Dominic Sessa dominates, Succession actors are staying booked, and more casting news of the week

Octavia Spencer, Kali Reis, Olivia Colman, Dakota Fanning find their next gigs, and a Game Of Thrones spin-off finds its leads

By Saloni Gajjar, Matt Schimkowitz, Emma Keates | April 5, 2024 | 10:47pm

Film Features The next Karate Kid

Dominic Sessa dominates, Succession actors are staying booked, and more casting news of the week

Kali Reis; Olivia Colman; Dominic Sessa Photo: Olivia Wong/Getty Images; Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images; Sarah Morris/WireImage

The wheels of Hollywood never stop churning, as evidenced from this first week of April. Get ready for new projects featuring the Succession ensemble, Léa Seydoux’s team-up with Luca Guadagnino, and updates from The Witcher and the Game Of Thrones spin-off.

Dave Bautista and Bobby Cannavale will run around together in Trap House

Michael Dowse’s action thriller, Trap House, just added a bunch of names to its roster, and not a moment too soon: the film goes into production this week, according to . Dave Bautista is already set to star, but joining him will be Jack Champion (Avatar: The Way of Water), Sophia Lillis (It), Kate del Castillo (La Reina del Sur), Tony Dalton (Better Call Saul), Whitney Peak (Gossip Girl), Inde Navarrette (13 Reasons Why), Zaire Adams (Senior Year), Blu del Barrio (Star Trek: Discovery), and Bobby Cannavale (The Irishman). Per the outlet, the film follows “an undercover DEA agent and his partner who embark on a game of cat and mouse with an audacious group of thieves: their rebellious teenagers, who have begun robbing from a dangerous cartel, using their parents’ tactics and top-secret intel to pull off their heists.” [Emma Keates]

The War Of Roses remake gets a top-tier leading pair

Olivia Colman may for the third season of the acclaimed Netflix show Heartstopper, but she will take part in another bitterly heartstopping on-screen dilemma: divorce. Colman is set to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch as two halves of a couple going through an extremely contentious separation. The film is Jay Roach’s The War Of The Roses, a remake of the original 1989 film starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. Tony McNamara, who wrote Poor Things, is also signed on to pen the script based on the 1981 novel by Warren Adler. [Emma Keates]

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J. Smith Cameron hops on over to Hacks

J. Smith-Cameron discusses her favorite scene from Succession

J. Smith Cameron is keeping it in the family—the HBO family, that is. After winning hearts—and not just Roman Roy’s, but all of ours—in Succession, she’ll follow up with a recurring appearance in Hacks. , her character details are rightfully being kept under wraps. She’ll star opposite Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder in the third season, which returns on May 2. Other guest stars in these new episodes include Tony Goldwyn, Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, and Christopher Lloyd. [Saloni Gajjar]

A new Game Of Thrones spin-off finds its Dunk and Egg

No, you’re not dreaming this: The latest Game Of Thrones spin-off is indeed about two leading characters named Dunk and Egg. Set 100 years before GOT, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight follows two unlikely heroes as they wander Westeros—complete with exploits and unexpected friendships. Peter Claffey will play Ser Duncan the Tall, with Dexter Sol Ansell joining as his diminutive squire, Egg, . [Saloni Gajjar]

CBS’ Elsbeth brings a Succession star on board

Robert and Michelle King’s Elsbeth already has a solid round of guest stars, including Jane Krakowski, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Linda Lavin, and Keegan-Michael Key. But that’s not enough for the legal procedural. The show is adding fun new names to its roster: Succession’s Arian Moayed, You’s Elizabeth Lail, and the prolific Laura Benanti. A spin-off of The Good Wife, the CBS series debuted in March and will run its first season through May. [Saloni Gajjar]

Kali Reis joins Rebecca Ferguson’s Mercy

In excellent news, True Detective: Night Country’s breakout star Kali Reis has a new project set up. In even better news, she co-stars in the sci-fi thriller Mercy with Rebecca Ferguson. (Chris Pratt will also be there.) Set in the near future, it follows a cop accused of a crime who has to fight to prove his innocence. The tentative release date is in August 2025. [Saloni Gajjar]

