‘Hap & Leonard’: Louis Gossett Jr., Corbin Bernsen & Andrew Dice Clay Set To Recur In Season

Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman, Roots), Psych alum Corbin Bernsen and Dice star Andrew Dice Clay are set for recurring roles in the upcoming third season of SundanceTV’s critically-praised anthology series Hap & Leonard.

Based on Joe R. Lansdale’s popular book series, Hap & Leonard follows two lifelong best friends, Hap Collins (James Purefoy), an East Texas white boy with a weakness for Southern women, and Leonard Pine (Michael K. Williams), a gay, black Vietnam vet with a hot temper. Season 3 is based on the third installment of Lansdale’s series, The Two-Bear Mambo, and is set for premiere in early 2018.

Gossett Jr. plays Bacon, a veterinarian-turned-cook at the local diner. Bernsen will portray Chief Cantuck, the foul-mouthed, morally ambiguous head of the Grovetown Police department. Clay is Sonny Knox, the town’s politically incorrect radio disc jockey. In addition, Laura Allen (American Horror Story: Cult) plays Officer Reynolds, an East Texas cop who hides her bigotry behind her badge, Sydney Wease (The Vampire Diaries), portrays Belinda, ethereal teenage waif, mute since a mysterious abduction, and musician Curtis Harding plays blues legend, L.C. Soothe, and L.C.’s grandson, Bobby Joe, both of whom run afoul of the Klan. Tiffany Mack (Florida Grange) and Cranston Johnson (Detective Hanson) return as series regulars.

John Wirth (Hell on Wheels, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) returns as showrunner and executive producer for season three, and Jim Mickle, Nick Damici, Jeremy Platt and Linda Moran return as executive producers.

Gossett Jr, who won an Oscar for his performance in An Officer and a Gentleman, will next be seen in a starring role in feature Breaking Brooklyn. He’s repped by Zero Gravity Management.

Psych and L.A. Law alum Bernsen will next be seen in Jarret Tarnol’s high school dramedy Reach.

Clay can currently be seen on his series Dice now in its second season on Showtime. He’ll next appear in Warner Brothers remake of A Star is Born, and continues to perform his stand-up across the country. Clay is repped by Abrams Artists Agency and managed by Bruce Rubenstein.

‘The Last Ship’: Troy Doherty & Leo Oliva To Recur In Season 5

Troy Doherty and Leo Oliva are set to recur in the upcoming fifth season of TNT’s drama series, The Last Ship, which will premiere sometime next year. Co-created by Hank Steinberg and Steve Kane, the postapocalyptic naval drama stars Eric Dane, Adam Baldwin and Bridget Regan.

The series details the aftermath of a global catastrophe that nearly decimates the world’s population. Now, CNO Captain Tom Chandler (Dane) and his crew must confront the reality of their new existence in a world where they may be among the few remaining survivors. Doherty will play Clayton, a cadet at the U.S. Navel Academy who becomes Chandler’s protege. Oliva is Pena, the scariest of Octavio’s special operators.

Kane and Steinberg also serve as exec producers along with Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, and Paul Holahan.

Doherty, whose credits include Ryan Frost’s recently released post-9/11 indie film September Morning and the Fullscreen series Filthy Preppy Teen$, is repped by Innovative and Zero Gravity Management. Oliva, repped by Stewart Talent and The Zachary Co, recently booked guest spots on Amazon’s I Love Dick, CBS’ Scorpion and NCIS: Los Angeles.

Horror Masters, Including Zero Gravity’s Alejandro Brugues, Team For ‘Nightmare Cinema’ Antholo

Genre bigwigs Mick Garris, Joe Dante, David Slade, Ryuhei Kitamura and Alejandro Brugues have joined together with Cinelou Films and Good Deed Entertainment for Nightmare Cinema, an anthology horror movie in the works made up of five short films that will share a common thread. Mickey Rourke has been set to play the ringmaster of sorts to link the stories.

The anthology will center on a series of down-on-their-luck individuals who enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist (Rourke) – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings. By the time our patrons realize the truth, escape is no longer an option.

Garris is producing via his Nice Guy Productions, along with Courtney Solomon and

Mark Canton from Cinelou and Joe Russo. Good Deed’s Scott Donley and Lenny Shapiro, the Fyzz Facility’s Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones, and Cinelou’s Scott Karol are executive producers.

The producers say A TV series based on the idea is also in the works, harkening to the days of shows like Twilight Zone and Tales From The Crypt.

“We’re excited about Nightmare Cinema,” said Canton. “When Mick Garris brought us the opportunity to collaborate with a group like this, it was easy to get behind. Horror has become an industry strength again. When you look around at recent successes of films like It or Get Out, it’s obvious there’s a hungry audience out there that can’t be ignored.”

Said Garris: “I love being able to bring together visionaries of horror cinema from all around the world with their personal perspectives about what scares you. This is a project I’ve been working on for some time and I couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Cinelou and Good Deed to share with everyone.”

