Latest news with #IronOcean
Express Tribune
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
‘Cruel Summer' season 3 set with Olivia Holt to return
Freeform and Hulu are quietly developing Cruel Summer season 3 with Olivia Holt set to return as Kate Wallis and to serve as an executive producer. The move marks a clear pivot back toward the elements that made the first season a breakout hit, as the show's second outing experimented with a new cast and storyline that did not land in the same way with critics or a wider audience. Sources say Cori Uchida and Adam Lash have boarded as showrunners and executive producers, joining Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple as returning executive producers through Iron Ocean. Lionsgate TV is named as the studio attached to the project, which suggests the series is being positioned for a careful development phase rather than a rushed relaunch. The first season, which debuted in 2021, became Freeform's most-watched series thanks to its layered timelines and the tense mystery between Kate and Jeanette. The second season shifted to an anthology format with new characters and timelines and was followed by the network cancelling the series in late 2023. Despite that cancellation, the show has maintained a committed streaming audience and an active fan base that has kept calls for more stories alive. Fan reaction to the Season 3 news has been immediate and mixed across social platforms. Many viewers celebrated clips and posts announcing Holt's return and argued that bringing back a central performer could restore the tonal and emotional core that made Season 1 resonate. Others urged patience and asked the creative team to avoid repeating the anthology experiment without a clearer creative vision. Trade outlets have quickly circulated the initial report and added production context, while studio and network representatives have declined to comment publicly as development continues. Olivia Holt's expanded role behind the camera is likely to be closely watched by industry observers and fans alike. Her involvement as an executive producer offers an opportunity to anchor the third season in character work and to resolve lingering threads from the first run. With scripts, staffing and casting still in early stages there is no announced premiere date, but the combination of a returning lead and experienced showrunners suggests the intent is to reframe the series rather than to repeat the approach that followed Season 2. Further updates should arrive as the project firms up and the studio confirms scheduling and creative details.
Hindustan Times
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Cruel Summer Season 3 in development; Olivia Holt to return
The third season of Cruel Summer is currently in development, as per a Variety report. Hulu and Freeform are in talks for a new season. Olivia Holt, who was part of the drama's first installment is expected to return for Cruel Summer Season 3. The news comes after Freeform had canceled the show in 2023. Michelle Purple and Jessica Biel are set to be executive producers for the show once again through Iron Ocean. Cruel Summer Season 3 will bring back a pivotal character from the show's first edition.(Screengrab/YouTube) Also read: Will Brandon Blackstock's death impact The Kelly Clarkson Show season 7? Here's what we know Cruel Summer Season 3: Olivia Holt to return Holt is set to reprise her role as Kate Wallis for the third installment. Lionsgate TV will be the studio, while Cori Uchida and Adam Lash are going to be the executive producers and showrunners. The first season centered around the disappearance of Wallis (Olivia Holt). The nerdy Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia) was accused of her disappearance. The story's timeline stretched across three summers as Turner battled with the accusation concerning Holt's disappearance. Apart from Holt and Aurelia, Cruel Summer Season 1 featured Froy Gutierrez, Michael Landes, Allius Barnes, Blake Lee, Harley Quinn Smith and Brooklyn Sudano. While the first installment was well received, Freeform decided to go with an anthology set up for the second edition of the series. Cruel Summer Season 2 did not receive a positive response as expected. The show followed three different timelines surrounding Y2K, focusing on the early friendship between Megan (Sadie Stanley), Luke (Griffin Gluck) and Isabella (Lexi Underwood). Also read: Wednesday Addams grandmother Hester Frump is asked to be Nevermore's top donor. How rich is the Addams family? What has Olivia Holt been part of since Cruel Summer? Since her appearance in the show, Holt has been part of Heart Eyes as well as the Peacock comedy series Laid. She also made her Broadway debut with Chicago in 2023. FAQs Was Cruel Summer canceled? Yes, the show was canceled by Freeform in 2023 after two seasons. What is the plot of Cruel Summer? The first season revolved around the disappearance of a woman and the accusations against another person of being involved in the matter. Was Jeanette guilty in Cruel Summer? Yes, she was guilty in a way since she did not hear Kate's cries in the basement of the assistant vice principal and kept denying that she knew where Kate was. Will there be a Cruel Summer season 3? As of now, a third season is in development.
