Showtime Orders "Ray Donovan" Feature-Length Film

[JamesG]

"Ray Donovan" Lives! Showtime Orders Feature-Length Film in Wake of Surprise Cancellation — Who's Back?
by Michael Ausiello
February 24 2021


Showtime has fixed "Ray Donovan‘s" cancellation, ordering a “feature-length” film that will pick up where Season 7 left off. The news comes one year after the premium cabler pulled the plug on the Liev Schreiber-fronted series in a move that drew widespread shock and bewilderment.

Schreiber is, of course, confirmed to reprise his titular role for the movie, as are Jon Voight as Ray’s pa Mickey Donovan and Kerris Dorsey as Ray’s daughter Bridget. Showrunner David Hollander will co-write the script (with Schreiber) and also direct.




The film — which will begin production later this year in New York ahead of an expected 2022 premiere on Showtime — will be set in the immediate aftermath of the Season 7 finale, with Mickey on the run and Ray determined to find and stop him before he can cause any more carnage.

“It will also weave together the present-day fallout from the Donovan/Sullivan feud with Ray and Mickey’s origin story from 30 years ago,” per Showtime.




“When Ray Donovan went off our air after seven great seasons, we heard from so many of its loyal fans that they were not ready to say goodbye to Ray and the wonderfully dysfunctional Donovan clan,” said Showtime president Gary Levine in a statement.

“And so, for them, we are delighted that Liev and David are creating a thrilling new chapter of this iconic series.”

https://tvline.com/2021/02/24/ray-do...iev-schreiber/

[TMC]

Ray Donovan boss credits Showtime's movie revival to "petitions and letters and really angry posts"

"It got pretty heated," showrunner David Hollander tells Vulture of Showtime's decision to bring back the canceled fixer drama for a movie. "I mean, journalists who didn’t even really like the show were expressing outrage. And Liev (Schreiber) and I both knew it was necessary to complete the story as well and were fueled by the fans and were loudly disagreeing with the network’s choice.“

[JamesG]

Chris Petrovski Joins Showtime’s "Ray Donovan" Follow-Up Movie
by Denise Petski
June 3, 2021


Chris Petrovski (Madam Secretary) has joined the cast of the forthcoming "Ray Donovan" feature-length film.

Petrovski will play rising Hollywood star Sean Walker.

https://deadline.com/2021/06/ray-don...ie-1234768959/

[JamesG]

AJ Michalka Joins Showtime’s "Ray Donovan" Follow-Up Movie
by Denise Petski
June 18, 2021


AJ Michalka (The Goldbergs / Schooled) has joined the cast of the upcoming "Ray Donovan" feature-length film.

Michalka will play the younger version of Abby in the film, which will continue Ray’s journey following the hit drama series’ seven-season run on Showtime.

https://deadline.com/2021/06/ray-don...ie-1234777490/

[TMC]

Ray Donovan movie adds David Patrick Kelly

The Twin Peaks alum will appear in the Showtime series follow-up as a long-time friend of Jon Voight's Mickey.

Liev Schreiber reunites with his Ray Donovan co-stars as they prepare to film Showtime's follow-up movie

"I will miss this particular gaggle of actors very very much," Schreiber wrote on Instagram.

[JamesG]

"Ray Donovan" Film Casts Chris Gray as Young Ray
by Denise Petski
July 15, 2021


Chris Gray (The Society) is set to play young Ray in Showtime’s follow-up feature-length movie Ray Donovan.

The film picks up where Season 7 of the popular series left off following its surprise cancellation last year, with Mickey (Jon Voight) in the wind and Ray (Liev Schreiber) determined to find and stop him before he can cause any more carnage.

Gray plays the younger version of Schreiber’s Ray Donovan. Like his older self, he is a physically imposing young man who can convey much with only a few words and is decisive and calm in times of crisis.

https://deadline.com/2021/07/ray-don...ch-1234793874/

[JamesG]

"Ray Donovan" Movie Gets Approximate Premiere Date, Showtime Boss Promises “Graceful Landing” after Abrupt Cancellation
by Nellie Andreeva
August 24, 2021


Laying out Showtime’s programming plans for the next year at TCA, the network’s Presidents of Entertainment Gary Levine and Jana Winograde said that the Ray Donovan feature-length movie will debut this coming winter.

