Small Screen: The CW's ‘Powerpuff Girls’ Loses Blossom; Brian Yorkey Helms New Netflix Project Entitled ‘Echoes’
Chloe Bennet - Kevin Mazur
Cable: The CW’s Powerpuff Girls live action adaptation which has already faced some problems is now down a powerpuff girl. Chloe Bennet, who was cast as Blossom in the network's first attempt to bring the show to life, has left the project due to scheduling conflicts. Casting for the replacement will begin in the fall. Mark Pedowitz came out after the pilot failed to be picked up saying “The reason we do pilots is, sometimes things miss. We believe in the cast and in [writers Diablo Cody and Heather Regnier] and [executive producer Greg Berlanti] and studio Warner Bros. In this case, the pilot didn’t work. Because we see enough elements in there, we wanted to give it another shot. It may have felt a little too campy and not rooted in reality. You learn things when you test things out. We felt, ‘Let’s take a step back and go back to the drawing board.’ This is a powerful property, it engages a lot of interest, and we want to get it right.”
Albert Kim - ICM Partners
Streaming: Brian Yorkey known for helming Netflix’s successful 13 Reasons Why joins the streaming giant once again for a new psychological thriller entitled Echoes. The limited series has just cast Karen Robinson of Schitt’s Creek and Rosanny Zayas The L Word: Generation Q as series regulars. Echoes was created and written by Vanessa Gazy and the plot is as follows: ‘A mystery thriller about identical twins Leni and Gina, both portrayed by Michelle Monaghan, who share a dangerous secret. Since they were children, Leni and Gina secretly have swapped lives, culminating in a double life as adults: They share two homes, two husbands and a child, but everything in their perfectly choreographed world is thrown into disarray when one of the sisters goes missing.’ Robinson will take on the mantle of Sheriff Louise Floss and Zayas will play Deputy Paula Martinez.
Nickelodeon’s hit show Avatar: The Last Airbender is officially getting a live action adaptation at Netflix. Set to star are Gordon Cormier (Gabby Duran and the Unsittables), Kiawentiio (Beans), Ian Ousley (Physical), and Dallas Liu (PEN15). Attached as showrunner, executive producer and writer is Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow, Nikita). Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Aladdin) and Lindsey Liberatore (Walker) executive producing, along with Michael Goi (Swamp Thing, American Horror Story). Roseanne Liang is co-executive producer and Goi, Roseanne Liang and Jabbar Raisani will serve as directors. Cormier will portray Aang an airbending prodigy, Kiawentiio is Katara a waterbender, Oulsey plays Sokka Katara’s older brother and Liu is Zuko the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation.
Ava DuVernay and Colin Kaepernick’s six-episode scripted Netflix drama entitled Colin in Black & White is set to premiere on the 29th of October. The limited series will ‘chronicle Kaepernick’s coming-of-age tackling the obstacles of race, class and culture as the Black adopted child of a white family in Central California. Kaepernick narrates the tale as high school Colin (Jaden Michael) faces adversity on his way to becoming an All-Pro quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and later a cultural icon and activist.’ Netflix has released the first look photos of the show starring Jaden Michael as young Kapernick, Nick Offerman as his father and Mary-Louise Parker as his mother. The directors on the series include DuVernay, Sheldon Candis, Robert Townsend, Angel Kristi Williams and Kenny Leon. The executive producers on the show are DuVernay, Kaepernick and Michael Starrbury, the latter of whom wrote the series.
