The Weekly Round-Up for March 21 to March 25

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TELEVISION NEWS

TNT has renewed the critically acclaimed drama Southland for a 4th season, ordering 10 new episodes of the gritty, realistic cop drama.

Additionally, TNT has given the green light to the new drama Perception that stars Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as Dr. Geoffrey Pierce, an eccentric neuroscientist who uses his unique outlook and expertise to help the federal government crack difficult cases. His intimate knowledge of human behavior and masterful understanding of the mind are matched by his equally odd and imaginative view of the world. The cast includes Rachael Leigh Cook (She’s All That), as FBI agent Kate Rossi, Pierce’s former student and the person responsible for recruiting him to work for the government and Kelly Rowan (The O.C.) as Natalie Vincent, Pierce’s best friend, who is every bit his intellectual equal. The show is expected to premiere in 2012, receiving a 10 episode order.

The cable network Starz has announced the premiere date for Torchwood: Miracle Day as July 8 at 10 PM. The US installment of the BBC smash hit series will star Mekhi Phifer (ER and Lie to Me), Bill Pullman (Independence Day) and, in an extended guest role, Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) along with return alumni John Barrowman and Eve Myles.

FX has canceled its new drama Lights Out, but the final 2 episodes will air.

The big news all over Twitter last night was that FOX renewed Fringe for another season. Congrats to the cast and crew and hurrah for all the fans out there.

The new ABC drama The Hot Zone has been given its series premiere date: Tuesday, June 21 at 10 PM. The series is set in 2006 at the only military hospital providing advanced surgical care in all of Southern Afghanistan, and charts the frantic lives of the hospital’s resident doctors and nurses from Canada, America, the U.K. and other allied countries. The series stars Elias Koteas (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Michelle Borth (Hawaii Five-0 and The Forgotten) and Luke Mably (The Gates) [among others].

Meanwhile, the Canadian drama Rookie Blue, which was a hit for ABC last summer, will be back with its 2nd season starting Thursday, June 16 at 10 PM. The show takes a look inside the professional and personal lives of five rookie cops as they navigate their first years on the job. The show stars Missy Peregrym, Gregory Smith, Charlotte Sullivan, Enuka Okuma, Travis Milne, Ben Bass and Eric Johnson.

MADE FOR TV MOVIES NEWS

Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park and Downton Abbey) has written the long-gestating four-hour mini-series Titanic that has finally found a home on ABC. The mini-series is slated to coincide with the ship’s sinking next year.

Veteran actor Ed Harris has been cast to play John McCain in the upcoming HBO adaptation of the best-selling book Game Change. Harris will play the Republican candidate John McCain for the film’s depiction of his 2008 presidential campaign. Julianna Moore will portray Sarah Palin in the film. Additionally, actor Woody Harrelson will play Steve Schmidt, McCain’s senior campaign strategist and adviser.

CONDOLENCES

Legendary film actress and Oscar winner Elizabeth Taylor passed away this morning at the age of 79 after being recently hospitalized in recent weeks for congestive heart failure. She starred in over 50 movies, making the leap from child star (National Velvet) to one of the world’s biggest stars, appearing in movies such as Giant and Cleopatra as well as her Oscar winning roles in Butterfield 8 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

ME: RIP, Ms. Taylor. Condolences to her family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

BOX OFFICE NEWS

It has been revealed that actress Julianne Moore will join actor Jeff Bridges in the box office film The Seventh Son, which is an adaptation of The Last Apprentice (or The Wardstone Chronicles) book series. She will play the role of Mother Malkin, the most sinister of witches who uses blood magic. The story is described as: when 12-year-old Thomas, seventh son of a seventh son, is apprenticed to the local Spook, whose job is to fight evil spirits and witches, he expects a life of danger. However, the boy doesn’t realize just how soon he’ll face a powerful enemy alone, as Mother Malkin escapes her confinement while the Spook is away. Thomas is forced to use his wits, and the help of his enigmatic new friend, Alice, to fight the evil witch. And defeating her is only the start of the boy’s problems. The rest of the cast is yet to be announced.

Acting legend Ian McShane (Deadwood) has joined the cast of the upcoming box office movie Jack the Giant Killer, which is a re-telling of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale that follows a farm boy (Nicholas Hoult) who leads an expedition to free a princess taken hostage by a giant, a situation which threatens the uneasy truce between humans and giants. He will play King Brahmwell, the father of the kidnapped princess (Eleanor Tomlinson) who is not thrilled about the idea of his daughter marrying a farmer boy.

Actor Alan Rickman is in negotiations to join Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz in the remake of the classic 60’s caper movie Gambit that follows a British thief (Firth) who plans to steal an expensive statue from one of the richest men in the world (Rickman) and needs the help of a woman (Diaz) who closely resembles the rich man’s late wife.

The next Chronicles of Narnia film being made is going to be based on the sixth book – The Magician’s Nephew – in the famous series of novels. It is actually a prequel to the The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and will set the stage as an origins story, learning where the wardrobe came from, where the lamp post came from and where Narnia came from. The brief run-down of the book’s story is: British schoolchildren Polly and Digory inadvertently tumble into the Wood Between the Worlds, where they meet the evil Queen Jadis and, ultimately, the great, mysterious King Aslan. The film is currently under development.

Casting for the sequel to the box office remake Clash of the Titans was released today, including returning cast members Sam Worthington as Greek demi-god hero Perseus and Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson as the gods Hades and Zeus respectively. The film is to be set a decade after the heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken with Perseus attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Other returning cast members are Danny Huston (Robin Hood) as Poseidon, god of the sea; Edgar Ramírez (The Bourne Ultimatum) as the god of war, Ares; Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) as Hephaestus; Toby Kebbell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) as Agenor, and Rosamund Pike (Barney’s Version) as Andromeda.

Looks like actress Amy Adams (Enchanted and The Fighter) is being courted to join the cast of the upcoming box office movie Rock of Ages, in which she would play the journalist who falls into a bedroom romp with Tom Cruise’s decadent rock star character, Stacee Jax.

NOTE: The weekly calendar, development news and casting scoop will appear separately this week.

Have a great weekend!