TVLine Items: Once Upon a Time Spin-Off Update, James Woods Joins Ray Donovan and More!

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser with the Once Upon a Time spin-off.

Once consulting producer Jane Espenson and Prison Break alum Zack Estrin, as part of a new overall deal with ABC Studios, have boarded the prospective offshoot, which will be set in Wonderland, our sister site Deadline reports. The project is envisioned as an American Horror Story-style 13-episode standalone that would ostensibly bridge the original series’ winter hiatus.

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Whereas last month’s rumors had the Mad Hatter (played to date by Sebastian Stan) as frontman for the series, new intel says that looking glass lass Alice will be the fulcrum. That role, as well as a loner adventurer dubbed The Knave and a soulful character named Amahl, are in the process of being cast, with an eye on shooting a four-scene “presentation” once Once wraps production on its sophomore run.

Got Alice casting ideas (including but not limited to Laura Vandervoort)? Share ‘em in Comments!

Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…

• Veteran actor James Woods has joined the cast of Showtime’s new drama Ray Donovan. The series centers on a professional fixer (played by Liev Schreiber) and the chain of events his father’s (Jon Voight) recent release from prison sets off. Woods plays Patrick “Sully” Sullivan, a man with complicated ties to the Donovan family.

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• Sherlock actor Mark Gatiss took to Twitter recently to announce the title of the Brit hit’s Season 3 premiere — and it’s a doozy!

• Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin will make a cameo in the HBO drama’s upcoming third season, bowing March 31, Deadline reports. Details on who — or what — the scribe will be playing are being kept under wraps.

• Cedric the Entertainer has been named host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, replacing departing emcee Meredith Vieira. The funnyman is slated to make his debut in the syndicated game show’s Season 12 premiere this fall.

• Modern Family’s Ariel Winter has again grabbed her backpack to star in a live-action Dora the Explorer trilogy for College Humor. Check out her latest turn as the usually animated adventurer.

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