Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

• Helen Mirren is joining the cast of Red, the film adaptation of the graphic novel series of the same name which follows the fortunes of a retired CIA agent targeted by a high-tech hitman determined to kill him. The big-name cast includes Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman.

• This Fall, Myriad Pictures will spearhead the domestic release of the psychological thriller Cry of the Owl based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. The film stars stars Julia Stiles and Paddy Considine.

• Crimespree Cinema posted a trailer for The Killer Inside Me, based on the novel by pulp writer Jim Thompson. Casey Affleck stars as small town deputy Lou Ford who has to solve a string of murders for which he becomes a suspect.

• Also from Crimespree comes the tip that Chris Pine (the new Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame), is in line to star in the film version of The Blade Itself, the novel by Marcus Sakey.

• French film company Gaumont picked up distribution rights to De Force, an $11.5 million crime thriller directed by ex-con-turned-filmmaker Frank Henry. The plot hinges on an inmate forced to collaborate with the French organized crime division to dismantle a high-profile gang network.

TV

• Fox is developing a CIA-themed project by Harris Wilkinson and Peter Chernin's new production company. The untitled spy thriller centers on a division of the CIA that specializes in "remote viewing," the ability to gather information using paranormal means.

• Don Cheadle's production company Crescendo is working on several potential projects, including a Boston-set cop drama from John Hlavin (The Shield) at NBC. The show will surround a homicide detective who discovers he shares a surprising connection to his new partner. "The idea was to create a police procedural with a family drama at its heart," Hlavin said. Another of Cheadle's projects is a TV version of the film Star Chamber which centers on a judge who goes after dangerous criminals who are set free by a flawed judicial system.

• The novel Heat Wave "written" by Richard Castle, the fictional mystery author played by Nathan Fillion in the TV show of the same name, has become a bestseller. The book is now in its fifth printing, according to Marie Coolman, executive director of publicity for Hyperion Books, and more copies will ship to distributors on Nov. 9.

• The CBS crime drama Numb3rs may be nearing cancellation. The network has reduced the number of episodes, which is usually a signal of the end days for a show. Co-creator Cheryl Heuton said that regardless, they will make sure the series has closure for the fans. Star Rob Morrow has urged fans to take up a letter-writing campaign to save the show.

• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is joining USA Network's Law & Order: Criminal Intent as part of that the police procedural's cast shakeup for its upcoming ninth season. She'll be playing the new captain taking over the Major Case Squad.

• NCIS: Los Angeles has been sold into syndication after seven weeks on the air which is an industry record not only in the short time involved, but also in the price. The crime drama The Mentalist has also gotten a syndication deal with TNT.

• The BBC has commissioned Life on Mars creators Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham to write the script for an ABC crime drama pilot described as a "California cop show with a British twist."

• The folks behind the popular USA series Monk are developing a number of projects with ABC, including the docu-style crime drama 1-8-7 Detroit from writer Jason Richman about detectives in the homicide capital of the U.S

• A&E has given the go-ahead for the pilot Sugarloaf starring Australian actor Matt Passmore as an ex-Chicago cop who gets kicked off the force after being shot by his ex-captain (who wrongfully accused him of having an affair with his wife) and subsequently moves to a small Florida town and joins the state police.

• A&E has also greenlighted the new crime drama pilot The Quickening, starring Radha Mitchell as Maggie Bird, a homicide detective demoted to a desk job after she's diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Jeffrey Nordling plays her former partner, an ex-cop who left the force to run a detective agency after Maggie took a bullet for him and saved his life. 

• J.J. Abrams himself is going to direct the first episode of Undercovers, his pilot series for NBC about a husband and wife working together as spies. Adams is also credited as co-writer and executive producer with Josh Reims.

• Bookseller by way of Eurocrime is reporting that Philippa Gregory's contemporary thriller The Little House is to be made into a two-part drama for ITV1.

WEB/RADIO

• The latest CrimeWav podcast is up, featuring Tom Piccirilli talking about writing, Facebook, money, and his new novel Shadow Season.

• John Grisham was interviewed on PBS's Charlie Rose program. That link also has previous interviews with the author talking about writing and the future of publishing, among other things.

THEATER

• Angela Lansbury, award-winning star of the TV show Murder She Wrote, as well as many films and countless plays, will receive Signature Theatre's first annual Stephen Sondheim Award at a black-tie gala dinner in Washington, DC, in April 2010, according to artistic director Eric Schaeffer, who said, "She is a major force in the American musical theatre and we look forward to saluting her endless talents."

GAMES

• PlayFirst is introducing a new interactive pulp murder mystery video game, Valerie Portal and the Scarlet Scandal, where 1920s cub newspaper reporter Porter finds herself embroiled in the hottest murder case the town has even seen. Players help find clues and can try out the new "click-n-string" timed hidden object feature.