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TELEVISION

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Girls Trip producer Malcolm D. Lee has inked a first-look television deal with Universal TV, Shadow and Act has learned. He will develop both comedy and drama projects.

“I first met Malcolm 20 years ago when he was a bourgeoning filmmaker with his short ‘Morningside Prep.’ His talent was evident back then so it is no wonder he has become such a successful filmmaker. I’m looking forward to our rekindled collaboration and making up for lost time,” said Universal Television President Pearlena Igbokwe.

“I am very excited to finally expand my storytelling in the vast space that is television. Having spent the first 20 years of my career immersed in feature film I really am ready to lend my voice to scripted television where I hope to continue to tell complex and diverse stories on a broader canvas. I am overwhelmed with excitement of working with Pearlena Igbokwe and her team to bring forth stories about which I am passionate. I cannot wait to get started,” said Lee.

Leslie Odom Jr. and Nathaniel Martello-White have joined the cast of the upcoming CBS All-Access mystery series, $1. It is a mystery set in a small rust belt town in post-recession America, where a one-dollar bill changing hands connects a group of characters involved in a shocking multiple murder.

Martello-White will portray Jake Noveer, a resourceful, willful and mostly good-hearted man who left the Braden Police Department to investigate a child disappearance and now works exclusively as a private investigator. Odom Jr. will portray Randall Abatsy, new in town, he stands out as larger than life with his politician-like charisma and is known for his charitable work and lavish theme parties.

FILM

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Since The Avengers is now getting released a week early, Warner Bros. has subsequently moved up the release of the upcoming film, Rampage, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Naomie Harris. The studio announced the film is changing release dates from April 20 to April 13.

Yann Demange will be an executive producer and direct the pilot for Lovecraft Country, the upcoming HBO series from Jordan Peele, Misha Green and J.J. Abrams. This comes as the French-Algerian director will also direct Matthew McConaughey in White Boy Rick. The description of the Lovecraft Country book: “When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours. At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan’s—destruction.”

PILOT SEASON

Cassandra Freeman has booked a series regular role alongside Morris Chestnut and Jennifer Carpenter in The Enemy Within, “a character-driven investigative thriller set in the world of counterintelligence. It focuses on former CIA agent Erica Wolfe (Carpenter), the most notorious traitor in modern history and most hated woman in America, who is brought out of a federal supermax prison by the FBI to help stop some of the most dangerous acts of espionage threatening the United States today.Freeman will play Jaqueline Pettigrew. From a police family in Baltimore, Pettigrew is the newest member of Will Keaton (Chestnut)’s FBI team and is very good at her job.”

Tymberlee Hill has been cast in the CBS pilot, Mom So Hard. The show “is based on the popular web series. It focuses on two moms (Hensley and Smedley) who show how their friendship gets them through being wives and mothers. Hill will play Janice, who works at a discount superstore while she works on her law degree. She loves her customers, knows them by name and makes the job fun with her sense of humor.” Hill was a series regular on NBC’s Marry ME.

Lacretta will star with Charity Wakefield, Will Patton, Toby Kebbell and Jim Belushi in the upcoming ABC drama pilot, Salvage, which centers on ex-cop Jimmy Hill (Kebbell), who just wants to be left alone after moving back home to rural Florida. But when a local murder is linked to the sunken treasure of a lost Spanish galleon, he’s drawn into the investigation by an idealistic deputy and pitted against the powerful town patriarch, outside criminal agents and his own father. Lacretta will play Bouncy, Jimmy’s closest confidante and the owner of the local bar at the marina where Jimmy and everyone eats and drinks.”

Nathaniel Martello-White

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