Netflix’s No Good Deed adds Yellowjackets star

Yellowjackets’ Kevin Alves will be playing the “straight-laced, hard-edged” son of Denis Leary in No Good Deed, . The series from Dead To Me creator Liz Feldman is another suburban nightmare following a trio of house-hunting families looking to close on a 1920s Spanish-style villa. An all-star cast costars with Lisa Kudrow, Dead To Me star Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, Ray Romano, Poppy Liu, and O-T Fagbenle. [Matt Schimkowitz]

The Sex Lives Of College Girls finds Reneé Rapp’s replacement

Another one of those sex-having college girls was accepted to Essex. Gracie Lawrence will be doing at least one semester on the Sex Lives Of College Girls. Joining the show for the third season, Gracie will play transfer student Kacey, a series regular and a casting announcement mystery. How will Gracie change the dynamic? It’s hard to say. We do know that Reneé Rapp has dropped out of school and will only appear for a few episodes. Maybe Kacey can fill the void. [Matt Schimkowitz]

The Diplomat brings Allison Janney back to the White House

Keri Russell followed up on her stellar The Americans run with Netflix’s The Diplomat, which earned a second-season renewal last year. And now, the explosive political drama’s star power is about to increase because Allison Janney has signed on for a guest role. She’s back in the Oval Office, not as a press secretary but as the U.S. V.P. Grace Penn. (). [Saloni Gajjar]

Dakota Fanning’s Vicious rounds out its cast

A weird sister is getting Vicious. Kathryn Hunter (The Tragedy Of MacBeth and Poor Things), is rounding out the cast of Vicious, a new horror film in which Dakota Fanning falls into a present, Joining Hunter is the West Wing’s Mary McCormack and The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Rachel Blanchard. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Ke Huy Quan’s With Love expands its ensemble

Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose are heading into the badlands With Love. that Into The Bad Lands and American Born Chinese star Daniel Wu is joining With Love, an action movie from Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, the producing partners behind Atomic Blonde and the Leitch-directed Fall Guy. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Tow brings Octavia Spencer and Dominic Sessa on board

Octavia Spencer is in Tow. The Oscar-winning actor from The Help is joining the cast of Tow, the new feature from Stephanie Laing. Spencer joins Rose Byrne, Ariana DeBose, Holdover Dominic Sessa, and pop-star-turned-UFO-enthusiast Demi Lovato for this story about a Seattle woman experiencing homelessness and hit with a $21,000 towing bill for her car. Byrne will play Amanda Ogle, and the real Amanda Ogle is an executive producer on the project. [Matt Schimkowitz]

The Dominic Sessa naissance continues with another Christmas film

Looks like Chloe Grace Moretz will be drinking some Miller High Lifes (“The champagne of beers”) this Christmas. Holdovers breakout Dominic Sessa will join Moretz for the holiday comedy Oh. What. Fun., reports . Directed by Michael Showalter, State and Stella alum turned one of Hollywood’s most in-demand directors. His latest The Idea Of You is already surfing out of SXSW on a tidal wave of hype. Luckily, he has an ace up his sleeve for this new comedy—Michelle Pfeiffer also stars. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Apple TV+’s Savant rounds out its cast

Apple TV+’s The Savant is something of a casting savant. Deadline reports that the show has rounded out the cast for the eight-episode miniseries starring Jessica Chastain. Cole Doman (Mutt), Michael Mosley (The Sinner), Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession), Jordana Spiro (Ozark), Trinity Lee Shirley (Da Bottomz), Toussaint Francois Battiste (Waiting For Godot), Hannah Gross (The Adults), and David Wilson Barnes (George & Tammy) will join this true story that originally appeared in Cosmo but for some reason has its plot under lock and key. If only we had a lock-picking savant. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Praise be: Luca Guadagnino is working with Léa Seydoux

Luca Gudagnino isn’t done with Josh O’Connor yet. The Challengers star will reteam with his director for Separate Rooms and Léa Seydoux is crashing the party. Based on the 1989 novel by Pier Vittorio TOndelli, Separate Rooms is about the romance between an Italian writer (O’Connor) and his translator, who, , isn’t played by Seydoux. O’Connor stars opposite Zendaya and Mike Faist in Guadagnino’s Challengers, opening this month. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Jennifer Garner as Mrs. Claus makes sense somehow

