Robert Downey Jr. Developing ‘Perry Mason’ Reboot With Nic Pizzicato For HBO
The True Detective creator may not be involved with season three — which itself is still far from a certainty — but his involvement with the network is far from over. Few concrete details are known about the project, though it looks to be related to the Perry Mason reboot that Downey Jr. was previously developing with Warner Bros. as a feature film for several years. Whatever this project is, it will be a series. (IW)
Jill Soloway Will Produce a Musical-Comedy Series for Amazon Studios
Show is penned by one of Soloway’s Transparent writers, Ethan Kuperberg. Story will follow “a woman’s search for love and self-discovery in Los Angeles,” and the concept was conceived by Kuperberg. As part of a deal Soloway signed with Amazon, the studio will produce original content created through her company, Topple Productions. (VUL)
In What Can Be a Surprise To No One, USA Renews ‘Mr. Robot’ For Season Three
The new season will premiere in 2017, but the number of episodes is still unknown. Mr. Robot’s season-two order was upped from 10 to 12 episodes in June. (LF)
John Krasinski’s Return To TV Becomes Official: Amazon Picks Up His ‘Jack Ryan’ Series
Streaming service has given a 10-episode straight-to-series order to Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring Krasinski as the popular CIA hero. The drama, from former Lost duo of co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and writer Graham Roland, landed at Amazon in April with a series commitment and the intention to go straight-to-series. (DH)
Keira Knightley In Talks To Join Live Action ‘Nutcracker’ as Sugar Plum Fairy
Lasse Hallstrom is to direct the project, titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which already has Mackenzie Foy, ballerina Misty Copeland and Morgan Freeman on board. The project comes from Disney, based on the classic ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky and the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann. (THR)
Netflix Wants Another Season Of ‘Last Chance U’
Greg Whiteley will continue as director of the streaming service’s first sports documentary series, a behind-the-scenes look at the world of junior college football. Inspired by a feature article in GQ magazine, show follows elite athletes in tough life circumstances who struggle to find their redemption on a champion junior college football team and hopefully realize their dreams of competing at the next level. (SAA)
‘Mary Poppins Returns’ Gets a Taste Of Bond, With Ben Whishaw Casting
Already set to star Emily Blunt as Poppins, Lin-Manuel Miranda as a lamplighter named Jack, and Meryl Streep as Poppins’ cousin Topsy, Whishaw has joined the cast and will play the grown-up Michael Banks. (CS)
Carrie Preston Becomes the Latest To Join Hot TNT Pilot ‘Claws’
The Good Wife and True Blood star is set for the show, a new pilot from Rashida Jones and Will McCormack’s Le Train Train and Warner Horizon. Preston joins Niecy Nash and Karrueche Tran in the hour-long dramedy, which is set in a South Florida nail salon and said to be in the vein of Desperate Housewives. (WAH)
When Trailers Do More Harm Than Good
When did trailers become such events? It’s gotten to the point where people are complaining about the big budget films they pay to see that ultimately don’t have scenes highlighted in the trailers that got them into the theaters in the first place. (TB)
Online Film School: Gaspar Noé’s Five Lessons On Using Music In Film (and Why Judy Garland Is the Greatest)
The filmmaker’s mass, passionate following doesn’t exist by accident. The filmmaker’s four features, from last year’s Love to perhaps his most popular film Enter the Void, have stunned with their visual beauty and their unique style of filmmaking. Where many filmmakers’ attentions may center on those two elements, Noé also places focus on another tool for immersing the audience: music. (IW)