Briefly

Laurence Fishburne is joining the Roots miniseries remake. A&E Networks said Wednesday that Fishburne will play writer Alex Haley, whose novel about his African-American ancestry was the basis of the original 1977 TV miniseries. The new project will draw on the late Haley’s novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, along with new research, A&E said. Fishburne, a Tony Award-winning stage actor, has become a familiar TV presence in series including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Hannibal and Black-ish.

Twenty-three days of grabbing headlines has earned a television episode for two convicted killers who escaped from an upstate New York maximum-security prison. The Investigation Discovery network says it will take a close look at the saga of Richard Matt and David Sweat in “Prison Break: The Manhunt Ends” as a part of its Front Page series Friday night.

Whenever actor Robin Williams had to drive back to his home in Tiburon, Calif., he had to pass through Marin County’s Waldo Tunnel. Now that passage will be called the Robin Williams Tunnel. The California State Senate has approved a resolution to rename the tunnel. It will cost approximately $3,000 (U.S.) to change the signs, expected to be up by fall, and the funds will be raised privately. The Oscar-winning actor took his own life on Aug 11.

Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are going to loom large at Comic-Con this year. The superheroes of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in theatres March 25, are bound to be a central component of the Warner Bros. movie panel at the San Diego Convention Center on July 11. Mattel will also be selling action figures with the likenesses of Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman, as well as a Barbie doll based on Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and a new Hot Wheels Batmobile.