MOVIES
Sony Pictures is partnering with British crime writer John Burdett to adapt at least four of his novels into films, including Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu and Vulture Peak (due next year). The novels are known as "The Sonchai Jitpleecheep" series, named for the Thai Buddhist detective in the books who solves bizarre, often sordid crimes.
Fresh off his starring turn as J. Edgar Hoover, actor Leonardo DiCaprio is eyeing a biopic about Alan Turing. Turing was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, computer scientist, criminally prosecuted homosexual and tortured soul who committed suicide by eating a cyanide-laced apple. He was also the man who cracked the Germans' Enigma code during WWII. The movie project will be based on first-time screenwriter Graham Moore's The Imitation Game (snapped up by Warner Bros in a 7-figure deal). Graham is also the author of the critically acclaimed crime fiction debut novel The Sherlockian.
Swedish production company Yellow Bird has sold the English-language movie rights for Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbo's Headhunters novel to Summit Entertainment. However, there's no director or cast set yet, and any prospective film would take at least three years to produce and release, so don't expect to see it before 2014 (give or take).
Javier Bardem is the new Bond villain for the upcoming untitled Bond 23 film starring Daniel Craig as 007. No word yet on the identity of the village, but rumors are flying it may have 007 facing off against classic adversary Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the leader of SPECTRE.
TV
ABC announced it is picking up a full season of its new drama Revenge, inspired by the storyline of The Count of Monte Cristo. Emily Vancamp stars as Emily Thorne, who has vowed revenge on those who took her father away when she was a child and wrongly convicted him of a long list of felonies, based on false evidence. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)
Fans of the BBC contemporary-set Sherlock Holmes series can rejoice: Starting May 6th, 2012, the next three-episode season starring Benedict Cumbersnatch and Martin Freeman will air in the U.S. as part of Masterpiece Mystery.
Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) is set to star in a TNT drama pilot Scent of the Missing, based on the book Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog by Susannah Charleson. Gerald McRaney will co-star as Helfer's father.
The USA network released a promo for John Sandford's Certain Prey, the TV drama starring Mark Harmon as Lucas Davenport that will premiere November 6th at 9 p.m.
A&E Network released a trailer for its upcoming four-hour movie (aired over two nights in December) based on the 1998 Stephen King murder mystery novel Bag of Bones. The project stars Pierce Brosnan as troubled writer Mike Noonan, with Melissa George, Jason Priestley, Annabeth Gish and Anika Noni Rose rounding out the cast.
Looks all those folks who thought a reboot of the Charlies Angels series from the 70s was a bad idea were right. ABC cancelled the series after airing four episodes. They plan on running the remainder of the four shows produced, but haven't set a broadcast date. TNT has also opted not to renew the off-beat cop drama Memphis Beat starring Jason Lee for a third season. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News and Crimespree.)
Are you a paranormal detective? Might be your chance to be on T.V.
PODCASTS/RADIO
Thanks to Elizabeth Foxwell, I found out that BBC Radio 4 Extra offers an Ian Rankin short story in which Rebus uncovers more than simple theft, and Sheila Hancock reminisces about her late husband, the actor John Thaw, who played Inspector Morse. But you'd better hurry—episodes generally can be heard online for up to a week after broadcast.
GAMES
It was announced at NY Comic-Con that Christopher McQuarrie is planning on writing, directing and producing (along with Mark Long and Dan Capel) the multimedia project Rubicon, a Navy SEALs story described as "being in the vein of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, and will be set in modern Afghanistan." The multiplatform properties of a movie, graphic novel and video game will be created and released simultaneously, but with separate storylines.
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