The O.C. News

[Kandiman]

Autumn Reeser looks to have a full slate on her hands following her role in Smoking Aces 2. Her next project, The Big Bang, sees her co-starring alongside Antonio Banderas, Snoop Dogg and fellow teen drama favourite James Van Der Beek.

IMDB's plot summary: A private detective is hired to find a missing stripper but the job turns complicated when everyone he questions ends up dead. From the mean streets of Los Angeles to the desolate desert of New Mexico, Cruz must contend with a brutal Russian Boxer, three brash LAPD detectives, an aged billionaire looking for the Big Bang, and the billionaire's stunningly gorgeous wife. The solution to the mystery will cost ten lives, net $30 million and just might explain - well - everything.

No release date has been set, but it's presumed to be a summer movie.

Also on her workload is comedy-drama Possessions, where she stars alongside Jaime Murray (Hustle, Dexter, TBL: The Beautiful Life) and Trent Ford (The Class, The West Wing).

Plot summary: Orlando is dying. Resigned to his fate, all he wants is to be left alone with his alcohol and hermit crab. But his hopes of solitude are shattered when he is woken by Jean-Luc, an incessantly chatty Frenchman who happens to be a voice in his head. Now, in addition to cancer, Orlando must deal with Jean-Luc's never-ending questions and commentary, as well as the discovery that Jean-Luc is slowly taking over every sense of his body (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch).

(Sounds awful, lol)

Release date not confirmed.

Finally, a return to television as she'll star in Dawson's Creek, Everwood and Brothers & Sisters producer Greg Berlanti's new comedy "No Ordinary Family." The show's all-star cast includes Michael Chiklis (The Shield), Julie Benz (Buffy, Dexter), Romany Malco (Weeds) and Christina Chang (24, CSI: Miami, Private Practice and Dragnet.)

The show is currently filming its pilot for ABC, and hasn't been officially picked up, though both Autumn and Julie have given interviews where they seem incredibly confident about it.

Movieweb's summary of the show describes it as "a high-concept premise of a seemingly normal family who discover they have superhero-like abilities."

Sounds awesome.

[Michael13]

Awesome man!

[Kandiman]

Peter Gallagher returns to the big screen with a role in the upcoming movie, Betty Anne waters alongside an ULTRA star-studded cast that includes Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank in the title role, alongside Oscar-nominees Juliette Lewis and Minnie Driver. Clea DuVall (Heroes), Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2), Ari Graynor (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist), and Melissa Leo (Righteous Kill).

I can't find a decent synopsis anywhere, and IMDB's give away the ending (Brilliant work) so, umm, yeah. Should be good though. Right? This is the best one-liner I can find:

The film is based on the true story of an unemployed single mother (Swank) who puts herself through law school at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island in order to represent her brother (played by Sam Rockwell) who has been wrongfully convicted for murder.

Mm-Hmmm.

[Kandiman]

In 2011 - In the finest cross-teen drama casting I've ever witnessed - Adam Brody (The O.C.) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) team up with Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat, Hugh Laurie (House), journeyman acting legend Oliver Platt and Alison Janney (The West Wing, Juno, Hairspray) in a romantic comedy called The Oranges.

IMDB's plot summary just says this: "A guy falls for the daughter of a family friend, making life just a bit awkward for himself and the family."

Yeah. Epic. Bit of trivia... The role of Ethan is being played by Sam Rosen, but one of the auditionees for the role was The Vampire Diaries' Paul Wesley.

Regular Entourage director Julian Farino is in the chair.

[Kandiman]

Tate Donovan will also be seeing the lighter side of life in upcoming comedy Below The Beltway.

Not exactly a who's who of Hollywood in this one, but the acting standard should be MUCH higher that you'd expect from the system. 24 stars Sarah Clarke, who was tremendous as the evil double-agent Nina in the first couple of season, and her old boss Xander Berkeley team up with Clarke's Thirteen co-star Kip Pardue and former ER pin-up Noah Wyle to form the cornerstone of the cast.

As if you needed the 24 theme to continue, Annie Wersching (Agent Renee Walker) is also in this one, as is Charlotte Salt from The Tudors and the atrocious - and thankfully cancelled - teen drama Wildfire.

IMDB says this of the plot:

A film about the behind-the-scenes world of Washington politics. A former staffer that has fallen from grace tries to get back in the political game but realizes "there is life above the beltway."

