The Weekly Round-Up for May 30 to June 3

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TELEVISION NEWS

AMC has announced that Breaking Bad is set to return with new episodes starting on Sunday, July 17 at 10 PM.

Actress Rachel Nichols has been dropped by Criminal Minds with actress Paget Brewster returning as part of a new deal that includes fewer episodes in which she will appear. Also, negotiations are ongoing with actor Thomas Gibson for next season. Meanwhile, original cast member A.J. Cook is coming back to the show as are Kirsten Vangsness and Shemar Moore. The show returns for its seventh season this fall.

Canadian viewers will get to see World Without End, which is based on Ken Follett’s multi-million best seller of the same name, as it will air on the Canadian channel known as Showcase in 2012. The eight-hour special event takes place in the same fictional town as Pillars of the Earth — Kingsbridge — and features the descendants of some Pillars characters two centuries later. The plot incorporates two major historical events, the start of the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death.

While the news broke over the past few weeks, Life Unexpected creator Liz Tigelaar and former Buffy producer Jane Espenson have both joined the team behind the upcoming fall ABC series Once Upon a Time. Tigelaar is a consulting producer while Espenson will co-executive producer.

Jane Lynch has officially been set as b host. The awards show will air on September 18 on FOX.

The new NBC fall drama The Firm, based on the book by John Grisham, now has its leading ma: Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama and The Lincoln Lawyer). The series picks up the story 10 years after the events of the film and novel. As a young associate, McDeere brought down the prestigious Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which operated as a front for the Chicago mob — and his life was never the same. After a difficult decade, which included a stay in the Federal Witness Protection program, Mitch and his family now emerge from isolation to reclaim their lives and their future — only to find that past dangers are still lurking and new threats are everywhere.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

It looks like actress Halle Berry just might be doing a TV series on one of the pay cable networks if the current buzz about town is true. Rumor has it that a spec script called Higher Learning is being shipped around to cable networks such as HBO and Showtime (among others). The only details on the story is that Berry would play a college professor and that the script was written by 30-year industry veteran Lee Rose.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

HBO and BBC have given the green light to a 5-part mini-series set during World War I that will star actor British actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall. The mini called Parade’s End is based on the series of four books by British novelist Ford Madox Ford, which were published between 1924 and 1928. It will be set against the backdrop of World War I, telling the story of a complex and destructive love triangle among a conservative English aristocrat (Cumberbatch), his beautiful but cruel socialite wife (Hall), and a vibrant young suffragette.

Actors Anne Heche and James Tupper are set to star in the Lifetime movie called Girl Fight, that is inspired by the true story of Florida cheerleader Victoria “Tori” Lindsay, a 16-year-old, stellar high school student whose life spirals downward when her “friends” brutally beat her up and then upload a video of the attack onto the Internet. Heche and Tupper will play the girl’s parents.

ONLINE SERIES NEWS

Actress Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse) has been signed to star in an online animated “motion comic” series based on upcoming series Torchwood: Miracle Day. Entitled Torchwood: Web of Lies, Dushku will be front and center in the short-form story, which will also have voice appearances by Torchwood stars John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness and Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper. Jane Espenson is writing the series along with co-writer Ryan Scott. The series will consist of 10 three-minute video and is expected to launch before Torchwood premieres on July 8 on Starz. New installments of the online series will go up after each new Miracle Day episode. (James

CONDOLENCES

Actress Clarice Taylor, who had a pivotal recurring role on The Cosby Show, passed away on Monday, succumbing to heart failure at the age of 93. Her career spanned the stage, the big and small screen, and radio, including the original Broadway cast of The Wiz and a supporting role in Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty For Me.

Legendary Gunsmoke actor James Arness passed away at the age of 88. Gunsmoke was the longest-running series in American television history.

ME: Rest in Peace, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Arness Deepest sympathies to their family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Legendary actor Donald Sutherland has been cast as President Snow in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel The Hunger Games.

Actor Jamie Campbell Bower (the TV series Camelot and the Twilight movie franchise) has landed the lead role alongside actress Lily Collins in the film adaptation of The Mortal Instruments from the young adult novel series by Cassandra Clare. Collins plays Clary Fray, a girl with a psychic gift that allows her to see both demons and Shadowhunters. When her mother is abducted, she is forced to learn about her bloodline and abilities in order to get her mother back. Bower will play Jace Wayland, one of the best Shadowhunters around.

Actors Seth Green and Michelle Trachtenberg will join actress Katee Sackhoff in the independent film called Sexy Evil Genius. The film centers on a group of strangers brought together in a downtown Los Angeles bar by their mutual ex-girlfriend (Sackhoff). The woman is mysterious about her intentions, but by the night’s end, revenge will be had, romance kindled and the wronged woman will have delivered on her reputation as the sexy evil genius at the center of all their lives. Also among the cast are Billy Baldwin and Harold Perrineau Jr.

