Amazon Prime Video Debuts ‘The Wheel of Time’ Trailer (TV News Roundup)

Jennifer Yuma, Katie Song and Selome Hailu
·7-min read

Amazon Prime Video released a trailer for upcoming fantasy series “The Wheel of Time,” which premieres with three episodes on Nov. 19. New episodes will debut weekly on Fridays until the Season 1 finale on Dec. 24.

Based on Robert Jordan’s novel series of the same name, “The Wheel of Time” stars Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, a member of a magical all-female organization who leads five young people on a journey around the world while trying to learn which one of them will fulfill the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn.

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The trailer, which you can watch below, opens with Moraine reciting an oath at the request of a voice off-screen. “I swear to speak no word that is not true, to make no weapon with which one person may kill another and never to use the One Power as a weapon.” She continues on to guide her group through difficult natural terrains as they seek and fight their enemies. “Do you think we’ll ever go back?” Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), a blacksmith’s apprentice, asks Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden), the mayor’s daughter. She responds: “Home? No.”

The trailer also uses YouTube’s 360 player, placing the 2D visuals in what looks like a screen standing in the middle of a stone plaza full of smoke.

“The Wheel of Time” was adapted for television by executive producer and showrunner Rafe Judkins. Also executive producing are Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage of Iwot Productions, Mike Weber, Ted Field of Radar Pictures, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe;and Uta Briesewitz, with Briesewitz also set to direct the first two episodes. Pike serve as producer with Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson as consulting producers. Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television co-produce.

Also in today’s TV roundup:

FIRST LOOKS

Netflix released a trailer for “True Story” premiering on Nov. 24. The limited series is set during a comedy tour stop for Kid (Kevin Hart) in his hometown of Philadelphia, where he reconnects with his older brother, Carlton (Wesley Snipes) before things go south. Tawny Newsome, Will Catlett, Paul Adelstein, Ash Santos, Lauren London, John Ales, Chris Diamantopoulos and Billy Zane also star. “True Story” is executive produced by Dave Becky, Eric Newman, Hart and Charles Murray. Stephen Williams executive produces and directs the first three episodes and Hanelle Culpepper will direct the final four episodes. Caroline Currier, Mike Stein and Tiffany Brown serve as co-producers. The show comes from Grand Electric and HartBeat Productions. Watch the trailer below.

“B Positive” star Annaleigh Ashford has filmed a new version of the CBS sitcom’s main titles. They debut on the Oct. 28 episode, which airs at 9:30 p.m., but CBS has released the full version early online. In the episode “Bagels, Billiards and a Magic Show,” it’s Gina’s (Ashford) first day as the new owner of Valley Hills Retirement Home, and she asks Drew (Thomas Middleditch) for help getting through to a short-tempered resident whose wife is sick. Additionally, the full theme song from “B Positive,” performed by Annaleigh Ashford and written by Chuck Lorre and Kevin R. Moore, is now available from WaterTower Music on all streaming platforms.

Paramount Plus revealed a trailer for “The Real World Homecoming: Los Angeles,” which premieres Nov. 24. The docuseries will reunite cast members Beth Anthony, Beth Stolarczyk, David Edwards, Glen Naessens, Irene Berrera-Kearns, Jon Brennan and Tami Roman in the same Venice beach house from the original series in 1993. The roommates will reconnect and discuss how the series transformed their lives since the cameras stopped rolling. “The Real World Homecoming” is executive produced by Sitarah Pendelton-Eaglin, Candida Boyette-Clemons and Nadim Amiry for MTV Entertainment Studios, and Jonathan Murray, Julie Pizzi, Erica Ross, Kevin Lee and James Knox for Bunim/Murray Productions. Skye Topic, Jacob Lane, Joe Rosenzweig and Laura Goldstein serve as co-executive producers, and George Verschoor is consulting producer. Watch the trailer below.

