{blackbabes} Maggie Grace, Devon Sawa, Tiffany Haddish & Ralph Macchio To Star In Crime Thriller ‘The Girl In The River’

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Maggie Grace (Taken), Devon Sawa (Final Destination), Emmy winner Tiffany Haddish (Bad Boys: Ride or Die) and Emmy nominee Ralph Macchio (Cobra Kai) have signed on to star in an indie crime thriller titled The Girl in the River.

In the film, which entered production in Mississippi this week, a seasoned criminologist and a young female psychologist are lured to a remote Mississippi town to investigate the murder of a little girl and the disappearance of her twin sister.

The project marks the feature debut of Brando Benetton, an Italian writer-director whose previous credits include the action-thriller short Nightfire starring Emmy nominee Dylan Baker.

The film is being produced by Andrew Stevens' Andrew Stevens Entertainment banner (The Ritual, The Deputy) and Joe Lemmon under his Black Diamond Films banner (The Ritual Killer). Executive producers are Rick Moore under his Eyevox Entertainment banner (Hotel Tehran, The Neglected), Hicham Benkirane under his HBK F.C. banner (Murder City, The Deputy), Jeff Roschman, Dawn Bursteen (Gunslingers), Alessandro Penazzi, Sam Stevens and Alan B. Bursteen (Hunting Season). Valerie McCaffrey handled casting.

In a statement to Deadline, producer Stevens teased, "Brando's script masterfully captures the essence of a Southern Gothic thriller, weaving in unexpected twists, deeply complex characters, and together with a stellar cast, they elevate the genre."

Also known for projects like Lost and the Twilight franchise, Grace is repped by Gersh. Best known for his role in the Final Destination franchise, as well as horror films like Chucky and Heart Eyes, Sawa is repped by Gersh, Artists First, and Felker Toczek Suddleson. A comedian and actress whose resume also includes projects like The Card Counter and Girls Trip, Haddish is repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Breaking out with his role in the original Karate Kid films, which he's recently reprised in Karate Kid: Legends and the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai, Macchio is repped by Gersh and Untitled Entertainment.

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{blackbabes} 'Beyond the Gates' Interview | Ambyr Michelle on Eva's Journey, Kat Battles, More | Women to Watch

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Video: https://youtu.be/EUpepO4J1-4

Welcome to TVLine's Women to Watch awards series, a celebration of bold voices making big waves. Our Daytime Star to Watch is Ambyr Michelle, who sits down with TVLine's Andy Swift for a deep-dive interview about her work as Eva in the CBS daytime soap 'Beyond the Gates.'

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{blackbabes} A look at Venus Williams’ tennis career and comeback. She’s returning to the US Open at age 45

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Venus Williams is back on the professional tennis tour at age 45 and will be returning to the U.S. Open next week for her first Grand Slam competition in two years.

She received a wild-card entry for singles from the U.S. Tennis Association on Wednesday — she will be the oldest player in that event in New York since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981 — after earlier getting one for mixed doubles.

Here is a look at the career of Williams, who owns seven Grand Slam titles in singles, 14 in women's doubles with her younger sister, Serena, and two in mixed doubles, plus a record five Olympic tennis medals:

Venus Williams' pro tennis debut came in 1994

Williams, who was born in Lynwood, California, on June 17, 1980, played her first WTA tournament in Oakland in October 1994, at 14. In the first round, Williams faced Shaun Stafford, the 1988 NCAA singles champion, and won 6-3, 6-4. In the second round, Williams lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, who would retire with four Grand Slam trophies.

The first Grand Slam event for Venus Williams was the 1997 French Open

Her Grand Slam debut came at Roland-Garros in 1997, eliminating Naoko Sawamatsu in the first round and losing to Nathalie Tauziat in the second. Later that year, Williams played in the U.S. Open for the first time and reached the final before losing to Martina Hingis.

The 1998 Australian Open featured the first Venus vs. Serena matchup

Venus beat Serena — who is 15 months younger — in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open, the first of 31 meetings as pros. Serena went 19-12, 11-5 in Slam matches.

The Williams sisters won their first women's doubles Slam title in 1999

Venus and Serena teamed up to win their first major doubles title at the 1999 French Open. They also won the U.S. Open that year.