It's currently doing the festival rounds and, I'll be honest, the rookie crew concerns me...

There's also no trailer, no website and no way of finding out any more about this movie away from IMDB.

My opinion? Someone needs to teach these clowns how to publicise a movie. There's something that angers me about this a filmmaker; the only publicity for it so far is it being mentioned in two interviews with members of it's cast... who only talked about it because the reporter had seen it on their IMDB pages.

I'm just saying, y'know, your cast commands press time. Use it better. LOL.

[Marisa]

Also guys be sure to check out Melinda Clark on The Vampire Diaries. She has been on for a few weeks now as Matt's mom one of the leads. Don't know how long she will be around, but it is nice to see her again.

[Lorelai Gilmore]

Looks like Adam Brody has been cast in Scream 4. I'm very happy about this I can see him fitting in well to a Scream film.

screenrant.com/scream-4-cast-adam-brody-marley-shelton-erikknudsen-lauren-graham-ross-66828/

[Marisa]

Lorelai I was like are you serious! When reading this. Thank you so much for posting I think he is going to be great as well. I am so excited for the movie and for him.

[Peyton Sawyer]

That's so cool for him! I'm really looking forward to seeing him BUT before reading the article I was like 'woo, he'll fill my Randy void' so I was disappointed to see that the 'Randy role' wasn't going to be him.

On another note, here's an interview I found with Benjamin McKenzie, mainly about Southland (which I intend to watch in the next couple of days). I was saddened to see that, at the end of the interview, he says he is no longer in touch with Mischa Barton

For McKenzie himself, working on Southland is a welcome change of gear from the teen-idol mania that engulfed him on The OC. “It was a lot to handle initially,” he admits. “But I went through it at a relatively young age, so I could have those freakout moments and still get another shot to do more stuff if I could just get through it.”
Unlike some other cast members we might mention – his OC co-star Mischa Barton went on to become a paparazzi target, looking haggard and unwell on the nightclub circuit. “Right, right, right,” says McKenzie slowly and sympathetically. “You know, I don’t keep in touch with Mischa. I wish her well.”
While he enjoyed “embracing my inner James Dean” on The OC, McKenzie says that in real life, he is much more like his Southland character: thoughtful, a little bookish even, with a degree in economics and foreign affairs.

full article: www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7861623/Southland-the-grittiest-US-cop-show-since-The-Wire.html

[Marisa]

I know he would be a good Randy type role because well lets face it Adam is great at comedy.
Aw I am sad to hear that as well. I am glad though that he says he wishes her well.
I watched some of Southland but never watched from beginning need to give that a try.
Enjoy Southland Peyton!

[Lorelai Gilmore]

Thanks for the interview Peyton, I really need to give Southland a try Ben was always my favorite in The OC I think he's really underrated.
Its disappointing that he isn't in contact with Mischa anymore. I've read in the past that he hasn't seen Mischa or Rachel since The OC wrapped, but that he's still good friends with Adam and keeps in touch with Peter and Kelly.

[Kandiman]

Thought I'd round up some cast activity since it's been a little while.

Fresh off the back of starring alongside Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly) in USA's Covert Affairs, Peter Gallagher has two movies in production right now. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You is scheduled for a mid-November release and is about "a vulnerable teenager with a deep perception of the world and no idea how to live in it" according to IMDB. His co-stars for this one are Lucy Liu (Charlie's Angels, Ally McBeal), Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Requiem For A Dream), Stephen Lang (Avatar) and Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood).

He's also due to join the cast of Light Years - "The story of the boy who, after the girl he worked so hard to get breaks up with him, goes on a journey to get her back and discovers on the way what he's really been searching for" (IMDB) - alongside Chris Lowell (Life As We Know It, Veronica Mars) and Gossip Girl's Jessica Szohr.

Kelly Rowan recently starred in the TV movie Cyberbully, about a teenage girl who falls victim to a bully on the internet, unsurprisingly. Rowan plays the mother of the lead, portrayed by Hannah Montana's Emily Osment.

Ben McKenzie is keeping busy as Southland looks like returning for 2012. He'll also soon be heard as the voice of Bruce Wayne in Batman: Year One and seen in Sin Bin, alongside Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin, Michael Seater (18 to Life, Life With Derek, ReGenesis[/] Emily Meade (Boardwalk Empire, Fringe) and Gillian Jacobs (Community). Sin Bin is awaiting a formal release date.