Los Angeles Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel on ‘The Better Sister' and taking control in Hollywood
Things got heated between Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel last summer. Sweat was poured. Scores were settled. Justin Timberlake even got involved. The intense showdowns occurred on a New York City padel court when the women had days off from filming their new Prime Video limited series, 'The Better Sister,' now streaming. Squaring off in the increasingly popular racquet sport, the actors, along with Biel's husband, Timberlake, and Banks' husband, Max Handelman, 'had a blast kicking each other's asses,' Biel said. Back on 'The Better Sister' set, Banks and Biel were happy to play on the same team. There, they both served as stars and executive producers, and they praised the collaborative, ego-free environment overseen by showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado. (Though their competitive streak did continue with between-takes Bananagrams.) 'This was a group of, frankly, a lot of moms, who were like, 'We don't have time for nonsense. We want our crew home to have dinner with their families,' ' Banks said. 'There was a lot of mutual respect going on, but then we all demanded the best from each other.' The eight-episode whodunit, adapted from the 2019 novel by Alafair Burke, is a twisty, Shakespearean tale: Two estranged sisters, the glamorous, successful Chloe (Biel) and the recovering addict Nicky (Banks), are thrust back together when Chloe's husband, Adam (Corey Stoll) — who used to be Nicky's husband — is murdered. When Nicky and Adam's son, Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan) — who was raised by Chloe and Adam — is arrested for the crime, the sisters must untangle a web of family secrets and betrayal. Yeah, it's complicated. 'So many shows I've written on are about muscular, macho men doing violent things to each other,' said Corrado, whose past work includes 'Sons of Anarchy' and 'Deadwood.' 'But I think the scariest thing is women in this space and the intimate damage we can do to each other, particularly as sisters.' While Biel, 43, and Banks, 51, both rose to prominence as actors, they've been increasingly expanding their resumes behind the camera. Over the past decade, Banks has directed films, including 'Cocaine Bear,' 'Pitch Perfect 2' and the 2019 'Charlie's Angels' reboot, and produced numerous projects under her and Handelman's Brownstone Productions banner. Biel has likewise segued into producing with her company, Iron Ocean, which backed the psychological thriller series 'Cruel Summer,' 'The Sinner' and 'Candy,' the latter two in which she also starred. (Biel is also in early development on a reboot of '7th Heaven,' the '90s series on which she got her start as the rebellious Mary Camden, though she won't reprise her role.) For Biel, those recent thriller projects, along with 'The Better Sister,' speak to what she finds 'endlessly interesting.' 'Why do humans do the things that they do?' she said. 'When you're pressed up against the wall and you're fighting for your life or to keep your kids safe, what would you do? How far would you go?' In a joint video interview, Banks and Biel discussed making 'The Better Sister' and their decades of experience that led them here. These are edited excerpts from the conversation, which includes a few spoilers. What initially attracted you to 'The Better Sister' and your specific roles? Biel: I first read for the Nicky part, and I was definitely interested in it. Then, a couple days later, I got the call saying, 'They want you for Chloe.' When I heard that Elizabeth was talking to them about Nicky, I was like, oh, yes. This makes more sense to me now. I've also heard for a million years that we look like sisters. Banks: I had never heard a bad word about Jessica Biel in the industry. She was known as kind, generous, talented, a great collaborator, easy to be around. And I thought, well, that sounds easy and fun. Craig Gillespie, who directed our pilot, got on with me and said, 'I want you to be a mess, Banks. It needs more humor, and you'll be funny.' He sold me on this messy Nicky, in contrast to Jessica, and I thought that sounded like a great idea all across the board. Elizabeth, as an actor, you've received the most recognition for your comedic roles, but you've been focused lately on quieter, dramatic parts. Is that a direction you'd always hoped to go in? Banks: It's interesting. I started my career in a lot of dramas. Man, I remember making 'Seabiscuit.' It was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It was very serious fare, and I was put in that [dramatic] box early on. It honestly took making 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' to even clue people in that I was funny. Like, I knew I was. I thought I was going to come in and do rom-coms, but when I started making films, it wasn't a skill that was asked of me. I love that I got to reset my career, and I've been able to do it multiple times. The very title of this series, 'The Better Sister,' pits these two women against each other. How have you seen that comparison game play out in your own experiences in this industry? Biel: You're constantly compared. At least back in the day, it felt like people were trying to keep women away from each other. You'd sit in an audition room, and there