Venus Williams won her first major singles trophy at Wimbledon in 2000

Her first Grand Slam singles trophy arrived at the All England Club when she was 20, via a victory over Lindsay Davenport in 2000. That made Williams the first Black woman to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in the 1950s. With Serena having won the 1999 U.S. Open, they became the first sisters in tennis history to each win a major singles championship. They were just getting started. "I always expected to win Grand Slams," Venus said at the time. "This was meant to be." She also collected the Venus Rosewater Dish — the Wimbledon women's trophy — in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Olympic success for Venus Williams

Williams left the 2000 Sydney Olympics with gold medals from singles and doubles (with Serena, of course), then added golds in women's doubles in 2008 and 2012, plus a silver in mixed doubles (with Rajeev Ram) in 2016.

The first Williams vs. Williams Grand Slam final

Venus won her first U.S. Open title in 2000 with another victory over Davenport, and her second by defeating Serena a year later in the first major championship match between sisters since Maud Watson beat Lillian Watson at Wimbledon in 1884. During one remarkable stretch from 2002 into 2003, the Williams siblings met in four consecutive Slam finals; Serena went 4-0.

Venus Williams reaches No. 1 in the WTA rankings in 2002

Venus was ranked No. 1 for the first time in February 2002 and was there for 11 weeks. Serena spent a total of 319 weeks at No. 1.

Venus Williams announces her diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome in 2011

During the 2011 U.S. Open, Williams withdrew before her second-round match and revealed she had been diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain.

Later Grand Slam success for Williams

Williams had a career resurgence in 2016-17, making it to the finals at two major tournaments (at the Australian Open and Wimbledon) and the semifinals at two others (at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open).

Time away from the tour for Venus Williams — and a comeback

Williams had 10 consecutive Slam exits in the first or second round, including at the 2023 U.S. Open, her most recent major appearance. No one knew until recently, but Williams also was having more health issues: She had surgery for uterine fibroids last year. She was away from the tour for 16 months until returning at the DC Open this July, winning once each in singles and doubles.

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{blackbabes} Venus Williams gets a US Open wild card at age 45 and will be the oldest in singles since 1981

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NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams will make her return to Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open after a two-year absence, receiving a wild-card invitation on Wednesday to compete in singles at Flushing Meadows at age 45.

The American will be the oldest entrant in singles at the tournament since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981, according to the International Tennis Federation.

Williams already had been given a wild-card entry by the U.S. Tennis Association for next week's mixed doubles competition. Singles matches begin in New York on Aug. 24.

She is the owner of seven major singles championships — including at the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001 — along with another 14 in women's doubles, all won with her younger sister, Serena, plus two in mixed doubles. Serena retired with 23 Slam singles trophies after playing at the 2022 U.S. Open.

The older Williams last participated in a Grand Slam tournament at the 2023 U.S. Open, losing in the first round. She hasn't won a singles match there since 2019.

When Williams came back to the tour last month at the DC Open for her first match anywhere in 16 months, a reporter asked whether that would be a one-time thing or if there were plans for other tournaments.

"I'm just here for now, and who knows?" she replied then. "Maybe there's more. ... But at the moment, I'm focused just on this. I haven't played in a year. There is no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things. I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player. I'm a big hitter. I hit big. This is my brand."

Last year, Williams had surgery to remove uterine fibroids and missed most of the season. In Washington this July, she competed for the first time since March 2024 at the Miami Open and became the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match since Martina Navratilova was 47 at Wimbledon in 2004; Williams also won a doubles match at the DC Open.

In the process, Williams drew a ton of attention for her tennis, yes, but also for letting the world know she's engaged to an Italian actor and for her half-joking comments about needing to get back on court to get covered by health insurance.

"I love Venus. We're friends. I didn't really know this was something she was still wanting to do. But I also didn't know it was something she didn't want to do," said Mark Ein, the chairman of the hard-court tournament in Washington. "I was surprised. And it was a wonderful surprise."

Williams also entered the Cincinnati Open via a wild card last week, exiting in the first round of singles.

In New York, she will play in the Aug. 19-20 mixed doubles tournament with Reilly Opelka, a 27-year-old American who used to be ranked in the top 20.

Other women getting singles wild cards for the U.S. Open are Americans Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja, Caty McNally, Valerie Glozman and Alyssa Ahn, plus France's Caroline Garcia — who'll be playing in her last Grand Slam tournament before retirement — and Australia's Talia Gibson.

Men's wild cards went to Americans Brandon Holt, Nishesh Basavareddy, Tristan Boyer, Emilio Nava, Stefan Dostanic and Darwin Blanch, and France's Valentin Royer and Australia's Tristan Schoolkate.

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{blackbabes} ‘Diarra From Detroit’ Casts Shoniqua Shandai For Season 2

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Shoniqua Shandai (Harlem) is set for a recurring role in Season 2 of BET's Diarra From Detroit, from creator, executive producer, writer, and star Diarra Kilpatrick. 

