RECENT PRESS

Relative newcomer Xavier Molyneux has landed the title role in Bloodaxe, Prime Video’s new historical drama series from Vikings creator Michael Hirst and his son, Horatio Hirst, sources tell Deadline.

Reps for Amazon MGM Studios couldn’t be reached for comment.

Officially ordered in March, Bloodaxe chronicles the rise of one of history’s most famous Viking warriors, Erik Bloodaxe (Molyneux), and his formidable wife, Gunnhild, Mother of Kings. As they fight for the throne of Norway, the land is torn apart by fierce rivals, shifting loyalties and bloody betrayals. With war looming and chaos consuming the kingdom, drawing in the ruthless kings of other Scandinavian countries and even a powerful English ruler, the stage is set for a thundering new Viking saga.

Bloodaxe is created, written and exec produced by Michael and Horatio Hirst and produced by MGM Television. Other exec producers include Steve Stark of Toluca Pictures label who, as head of MGM Television, oversaw both of the 2013-20 Vikings TV series, along with fellow franchise alum Morgan O’Sullivan, Arturo Interian, John Weber and Sheila Hockin.

Elgin James‘ Prison Break pilot from Hulu and 20th Television has added some heavy hitters to its supporting cast, including Ray McKinnon (Mayans M.C., Deadwood), Margo Martindale (The Americans, Justified), Donal Logue (Duster, Sons of Anarchy), Lili Taylor (The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Daredevil: Born Again) and Sylvester Powell (All American: Homecoming). Production is set to begin next week in West Virginia.

The project reunites McKinnon with James, who collaborated on Mayans M.C., which the latter co-created and the former starred in. McKinnon, who played the evil Lincoln Potter in Sons of Anarchy and its spinoff, Mayans M.C., will also reconnect with his former co-stars Clayton Cardenas and JR Bourne, who have series regular roles in the Prison Break pilot. McKinnon and Logue had major roles in FX’s hit biker drama Sons of Anarchy.

McKinnon will play Joe Dahl, a private detective investigating a decade-old murder.

Powell will play Maze, an inmate and the younger brother of Red (Myles Bullock).

Up-and-comer Kartiah Vergara (All Her Fault) has landed a supporting role alongside Academy Award winner Russell Crowe in Bear Country, an action thriller from director Derrick Borte that has commenced principal photography in the Australian state of Queensland.

Based on the novel Strip by Thomas Perry, Bear Country has Crowe playing the aging yet formidable club owner, Manco Kapak, who has been robbed by a masked gunman. Now, his aspirations of selling his club and riding off into the sunset alongside his girlfriend appear more distant than ever. Cartel bosses are breathing down his neck and a young upstart has been posing as the new guy in town eager to purchase the club.

Borte adapted the screenplay with Daniel Forte. Producers of the project include Mark Fasano (Marlowe) of Nickel City Pictures; Jeffrey Greenstein (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) of A Higher Standard; Deborah Glover (Sleeping Dogs) of G2 Dispatch; and Mark Bower and Bruno Mustic of Life & Soul Pictures. The production is supported by the City of Gold Coast and by the Australian Government through the Location Offset.

Patrick J. Adams will be suiting up once again to play a young investment banker on The Madison, the next installment in the Yellowstone-verse from Taylor Sheridan, which stars Pfeiffer.

Adams, best known from his time playing Mike Ross on former USA Network drama turned streaming juggernaut Suits, joins the cast as Russell McIntosh, “who has followed the life path set before him from the start,” according to the character description.

The Madison is the first official sequel series to flagship Yellowstone, which premieres its long-delayed final episodes beginning Nov. 10. The series is described as a heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.

Elle Chapman (A Man Called Otto, Florida Wild) and Beau Garrett (Firefly Lane, The Good Doctor, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce) have also joined the cast, with Chapman making her TV debut as Paige McIntosh, a “somewhat self-centered woman who indulges in a luxurious New York lifestyle provided by her parents and investment banker husband.” Garrett plays Abigail Reese, a “resilient and sardonic New Yorker, who is a recently divorced mother of two.”

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is continuing to round out its cast.

Disney revealed at D23 on Saturday the trio of women who will be playing the Gray Sisters — Sandra Bernhard as Anger, Kristen Schaal as Tempest, and Margaret Cho as Wasp.

In Rick Riordan’s ever-expanding world of mythology, the Gray Sisters are old women who share one eye and one tooth, and they operate a “taxi firm” in New York City. They encounter a few of the main characters after scooping them up while they’re on the run in Sea of Monsters. 

Bernhard will portray Anger, the Gray Sister in charge of collecting cab fare from heroes who call upon the taxi. Anger impatiently awaits her turn to use the one eye shared between the Sisters. 

Schaal will portray Tempest, who currently has the coveted eye shared between the sisters and uses it to peer at the Heroes, read their future, and tease them about their crushes and social lives. 

Cho will portray Wasp, the main driver of the Gray Sisters Taxi. She takes the heroes on a high speed and hair-raising journey to Camp Half-Blood. Even though she’s blind most of the time, she’s truly seen it all.