Welcome to Rumorville! Here you can learn about casting news that’s about to break in Hollywood. These speculations might be only rumors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t follow the trail all the way to the audition room.
“Fallout”
One major sci-fi television series wasn’t enough for Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Announced Thursday afternoon, the “Westworld” creators are developing a “Fallout” series at Amazon based on the hit video game franchise. The project has already been given a series development penalty—meaning, it will go directly to series if Amazon Studio executives are on board with the scripts. While there has been talk of a “Fallout” TV series adaptation for nearly a decade, this is the furthest a project has made it in the development process. The video game series had its first game release in 1997 and “is set in a world where the future envisioned by Americans in the late 1940s explodes upon itself through a nuclear war in 2077.” This marks the first major project to come out of Nolan and Joy’s Kilter Films producing deal with Amazon Studios. Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks will also executive produce. While no casting has been announced yet, it’s a safe bet that Nolan and Joy could look to reteam with “Westworld” casting director John Papsidera. Learn what to expect when auditioning for the veteran CD here at Backstage!
“Unruly”
Mahershala Ali is stepping back into the ring, and into a role he has played before. The Oscar winner will reportedly play boxer Jack Johnson in “Unruly,” a limited series that is currently in the works at HBO. The six-part series is described as “an unapologetically Black, no-holds-barred telling” of the life and career of Johnson, the first-ever Black heavyweight boxing champion. This is the second time Ali has played Johnson, the first was on stage in 2000’s “The Great White Hope.” Playwright Dominique Morisseau (“Ain’t Too Proud,” “The Detroit Projects” trilogy) will serve as writer and executive producer. The series will be based on the Ken Burns PBS documentary “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson” and was first put into development at HBO back in 2013 with Beau Willimon originally attached to write. Willimon will still executive produce in addition to Morisseau, as will both Burns and Tom Hanks. No further casting or casting team has been announced, but this reunites Ali with two of his former collaborators in Willimon (“House of Cards”) and HBO (“True Detective”). Meagan Lewis of RPM Casting was the CD on the latter project.
“Mer”
Two “Orange Is the New Black” alums are reteaming up for a horror-comedy project as the ViacomCBS teen brand Awesomeness is developing the horror-comedy “Mer.” Laura Prepon is attached to executive produce and direct the project, which comes from co-alum Julie Lake as well as longtime writing partner Liz Storm (“Shelly,” “Lovely”). The satirical series, described as “a splashy horror-comedy about martini-swigging, man-eating mermaids on Martha’s Vineyard,” follows a young woman grappling with her newfound power through the point of view of a marginalized townie-turned-killer mermaid. No casting has been announced, but Jennifer Euston was the CD for “Orange Is the New Black,” though, so Prepon could look to get her on board. Learn how she builds a diverse television ensemble here at Backstage!
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