Season 1 followed Diarra (Kilpatrick), a divorcing schoolteacher who refuses to believe she's been ghosted by her rebound Tinder date. Her determined search leads her into a decades-old mystery rooted in the Detroit underworld. As the case deepened, she enlisted the help of her co-workers, friends and lovers, forming an unlikely crew that navigated danger and secrets.

Shandai will play Diarra's sassy opinionated cousin, Raqueeba.

In addition to Kilpatrick, Bryan Terrell Clark, DomiNque Perry and Jon Chaffin also will return for Season 2.

Produced by BET Studios and Khalabo Ink Society, Diarra From Detroit is executive produced by Kilpatrick, Kenya Barris and Miles Orion Feldsott. BET Studios is the studio.

Shandai is coming off her role of Angie on the Prime Video series Harlem, which wrapped its third and final season in February. She also recurred on TNT miniseries I Am the Night, directed by Patty Jenkins, and Paramount TV's Nobodies. On the film side, she was a lead in the Eminem-produced Bodied. Shandai is repped by Innovative Artists and Zero Gravity Management.

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{blackbabes} ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Adds Lori Harvey For Season 3

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Lori Harvey (Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist) is set to recur in the third season of Hulu's Reasonable Doubt. She will play Chelsea, who's described as an "unpredictable force with a troubled past that resurfaces to challenge Jax in unexpected ways."

Harvey joins series regulars Emayatzy Corinealdi, McKinley Freeman, Tim Jo, Angela Grovey and Joseph Sikora, as well as previously announced recurring guest stars such as Morris Chestnut, Kyle Bary, Rumer Willis, Brandee Evans, Richard Brooks, April Parker Jones, Keith Arthur Bolden and Kash Doll.

Reasonable Doubt returns Sept. 18 with two episodes, followed by new episodes streaming Thursdays on Hulu. Here's the official logline for the new season: "After a tumultuous season of fighting to save her best friend from a life sentence while healing from her own deadly affair, Jax Stewart has finally earned some peace in her life … even if she sees it all as a little boring. So, when a former child star finds himself in a heap of trouble, Jax seizes the opportunity to spice up her daily routine. But when her client's personal life turns out to have all the drama and danger of a Hollywood movie and Jax's own professional future comes under threat from a charismatic associate at her firm, can Jax clear her client's name without losing the personal and professional successes she's worked so hard for?"

Harvey is repped by Tré Thomas. Reasonable Doubt hails from Onyx Collective and is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.

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{blackbabes} Donnie Wahlberg & Sonequa Martin-Green To Unveil ‘Boston Blue’ At MIPCOM Cannes World Premiere

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A slice of Boston is coming to Cannes. Boston Blue will have its world premiere at MIPCOM Cannes in October and Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green will be in town for the screening in the famed Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals.

The premiere of the Blue Bloods offshoot will take place on October 12, on the eve of the MIPCOM market kicking off. The show bows on CBS in the U.S. on October 17.

Paramount Global Content Distribution is selling the series and will hope a room full of buyers will fire up international interest in the show, which see Boston-born Wahlberg reprising his role as NYPD Detective Danny Reagan.

In the series he is paired with Detective Lena Silver (Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family. As Reagan settles into his new city, he also hopes to reconnect with his younger son, Sean (Mika Amonsen), who is beginning his own police career in the city.

The premiere episode that is screening in Cannes also features a guest appearance from Bridget Moynahan, reprising her role as Danny's sister Erin Reagan. Moynahan will also direct a later episode in the series.

"We are excited to bring Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green to Cannes to help us unveil the first episode of Boston Blue, the next chapter in the Blue Bloods universe, to global media executives at the Opening Night World Premiere at MIPCOM Cannes," said Lisa Kramer, President, International Content Licensing, Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Lucy Smith, Director of MIPCOM Cannes, added: "Interest in the Reagan family and the Blue Bloods universe is deep seated and truly global, making this next chapter, led by the brilliant Donnie Wahlberg with its new setting, characters and stories a perfect premiere on the eve of MIPCOM Cannes this year."

The calendar of international TV events and markets has been redrawn in recent years, notably with the demise of MIPTV in the spring and advent of MIP London in Feb. MIPCOM – now officially MIPCOM Cannes to give it its full title – remains the biggest event of the year, attracting about 10,000 execs.

Boston Blue is produced by CBS Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Television. Wahlberg is an exec producer alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and KristieAnne Reed, as well as the lead in the series. Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis are showrunnners and are also EPs.

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