Media Murder for Monday

Happy Monday! Here's the latest news in crime dramas from around the world on stage and screen:

MOVIES

Sony announced it will be making a sequel to the action thriller The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington as a retired black ops government operative.

The film adaptation of John D. Macdonald's Deep Blue Good-by novel featuring Christian Bale as the salvage hunter/private eye Travis McGhee, has suffered a setback due to a knee injury Bale suffered. Although the project's creative team still want to go forward with the potential franchise, production will be delayed until after its director James Mangold completes Wolverine 3 with Hugh Jackman.

Saban Films is in final negotiations to acquire U.S. rights to the psychological thriller Backtrack, which stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody, Sam Neill and Robin McLeavy in the tale of a troubled psychotherapist (Brody) who uncovers the horrifying secret shared by his patients that leads him to his hometown to solve a decades-old mystery.

Relativity Studios is in final negotiations to pick up Shot Caller, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones). Shot Caller tells the story of a newly released prison gangster forced by leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.

A new trailer is out for Mr. Holmes starring Ian McKellen as an aging version of Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic consulting detective.

The official trailer has been released for Black Mass based on the book Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil's Deal by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill. The project stars Johnny Depp as a creepy Bulger, with a supporting cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Juno Temple, Corey Stoll, Joel Edgerton, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard and Kevin Bacon.

There's also a new trailer for the spy flick Barely Lethal, starring Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) as a teen spy who fakes her own death to leave her secret spy agency and attempt to enjoy a normal teenage life only to have her plans thwarted when her old life catches up with her in the form of enemy agent Jessica Alba and rival spy Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones).  

TELEVISION

The U.K.-based production company SLAM TV (headed by actors Stephen Mangan and Andrew Lincoln) have acquired the option to develop a TV series based on the Maisie Dobbs historical mysteries by Jacqueline Winspear. The literary adventures of psychologist/investigator Maisie Dobbs have taken readers from the battlefields of the Great War to the chaos of 1937 Spain.

The Bookseller reported that two new TV dramas based on UK author Mark Billingham’s crime fiction are in the works at the BBC. The first is to be based on Billingham’s 2008 novel, In the Dark and the second on his new novel Time of Death. 

Frank Langella is set to return for Season 4 of the FX network's Cold War drama The Americans, reprising his role as Gabriel, the mysterious KGB handler of spies Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell).

HBO released a True Detective teaser poster and hints for Season 2, in which a bizarre murder will cause three law-enforcement officers (Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch) to cross paths with a career criminal, played by Vince Vaughn.

PODCASTS/RADIO/VIDEO

The Amaaon Kindle "Most Wanted Presents Masters Series" recently featured Max Allan Collins talking about his journey from reading classic detective fiction to becoming a bestselling author.

NPR's Maureen Corrigan revisited a "suburbia-gone-sour" in Ross Macdonald's crime fiction.

Hosts Jan Burke and D.P. Lyle welcomed Investigative Journalist Hank Phillippi Ryan on the latest Crime and Science Radio podcast.

NPR profiled the book Pleasantville, a novel by African-American author Attica Locke, who is also known for her work on the TV series Empire.

Minnesota Public Radio took a look at "Literary mysteries: Who is behind that pen name?"

THEATER

Two central Florida theatrical troupes are performing different plays based on Agatha Christie novels. The Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in Sanford is presenting Christie's stage adaptation of And Then There Were None, while the Melon Patch Players in Leesburg are presenting A Murder Is Announced, with both plays opening May 1.