Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

The film adaptation of the 60s TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. may be in jeopardy. Director Steven Soderbergh has left the project after stars George Clooney and Bradley Cooper passed on the starring role of Napoleon Solo. The main sticking point, however, appears to have been budgeting for what was intended to be the first in a series of international spy thrillers.

Garbo the Spy, a true-life documentary tale of espionage during World War II, opened this past week in limited release. The titular "Garbo" was a Spaniard who worked for the Brits while pretending to be a supporter of the Nazis.

The film adaptation of Italian Shoes, based on the novel by Henning Mankell, is getting some serious star power. Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench are in talks to star in the project, with Kenneth Branagh directing.

Director Tarsem Singh (Immortals) has signed on to helm the noir-style fantasy thriller Killing On Carnival Row, which takes place in the future city of Burgue, inhabited by humans, other creatures and a serial killer on the loose.

Bradley Cooper, named the "sexiest man alive" by People magazine for 2011, has several projects in the works including: The Words, a drama thriller set for a 2012 release, where he stars as an aspiring writer who claims another man's work as his own; Outrun, with Cooper as a gang leader; and The Place Beyond the Pines, where Cooper plays a cop-turned-politician opposite Ryan Gosling (who, coincidentally for those keeping track, was a runner-up for "sexiest man").

Walking Dead star Jon Bernthal has joined the cast alongside Susan Sarandon and Dwayne Johnson in the upcoming Ric Roman Waugh-directed Snitch. The movie is about a construction company owner who tries to get his son's prison sentence shortened by becoming a DEA snitch.

Warner Bros. released a new behind-the-scenes featurette ahead of the release of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Woody Harrelson plays a corrupt cop and Vietnam vet in the drama Rampart opening on Wednesday, and the studio has released several teasers, including this latest video.

Here's your first trailer for Gone, the new thriller from director Heitor Dhali. It stars Amanda Seyfried as a young woman who survived being kidnapped and left in a hole to die by a serial killer, only to have her sister go missing, possibly the work of the same killer out for revenge.

TV

David Suchet will star in ITV's final five films based on Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot from novels and stories not yet adapted. Suchet appeared happy with the news, adding: "I'm more than delighted to be reprising my role as Poirot. It's been my life's ambition to bring this amazing canon of works to completion."

More good news for fans of Agatha Christie and their TV adaptations; ITV also commissioned three additional made-for-TV movies starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Jane Marple. A Caribbean Mystery will be filmed during the summer of 2012 to be followed by the filming of Endless Night and The Seven Dials Mystery. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

Canadian TV crime fans can relax. After CityTV canceled the historical crime drama Murdoch Mysteries, the CBC has picked up the series, with production on the sixth season to begin in the spring of 2012.

Elisabeth Shue, nominated for a best-actress Oscar for her role in Leaving Las Vegas, is joining the cast of CSI, taking over the reins of departing actress Marg Helgenberger. Shue's character worked with D.B. Russell (played by Ted Danson) in Seattle.

Film director Paul Greengrass has joined Fox's untitled CIA drama project from writer Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies). The pilot is described as a "high-stakes character-based drama centering on the young assistants of high-ranking officers in the U.S. Intelligence community," and is set within the walls of the CIA, DIA, NSA, FBI and the intelligence components at the White House.

Jeff Eastin (White Collar) has an untitled drama pilot for USA that follows a mash-up of law enforcers from the DEA, FBI and LAPD living together in the same house. The project snagged its first cast member, with Aaron Tveit playing Mike Warren, a freshly minted FBI agent just out of the Academy. (If you think this scenario sounds familiar, re-read the Greengrass project above.)

Melissa Rosenberg (co-executive producer on Dexter) has been tapped by ABC for a U.S. adaptation of Endemol's Dutch crime drama Penoz, about the widow of an assassinated criminal who is suddenly forced to adopt her late husband’s role in order to protect her family. Speaking of Dexter, it was renewed for two more seasons.

FX has decided to take a pass on the pilot Outlaw Country, a combo crime thriller and family drama set against the backdrop of organized crime and royalty in the south.

NBC announced its mid-season schedule last week, and it's bad news for fans of the Prime Suspect reboot, which doesn't appear on the schedule. Fans of Harry's Law and the new paranormal crime drama Grimm can rejoice, however, as those shows have been given full-season pickups. Meanwhile, ABC also announced its mid-season calendar, giving a full order to Body of Proof, starring Dana Delaney, as well as setting the premier date for Missing, with Ashley Judd as a former CIA agent whose son goes missing in Europe.

Did you miss the PBS Masterpiece Mystery miniseries Case Histories, based on the novels of Kate Atkinson? View them online through Decenber 7th.

PODCASTS/RADIO

KUOW radio talked with Dennis Lehane about writing detective novels in the 21st century.

THEATER

The North Coast Repertory Theatre in Eureka, California, is staging Agatha Christie's classic whodunit murder mystery, The Mousetrap, as part of its 28th season.

The Shadowplay Theatre troupe in St. Paul, Minnesota, is devoted to producing mysteries and thrillers, and they're currently staging Dial M for Murder at the Gremlin Theatre as their inaugural production.