TV
Amazon Passes On “Sea Oak” Series
Last month, Amazon Studios quietly dropped the pilot episode for “Sea Oak”, a genre-bending zombedy from renowned author and creator George Saunders (Lincoln in the Bardo).
Emmy-winner Glenn Close (The Girl With All the Gifts) stars as Aunt Bernie, a working-class woman in a Rust Belt city (meek, unmarried, no kids) who dies tragically in a home invasion. Compelled by sheer force of dissatisfaction, she comes back from the dead full of rage, determined to get the life she never had. She proceeds to inflict a range of demands on what’s left of her nuclear family (a quasi-stripper nephew and two feckless nieces), who live in a low-end subsidized hellhole of a housing complex called Sea Oak.
The pilot started off slow, but took a dark turn when Aunt Bernie comes back from the dead. Unfortunately, the big reveal doesn’t come until the closing minutes, could be one of the reasons Amazon decided to pass on taking it to series.
The pilot was directed by Golden Globe-winner Hiro Murai (“Atlanta”) and executive produced by Jonathan Krauss through his Affiliated Pictures banner.
The decision to pass on the three comedy pilots comes as Amazon Studios is in the midst of a major executive overhaul, explained Deadline. Over the past year or so, Amazon Studios had been shifting away from pilots toward straight-to-series orders.
TV
‘God of War’ – Ryan Hurst Suffers On-Set Injury and Will Be Replaced as Kratos in Prime Video Series
After four episodes have already been shot of Prime Video’s hotly anticipated “God of War” television series, we’ve learned that an on-set injury will send the team back to square one.
Deadline reports that actor Ryan Hurst, who had been cast to play Kratos in the series, tore his bicep during a stunt-gone-wrong on set, and rather than wait until Hurst has healed up and can get back into action, the streaming series will instead recast the role of Kratos.
Additionally, all four episodes they’ve already shot will have to be fully re-shot with the new actor they bring in to play Kratos. At this time, no replacement actor has been announced.
Deadline notes that the decision was made by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios, the producers of the upcoming Prime Video adaptation of the video game franchise.
Hurst tore his bicep while doing a stunt on set back in late June. “This is a heartbreaking development for Hurst who underwent a physical transformation after getting the role, putting on 40 lbs of muscle, and worked hard for months on the Vancouver set filming the physically demanding role until getting hurt performing his duties,” Deadline notes in their report.
The outlet explains, “Hurst’s recovery time is unclear but for a serious bicep tear requiring surgery, it is typically 4-6 months, with a return to full strength taking up to a year. Given the physicality of the role, it will likely not have been safe for Hurst to resume filming until 2027. According to sources, while Hurst’s full recovery is a priority, the period required was longer than the production shooting schedule could accommodate, leading to the difficult decision.”
The “God of War” production is currently on hiatus. Stay tuned for more.
Callum Vinson (“Crystal Lake”) is playing Atreus in Prime Video’s “God of War.”
The live-action adaptation of PlayStation’s massively popular ancient mythology-themed video game franchise has received a two-season order from the streamer.
The tale follows father and son Kratos and Atreus as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human.
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