Okay HBO. You have our attention.
Jodie Foster will be the lead in the new True Detective: Night Country limited series. It represents her first work acting in a TV series as an adult. Of course, Foster has had a lot of experience in TV already, directing episodes of shows like Orange Is The New Black and Black Mirror.
As a child actor, in a career not dissimlar to that of child actor Trudi Frazer, Foster appeared in parts on shows like Gunsmoke, My Three Sons, and the TV adaptation of Paper Moon.
We also now know the plot of the new season:
The series is centered around Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro who are looking to solve the case of six men that operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanishing without a trace, when the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska. The pair will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.
Peter White
A Star Wars state of the union
A recent feature story in Vanity Fair was purposefully timed ahead of Star Wars Celebration, an annual-ish official fan event celebrating all things Star Wars. In the VF article, there was clear agenda-setting to position Star Wars as being highly TV-focused going forward. With Star Wars Celebration on the horizon, an event where it was expected that there would be multiple Star Wars projects announced/promoted, it left two possibilities:
- Star Wars future really is going to be heavily dominated by TV shows with the occasional film at some stage; or
- The VF piece was a crafty diversion to set fan expectations before flooring everyone with a nifty announcement or two about big new movies.
Well, just a few hours ago Star Wars Celebration held its panel where the big announcements were made. And, get this: the future of Star Wars really is with TV.
Here's the big news...
The Mandalorian is coming back... in 2023
We knew there would be a new season of Mando. What we didn't know is we would be waiting until Feb next year for it to be released. Reportedly, some footage of the already-filmed season was screened at the fan event, but it won't be released online.
Jay Peters
Also releasing next year is spin-off series Ahsoka.
But there will be Star Wars to be watched in 2022
Fret not, there will be more Star Wars TV this year. August 31 will see the debut of Andor on Disney+. A teaser trailer was today released for reasons of teasing.
Jude Law will star in a big new Star Wars TV show
Remember last week when ABW mentioned a new Star Wars show to be run by Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts? Well, we have details on that show. It will be called Skeleton Crew. It will star Jude Law. And it will debut in 2023.
Andrew Webster
Hayden Christensen open to a Darth Vader TV show
In a press interview for Obi-Wan Kenobi, the actor (who isn't really up to a whole lot acting-wise these days) says he'd be happy to star in a huge payday/Star Wars TV show about Darth Vader.
Cody Mcintosh
Willow debuts Nov 30
Ok, so Willow isn't really a Star Wars show. But it comes from LucasFilm, so they made the announcement anyway. The new show is a sequel to the Ron Howard film and it will debut on Disney+ Nov 30.
Patrick Hipes
RIP Ray Liotta
As you'll be aware by now, actor Ray Liotta was found dead overnight. He passed away in his sleep at the age of 67.
Reading through the many obits about the actor today, it became quickly evident just how many of his movies I had seen over the years without really considering the breadth of his work. Liotta was not only prolific, but he had a good strike ratio with a number of really memorable films in his filmography. Liotta was also seen in a number of TV shows throughout the years too. Notably, one of his final roles was in The Sopranos movie - a casting coup as he had been reticent to appear in the TV show when offered a role. He didn't want to repeat himself following Goodfellas.
To me, he'll always be Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Mike Barnes
The BBC slashes BBC4 and CBBC
Remember that ridiculous move to pump money into reviving BBC3 as a broadcast channel? The youth-focused TV channel was moved online a few years back, which made all the sense because really, what young person is watching broadcast anymore?
Well, BBC3 remains on the air low-rated, but moving online only is BBC arts and premium drama channel BBC4. Also moving online is kids channel CBBC.
The closures and job cuts have been described as a “first phase” that will save £500m annually, with £200m of that contributing to the £285m annual funding gap the broadcaster will face by 2027/28 as a result of a frozen licence fee.
In place is a target to get 75% of viewers engaging with the BBC iPlayer.
Richard Middleton
- The final episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show has aired, marking 19 years on air. Read: THR
- Netflix is developing a Horizon Zero Dawn TV show based on the video game. Read: Deadline
- The Playstation VR2 will launch with 20 games. Read: VR Scout
Man Vs Bee debuts on Netflix June 24. It stars Rowan Atkinson opposite, what I assume is a bee actor.
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Moon Knight is streaming now ion Disney+.
Birdgirl returns to Adult Swim June 19.
Anthology series Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet debuts June 15 on Netflix.
Keep Sweet: Prey and Obey debuts June 8 on Netflix
Snowflake Mountain debuts June 22 on Netflix.
As The Crow Flies debuts June 3 on Netflix.
That's it for today. As always, there will be the additional Always Be Streaming guide in your inbox later today.
Thanks for reading. ABW will be back in your inbox next week.