would be this energy because your agents and managers would have made you feel like these women are your competition. There really was a feeling of 'you are against everybody, and everybody is against you.' I feel like that's changed so much, but this industry is cutthroat. I have a lot of real experience in feeling less than, feeling judged, feeling like the industry has been putting their thumb on top of you, and you have to fight, fight, fight for every opportunity. Banks: I had a similar experience coming up as an ingénue. There's a scarcity mentality, like there's only so many roles. Now we have all of this incredible data, like what the Geena Davis Institute has collected, about women's roles in Hollywood. At some point, I just looked around and thought, the numbers are against me. The very first film I ever made ['Wet Hot American Summer'] was with Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, and they went on to play superheroes. I'm never going to get that, especially once I got over a certain age. You start to understand that it's systemic, and it is a numbers game. You can keep playing that game, or you can do what so many incredible women have done before me, which is create your own opportunities. I know that we are encouraging the next generation because I made a movie with them called 'Bottoms.' Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, they're doing it now. They're going to make their own stuff, and it's incredible. I think the industry has changed because women changed it. I just want to make sure that we have actually learned the lessons, and we are creating the opportunities. Biel: I really do hope it is different and better and more fair and more loving because, man, it was hard. One of the big themes in this show is trust. This idea of, can we trust our family? Can we trust our partners? Can we trust the police? Can we trust our memories? Did working on this show make you question anything about your own realities? Banks: My father served in Vietnam, and we never talked about it when I was a kid. Vietnam vets suffered when they came back. America was not interested in them. What does that do to people's psyches that had served their country and now they're being spit at? This brought up a lot of those notions for me about how little you actually know your parents when you're a child and how the layers come out the older you get. I was the older sister, and I was able to protect my younger sister from the version of my father that I knew. He didn't give that version to her because he and my mom had learned a lesson about what was going on with him. I'm 11 years older than my brother. He did not get the same version of my parents that I did. Biel: Where I parallel a little bit in Chloe's world is this weird, naive trust of police. It's interesting watching Elizabeth in the scenes where she's expressing Nicky's feelings about, 'Don't trust these people. Don't give them anything.' I was wondering if I have those same thoughts that Chloe does, where I would just offer up information that I shouldn't because I trust that they're here to protect me. Would I be in a situation where I would not be taking care of myself or my family members because I felt obligated to almost please this police department who is supposed to help me? So, [I was] trying to understand that system a little bit better, alongside all the questions you have about your parents and what version you got as a child. My brother and I are three years apart, but I was working when I was really young, and he wasn't. He was at home. I basically abandoned him. But I was so self-absorbed, I didn't think about it in that way. I just was doing what was my passion. I know he had a very different experience in our family than I did. I feel nervous to talk to him about it sometimes because I have guilt around that. He was in my shadow, and I left him. Spoilers for the final episodes — we ultimately learn that Nicky killed Adam, and that reveal puts everything we've seen her do thus far in a different light. Elizabeth, what went into playing a character who's keeping a huge secret from everyone, including the audience, for so long? Banks: Look, I literally say right after he gets arrested, 'Tell them it was me. I'll say I did it.' But nobody's going to believe her. I was actually always thinking about 'Presumed Innocent,' the original [film], where she knows all along that she can make him free. Ethan's not going to jail. Nicky was willing and ready every minute of this entire series to offer herself up and say, 'I'm going to jail for this. I did it.' I think she almost expects that it's where her life is supposed to go — but she also can't let Adam win. So, there is a lot of strategy going on for Nicky. She's playing chess, and she's playing the long game, and poor Chloe is not in on any of it. Chloe then ends up framing Adam's boss for the murder in the finale. Jessica, how did you feel about that decision and the motivations around it? Biel: It felt to me that it was what had to happen. Because once it's revealed that Adam set Nicky up and pushed those drugs on her, and she's not this horrific mom, her son was not in danger — that realization for Chloe is just like — oh, my God — everything that she has done has been in vain. She ruined her sister's life. She's taken over being the mother of this child. For what? It's