Top Stories

LONDON/SILVER SPRING: The Agatha Christie 1925 short story The Witness For The Prosecution is to be adapted for BBC One, with Acorn Media Enterprises on board as the U.S. co-production partner.

BURBANK: FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) has announced a lineup of licensing partners for the upcoming TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s contemporary fantasy novel American Gods, debuting next year on Starz.

LOS ANGELES: Wilmer Valderrama, whose TV credits include Grey’s Anatomy and That ’70s Show, has joined the cast of NCIS as a series regular.

LOS ANGELES: Sonar Entertainment has entered into a first-look deal with Smokehouse Pictures, founded by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, and the first project under the new arrangement will be a drama series with Making a Murderer filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos.

UNIVERSAL CITY: Lisa Katz has been appointed by NBC to the role of executive VP of drama development.

TORONTO: The newly commissioned fifth season of Space's original series Orphan Black will be its last.

ATLANTA: Fresh off his acclaimed performance as attorney Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Courtney B. Vance is among three new cast members added to the TNT drama pilot Civil.

BEVERLY HILLS: Orlando Jones (Madiba, Sleepy Hollow) has signed on for the upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed contemporary fantasy novel American Gods.

SANTA MONICA: Hulu has acquired the exclusive subscription streaming rights for the event series Roots from A+E Networks, which also licensed the U.S. SVOD rights for War and Peace and Barbarians Rising to the service.

BOGOTÁ: Netflix has signed a licensing agreement for two in-development series from Colombia’s Caracol Televisión, including a Pablo Escobar drama.