Levine later clarified that the film will premiere in the first quarter of 2022, which would be exactly two years after the series’ surprise cancellation that led to outcry from fans.




Levine was asked about Showtime’s decision to cancel "Ray Donovan" after seven seasons and the process that led to its resurrection for a wrap-up movie.

“It’s a very difficult decision sometimes,” Levine said about making the call to end a series. “In the best of cases you can plan for it, and it can be a nice gentle landing; Homeland had a beautiful finale in that regard as did Shameless, and sometimes it can’t be planned and circumstances just make the decision a little more abrupt, and sadly that was the case with Ray.

I don’t think it was ending it after seven seasons– although some people would like it to go on forever — I think it was the abruptness of the cancellation.”

https://deadline.com/2021/08/ray-don...on-1234821041/

[JamesG]

Ray Donovan: The Movie premieres Friday, January 14 on Showtime

[TMC]

Ray Donovan: The Movie gives the canceled Showtime fixer series well-deserved closure

"Ever since we were introduced to the morose, haunted, well-dressed and animalistic Hollywood 'fixer' Ray Donovan in 2013, Ray has been using his guile, fists, gun and a baseball bat to clean up one unholy mess after another," Richard Roeper says in reviewing the movie that star Liev Schreiber co-wrote with creator Ann Biderman and showrunner David Hollander. "He moved forward with the ruthless efficiency of a dead-eyed shark, but instead of a steady diet of food, Ray seemed to subsist only on Johnnie Walker Black, the occasional beer, coffee — and more Johnnie Walker Black. He always looked great in his black luxury sedan and his black sports coat, but more often than not, there was blood on his white button-down shirt. Schreiber was given arguably the best role of his career and he grabbed it with gusto and made it all his own. It was probably the right time to say goodbye to Ray Donovan, as the series had begun spinning its wheels in recent seasons, after the action moved from California to the East Coast, but with this movie, Ray gets the send-off he deserves."

ALSO:

• Ray Donovan: The Movie never feels like cheap fan service: The follow-up TV movie "hints at what an entire eighth season could have been and provides just enough closure while avoiding easy conclusions for most of its characters," says Brian Tallerico. "It’s visually ambitious in ways the show was increasingly allowed to be in later seasons, evincing a true cinematic language in terms of craft. But what will really matter to fans is the show has been allowed to end on its own terms. It’s the final job Ray deserves. While Ray Donovan: The Movie smartly focuses on the Mickey-and-Ray dynamic, the writers make time for a few other favorite characters, giving most of the key players story lines that are more ellipses than periods. It would have felt wrong for a show that was often willing to deal in gray areas to neatly tie up the lives of every character on Ray Donovan as weak series finales tend to do; perhaps some of the supporting players would have had more finality in an entire season, but Hollander and Schreiber give the Donovan family just enough narrative to make for a satisfying conclusion."
• Ray Donovan: The Movie amounts to an extra-long final episode: "Television shows sign off for all kinds of reasons, and historically it's not uncommon for programmers to leave viewers dangling," says Brian Lowry. "Having invested seven years in Ray's odyssey, asking for a genuine ending wasn't unreasonable. If nothing else, Ray Donovan: The Movie creates the space for the producers to go out on their terms, in much the way Showtime did with Dexter, more effectively, in a limited-series format. Ray frequently used a baseball bat to solve problems. Although it's nice to see the show's creative team afforded one final swing, it's too bad they don't knock it out of the park."
• Liev Schreiber is glad to give Ray Donovan closure after being "hurt and confused" over Showtime's abrupt cancelation: He admits to TVLine that after the cancelation, “there was a part of me that wanted to just walk away with my tail between my legs and just be done with it.” A larger part of Schreiber, however, wanted the series “to have a nice bookend if, God forbid, my kids ever want to watch this someday. Now it’s a complete box set.” As for whether Ray Donovan can return for more movies, as Showtime CEO David Nevins has previously hinted, Schreiber says: “This is the end for me. For now.”

Liev Schreiber explains Ray Donovan: The Movie's ending

"For me, the intention as a writer was to feel that we had reached the end of a chapter, we had reached the end of our journey with this family," says Schreiber, who co-wrote the Showtime movie with executive producer and director David Hollander.