all a lie. So, when all of that comes out, that is the moment where she is 100% loyal to Nicky. They are officially in it together. Now she has to protect Nicky in order to protect Ethan, and to do that, we need somebody to take the blame for this because we are all culpable. Everybody is playing their part, and nobody is innocent. There's a line in the show to the effect of, 'Nothing ever really disappears,' whether that's because of the stories that people tell about us or the permanence of the internet. Is there a story or project that's followed you around that you wish would go away? Biel: I'm sure you could dig up some stuff about me, and I would probably be like, 'Oh, yeah, that wasn't the best choice.' But you have to fall on your face, look like an idiot, sound like an idiot and get back up and go, 'All right, won't do that again.' I don't know where I would be if I didn't stumble around a little bit. I don't want to be stumbling around too much anymore at this age. On the flip side, what past chapter of your life are you the most proud of? Banks: I really am proud that I was able to use the opportunity that came during 'The Hunger Games,' where I had this guaranteed work with these big movies. I started my family then, and I started my directing career then, and it was because I wasn't out there shaking it trying to make a living. It was a real gift to have some security for a hot minute because it allowed me to look around and go, is this what I really want? What are my priorities? What opportunities can I pursue while I have this security? I'm proud that I took advantage of it. Biel: I think back in my early 20s, taking the opportunity to start my little [production] company [with co-founder Michelle Purple], which was dumb and small and lame for like 10 years. We didn't make anything, and it was a disaster. But we hustled, I took control and said I'm going to start making headway to make things for me. I'm not going to just sit and wait for a phone call from my agents, which is what I had been told to do. I started procuring material and working with writers and learning how to develop them. Now, my little company is making some stuff, which is cool. Neither of you come from industry families. Did you feel like outsiders stepping into that world? Banks: I still feel like an outsider. Biel: I was going to say the same thing! Banks: I know my worth, and I know what I've earned, so I don't have impostor syndrome anymore. But I do feel like there's a party in Hollywood that I'm not necessarily on the inside of. It keeps me scrappy, to be honest. Biel: It also keeps you from getting lost in the sauce. You're not paying so much attention to everybody else or what you're not getting. It's a good mindset to be in because you just focus on what you're doing. When I'm outputting creatively, that's what fuels me. The joy is in doing it.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
7th Heaven Reboot in Development From EP Jessica Biel — Which Cast Members Will Return?
A reboot of the classic family drama 7th Heaven is reportedly in early development from CBS Studios, with one of the show's original stars on board as an executive producer, according to Variety. Through her production company Iron Ocean, Jessica Biel is reportedly developing a new iteration of the show, one that would follow a diverse family. No original cast members are expected to appear at this time. More from TVLine 7th Heaven's Jessica Biel and Beverley Mitchell Reunite, 17 Years After Series Finale - See Photo 7th Heaven Stars Discuss Stephen Collins' History of Sexual Abuse in New Rewatch Podcast - Watch Video Jessica Biel Exits Peacock Crime Thriller The Good Daughter Anthony Sparks (Queen Sugar) will reportedly serve as showrunner, executive-producing alongside Biel, Michelle Purple and DeVon Franklin. No further information, including a potential network or streaming home for the reboot, is known at this time. 7th Heaven initially ran for 11 seasons (10 on The WB and one last hurrah on The CW) between 1996 and 2007, airing a total of 243 episodes. The story of a minister and his family, 7th Heaven originally starred Stephen Collins as Eric, Catherine Hicks as Annie, Barry Watson as Matt, David Gallagher as Simon, Biel as Mary, Beverly Mitchell as Lucy, Mackenzie Rosman as Ruthie and Happy the Dog as her dang self. Additional notable series regulars throughout the show's storied run included Geoff Stults as Ben Kinkirk, Ashlee Simpson as Cecelia Smith, Rachel Blanchard as Roxanne Richardson, Jeremy London as Chandler Hampton, Tyler Hoechlin as Martin Brewer and Haylie Duff as Sandy Jameson. The show's legacy was tarnished in December 2014 when audio recordings were released of Collins admitting to engaging in sexual misconduct with several underage girls. When TMZ asked Hicks for her thoughts on a potential 7th Heaven revival in 2016, she said, 'I mean, we'd have to open with Stephen's coffin.' Does the idea of a 7th Heaven reboot interest you, or would you rather see something featuring the original cast? Drop a comment with your thoughts below. 7th Heaven 25 Years Later: 20 Bizarre Moments That Still Make Us Cringe View List Best of TVLine Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More 'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Severance, Holey Moley, Poker Face, YOU, Primo, Transplant and 25+ Others
