The Weekly Round-Up for March 28 to March 31

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TELEVISION NEWS

AMC is officially moving ahead with a 5th season of the award-winning series Mad Men (even though a deal with the show’s creator and executive producer, Matt Weiner, hasn’t been ironed out yet). The drawback to the show’s renewal, though, especially for fans – it won’t be back until early 2012.

Justified has been picked up for a 3rd season by FX.

It has been confirmed that Allison Mack will be back on Smallville for the two-hour series finale.

Actor Jonathan Groff will be back on Glee for this season’s final three episodes.

Looks like the box office movie Transporter will be made into a 12-episode action drama on Cinemax. The series will center on professional transporter Frank Martin, operating in a seedy underworld of dangerous criminals and desperate players, who can always be counted on to get the job done — discreetly. Production will begin this summer, but no premiere date has been set yet.

HBO has pulled the plug on their series In Treatment.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

Actress Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) will star as Sixties cover girl Jean Shrimpton – the supermodel of her day – in a new BBC film called We’ll Take Manhattan, which will examine the charged four-year love affair between the iconic model and photographer David Bailey. This is Gillan’s first leading role since making her debut in Doctor Who.

CONDOLENCES

Geraldine A. Ferraro, who was the first female vice presidential candidate on a national ticket, died on Saturday, according to CNN. She was 75. Ferraro died at Massachusetts General Hospital of complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer she’s had for 12 years.

ME: Rest in Peace, Ms. Ferraro. Condolences are extended to her family and friends.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Amy Adams has been tapped to play Lois Lane alongside Henry Cavill as Clark Kent in the planned reboot of the Superman franchise.

Actor Armie Hammer (The Social Network) is set to play the coveted role of the handsome prince in the upcoming feature film Snow White that includes Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen. The Snow White role for this particular film has yet to be cast. [NOTE: There are 3 Snow White films in the planning stages at 3 different film studios].

Canadian actress Sarah Gadon (Being Erica and The Border) has snagged the role of estranged wife Elise Shifrin alongside Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga franchise), who has the lead role in the film Cosmopolis, which is based on the Don DeLillo novel.

Actors James Spader and Ryan Phillippe and actress Carla Gugino have joined the dramatic box office thriller called By Virtue Fall, which stars Eric Bana in the story of two ATF agents who find themselves on opposite sides of the friendship divide after one sells out the other. There are no details on the roles for any of them, though.

Young Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is linked to the big screen adaptation of Cat Patrick’s novel called Forgotten. She is expected to appear as Sleeping Beauty. No other specifics are known at this time.

Actor Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) will voice the role of Tomar-Re, a key member of the Green Lantern Corps. in the upcoming Green Lantern movie that stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan.

Actor Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes) and actress Sarah Shahi (Fairly Legal) are set to appear in the box office thriller called Static that follows a young couple on the verge of divorce and dealing with the loss of their child. Their life is complicated further by the arrival of a young visitor (Sara Paxton) with supernatural implications.

Actor John Travolta is set to play mobster John Gotti Sr. in the film Gotti: Three Generations that will focus on the relationship between John Gotti Sr., the head of the Gambino crime family who died in prison in 2002, and his son John Gotti Jr. who took over the family business. The younger Gotti served time in prison, but then successfully escaped conviction in four subsequent racketeering trials.

CASTING SCOOP

Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (24) will appear in the season finale of House; but there is no confirmation on the role she will be playing as yet. It is believed she will play House’s new mother-in-law.

Film star Tom Hanks announced via his Twitter account that he will be making an appearance on 30 Rock – his first prime time appearance in more than two decades. There are details on his role as yet, though.

Actor Jeff Hephner (The O.C. and Hellcats) will star opposite Kelsey Grammer on the Starz eight-episode drama series Boss, which centers on Kane (Grammer), the Mayor of Chicago who is diagnosed with a degenerative mental condition that only he and his doctor know about. Hephner will play the state’s Treasurer, an impeccably handsome and ambitious Chicago native who is clearly about to become a major player on the Chicago political scene.

Actor Michael Gladis (Mad Men) will make a guest appearance in an upcoming of Leverage, playing Reed Rockwall, a public relations expert in crisis management who ruthlessly protects his clients, often going after and destroying their enemies. When one of Rockwall’s victims turns to Nate (Timothy Hutton) for help, however, it will be the team that pulls out all the stops to bring Rockwall down. Leverage will return for its 4th season on Sunday, June 26 at 9 PM.

Actor Tony Goldwyn (Ghost, Law & Order: Criminal Intent) will appear in an episode of Drop Dead Diva as a corrupt District Attorney who just so happens to have a romantic past with Jane. He will appear in the 6th episode of the show when it returns with new episode this June.

Actress Aubrey Dollar (Dawson’s Creek and Women’s Murder Club) will play a sweet-faced nurse who takes a shine to Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) in an upcoming episode of The Good Wife.

Actor Jay Mohr (Gary Unmarried) will have a guest appearance in the 10th and final season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, playing a famous and incredibly successful Charlie Sheen-type bad boy – a “rock star” fashion designer whose every creation turns to gold. The show will be back on the USA Network on May 1 at 9 PM.

Actors Alan Alda (M*A*S*H and The West Wing) and Hugh Dancy (King Arthur and Ella Enchanted) will be appearing in the 2nd season of The Big C when the show returns with new episode starting on June 27 at 10:30 PM. Alda will play an oncologist that Cathy (Laura Linney) sees [SPOILER ALERT] after receiving a failed treatment for her melanoma. Dancy will appear in six episodes as Lee, a charming fellow cancer patient who befriends Cathy [SPOILER ALERT] as they take part in an experimental drug trial. Also, actress Parker Posey will guest star in four episodes as Poppy, an older woman who develops an unlikely relationship with Adam (Gabriel Basso), Cathy’s son.

Actor John Rothman (Ghostbusters) and actress Cristine Rose (Heroes) will appear as Cooper Freedman’s (Paul Adelstein) parents in the May 5 episode of Private Practice. Meanwhile Tess Harper (Silkwood) will appear as Charlotte King’s (Kadee Strickland) mom in the same episode.

Actress Vinessa Antoine (Being Erica and Soul Food) will have a recurring role on the Syfy series Haven when it returns for its second season. She will play Evidence “Evi” Ryan, a former con-artist and lover of Duke’s (Eric Balfour).

NOTE: The weekly TV calendar and development news for this week will appear separately.

Have a great weekend!