WALLACE AND GROMIT STUDIO ARRDMAN TO MAKE SHORT NETFLIX FILM: Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit producer Aardman is making Robin Robin, a short film, for Netflix. Aardman previously worked primarily with the BBC. Robin Robin will bow next Christmas. Dan Ojari and Mikey Please will create and direct, while Helen Argo and Sarah Cox will produce.
IMELDA STAUNTON IN TALKS TO REPLACE OLIVIA COLMAN: Imelda Staunton is in talks to replace Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in seasons five and six of Netflix‘s The Crown, Deadline reports. Netflix won’t comment, and The Crown has not even officially been given the green light for seasons 5 and 6.
JANE GALLOWAY HEITZ DIES: Glee star Jane Galloway Heitz has died at age 78. She appeared on the show Glee twice, once in the pilot and again in 2015. Instead, her image appeared in a trophy case commemorating her life. Galloway Heitz also appeared in The Big Bang Theory, ER, Monk and Shameless. She is survived by her daughter Amie (Rod) Richardson, and three grandchildren.
BEN AFFLECK TO DIRECT KING LEOPOLD’S GHOST: Ben Affleck has signed on to direct King Leopold’s Ghost, a drama based on the real story of Congo’s plunder by Belgium’s King Leopold II in the late 1800s. Farhard Safinia is writing and Affleck will also produce.