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Exclusive: Indie studio Wiip has optioned Amanda Eyre Ward’s 2022 novel The Lifeguards. In Sue Tenney’s followup to the Netflix hit Virgin River, which she developed and served as executive producer/showrunner on for four seasons, she will tackle The Lifeguard‘s TV adaptation with fellow former Virgin River writer-producer Amy Palmer Robertson for what the duo are promising to be “a sexy, soapy, domestic suspense series.”

Combining three mothers’ points of view in a narrative tale with commentary from neighborhood listservs, secret text messages, and police reports, The Lifeguards, is both a story about the secrets we tell to protect the ones we love, and a riveting novel of suspense filled with half-truths and betrayals, fierce love and complicated friendships, and the loss of innocence on one hot summer night.

“The mothers and teenage sons of The Lifeguards are close to my heart,” Ward said. “From the moment...

Star Wars fans are in mourning after the death of actor Michael Culver was announced this week.

Culver, whose death was reported by Daily Mail Online, played Captain Lorth Needa in a galaxy far, far away, appeared in a small yet memorable role in The Empire Strikes Back. Needa was in command of the Avenger, an Imperial Star Destroyer, and fought for the Empire during the Battle of Hoth. The British actor passed away late last month, his family announced, adding that he was in "one of the most memorable death scenes in the Star Wars franchise." Needa was killed by Darth Vader after the Captain failed to capture Han Solo and the rest of the Rebels aboard the Millennium Falcon.

"We are very sad to confirm the passing of our friend and client Michael Culver," a statement from the actor's agent noted. "A career spanning over 50 years with notable roles in Sherlock Holmes,...