Variety has exclusively obtained a trailer for Acorn TV’s “The Madame Blanc Mysteries.” Created by and starring Sally Lindsay, the six-episode series will premiere its first two episodes on Nov. 15, telling the story of antiques dealer Jean White, who is nearly bankrupt after her husband’s sudden death. She heads to their last asset, a cottage in France, and begins investigating what happened with the help of sympathetic taxi driver Dom. “The Madame Blanc Mysteries” also stars Steve Edge, Sue Vincent, Sue Holderness and Robin Askwith. Dermot Boyd directs while Andy Morgan produces. Writers are Lindsay and Vincent, and executive producers are Lindsay, Mike Benson, Caroline Roberts-Cherry and Catherine Mackin. Watch the trailer below.

DATES

Paramount Plus announced that “South Park: Post COVID” will premiere on Nov. 25. Another “South Park” special will debut in December with a title and date yet to be announced. Executive producers include co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone alongside Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman produce. Christopher Brion is the creative director of South Park Digital Studios.

DEALS

Beginning next year, NBCUniversal News Group will become the exclusive media partner of the Aspen Ideas Festival. The 2022 Festival is set to take place from June 25 through July 1 in Aspen, Colo. The multi-year, multi-platform partnership includes an editorial and programming collaboration to create engaging festival content and further extend the reach of the festival’s on-the-ground events, including NBCU Sales creating and selling media packages across linear broadcast, digital, streaming, social and more. Additionally, top journalists from NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and Noticias Telemundo will drive conversations during the festival via interviews, fireside chats and panel discussions. Public passes for the festival go on sale in Jan. 2022.

Crystle Roberson has been announced as the producing director for the ABC series “Queens.” Roberson will direct multiple episodes and produce the season as a whole. Roberson has recently directed episodes of Disney Plus series “Diary of a Future President” as well as OWN’s “Delilah” and the CW show “All American.” Roberson is represented by Paradigm, the Rookery and attorney Elizabeth Broden.

EXECUTIVES

Vice Media Group announced the appointment of Kyle Pleva as the new vice president of corporate communications for the U.S. Pleva, who joins from ViacomCBS, will be responsible for leading Vice Media Group’s U.S. communications strategy across the organization’s entire portfolio. Working with the global communications team, Pleva will support this growth and lead its brand and reputation strategy to deliver the new ambitions of the business. Pleva will be based in Vice’s headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y. and will report to Laura Misselbrook, Vice Media Group’s senior vice president of global communications.

CASTING

Apple TV Plus announced that Marion Cotillard, Eiza Gonzalez, Tobey Maguire and Forest Whitaker are set to join the cast of “Extrapolations,” a climate change anthology from the writer, director and executive producer Scott Z. Burns. Cotillard plays Sylvie Bolo, an art dealer; Gonzalez plays Elodie, an artist and influencer; Maguire plays Nic, a kelp farmer; and Whitaker plays August Bolo, a small-time investor. They join previously announced stars Meryl Streep, Matthew Rhys, Kit Harrington, Sienna Miller, Gemma Chan, Tahar Rahim, Daveed Diggs, David Schwimmer and Adarsh Gourav. “Extrapolations” tells stories of how the upcoming changes to our planet will affect love, faith, work and family on a personal and human scale told over the course of eight interconnected episodes. Cotillard is repped by and is repped by CAA and Agence Adequat; Gonzalez is repped by WME and Linden Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Maguire is repped by Management 360 and WME; and Whitaker is repped by WME.

Elaine Del Valle has been announced as a recurring guest star in the ABC series “Queens.” She will be playing Rosie, a mysterious Latina woman who befriends Valeria and may have more to her story than she lets on. Del Valle is known for her work as actress and playwright of her one-woman show “Bownsville Bred,” which depicted her true New York-Puerto Rican coming-of-age story, coinciding with her own passion to advance Latino portrayals in film, TV and stage. Additionally, Del Valle recently sold her original pilot “The System” to CBS drama studios.

LATE NIGHT

“Late Night with Seth Meyers” will feature Beanie Feldstein, Norman Lear, Lady A and Atom Willard, while Dan Levy and Rüfüs Du Sol appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Elizabeth Banks and Jorga Fox will be on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and Jeffrey Wright, Edgar Wright and Glass Animals will be on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”

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