Welcome to Rumorville, Backstage’s go-to place for upcoming casting and entertainment news! Every Friday we update this piece to include casting news that’s about to break in Hollywood. These speculations might only be rumors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t follow the trail all the way to the audition room. Check out what is rumbling below!
“Stranger Things” Spinoffs
A Duffer Brother cinematic universe? Stranger things have happened. According to Deadline, Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos hinted at the possibility of a “Stranger Things” franchise with multiple spinoffs at the Code Conference. Part of that would include series star Millie Bobby Brown as the lead in an extension under the terms of her own big first-look Netflix deal that she signed at the start of this year, via Netflix Junkie. The first mega-hit series for Netflix, “Stranger Things” debuted in 2016 and stars Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, and more. Filming for Season 4, which began all the way back in late 2019, is still underway and has yet to be given a due date other than the vague 2022 planned release. Feldstein/Paris and Carmen Cuba make up the casting team— learn how and where Cuba finds young actors in her latest Backstage webinar here!
“Babylon 5”
Intelligent life has been found at “Babylon 5.” Per Variety, a reboot of the sci-fi series is now in development at the CW. The original series, which ran in syndication and on TNT for five seasons, follows John Sheridan, “an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, who is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers, and alien diplomats.” Original series creator J. Michael Straczynski (“Sense8,” “Changeling”) is on board to write the project and executive produce under his Studio JMS banner with Warner Bros. Television as the producer. The new iteration will reportedly be a “from-the-ground-up reboot.” At this time, none of the original series stars are attached to the project.
“Madelyn Square Gardens”
While the success of his Netflix musical film “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” got him into the holiday spirit, David E. Talbert is now looking to spread some cheer for all seasons. The playwright and filmmaker has been tapped to develop a musical series for Disney Branded Television called “Madelyn Square Gardens,” via Deadline. The project tells the story of a young woman named Madelyn as she moves to New York, thinking her dreams of being on Broadway are about to come true but soon discovers that she will need more than raw talent to beat out the competition at her elite performing arts school. Talbert, alongside his wife and partner Lyn Sisson-Talbert, will produce through their Golden Alchemy Entertainment banner. No casting has been announced at this time.
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