TV Casting: THE MANDALORIAN, The Second WALKING DEAD Spin-off, Katherine Waterston in THE THIRD DAY, & More

ACCLAIMED FILMMAKER J.A. BAYONA TO DIRECT THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF AMAZON STUDIOS UPCOMING THE LORD OF THE RINGS SERIES

LONDON – Acclaimed filmmaker Juan Antonio (J.A.) Bayona (The Orphanage, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Impossible) will direct the first two episodes of Amazon Studios’ upcoming series based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s iconic fantasy novels The Lord of the Rings; he will also serve as an executive producer, alongside his partner Belén Atienza.

“J.R.R. Tolkien created one of the most extraordinary and inspiring stories of all time, and as a lifelong fan it is an honor and a joy to join this amazing team,” said Bayona. “I can’t wait to take audiences around the world back to Middle-earth and have them discover the wonders of the Second Age, with a never-before-seen story.”

“The scope and breadth of J.A.’s world-building is exactly the right fit for our ambitions for The Lord of the Rings. He’s a passionate and collaborative director who has brought new stories to life with his multitalented producing partner, Belén.” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “We are all excited for them to join our writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and we can’t think of a better way to begin this journey to Middle-earth.”

“We are thrilled to have J.A. and Belen joining the fellowship as we continue to develop this epic series,” said writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay. “We have been great admirers of J.A.’s work for years, and know that his epic, cinematic, and deeply heartfelt aesthetic is the perfect sensibility to bring Middle-earth to life anew.”

Bayona’s first feature film, the critically acclaimed thriller The Orphanage, executive produced by Guillermo del Toro, premiered to a ten-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and later won seven Goya Awards in Spain, including best new director.

Bayona most recently directed the blockbuster feature Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide. He also directed The Impossible, starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, and A Monster Calls, starring Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson, and Felicity Jones, as well as the first two episodes of Showtime’s hit series Penny Dreadful.

The Boys

Aya Cash is in negotiations to star as superhero Stormfront, gender-flipped in the TV adaptation from a man to a woman.

Stormfront’s biography:

Among the many controversial “heroes” in the Ennis series, Stormfront, a male character in the comics, is a product of Nazi Germany’s hero program who came to America in 1938 and was the most powerful member of the group Payback (an Avengers analogy) Stormfront possesses superhuman strength, durability, flight, and the ability to exhale lightning bolts from his mouth, which was powerful enough to burn humans alive. His name comes from the world’s largest Neo-Nazi website of the same name.

Disney+

The Mandalorian

Jon Favreau has announced that he has begun writing the screenplays for Season Two of Star Wars television series.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Derek Kolstad has joined the show’s creative team in an unspecified role.

Netflix

Zack Snyder’s Norse Mythology Anime Series

Jay Oliva has been hired to write the untitled norse mythology anime series that is being produced by Zack Snyder.

HBO

Lovecraft Country

Tony Goldwyn has been cast as Samuel Braithwhite, “someone who views people as assets and objects and outsiders — including his daughter Christina — as inferiors.”

This actor joins already cast: Courtney B. Vance, Aunjanue Ellis, Elizabeth Debicki, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Jonathan Majors, Wunmi Mosaku, Courtney B. Vance, Jamie Harris, Jamie Chung, Jordan Patrick Smith, Jamie Neumann, Erica Tazel, and Mac Brandt.

Lovecraft Country‘s plot synopsis: based on the novel by Matt Ruff, “Lovecraft Country follows Atticus Black (Majors) as he joins up with his friend Letitia (Smollett-Bell) and his Uncle George (Vance) to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. Thus begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from a Lovecraft paperback.’

Misha Green is writing the screenplays for the TV series.

The Third Day

Katherine Waterston has been cast as Jess, “who Sam encounters on the island.”

This actress joins already cast Jude Law.

The Third Day‘s plot synopsis: “In the series, Law plays Sam, who is being drawn to a mysterious island off the British Coast and thrown into the unusual world of its secretive inhabitants. Isolated from the mainland, the rituals of the island begin to overwhelm him, and he is confronted by a trauma from his past. As the line between reality and fantasy blurs, Sam finds himself immersed in an emotional quest that puts him at odds with the islanders and begins to threaten their way of life.”

Dennis Kelly wrote the screenplays for the TV series.

The CW

Arrow

Katherine McNamara, who portrays Mia Smoak, has been upped to a series regular on the superhero TV series for the eighth (and final) season.

CBS All Access

The Stand

Marilyn Manson has been cast in an unspecified role in the apocalypse TV series.

James Marsden, Amber Heard, Whoopi Goldberg, Greg Kinnear, Odessa Young, and Henry Zaga.

The Stand‘s plot synopsis: based the book by Stephen King, The Stand deals with the way “the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after, a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides — or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail — and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.”

Josh Boone and Ben Cavellare are writing the screenplays for the TV series.

AMC

The Walking Dead

Lauren Cohan may return to The Walking Dead following the cancellation of Whiskey Cavalier. Since Cohan’s Maggie Greene was never killed off, Maggie could return.

The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang has updated Cohan’s status with the series as a work in progress.

The Second Walking Dead Spin-off

Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, and Hal Cumpston have been cast in unspecified lead roles in the second The Walking Dead spin-off TV series.

The spin-off’s plot synopsis: “the series will feature two young female protagonists and focus on the first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse. Some will become heroes, some will become villains. In the end, all of them will be changed forever. Grown-up and cemented in their identities, both good and bad.”

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