In a bit of perfect casting, is seemingly set to play Mrs. Claus in a Netflix film of the same name. It marks yet another collaboration for her with the streaming platform after films like Yes Day and The Adam Project. A summary of this holiday movie is being kept under wraps, but we do know Reese Witherspoon is on board as a producer. (Perhaps we’ll finally see them together on screen together?) Witherspoon also produces Garner’s Apple TV+ drama, recently for some reason. [Saloni Gajjar]

The new Karate Kid film ropes in MCU stars

The next Karate Kid has two new opponents. Ms. Marvel’s Aramis Knight and Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Wyatt Olef will be entering the Cobra Kai dojo. Jackie Chan and Ralph Maccio will join them in hopes of riding that Cobra Kai goodwill toward the series. It’s unclear if this will finally bring convergence to the two Karate Kid mythos, (the Cobra Kai timeline and the Jaden timeline). We’ll just keep waxing on and off until someone tells us. God, why won’t somebody tell us?! [Matt Schimkowitz]

Ryan Coogler casts Ferrari’s Jack O’Connell for his next

Vroom, vroom. Deadline reports that Ferrari’s Jack O’Connell is joining Michael B. Jordan in Ryan Coogler’s untitled non-Marvel film. We’re all excited for Coogler to shake off Wakanda Forever and get back to making movies with Jordan. This next one is said to be a period genre movie, which sounds great. It’s just exciting to see Coogler get away from superhero stuff. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Action-comedy Playdate builds out a fun roster

Isla Fisher on rom-coms, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Wedding Crashers

More action comedies should have and Isla Fisher in them, right? Playdate is here, and will hopefully prove it. The movie adds both of them along with Sarah Chalke, Hiro Kanagawa, and Stephen Root to its increasingly fun roster. Directed by Luke Greenfield, Playdate follows two stay-at-home dads (played by Kevin James and Alan Ritchson) who get dragged into a deadly conspiracy. Men will do anything to avoid parental responsibilities, huh? The movie is expected to be released next year. [Saloni Gajjar]

The Sons Of Anarchy team is back at it

The creators of (remember that show?) are teaming up for another project, The Abandons, led by Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey. Set in 1850s Oregon, it focuses on renegades who band together to fight corruption. The Western drama has rounded out its cast by adding Michael Greyeyes, Michiel Huisman, Ryan Hurst, and Toby Hemingway to a lineup that was already stacked with names like Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, and Lucas Till. [Saloni Gajjar]

The Witcher season 4 welcomes new faces

Netflix’s The Witcher is losing Henry Cavill’s prowess and abs in the upcoming fourth season, so they’re bringing on as many people as they can to balance it out. We already know Liam Hemsworth is going to play Geralt of Rivia in the sci-fi series, but he’ll be joined by new faces Sharlto Copley, James Purefoy, and Danny Woodburn. Production on season four is set to begin this spring, . [Saloni Gajjar]

Halle Bailey joins Pharrell Williams’ musical

, Halle Bailey is joining Kelvin Harrison Jr and Oscar-winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph for a coming-of-age musical inspired by Pharrell Williams’ childhood in Virginia Beach. Williams is producing and, we assume, providing some of the music. However, the script comes from Tick, Tick…Boom! Writer Steven Levenson and Toy Story 4 writer Martin Hynes, so maybe that part is covered. But the secret sauce of this one is director Michele Gondry. This will be his first American film since 2012’s The We And The I and on the heels of his latest French movie, The Book Of Solutions. We look forward to some lo-fi, DIY special effects, and a bubbly soundtrack. [Matt Schimkowitz]

Owen Wilson’s Apple TV+ comedy finds his co-lead

Owen Wilson is taking his love for golfing (as seen above) and turning it into a 10-episode Apple TV+ comedy. Honestly, respect. He plays Pryce Cahill, an ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. With his career and marriage in shambles, he decides to bet on a troubled teenager who is also a golf phenomenon. And now we know this kid will be played by Peter Dager, whose credits include Insidious: The Red Door and Who Invited Charlie? [Saloni Gajjar]