and daughter in a brutal scientific accident.