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.
“The Comeback Girl”
Okay, we can talk: first reported by Variety, Emmy nominee Kathryn Hahn is attached to play Joan Rivers in “The Comeback Girl,” a limited series now in development at Showtime. Produced by Warner Bros. Television, Atlas Entertainment, and Berlanti Productions, the series is primarily set in the aftermath of the cancellation of “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers” after Rivers became the first woman to host a late-night talk show and which coincided with Rivers’ husband (and “Late Show” producer) Edgar Rosenberg’s death by suicide. Hahn will executive produce “The Comeback Girl,” and Greg Berlanti will direct and executive produce with Cosmo Carlson (“The Showrunner,” “Valedictorian”) writing and executive producing. No further casting has been announced at this time.
“Sal & Gabi Break The Universe”
Eva Longoria and Ben Spector are now reportedly developing Carlos Hernandez’s award-winning book “Sal & Gabi Break the Universe” for an upcoming project with Disney Branded Television. The sci-fi story follows Sal Vidón, “a teen who discovers he has the ability to reach into time and space to retrieve things from other universes as a result of his meddling with his father’s scientific experiments [and] enlists the help of his friend Gabi to set off on a quest to find and bring back his deceased mother, only to learn that tampering in alternate universes could ultimately put their entire universe at risk.” Nelson Soler (“Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists”) is currently attached to the project as a writer-producer. The work comes as part of a deal between Longoria and Spector’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and Disney Branded Television. No casting has been announced at this time.
“Lagordiloca”
First reported by Deadline, Starz has put into development the drama series “Lagordiloca.” Inspired by Skip Hollandsworth’s and Leif Reigstad’s articles about Villarreal in Texas Monthly and written by playwright, film/TV writer, and filmmaker Hilary Bettis (“The Dropout,” “Rodeo Queens”), the project chronicles the real-life rise of street journalist Priscilla Villarreal “as she capitalizes on the power of livestream reporting to expose corruption, cartels, and serial killers in the border town of Laredo, Texas.” “When we read Skip Hollandsworth and Leif Reigstad’s articles in Texas Monthly about Priscilla Villarreal, we knew it was a story we had to tell,” executive producer Joan Boorstein said. “Priscilla’s journey and her fight for social justice for the people of Laredo is not only filled with drama and high stakes, but also a deep sense of family and community.” Nina Tassler and Denise Di Novi’s PatMa Productions and CBS Studios will produce.
“Friends Like These”
Also a Deadline exclusive, Amblin Television has reportedly acquired the rights to “Friends Like These,” the new thriller novel from Kimberly McCreight, to develop as a series. The novel follows five friends forever bound by the mysterious and tragic death of their sixth friend who gather at a picture-perfect country house in the Catskills for a co-ed bachelor weekend. But the “bachelor weekend” is just a front: they’re actually gathering for a staged intervention for Keith, Alice’s college boyfriend, now a successful art dealer caught in a downward spiral of opioid addiction. Keith, however, has brought an unexpected guest along for the weekend: his biggest client, Finch, who senses the fault lines within the group and wastes no time exploiting them to his own benefit. McCreight will also adapt the script with Amblin’s co-Presidents of Television Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey executive producing.
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