The Weekly Round-Up for June 20 to June 24

Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:

TELEVISION NEWS

Actor Thomas Gibson has signed a new deal to return Criminal Minds for the show’s seventh season.

Actor Jensen Ackles will take to the director’s chair once again on Supernatural when it returns for its seventh season this fall. It will be the first episode the cast films, but it will be the third aired episode of the new season.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Francois Berleand (Tell No One) will reprise his role as Inspector Tarconi from the Transporter features in the new TV adaptation on Cinemax. Actress Delphine Chaneac (Splice) will recur as Olivia, a reporter who knows a lot about Frank’s (Chris Vance from Burn Notice and 24) work and actress Rachel Skarsten (Birds of Prey) will appear as Delia, the daughter of someone from Frank’s past.

Starz has greenlit another action drama series from Spartacus executive producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. This one will be called Noir, which is a live-action adaptation of the 2001 Japanese anime series that has been in development at the network since last fall. It follows two female assassins who team up to fight against a secret society. After discovering they’re mysteriously linked, the two, under the Noir moniker, have to work together until they get answers about why and how they are connected – or until one of them kills the other.

The pilot adaptation of the Powers graphic novels that is being undertaken by cable channel FX has cast one of its lead roles: Actress Lucy Punch (Dinner for Shmucks and the upcoming Bad Teacher) will play homicide detective Deena Pilgrim. Powers follows two detectives, Pilgrim and the yet-to-be-cast Christian Walker, who are tasked with investigating homicide cases involving people with superpowers.

Actor Stephen Root has been cast in a new regular role in the FX drama pilot Outlaw Country, which is undergoing tweaking and some reshoots. The crime thriller/family drama, set against the backdrop of Southern organized crime and Nashville royalty, stars Luke Grimes as twentysomething Eli Larkin who tries to leave the life of crime. Meanwhile, actor John Hawkes is Eli’s uncle Tarzen Larkin, a big-time player in the Southern crime world. Actress Haley Bennett is a country singer and Mary Steenburgen as her overprotective mother. Root will play Jack Folcum, a shrewd businessman gangster associate and rival of Tarzen’s.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS

The Chateau Marmont, which for the past 80 years has served as the backdrop of major events in Hollywood history and the lives of its famous inhabitants, will now take front stage in a mini-series from John Krasinski (The Office) and writer-producer extraordinaire Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin will write the mini, which will be based on the book Life At The Marmont by former Chateau Marmont co-owner Raymond R. Sarlot and Fred Basten. Krasinski is also expected to play a role in the as-yet-untitled miniseries, which will tell the inter-connected stories of the people who frequented the famed Hollywood landmark over several generations.

CONDOLENCES

The saxophone player Clarence Clemons, who is part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band passed away over the weekend after suffering a stroke. He was 69 years old.

Actor Peter Falk (Columbo and The Princess Bride) passed away. He was 83. (Variety)

ME: RIP, Mr. Falk and Mr. Clemons. Deepest condolences to their family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE…

CASTING SCOOP

Actor Scott Foley (Felicity and The Unit) will have a major recurring role in True Blood that will kick off in the Season 4 finale and, assuming the show gets renewed, will continue into Season 5. He will play Patrick, a tough old army buddy of Terry’s (Todd Lowe) who pays him a visit.

Actress Valerie Cruz (Off The Map) is joining the new Syfy series Alphas as a recurring guest star. She will play the mysterious Department of Defense Special Agent Kathy Sullivan.

Actor Pruitt Taylor Vince (Monster, Identity and L.A. Confidential) will appear in the new season of The Walking Dead this fall, playing Otis, the foreman at Hershel’s farm.

Soap actress Brianna Brown (General Hospital) will guest star in the new Showtime drama Homeland. The new series will star Claire Danes as an agent investigating the circumstances involving the rescue of a U.S. soldier (Damian Lewis) missing in Iraq and presumed dead. Mandy Patinkin co-stars as a veteran CIA division chief and her superior officer. Brown will play Lynne Reed, a statuesque blonde, crowned Miss Ohio in 2009, who spent two years in the harem of Prince Farid Bin Abbud and who now works as his procurer, using her looks and smarts as commerce. Her character does not view herself as a prostitute but as someone who is setting herself up for a secure life. The role could potentially be recurring.

French actress/model Roxane Mesquida (Kaboom) is joining the cast of Gossip Girl as the meddling sister of Blair’s fiancée, Prince Louis.

Actor Griffin Dunne will appear in a multi-episode arc in the new, upcoming Showtime comedy House of Lies, which is about an acerbic management consultant, starring Don Cheadle in the lead role. The show also stars Kristen Bell. Dunne will play a world-famous consultant who teams with Don Cheadle at his firm.

Legendary actor Beau Bridges will appear in an upcoming episode of White Collar, starring as Agent Kramer, a well-decorated federal officer and art expert who instructed Peter (Tim DeKay) when he trained at Quantico. Kramer has been Peter’s mentor ever since, and his paternal nature offsets his intimidating presence.

Actor Josh Cooke (Better With You) will have a recurring role on Dexter, starring as Louis Greene, a new lab intern at Miami Metro and a buddy of fellow forensics nerd Masuka’s (C.S. Lee).

Actor Terry O’Quinn (Lost) is joining the cast of Hawaii Five-0 on a recurring basis. He will play a Navy Seal Lt. Commander who trained Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) in Coronado, and served with his father in Vietnam.

Actor Pablo Schreiber has been made a regular cast member of the new CBS drama A Gifted Man that will begin this fall. He plays Anton, a shaman and New Age spiritual healer to Michael Holt (Patrick Wilson).

Actress Lisa Edelstein (House) will have a guest starring role on The Good Wife that will span several episodes. Her character is a lawyer — and a bit of a card shark — who has significant history with Will (Josh Charles).

Actress Natalie Dormer (The Tudors and the upcoming Captain America movie) has been added as a regular cast member for Season 2 of the HBO series Game of Thrones. She will play Margaery Tyrell, a (minor spoiler alert) beautiful and shrewd young woman from the influential House Tyrell. She’s pledged to marry the late King Robert’s brother, Renly Baratheon, as part of House Tyrell’s support for his bid to seize the Iron Throne from King Joffrey.

Actress Katherine Helmond (Who’s the Boss) will guest star on True Blood, playing Caroline Bellefleur, the grandmother of Bon Temps sheriff Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) and his sister, Portia (Courtney Ford). The actress is set to appear in two episodes of Season 4, which premieres this Sunday.

Actress Annie Wersching (24) will guest star on the TNT police drama Rizzoli & Isles, playing Nicole Mateo, a mother devastated by the recent abduction of her daughter in broad daylight. She’s also a longtime friend of Detective Rizzoli (Angie Harmon), who worked undercover with Nicole’s husband during her Drug Control Unit days.

NOTE: The weekly calendar and the box office news will appear separately this week.