Actors J.K. Simmons, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, Ben Barnes and John Hannah have joined the cast of the upcoming film called The Words, which stars Bradley Cooper as a writer who, at the peak of his literary success, discovers the price he must pay for stealing another man’s work. Jeremy Irons and Dennis Quaid also star.

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes, the PBS mini-series version) has dropped out of the upcoming box office adaptation of the Tolstoy classic Anna Karenina due to the above mentioned mini-series with actor Matthew Macfayden taking his place. The story focuses on a 19th century Russian woman (Keira Knightley) trapped in a loveless marriage who becomes a social outcast when she has an affair with the aristocrat Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson). Meanwhile, actresses Olivia Williams and Andrea Riseborough have joined the cast.

Actor Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) will star in the upcoming movie called Crooked Arrows, a standard underdog sport film that mixes things up by setting the familiar story in the world of lacrosse. The film follows a rag-tag Native American high school lacrosse team that is forced to join the local prep school league, which is comprised of better trained and better equipped rivals. Routh will play the tribal chairman’s part-Native American entrepreneurial son who is tasked with coaching the reservation’s motley lacrosse team in the hopes that he’ll reconnect with his fellow tribe members.

Actor Bradley Cooper (Alias) has joined the cast of the upcoming film called The Place Beyond the Pines that is about a motorcycle pro (Ryan Gosling) who takes up bank-robbing to support his family. Cooper will play the cop chasing Gosling’s character.

It looks like Hollywood is intent on remaking the horror flick Carrie with young True Grit actress Hailee Steinfeld being eyed for the lead role.

Actor Nick Nolte has joined the cast of the upcoming film called A Walk in the Woods where he will play an old chum of Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) with whom the author decides to walk the Appalachian Trail.

Actors Lucas Till (Battle: Los Angeles), Kyle Schmid (Blood Ties), Sonja Kinski (daughter of Nastassja Kinski), Rachel Blanchard (7th Heaven) and Juliet Landau (Buffy) are all part of the cast of the independent thriller called Dark Hearts. In the film Goran Visnjic (ER) and Richard Edson (Platoon) star in the story of a struggling artist who accompanies his younger brother to a secret gig where he finds his muse in sultry singer (Kinski) only to be thrust into a maelstrom of art, blood and passion, leading to a dangerous love triangle.

CASTING SCOOP

Actress Erica Durance (Smallville) has landed the lead role in a CTV (Canadian broadcaster) drama called Saving Hope. The show begins production in Toronto on June 22. Many CTV dramas like the TV series Flashpoint has aired in the US as well, so it is possible that US audiences could see this new show if it should get picked up. Saving Hope is described as a sexy, fast-paced drama set in a Toronto hospital.

Actress Morena Baccarin (V, Firefly, Stargate: SG-1) has landed a role in the upcoming fall series Homeland, which will air on Showtime. The series centers on Marine Sergeant Scott Brody (Damian Lewis), who returns home eight years after going missing in Iraq, and Carrie Anderson (Claire Danes), a driven CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America. Baccarin will play Jessica Brody, Scott Brody’s smart, strong wife. She replaces Laura Fraser who played the role in the pilot.

Actor Sam Waterson (Law & Order) has joined the cast of the tentatively-titled More As This Story Develops, which is the Aaron Sorkin-HBO drama pilot that is set behind the scenes at a cable news network. The much-buzzed-about project stars Jeff Daniels as Will McCallister, the host of a popular cable news show. Waterston will play McCallister’s boss. The cast also includes Olivia Munn, Alison Pill, and possibly will also include Emily Mortimer.

Actress Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse) will guest star on an upcoming episode of White Collar, playing a very sexy woman who works for Matthew Keller (Ross McCall). The series is back with all new episodes on the USA Network on June 7.

Bush frontman (and husband of fellow rocker Gwen Stefani) will guest star on an upcoming episode of Burn Notice, playing the wealthy and powerful Armand, a baddie with a hand in atrocious projects across the globe. Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) asks Armand for help, but in return she must help him with a big heist job. Burn Notice returns with all new episodes on June 23 at 9 PM on the USA Network.

Actress Andrea Anders (Better Off Ted) will appear in multiple episodes of the new USA Network series Necessary Roughness that premieres on June 29 at 10 PM. The series stars Callie Thorne (Rescue Me) as Dr. Dani Santino, a down-on-her-luck psychotherapist who, through a whirlwind chain of events, finds herself serving as the “shrink to the stars.” The cast features Mehcad Brooks (True Blood) as Terrence King, a football all-star and Dani’s first high-profile patient; Marc Blucas (Buffy) as Matt, the team’s trainer; and Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls) as a sports “fixer.” Anders will play Laura, a PR exec hired to rehab King’s (Brooks) image. The pretty spin-mistress also has a “history” with Matt (Blucas), so expect her to get pulled into a bit a love triangle with him and Dani. There is a potential this role for Anders could be recurring.

NOTE: The weekly calendar will appear separately this week.

Have a great weekend!