Beyond Scream 4, it seems Adam Brody intends to do nothing but work. The next six hours of my life will be spent summarizing his upcoming projects:

Damsels In Distress is a comedy about a trio of beautiful girls as they set out to revolutionize life at a grungy American university. Brody plays one of the girls' love interests, starring alongside Greta Gerwig (No Strings Attached), Analeigh Tipton (The Green Hornet, Megalyn Echikunwoke (24, That 70s Show, The 4400 and CSI: Miami) and Alia Shawkat (Arested Development). From what I gather, Brody and Shawkat are basically bit-players, with Echikunwoke being about the only actual talent in the main cast. It comes out later this year and might prove me wrong.

Brody is also about to be seen in The Oranges, which I previewed above. Still no release date set, but they're clinging on to '2011' in IMDB. Expect it to be out either by the end of September or pushed until the Spring - romantic comedies do horribly in the winter months, traditionally.

He'll make his return to television in 2011/12 in the show Good Vibes. It was originally talked about as a 2010 pilot, but it's been pushed for reasons I can't be bothered to find out. It's slated as an animated comedy for MTV, with a cast to die for: Jake Busey (Starship Troopers), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Debi Mazar (Entourage), Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Serenity) and Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down).

Finally, Brody is also in pre-production on Hemlock Drive. IMDB says:

In most small New England towns, keeping up with the Joneses is not that daunting of a task. However, keeping up with the Pratts is an altogether different story. You see, Samantha Pratt has it all together. She's successful, attractive, smart, and about to seal the deal with the man of her dreams. The problem is, her hypochondriac, eccentric mother needs to get a grip and stop dying already. And it's not easy being the daughter of the trend setting woman in town who can do no wrong. Abigail Pratt, Samantha's mother, is a whimsical, eccentric woman with free-wheeling, artistic sensibilities. This weekend, Abby has invited her three estranged siblings home, dragging Samantha away from a rare weekend with her boyfriend Gideon (who's also married...and her boss), manipulating her with her imminent death to come home immediately. Little did the kids know they were called home to throw their mother a "living funeral" to celebrate her life, "the best funeral this town's ever seen."

It's a comedy, with David Arquette and Susan Sarandon announced to be Brody's co-stars.

Rachel Bilson is set to star in the television show Hart Of Dixie. Worryingly, that's all I can tell you about it, as no other cast members have been announced, nor any idea of the plot. But there's a nice promotional photo of Rachel in a doctors white coat circulating, and it's credited to The CW.

In more tangible upcoming works, she'll be starring in The To Do List, a comedy about "a recent high-school grad feels pressured to become more sexually experienced before she goes to college" (IMDB). Her co-stars for this one are the ubiquitous Alia Shawkat, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), Bill Hader (Superbad, Saturday Night Live, Adventureland, Scott Pilgrim, Knocked Up and a whole bunch of other funny stuff) and Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights, Friday Night Lights and 24).

Melinda Clake returns in season two of Nikita. Nothing else announced, but I'm sure she'll guest in something soon.

Mischa Barton's career appears to be back on track, with five films in production. In Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain, she stars alongside Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar, House) and the legendary Martin Sheen. IMDB description: "Interwoven stories of people in India and US as they face dilemmas of life time in the months leading to the biggest Industrial disaster in human history that claimed 10,000 innocent lives within a few hours. Inspired by real events."

In Ben Banks, she'll lead a largely unknown cast. Melora Hardin (The Office) is the biggest name in the supporting cast, and it's a comedy drama. No release date set.

She'll also star in The Sibling, which is released in the US on October 15th. IMDB has a release date, but no synopsis. Her co-stars are Michael Clarke Duncan (Daredevil, The Green Mile) and Nikita's Devon Sawa. That aside, nothing I can tell you. If it gets a UK release I'll let y'all know.

Into The Darkness sees Barton starring alongside Smallville's John Schneider in a horror-thriller. Kiowa Gordon (The Twilight Saga), Toby Hemmingway (Black Swan) and Jessica Andres, who was in Gossip Girl's first two episodes (combined screen time? Under a minute) make up some of the rest of the cast. Release date TBA.

Mischa will also appear in []Apartment 1303 3D. Bit of a rant before I explain this one - if you put '3D' in the title, the audience knows the film has nothing going for it but a fly-by-night fad piece of filming technology. And the DVD sales will suck. Also, if you're almost exclusively doing horror, your career is going downhill.

