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Comedian Injured
Tracy Morgan is recovering after a car crash Saturday 32
Closing In for the Kill
In Brief
Taye Diggs hopes to shine in a decidedly non-Broadway role on ‘Murder in the First’
Daenerys Targaryen is more popular than Tony Soprano, according to HBO. POPULARITY CONTESTS
HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Is Its Most-Watched Show “Game of Thrones” has overtaken “The Sopranos” as HBO’s most popular series, the network announced Thursday. Entertainment Weekly reports “Thrones” takes in an average of 18.4 million viewers per episode across all devices, while an average of 18.2 million tuned in to “The Sopranos’ ” most popular season, in 2002. (EXPRESS) REPLACEMENTS
Peyton Reed to Direct ‘Ant-Man’ for Marvel
In a statement posted on Saturday on its website, Marvel announced it has tapped “Bring It On” director Peyton Reed to direct “Ant-Man,” after planned director Edgar Wright left the project over creative differences. The film, which stars Paul Rudd as the title’s con artist and tiny superhero, is still slated for a July 17, 2015, release. (EXPRESS) CASTING
Alan Alda Will Star in Nicholas Sparks Film
Deadline reports that Alan Alda, of “M.A.S.H.” fame, will play the lead in “The Longest Ride,” the next big-screen adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Alda will play a man who reflects on his lost love after a car crash leaves him injured. George Tillman Jr., who helmed “Soul Food” in 1997, will direct. (EXPRESS)
Taye Diggs can claim an actor’s version of scoring a hat trick: He’s worked with a trio of television’s most innovative writer-producers. Diggs, who visited David E. Kelley’s “Ally McBeal” as attorney Jackson Duper and played Dr. Sam Bennett on Shonda Rhimes’ “Private Practice,” is starring in a new drama, “Murder in the First,” cocreated by veteran Steven Bochco. “There’s something to be said for putting out in the universe that which you want to claim. It’s happened to me three times,” he said. In the latest instance, Diggs, whose résumé includes “Rent” and other Broadway productions, was eager to be part of a project “where it’s about relationships and not just catching crooks and jumping over buses and whatnot,” said Diggs, 43. “Murder in the First,” despite the procedural-sounding title, turned out to be just such an opportunity. It debuts on TNT at 10 p.m. today. Diggs’ character is San Francisco police homicide Detective Terry English, who’s paired with fellow detective Hildy Mulligan (Kathleen Robertson). The officers are admirably dedicated but have more to their lives than work. Terry’s burden is a tragic one, the terminal illness of his wife (Anne-Marie Johnson). Hildy is a single mom who,
TNT
HBO
Television
Kathleen Robertson and Taye Diggs will solve the show’s murder throughout the first season of “Murder in the First.”
“It’s about relationships and not just catching crooks and jumping over buses and whatnot.” at least in episode one, appears to have a limited network of support to raise her bright daughter. The series crisscrosses between the detectives’ off-duty lives and their efforts to crack two killings with a high-profile link, a Silicon Valley whiz kid who takes arrogance to a new level. He’s played by Tom Felton, of Draco Malfoy fame from the “Harry Potter” film franchise. Richard Schiff, Nicole Ari
$48.2M
Parker, James Cromwell and Steven Weber are among the co-stars. “Murder in the First,” created by Bochco and Eric Lodal, will wrap its investigation within the 10-episode season. If viewers are hooked, the drama will be back with another case to solve. Diggs, for one, was quickly sold on the concept of “Murder in the First” and agreed to temporarily pull up stakes from New York City.
46.4K
The number of people Taye Diggs is following on Twitter. Diggs revealed Friday on the Today Show that he followed random newsmakers to keep up with current events at the recommendation of a social media expert.
“Bochco and Lodal were so excited about it they got me excited. I was not excited about the fact it was shot in Los Angeles,” Diggs said. “But hearing their ideas and the future of the character, Terry, I couldn’t help but get drawn in.” LYNN ELBER (AP)
The box office take of “The Fault in Our Stars” this weekend. Disney’s fairy tale “Maleficent,”
starring Angelina Jolie, slid to second place in its second week with $33.5 million. The time-shifting Tom Cruise action film “Edge of Tomorrow” rounded out the top three, earning $29.1 million. (AP)