‘Outlander’ Star Sam Heughan Signs Up For New Role As Season 1 Declared The ‘Most Watched’ Show On Amazon
Outlander’s Sam Heughan has signed on to appear in a new movie from Screen Gems, titled Oxford. Heughan will be starring alongside Melissa Benoist, who is currently featured as the lead in CBS’ upcoming series Supergirl.
According to Deadline, Oxford centers on the story of an American Rhodes Scholarship recipient, played by Benoist, who gets romantically involved with a conceited teachers assistant, played by Heughan, at Oxford University. After falling in love, she finds out that he has terminal cancer, and the two spend their remaining days visiting places around the world.
The film is being written by Allison Burnett and produced by Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey from Temple Hill. Burnett has written for a number of Screen Gems projects, including Underworld: Awakening. She also worked on Gone, Fame, and Untraceable.
For her part, Benoist has appeared in several recent films, including The Longest Ride and Whiplash.
Meanwhile, in addition to his newest film part, Heughan is also hard at work on the second season of the insanely popular series Outlander. In fact, according to the International Business Times, Outlander is such a big hit that it has been declared the most popular show on Amazon.
In Amazon’s most recent report, the company stated that Outlander is the “most watched TV series in 2015” on its website. The company added that Outlander also set a “binge-watching record” after the first season debuted back in early spring.
This news is a direct reflection on how large a fan base Outlander has managed to build after only one season. In addition to helping Outlander become the most watched show on Amazon, fans recently played a big part in helping Heughan win an award at a Radio Times-sponsored competition.
Hughan was granted the Sci-Fi TV Champion award for his portrayal of Jamie Fraser in Outlander. The awards are based on fan votes, and Heughan managed to garner enough support to beat out Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who) in the final round in the sci-fi category. Heughan won with over six million out of 12 million votes. From here, Heughan will advance to the Champion of Champions round, where he will be going against Aidan Turner. Turner came out on top of the drama category and is known for his part in Poldark.
In the meantime, Heughan and the rest of the cast members are currently in production for the second season of Outlander. Although an official premiere date has not been set, the new season is expected to air in the spring of 2016.
[Image Courtesy: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty]