TrustNordisk boards love story ‘Swoon’ from ‘The Bridge’ creators

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for Swoon, directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein.

The film is shooting now and is slated for release in Sweden in December 2018.

Swoon is about the heirs to two rival amusement parks in Stockholm who unexpectedly fall in love in the shadow of the Second World War. The filmmakers describe it as “a magical and swirling tale of war, treachery and forbidden love”.

The directing duo – who created acclaimed 2011 Nordic noir TV series The Bridge – most recently made TV show Midnight Sun, which was sold to more than 90 territories. Their feature credits include Underworld: Awakening, which made more than $160m at the global box office, and thriller Shelter starring Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. Marlind and Stein are represented by Paradigm and Zero Gravity Management in the U.S.

Kristina Åberg produces for Atmo Rights with Nordisk handling Scandinavian distribution; backers include Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Swedish Film Institute.

Atmo’s credits include Tarik Saleh’s Sundance award-winning The Nile Hilton Incident, Erik Gandini’s Videocracy and Lisa Aschan’s She Monkeys.

Crime Drama About FBI Agent-Turned-Reporter From Josh Berman & Matt Whitney Set At NBC

NBC has put in development an untitled crime drama, aka Deadline, from CSI alum Josh Berman, Timeless co-executive producer Matt Whitney and Sony Pictures TV Studios.

Written by Whitney, the project centers on a former FBI agent who, after a traumatic experience, takes a job as an investigative journalist at a well-known and widely circulated weekly magazine – reporting on high-profile crimes, seeking justice for victims, their families and the falsely accused. Depending on the story, she can be an asset to her former colleagues at the FBI, or a thorn in their side.

Berman executive produces via his Osprey Productions alongside the company’s head of production and development Chris King, as well as Whitney and Jess Cagle. The project falls under Berman’s overall deal at Sony TV and stems from a blind script deal Whitney has at the studio.

This is Berman’s second sale this season to NBC. He also has legal drama Closurewith executive producer John Legend, which received a put pilot commitment.

Whitney, who also served as a writer-producer on CSI: Cyber and White Collar, is repped by ICM Partners, Zero Gravity Management, and Erik Hyman.

Berman spent six years on CBS’ crime procedural CSI, rising to executive producer. At Sony TV, where he has been for more than a decade, Berman created/co-created three series, Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime, The Mob Doctor on Fox and Notorious on ABC. He also worked on the studios’ The Blacklist and Daytime Divas. He is repped by CAA.

Survival Guide Comedy Series From Military Vet Duo Ordered By Netflix With Matt Damon & Peter Be

Netflix has given an eight-episode straight-to-series order to The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse, a hybrid scripted/unscripted comedy written, produced by and starring two military veterans, Shawn Vance, a former United States Special forces Green Beret, and Daril Fanin, a former combat army medic,

The duo brought the idea for a real-life “survival guide” series to Matt Damon who, along with Jennifer Todd, came on board to executive produce through their Pearl Street Films. They in turn brought the project to Peter Berg, Matt Goldberg and Brandon Carroll of Film 45, who also executive are producing.

The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse is a hybrid action comedy, described as a mix of a survival show full of usable survival skills and how-to’s as well as smart low-brow humor. It is an anthology series, with each episode chronicling its own contained apocalypse as survived by the show’s hero, Shawn (Vance).

The unconventional comedy received a green light from Netflix, and I hear it recently wrapped production on its eight-episode order in Vancouver, Canada.

Vance and Fanin are repped by WME, attorney Derek Kroeger and Zero Gravity Management. Damon and Berg also are with WME.

‘Dynasty’ Adds KJ Smith

Queen Sugar actress KJ Smith is set for a recurring role on the CW’s upcoming Dynasty reboot. Co-written by Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage and Sallie Patrick, the new Dynasty follows two of America’s wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. Smith will play Kori Rucks. Character details are being kept under wraps. Smith, whose other TV credits include Survivor’s Remorse and BET’s Being Mary Jane, will appear in Liongate’s upcoming Madea’s Family Funeral. She’s repped by Zero Gravity Management and People Store.

Andy Garcia, Frank Grillo, Tyler Posey to Star in Action Thriller, DECOY

Allan Ungar, who directed ‘Gridlocked,’ is set to direct the project that will sell at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Andy Garcia, Frank Grillo and Teen Wolf star Tyler Posey are teaming up to star in Decoy, an action thriller to be directed by Allan Ungar.

13 Films is handling international sales and will introduce the film to buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival. Andrew Gunn (Sky High) and Michael Bien (Billionaire Boys Club) are on board to produce.

Written by David Benullo, the script centers on a young identity thief (Posey) who finds himself being hunted by the NSA after he unwittingly steals the identity of a wanted man. Grillo will play the head of a task force hunting Posey while Garcia will play the CEO of a private defense contractor who is the architect of all of Posey’s troubles.

