MOVIES
Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart are set to star in a film about Lizzie Borden. Pieter Van Hees will direct the untitled psychological thriller about the grisly murders of the Borden family, with Sevigny playing Borden, the woman who was infamously tried and acquitted for murdering her father and stepmother with an ax in 1892. Stewart would play the Bordens' live-in maid, Bridget Sullivan, a witness to the family tension who may have been in the home when the murders were committed.
Although there has been no official word from the studio, Sandra Bullock is allegedly set to topline an all-female version of Ocean's 11 with Gary Ross (The Hunger Games) directing, and George Clooney producing. No plot details have been revealed, and it’s not yet clear whether the new Ocean’s Eleven will be a remake or reboot, although there’s a chance Clooney could cameo as Danny Ocean.
Justin Theroux is circling a lead role in director Tate Taylor‘s adaptation of Paula Hawkins' novel The Girl on the Train. Theroux would fill the role previously considered by Chris Evans, playing the ex-husband of Emily Blunt’s character. Jared Leto, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett and Edgar Ramirez round out the cast. Meanwhile, Walt Disney Pictures announced a release date of October 7, 2016 for the picture.
Willem Dafoe has joined the cast of the gritty crime-thriller, Dog Eat Dog, based on the award-winning book of the same name by celebrated author Eddie Bunker and directed by two-time Golden Globe and Palme d’Or nominee and WGA Laurel Award-winner Paul Schrader (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver). The story follows a trio of ex-cons in Los Angeles who are hired for a kidnapping but when the abduction goes awry, find themselves on the run, vowing to stay out of prison at all costs.
The sequel to 2014's John Wick has added to its cast. Common will star the main baddie opposite Keanu Reeves' titular assassin, and Ian McShane will return in his role of Winston, the owner of the infamous Continental Hotel.
Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service) is nearing a deal to join Charlize Theron and James McAvoy in the spy thriller The Coldest City. David Leitch (John Wick) will direct from a script by Kurt Johnstad that follows a spy (Theron) who must find a list of spies a murdered MI6 officer was smuggling into the West.
Last week, I noted that the BBC is arranging for the Sherlock special to air in theaters in China and other selected cinemas around the globe. But Sherlock: The Abominable Bride will also appear on 500 movie screens January 5-6 in the U.S. with 20 minutes of exclusive, additional footage. Details will be announced around November 5.
TELEVISION
Bestselling author Charlaine Harris (of True Blood fame) is working with NBC on a new drama for fall 2016 that will be based on the author's Midnight, Texas, series about a fictitious and creepy town in the Lone Star state. Executive producer David Janollari added that one of the draws is that "All the books have great murders at the center."
Marc Webb (Limitless) has another project in development at CBS, Smoke & Mirrors, written and produced by NCIS: Los Angeles co-executive producer Dave Kalstein. The premise centers on a mysterious detective in the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division, a modern Houdini-like character who uses her knowledge of deception and misdirection to solve seemingly impossible crimes committed by criminal masterminds.
Brian Burns, executive producer of CBS’s Blue Bloods, has sold a script for another police procedural to the network. Tentatively titled 40-Year-Old Rookie, the project centers on a former criminal defense attorney who, in order to clear his conscience and be on the right side of justice, becomes a 40-year-old rookie cop working alongside his son in the same precinct.
In their first writing collaboration since creating Gossip Girl nine years ago, producing partners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are set to write and executive produce the ABC show The Party, which follows a murder investigation told over the course of 24 hours.
Hulu will debut the nine-hour limited series 11.22.63, based on the time-travel novel by Stephen King about the JFK assassination, on Presidents Day, Feb. 15, 2016. J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Bridget Carpenter and Bryan Burk serve as executive producers, with James Franco starring as a high-school history teacher who travels back in time to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The studio also revealed the first teaser photos from the series.
CBS is shaking up its Monday night schedule, thanks to the strong ratings of its recently-premiered Supergirl. Starting next week, for the first time since 1949, CBS won’t offer any comedy on Monday nights and instead offer Supergirl, Scorpion and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Mulder and Scully are going monster-hunting in a new trailer for the revival of Fox’s X-Files.
Fox also released a new trailer for Lucifer, which centers on the devil who retires from Hell and moves to Los Angeles to help the LAPD punish criminals.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
Patricia Cornwell discussed her latest crime thriller Depraved Heart on PBS' Tavis Smiley program.
Robert Galbraith, a/k/a JK Rowling, stopped by NPR to discuss her latest private eye novel. Rowling is also scheduled for a BBC Radio 2 interview today.
CrimeFictionFM welcomed author Jeri Westerson to discuss her new book, the eighth in her Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Mystery series, The Silence of Stones.
A story from EQMM’s Passport to Crime series is featured as this month's podcast from the 'zine. Belgium author Bavo Dhooge's story “Stinking Plaster” appeared in the September/October 2011 issue of EQMM and is read on the podcast by Josh Pachter, who translated the story into English for its publication in EQMM. (Note: if you're at work reading this, be aware that this podcast has auto-start audio.)
THEATER
Misery, the new Broadway suspense thriller based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, began performances Oct. 22 at the Broadhurst Theatre, toplined by Emmy Award winners Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf, as well as Leon Addison Brown. Playbill offered up a "first look" photo from the production.