The ‘Lethal Weapon‘ tv series finally gets its Riggs and ‘Ziva’ goes scientific. A host of other upcoming shows continue to beef-up their ensembles ahead of filming their pilots…
Clayne Crawford will be the new ‘Martin Riggs’…
LETHAL WEAPON… There’s been much discussion about the Lethal Weapon television series and who would play the part of Martin Riggs, originally essayed – of course – by Mel Gibson in four top-grossing movies. Damon Wayans Sr. had already been signed up to play verge-of-retirement Roger Murtaugh (originally Danny Glover) who is prescribed some more gentle police-work after a ‘minor’ heart-attack but finds himself partnered with a younger and apparently more reckless cop, Martin Riggs who tragically lost his wife and child and may now be suicidal.
Now the other side of that partnership has been announced with Clayne Crawford, best known for roles in Justified, Rogue, Graceland, Rectify and 24 set to plays Riggs. As we’ve previously reported, there will be some slight tweaks to the back-story seen in the original film – though the basic premise and characters remain largely the same with Riggs, now set as a former SEAL and Texas cop being transferred to Los Angeles after his tragedy.
Kevin Rahm (Bates Motel, Madam Secretary, Mad Men) has also joined the cast as the recently promoted Captain Avery, the senior cop in the department and who was once Murtaugh’s partner.
Cote de Pablo helps invent a ‘Prototype’…
PROTOTYPE… Cote de Pablo, probably best known as Ziva David in hit show NCIS looks to be returning to screens. Her departure from the consistently top-rated American drama continues to be controversial even three years after she left, a split that she says came down to her own decision rather than being ‘forced out’ as some fans believed and despite producers insistence they did everything they could to keep her on board.
She will now feature alongside British actor Jack Davenport (Ultraviolet, Pirates of the Caribbean) in the SyFy series Prototype. The pilot has been written by Tony Basgallop (who penned 24: Live Another Day) and will be directed by the Oscar-nominated Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. The series pilot deals with a trio of scientists who make a groundbreaking breakthrough, creating an invention that could change the understood laws of physics – but which also makes them the target of a possible conspiracy to silence them.
TRAINING DAY… we recently mentioned the change in director for the pilot of Training Day – based on the 2001 feature film starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Antoine Fuqua, who directed the original feature, was going to be at the helm but had to step away because of ongoing commitments to his Magnificent Seven remake. We now know that veteran showrunner Barry Schindel will be assuming the role of show-runner and executive director. The project should be in good hands as Schindel’s career has already encompassed the likes of Castle, Law & Order and the, admittedly shorter-lived, Intelligence).
24: LEGACY… The 24 spin-off continues to add to its cast. Joining the already-announced Corey Hawkins (as main character Eric Carter), the likes of Miranda Otto, Teddy Sears, Dan Bucatinsky, Anna Diop and the recently confirmed Jimmy Smits, Ashley Thomas is coming on board as Isaac Carter, Eric’s older brother with whom he still has a turbulent relationship. Isaac still resents the fact that Eric is now married to his former girlfriend Nicole (Diop)
British-born actor Ashley Thomas will be known to UK audiences for his roles in the likes of Criminal Justice, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, Blak Mirrio and Cockneys Vs. Zombies.
LIFE ON ‘MARS’… America Olivio (Chicago PD and the next series of The Strain) and British actor Mark Leslie Ford are two more additions on the CW‘s (so far) untitled ‘Mars‘ project . As previously reported, the series looks at a team of scientists joining the original team that is already on the Martian surface… only to find out on arrival that they’ve disappeared – forcing them to change their mission to solve the mystery. Olivio will play Captain Gautier, the woman leading the second mission and desperate to find her husband who was on that first team. Ford will play Friedman, a documentary-maker hired to follow the project from recruitment through to the main mission.
Nick Wechsler seeks a different kind of Revenge in ‘Recon’…
RECON… Nick Wechsler (Revenge, The Player) will be joining the already cast Tracy Spiridakos, Sarita Choudhury and Alexander Siddig (Deep Space 9) on new drama pilot for FOX entitled Recon. The story revolves around Spiridakos’ character Alex an FBI analyst who has to embed herself in a family suspected to be terrorists, trying to uncover the truth about a major threat to homeland security. Wechsler will play ‘Freddie’, who is described as a ‘skillful and hardworking FBI agent’ conflicted about the mission.
PRISON BREAK… Rick Yune (Olympus has Fallen, Die Another Day, The Fast and the Furious, Marco Polo) is just one of the names now attached to FOX‘s follow-up to their 2005 cult-hit Prison Break. Yune will play ‘Ja’, identity-thief for whom there is more than meets the eye. Other names include Augustus Prew (Klondike) and Steve Mouzakis (I, Frankenstein). The cast-list already includes original stars Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell and its is believed that other original stars such as Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead), Robert Knepper, Rockmond Dunbar and Amaury Nolasco will also return and reprise their respective roles.
Fans will remember that at least one of those original characters was dead at the end of the series’ final run, so there will likely need to be some sleight-of-hand and major ‘faking of deaths’ involved in making the new mini-series work. However, given that another chaarcter was believed to have been decapitated and STILL found a way to survive does set something of a precedent…