Decoy was featured on the 2014 Hit List, which tracks well-liked spec scripts.

Gunn will produce under his Gunn Films banner while Bien produces via his Cedarvale Pictures shingle. Angela Donald is also producing.

HLP+ Partners Henry Less and Sissy Federer, Tom North, along Tannaz Anisi and Greg Schenz of 13 Films will serve as executive producers.

Ungar wrote and directed Gridlocked, an action movie throwback that starred Dominic Purcell and Stephen Lang. It was acquired by Netflix last year.

Garcia will next be seen in Dean Devlin’s environmental disaster movie Geostorm with Gerard Butler and Ed Harris. He is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Grillo is having a unique moment this summer, co-starring in Wolf Warrior II, the surprise Chinese hit that has made headlines as the second-biggest grossing movie in China ever with $810 million (and counting!). The actor was a key villain in the Captain America movies and will be seen in Joe Carnahan’s Netflix movie, Wheelman. He is repped by CAA and Management 360.

Posey, best known for toplining Teen Wolf for six seasons, recently wrapped the Blumhouse horror movie Truth or Dare, directed by Jeff Wadlow. He is repped by Gersh and 3 Arts.

Ungar is repped by APA, Zero Gravity, and The Characters Talent Agency. Benullo is repped by APA and Quattro Media.

INSIDIOUS sequel, directed by Zero Gravity’s Adam Robitel, gets a new title: INSIDIOUS: THE LAST

Universal Pictures has retitled the fourth chapter of its Insidious horror franchise. After two films about a couple whose son becomes a vessel for ghosts and a 2015 prequel, Insidious: The Last Key returns Lin Shaye as Dr. Elise Rainier, the brilliant parapsychologist who faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet — in her own family home.

Director Adam Robitel’s film is keeping its January 5 release date, after having been moved in April from the pre-Halloween October 20 slot. The Last Key has that date to itself for now.

Angus Sampson, Whannell, Josh Stewart, Caitlin Gerard, Kirk Acevedo, Javier Botet, Bruce Davison, Spencer Locke, Tessa Ferrer, Ava Kolker and Marcus Henderson also star in the pic, which is written by Insidious co-creator Leigh Whannell (Saw), who wrote the trilogy and directed Chapter 3. It is produced by Insidious regulars Jason Blum (The Purge series, Get Out), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity) and co-creator James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7).

Steven Schneider, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Charles Layton, Bailey Conway Anglewicz, Couper Samuelson and Whannell serve as executive producers. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions produced and financed Insidious: The Last Key. U.S. theatrical distribution will be handled by Universal Pictures, and Sony Pictures Releasing and SPWA’s Stage 6 Films will distribute the film outside of the U.S.

Tim Story Developing Pic About 1920s Female African American Numbers Runner Stephanie St. Clair At H

Well, it’s about time for this woman’s story to be told. She was a known figure throughout New York in 1920s Harlem. She fought against other mobsters to maintain her independent business and was also considered an activist for the black community at the time. Her name was Stephanie St. Clair and now Tim Story and Zero Gravity Management are developing a pic at HBO Films about her life.

Nicole Asher has been hired to script the story about the woman who was an immigrant from the Caribbean and ended up running something known as the Policy Bank — which really was the precursor to the American lottery system.

Yes, it was in the time of organized crime and the money flowed, but when mobsters Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano and a corrupt police force tried to take over her criminal enterprise she fought fiercely against them and won those battles.

The project is based on book The World of Stephanie St. Clair: An Entrepreneur, Race Woman and Outlaw in the Early Twentieth Century Harlem by Shirley Stewart. Asher, an African American screenwriter, as we noted is penning the screenplay about the woman known as “Madame Queenie” or just “Queenie.” Story (through his The Story Company), Mark Holder and Christine Holder via Zero Gravity and Jeff Field are all executive producers. The co-executive producer is Doug Griffin (The Story Company).

St. Clair, who was portrayed by Cicely Tyson in the 1997 movie Hoodlum , was scrappy and smart and used her education and persistence to rebuff becoming a domestic and went into business for herself: running the numbers game. Bumpy Johnson was her right-hand man.

This is the second project based on St. Clair. Janet Jackson also had one in development at Lifetime with noted director Kenny Leon (Hairspray Live!, The Wiz Live!).

Asher (Coco) is the same writer who wrote the Madame CJ Walker story — a limited (10-episode) series with LeBron James and Octavia Spencer. She is repped by by Frank Wuliger at Gersh, Todd Schulkin at Schulkin Managment and Ron Levin of Levin Law Corp.

Zero Gravity Management also has on its slate Guantanamo Diary, based on the acclaimed international bestseller based on the life of Guantanamo prisoner Mohamadu Slahi, and Kennedy Women, a series based on the NY Times bestseller by Laurence Leamer. The company also is enjoying the success off the Netflix TV series Ozark which stars Jason Bateman.