New Georgia productions: Rebel Wilson’s ‘Senior Year’ film, ‘The Waltons’ TV movie, Rosario Dawson HBO series ‘DMZ’

Justin Hartley of ‘This is Us” fame joins Wilson in ‘Senior Year’
A new comedy starring Rebel Wilson and Justin Hartley "Senior Year" and a new HBO series starring Rosario Dawson are now shooting in metro Atlanta. PUBLICITY PHOTOS

Credit: ABC/NBC/TBS

Credit: ABC/NBC/TBS

A new comedy starring Rebel Wilson and Justin Hartley "Senior Year" and a new HBO series starring Rosario Dawson are now shooting in metro Atlanta. PUBLICITY PHOTOS

A new Rebel Wilson Netflix comedy “Senior Year” is now shooting in metro Atlanta, along with a “Waltons” TV movie for the CW and a new HBO drama series “DMZ” starring Rosario Dawson.

In “Senior Year,” Wilson ― who shot the third “Pitch Perfect” film in part in Atlanta in 2017 ― plays a cheerleader who wakes up after a 20-year coma and returns to high school to try to regain her status and claim the prom queen crown that originally eluded her. Justin Hartley, who stars in NBC’s “This Is Us,” has joined the cast but the producers have not announced what his role will be.

The Paramount film started production May 24 and is set to finish up in Atlanta July 27.

Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt star in a new HBO limited series “DMZ” The pilot was shot last year here. HBO in 2019 also produced its critically acclaimed series “Watchmen” in Atlanta.

Production is scheduled to run from June 14 to August 3. Its home base will be on John Raulet property.

“DMZ,” based on a DC/Vertigo comic, is set in a near-future America embroiled in a bitter civil war. DMZ refers to Manhattan, which has become a demilitarized zone devastated and isolated from the rest of the world. Dawson plays Alma Ortega, a fearless and fierce medic who sets out on a harrowing journey to find the son she lost when New York City was evacuated at the beginning of the conflict. She confronts Parco Delgado, played by Bratt, the popular and deadly leader of one of the DMZ’s most powerful gangs.

Ava Duvernay (”Queen Sugar”) directed the pilot of the show, which was shot right before the pandemic hit.

Bratt last worked in Atlanta on Fox’s show “Star” from 2016 to 2018. Dawson, during the pandemic, was a judge on the extreme talent show the “Go-Big Show” on TBS in Macon.

SCANDAL - "An Innocent Man" - Olivia is summoned by a convicted assassin who claims he was wrongly accused, and Mellie becomes intrigued by a former first lady whose stories seem to be strikingly similar to her own. Meanwhile, Elizabeth inches closer to corrupting the White House and Fitz makes a shocking move, on "Scandal," THURSDAY OCTOBER 30 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Nicole Wilder) BELLAMY YOUNG SCANDAL - "An Innocent Man" - Olivia is summoned by a convicted assassin who claims he was wrongly accused, and Mellie becomes intrigued by a former first lady whose stories seem to be strikingly similar to her own. Meanwhile, Elizabeth inches closer to corrupting the White House and Fitz makes a shocking move, on "Scandal," THURSDAY OCTOBER 30 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Nicole Wilder) BELLAMY YOUNG

Credit: Rodney Ho

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Credit: Rodney Ho

The CW is set to shoot a TV movie reviving the 1970s drama “The Waltons.” It’s tentatively set to start shooting June 10 and will be based out of Conyers, where the network shoots “The Originals” during the regular season.

The network on Tuesday released details. Called “The Waltons Homecoming,” it celebrates the 50th anniversary of the TV show’s original release on CBS. The two biggest names are Bellamy Young (”Scandal,” “Prodigal Son”) as Olivia and Logan Shroyer (”This is Us”) as John Boy

Richard Thomas, who played John Boy in the original TV series, will serve as the narrator.

Here is the dramatic plotline provided by the CW: The film is “told through the eyes of John Boy, the 17-year-old eldest child of John and Olivia Walton His mother expects John Boy to help her raise his sisters and brothers, and his father expects him to follow in his footsteps to help support the family, but secretly, John Boy wants to be a writer. Times are hard enough in 1933, but to make matters worse, it looked to be the Waltons’ first Christmas without John Sr. When Olivia receives a letter that John Sr. is planning to make it home for Christmas after all, the family is thrilled and races to prepare for his homecoming. But when a storm threatens his arrival on Christmas Eve, and John Sr. is nowhere to be found, Olivia sends John Boy out into the night to find his daddy — a journey that will change John Boy’s life forever.”