TV Casting: WATCHMEN, THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES, Iko Uwais in WU ASSASSINS, & More

Watchmen, The Righteous Gemstones, Wu Assassins, and other TV Show Casting

Watchmen, The Righteous Gemstones, Wu Assassins, and other TV productions have made recent TV show casting, TV movie casting, and TV directing news. These shows and movies air on: Netflix, HBO, YouTube, AMC, Showtime, and CBS. Beware of spoilers in these casting announcements.

Wu Assassins (Netflix)

Iko Uwais has been cast as Kai Jin, an “aspiring chef who becomes the latest and last Wu Assassin, chosen to round up the powers of an ancient triad and restore balance once again.”

This actor joins already cast Byron Mann.

Iko Uwais will be stunt coordinator and lead martial arts choreographer on Wu Assassin.

John Wirth will be the writer on the series.

The Righteous Gemstones (HBO)

Danny McBride has been cast as Eli Gemstone’s his eldest son Jesse Gemstone, “a man looking to branch out on his own by adapting his father’s famous teachings for a modern audience.”

This actor joins already cast John Goodman.

The Righteous Gemstones‘ plot synopsis: The Righteous Gemstones is about “a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed and charitable work, all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Danny McBride will also write and direct The Righteous Gemstones.

Weird City (YouTube)

Jordan Peele and Charlie Sanders co-wrote the series.

Weird City’s plot synopsis: “the series takes place in a metropolis city named Weird in the not-too-distant future with each of the six episodes depicting a day in the life of this city, with an emphasis on a combination of sci-fi and comedy.”

Adam Bernstein is directing the first two episodes.

Jose Molina is the showrunner.

Raising Dion (Netflix)

Jazmyn Simon has been cast as Kat, “a surgical resident and Nicole [Reese]’s sister…the sister that has her life together, and she can’t help but correct Nicole on her life and parenting. All in all, she’s a wonderful and supportive aunt and sister but has a hard time biting her tongue as she watches her sister makes mistakes.”

Ja’Siah Young has been cast as Dion Reese, “a curious, playful, and intelligent 7-year-old boy who is leaning he has some very special abilities — he can move things with his mind. While exciting and cool, it’s also something he knows scares his mom, Nicole.”

Alisha Wainwright has been cast as Nicole Reese, “a former professional dancer who gave it up to raise her son Dion when her husband Mark died. Although Nicole is completely overwhelmed by raising her son alone while dealing with the loss of her husband, she is still effortlessly cool and maintains a positive outlook on life for Dion. As Dion’s abilities become more and more apparent, Nicole’s protective nature heightens as she starts to fear for his safety.”

Raising Dion‘s plot synopsis: based on the short film by Dennis Liu, “The Netflix series follows a woman named Nicole Reese, who raises her son Dion after the death of her husband Mark (Jordan). The normal dramas of raising a son as a single mom are amplified when Dion starts to manifest several magical, superhero-like abilities. Nicole must now keep her son’s gifts secrets with the help of Mark’s best friend Pat (Ritter), and protect Dion from antagonists out to exploit him while figuring out the origin of his abilities.”

Dennis Liu is directing the episodes for the series.

Carol Barbee, Kenny Goodman, Michael Green, and Charles D. King are writing the series.

Raising Dion will premiere on Netflix in 2019.

Watchmen (HBO)

Jeremy Irons has been cast in the unspecified lead role but it is rumored to be an “aging and imperious lord of a British manor.”

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sara Vickers, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, and Jacob Ming-Trent have been cast in unspecified roles.

These actors and actress join already cast: Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard.

Damon Lindelof is writing the screenplays for the series.

Nicole Kassell is directing the pilot episode.

The Loudest Voice in the Room (Showtime)

Russell Crowe has been cast as Roger Ailes, the founder of Fox News.

The Loudest Voice in the Room‘s plot synopsis: “Based on the Gabriel Sherman book, the eight-episode series is set around Ailes and will focus on the last decade of his life, while also flashing back to key moments in his career, including his meeting with Richard Nixon on The Mike Douglas Show that both put him on the political path he became known for, as well as the sexual harassment accusations that would lead to his downfall…The series will be told through multiple viewpoints and aims to shed light on the psychology of Ailes and how the political process influenced him so much in his career.”

The first episode was written Tom McCarthy and Gabriel Sherman.

An Unbelievable Story of Rape (Netflix)

Toni Collette and Merritt Wever have been cast as two detectives that “hunt for a possible serial rapist.”

Kaitlyn Dever has been cast in an unspecified role.

An Unbelievable Story of Rape‘s plot synopsis: “The eight-episode series is based on This American Life radio episode “Anatomy of Doubt” as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning article by the Marshall Project and ProPublic, which tells the true story of Marie, a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped and the two female detectives who followed a twisting path at the truth.”

T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong wrote the screenplays for the episodes.

Lisa Cholodenko is directing the first three episodes.

NOS4A2 (AMC)

Olafur Darri Olafsson has been cast as Bing Partridge, “a hard worker with a mysterious past and an impressionable mind.”

Virginia Kull has been cast as Linda McQueen, “Vic’s tough, blue-collar mom determined to hold her family together and protect her daughter.”

Ebon Moss-Bachrach has been cast as Chris McQueen, “Vic’s charming, blue-collar dad with a weakness for drink but a deep love for his daughter.”

NOS4A2‘s plot synopsis: based on the novel by Joe Hill, “NOS4A2 introduces Vic McQueen, a young, working class artist who discovers she has a supernatural ability to track the seemingly immortal Charlie Manx. Manx feeds off the souls of children, then deposits what remains of them into Christmasland – a twisted Christmas Village of Manx’s imagination where every day is Christmas day and unhappiness is against the law. Vic must strive to defeat Manx and rescue his victims – without losing her mind or falling victim to him herself.”

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