Thursday, September 29, 2016

Development News - Ezana Alem, Hanad Abdirahman Abdi & Elvis Nolasco to Lead 'Mogadishu, Minnesota'; Plus 3 More Updates!

Development News - September 29, 2016

Amazon's The Legend of Master Legend; Comedy Central's Drunk Girl, High Guy; HBO's Mogadishu, Minnesota; and TNT's Let the Right One In.





HBO's MOGADISHU, MINNESOTA
  • Ezana Alem, Hanad Abdirahman Abdi, Selam Tadese, Rif Hutton, Prince Abdi, Elvis Nolasco, Yusra Warsama, K.C. Collins and Liya Kebede have been cast on the drama pilot written by K'naan Warsame. Alem will play Sameer, a Somali all-American boy planning on going away to college with his beautiful girlfriend but feels the pressure of his parents hopes and dreams for him. Abdi will play Ali, a bright, likable young man who is polite and respectful to his family and loyal to Sameer. Tadese will play Bisbaas, a renowned gangster with a friendly laugh and a surprising violent streak. Hutton will play Afrah, Sameer's father, a former professor in Somalia who works at a rental car company and is preparing to take the American citizenship test. Abdi will play Big Man, a petty thug who takes care of his blind grandmother. Nolasco will play Liban, Ali's uncle and proud owner of Liban's Classy Hookah. Warsama will play Hawo, Sameer's mother who holds fast to traditional Somali family values, which often conflict with her son. Collins will play Jamal, who is street-wise, mysterious and handsome with an effortless charm. Kebede will play Maryam, Ali's mother who is strong-willed, vivacious and the glue holding her family together.
AMAZON's THE LEGEND OF MASTER LEGEND
  • Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) and Dawnn Lewis (Major Crimes) will co-star on the comedy pilot starring John Hawkes. Whigham will play Peanut Head, Master Legend's (Hawkes) thug of a brother who is fresh out of jail. Lewis will play Tana, Master Legend's ex-wife and oldest friend, a hard-working, no-nonsense woman who is continually caught between her love for Master Legend and his unwavering compulsion for justice.
COMEDY CENTRAL's DRUNK GIRL, HIGH GUY
  • The cable network has given a pilot order to comedy Drunk Girl, High Guy written by Sarah Walker. She executive produces with Ravi Nandan. A24 produces. Additionally, Jordan Rock (Love) has been cast as the male lead today. The project follows the adventures of two best friends and work wife/work husband in New York City - a girl who is almost always drunk and a guy who is almost always high (Rock).
TNT's LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
  • Kristine Froseth (Junior, Rebel in the Rye) has ben cast as the female lead on the drama pilot written by Jeff Davis. She will play Eli, a charismatic vampire who appears as a young girl but her actual age is unknown. Lonely and friendless, she lands in apartment building in Vermont and soon begins a strange friendship with Henry, an equally lonely 16-year-old boy who has no idea what kind of creature he's dealing with.