So, Apartment 1303 is "a modern ghost story which turns a love/hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror. Some rentals are too good to be true" according to IMDB. Mischa's the daughter, Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business) - who I thought was dead - plays the mother. John Diehl (Point Pleasant. The Shield) plays the detective. I imagine they're looking for a spring release, but I wouldn't worry too much, because this is a broken vacuum cleaner movie.

It'll both suck and blow at the same time.

Tate Donovan has turned his hand to directing lately. He's directed an episode of Gossip Girl, an episode of Weeds and recently directed the season two episode "Silly Love Songs" on Glee. Nothing announced for the future, but TV directing gigs rarely are.

Alan Dale has been on our screens in a guest role in season one of The Killing.

Autumn Reeser has been starring in ABC's No Ordinary Family of late, and is in production on two movies. In So Undercover (Worst. Name. Ever.) she'll be seen alongside Miley Cyrus and Entourage's Jeremy Piven. Not a bad leading three actors... until you realise that Kelly Osbourne is in it, too. Apparently it's about 'a tough, street-smart private eye, hired by the FBI to go undercover in a college sorority.' This one is slated for an October release and I've got mixed feelings. J-Piv is a very, very funny man. Miley Cyrus is hot. Autumn Reeser is funny AND hot. Ah, I'll probably see it.

Chris Carmack has Shark Night 3D (Ugh) and the TV movie Grace on his slate. Shark Night, released on September 30th, is your standard 'OMG, sharks, horror, mystery' film. He's already done a couple and, Jaws aside, they're all the same. 90210's Dustin Milligan and TBL: The Beautful Life's Sara Paxton are his co-stars, which does at least give it some teen drama cred. Joel Moore from Avatar and Chris Zylka from ABC Family's appalling 10 Things I Hate About You are on the cast list, too.

Grace is a dance movie and Eric Roberts is in it.

Willa Holland can be seen soon in Tiger Eyes playing 'Davey' alongside the legendary Pink Power Ranger, Amy Jo Johnson. Synopsis: "After Davey's father is killed in a hold-up, she and her mother and younger brother visit relatives in New Mexico. Here Davey is befriended by a young man who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears." (IMDB)

Okay, Davey is a boy's name, but whatever...

Samaire Armstrong is in post production on the movie 5 Souls, a thriller starring nobody else I've heard of which lacks an IMDB synopsis. She's currently filming Concrete Blondes alongside Carly Pope (24, Popular) and John Rhys-Davies (Lord Of The Rings, Indiana Jones)

Cam Gigandet has just finished work on a new movie, Trespass, alongside Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman. He's got THIRD BILLING in this one, people. Behind Nic frigging Cage and Nicole Kidman. Synopsis:

As they're held for ransom, a husband and wife's predicament grows more dire amid the discovery of betrayal and deception.

Joel Schumacher is directing. If this one is as big as it should be, Can Gigandet potentially ust became the most successful man to leave Newport Beach.

He'll also star in Making Change alongside Steve Guttenberg and Ed Begley Jr. Synopsis:

"Making Change" is based around the true story of the homeless newspaper of the same name. It is about a group of societies' dropouts who take up the fight against a government that wants to make criminals out of private citizens and churches who feed the hungry. It sheds light on new controversial legislation that outlaws giving food away in public, suppresses religious liberty, and violates international human rights standards.

Finally, he'll be in the actioner Red Sky in 2013. Very little is known about it at this stage, but his co-stars are Bill Pullman, Shane West and Rachel Leigh Cook. Which isn't bad.

And, finally, a thinly-veiled excuse to talk about Olivia Wilde - as though I ever need one. She's back in House, making six movies,one of which stars her as legendary porn star Linda Lovelace. Lovelace is a biopic of the star of Deep Throat, the highest-grossing adult movie of all time. And, once people find out that Olivia Wilde is playing a porn star, I expect Lovelace to be the highest-grossing biopic of all time.

That's it for my OC update for the year...

[melbell]

Thanks for the update Kandiman! Interesting to see that Olivia Wilde is taking over Lohan who was originally cast in the biopic.

I'm actually very excited for Rachel's new show Hart of Dixie...the trailer looks really cute and charming! It's created by Josh Schwartz so it will be good to see these two team up again. I was reading an interview with Rachel the other day and her and Josh have actually remained quite close since the O.C....he wrote the show with her in mind.