Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn is jumping into the action thriller genre in a movie called Prone Gunman. Adapted from Jean-Patrick Manchette's book, the film centers on Martin Terrier, an international operative betrayed by his own organization, who goes on the run in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. As Hollywood Reporter notes, Penn may be looking at this as a potential action-film franchise.

The Wrap reports (via Dark Horizons) that two James Bond actors are in talks to join a John le Carré adaptation. Casino Royale villain Mads Mikkelsen and Skyfall's Ralph Fiennes may come aboard Justin Kurzel's Our Kind of Traitor, adapted from le Carré's most recent novel. According to reports, Mikkelsen is up for the "potentially show-stealing role of larger-than-life Russian gangster Dima, and Fiennes for British spymaster Hector."

Dark Knight Rises actor Tom Hardy has signed on to play Sam Fisher in the film adaptation of a popular video game based on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Hardy's character is a highly-trained special operative in a fictional black-ops operation called Echelon.

Liam Neeson is in talks to join the cast of The All Nighter, playing a hitman who turns on his boss to protect his wife and child, and then must go on the run from both the mob and the cops. The thriller is based on a script written by Brad Ingelsby (who also wrote the upcoming Scott Cooper film Out of the Furnace). 

Cinemablend has a trailer for the upcoming female buddy-cop movie The Heat, featuring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

TV

The good news just keeps coming for author Jo Nesbo. Several of his books have already been adapted for the big screen, and now House executive producer Katie Jacobs has teamed with Nesbo for a new NBC drama based on his book I Am Victor. The potential series centers on a maverick divorce attorney, with White Collar's Mark Goffman penning the pilot.

The CW is developing Jane Whitefield, a drama project based on the Vanishing Act book series by Thomas Perry about a quirky young woman in search of her biological parents and her own identity, who runs a private investigation/"eraser" company in Portland. The pilot is being produced by Carol Mendelsohn (CSI) and written by Natalie Chaidez. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News and Crimespree)

Fresh off its wildly successful miniseries The Hatfields and McCoys, the History Channel is developing Texas Rising, a miniseries about the formation and rise of the Texas Rangers, the oldest law enforcement organization in North America.

CBS is giving its freshman Sherlock Holmes drama Elementary two extra episodes for a 24-episode season, but is trimming Vegas' order by one, from 22 to 21 episodes.

Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot about a secret intelligence organization has added two agents, played by Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker.

Crimespree also notes that USA has signed Bryan Greenberg and Stephanie Sigman to star in its pilot for a series based on the Elmore Leonard story "When the Women Come Out to Dance."

The original Hawaii Five-0 series included an episode featuring Hookman, a character who loses his hands and goes after the police officers he feels are responsible for his misfortune. The series reboot will do another take on that story and character, with Peter Weller (Robocop) serving as both director and villain of the episode.

Scream star Matthew Lillard has joined FX pilot The Bridge, based on a Scandinavian crime drama. The American pilot stars Diane Kruger (Inglorious Bastards) and Demian Bichir (Savages) as two cops who team up to track down a killer operating in the U.S. and Mexico.

Investigation Discovery is bringing back Deadly Affairs for a second season. The docu-drama features Susan Lucci hosting the series based on true-crime stories about relationships, sex, revenge and murder.

Nip/Tuck star Dylan Walsh is joining the cast of Revenge in a multiple-episode arc playing a new rival for Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny).

MTV is is developing a mystery drama adapted from the young adult romantic thriller Blackwood by Gwenda Bond. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

ABC has cancelled two of its new fall season series: the paranormal 666 Park Avenue and Last Resort, featuring the very talented Andre Braugher, who we hope will find a new TV home soon.

Law & Order: UK has added two new cast members. Paterson Joseph play DI Wes Leyton, the replacement for Harriet Walter's DI Natalie Chandler, and Georgia Taylor will protray a defense barrister-turned-Crown Prosecutor.

BBC One has cancelled its spy drama Hunted that starred Melissa George as the spy Sam Hunter, saying that "It hasn't found the mainstream audience it was hoped." However, Cinemax is working with series creator Frank Spotnitz on a new incarnation of the show.

PODCASTS/VIDEO

Elaine Viets spoke with St. Louis Public Radio about her former days as a columnist for the St. Louis Post Dispatch and her mystery novels featuring St. Louis mystery shopper Josie Marcus.

Best-selling Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin joined Neil Mitchell on Melbourne, Australia's 3AW 693 News Talk for a chat about, among other things, the return of his iconic character Rebus.

Pulp Serenade posted a clip of a conversation between Lawrence Block and Duane Swierczynski during NoirCon 2012.

Mystery author Chris Redding will drop by Blog Talk Radio tomorrow to talk about her new book (and its timing with Hurricane Sandy), titled Any Port in a Storm, which is set in the New Jersey beaches.

THEATER

New York Stage and Film's Annual Winter Gala will be held Dec. 9 at The Plaza Hotel and will honor Tony Award-winning producer Roger Horchow (Annie) and Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Tony Shalhoub (Monk).

Theresa Rebeck's dark comedy Dead Accounts about "famlies and felonies" began Broadway previews November 5th. It stars Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz, as a prodigal son and con man who returns home to his Ohio family, and Katie Holmes as the skeptical sister who awaits him.

Scooby-Doo Live! Musical Mysteries is a new touring musical theatre show based on the popular TV franchise from the 70s and still seen on Cartoon Network. The show features Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang, who lead the audience "on a hilarious hunt to find a sneaky ghost who enjoys haunting an old theater." The tour starts in January 2013 in York, Pennsylvania and winds its way through various states and Canada through June.

GAMES/COMICS

DC Comics previewed its adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel Girl With the Dragon Tattoo via a 30-second TV spot. The comic features the artwork of Leonardo Marco and Andrea Mutti.

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