Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Keanu Reeves is set to star in New Angeles, from a script written by crime fiction author Gregg Hurwitz. The plot centers on a man whose escapes into virtual reality unveil clues to real-world mysteries that could result in dire consequences for him and his family.

CinemaBlend reported that Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to play Leonardo da Vinci in the movie adaptation of Assassin’s Creed, with Michael Fassbender attached to the leading role of Desmond Miles. The plot finds Fassbender's character "captured by a large corporation and is forced into a machine, named ‘The Animus,’ allowing him to relive the memories of his ancestors … to retrieve powerful and dangerous artifacts."

Sony Pictures Classics bought up North American rights to Giulio Ricciarelli's directorial debut, Labyrinth of Lies, a fact-based thriller that “exposes the conspiracy of certain prominent institutions and government branches to cover up the crimes of Nazis during WWII.”

Saban's Saban Films is closing in on a deal for U.S. rights to Sarik Andreasyan's action thriller American Heist, starring Hayden Christensen and Adrien Brody as two brothers caught up in a high-stakes bank robbery.

Saban also snapped up domestic distribution rights to the art heist film The Forger starring John Travolta about a second-generation thief who "gets out of prison to spend time with his son by taking on a job with his father to pay back a syndicate that arranged his release."

Director Paul Greengrass is in talks to join Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill for a project in development about Richard Jewell, the heroic security guard who discovered a suspicious backpack in the Olympics compound during the 1996 games in Atlanta but was instead called a terrorist.

The Toronto International Film Festival featured a lineup of several documentaries based on "murder and lies," including The Look of Silence, Merchants of Doubt and Tales of the Grim Sleeper.

The first trailer was released for Inherent Vice, based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon and starring Joaquin Phoenix  and Reese Witherspoon.

Crime Fiction Lover compiled a list of the "20 greatest classic crime movies of all time." See if you agree and how many of the films you've seen.

TELEVISION

Fans of Longmire are not happy with A&E over canceling the series after three seasons. Some are even contacting cable companies to ask them to remove A&E from their lineup. Warner Bros. Television has heard the call to find a home for its series and will pitch the drama to both digital and cable outlets.

CBS is teaming with writer Nikki Toscano and Universal TV for the drama Last Hour, an "action-packed, high-stakes, real-time drama is in the vein of 24 with a female twist." That female lead is an FBI agent in the last hour of an operation as she infiltrates the most dangerous criminal organizations in the world.

20th Century Fox and Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment are looking to adapt Dan Brown's techno-thriller Digital Fortress into a TV series. The plot pits an NSA cryptographer against a former NSA employee who is putting the government’s most consequential secrets up for auction.

Shondaland productions and Person of Interest co-executive producer David Slack are teaming up for an ensemble cop drama titled Protect and Survive that center on the last LAPD precinct fighting to hang on in Los Angeles after a massive disaster.

Paramount TV and Mark Wahlberg are developing for TNT a small-screen adaptation of the 2007 conspiracy thriller film Shooter. Wahlberg would play a marksman and former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper coaxed back into action only to be framed for murder and going on the run.

Deadline reported that Portia Doubleday and Carly Chaikin have been cast in USA’s computer hacker pilot Mr. Robot, and Rupert Evans has a lead role in Amazon's pilot The Man In The High Castle, based on Philip K. Dick’s novel.

TNT renewed the Steven Bochco-produced drama Murder in the First for for an additional 10-episode season.

HBO Documentary Films acquired U.S. rights to Nick Broomfield's serial killer documentary Tales of the Grim Sleeper.

Owain Yeoman (The Mentalist) will join the AMC period spy drama Turn as a series regular in season two, playing Benedict Arnold.

Luke Perry is headed to the latest CSI spinoff series, CSI: Cyber, playing a former FBI agent who has ties to Special Agent Avery Ryan's (Patricia Arquette) past.

Greg Ellis will join Season 5 of CBS' Hawaii Five-O for a multi-episode arc, playing an antique book shop owner who Jerry (Jorge Garcia) believes is running a major counterfeiting money operation on O’ahu.

TV Guide posted photos from the new season of Hawaii Five-O, with Grover (Chi McBride) as a full-fledged member of the team and Jerry (Jorge Garcia) promoted to series regular.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Peter May appeared on the Late Late Show Show with Craig Ferguson to talk about his novel The Lewis Man, and Lawrence Block also stopped by to chat with Ferguson and discuss his latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones.

THEATER

The planned off-Broadway run of an American Psycho musical has been canceled because the rights holders, Act 4 Entertainment, decided not to move forward with the off-Broadway production. The New York Times speculated the move came due to Act 4's desire to send the show straight to Broadway.