Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Sony has lined up Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn to pen the latest incarnation of the Charlie's Angels franchise, to be directed by Elizabeth Banks. It might seem an odd choice to tackle a franchise that began as a TV showcase for bikini-clad detectives in the 1970s, but the move is strategic on the part of Sony and Banks, who are seeking rich, fully developed characters and not just pretty faces plugged into action, or as Hollywood Reporter put it, "less ass, more class."

Chris Evans (Captain America) has signed on to play the lead role of Tom Jackman in Jekyll, the feature that Lionsgate is developing from the 2007 BBC One series by Steven Moffat. The film version is being penned by The Nice Guys writing duo Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry and is a modern update of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale about a man with split personalities who struggles to keep his murderous alter ego under control while eluding a covert organization wanting to use Mr. Hyde for their own nefarious purposes.

Pierce Brosnan has come aboard Final Score, written by the brothers Lynch and Jonathan Frank, which takes place at a major sporting event when a stadium is suddenly seized by a group of heavily armed criminals demanding ransom.  An ex-soldier must use all his military skills to save the 35,000 capacity crowd, including the daughter of his fallen comrade.

Academy Award-nominated actress Rosamund Pike and Golden Globe-nominated actor Daniel Bruhl are in talks to join the terror drama Entebbe. Based on a true story, the film centers on Operation Entebbe and the hijacking of a Paris-bound airplane by terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells. Pike and Bruhl are set to play the German hijackers. 

Last year, it was announced that a Jonny Quest feature film adaptation was finally being made and now it seems some notable A-list actors are being looked at to play Race Bannon, the titular protagonist's bodyguard, including Idris Elba, Bradley Cooper, and Will Smith. The cinematic version of Race is reportedly a government agent who is a mix of Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne, and the movie will show his first meeting with the Quest family. Along with the actors, Joe Cornish, Justin Lin and Scott Derrickson were also mentioned as directors who've been looked at or discussed the project.

TELEVISION

The Revolutionary War-set spy series Turn was renewed by AMC for a fourth season. That's the good news; the bad news is that it will be the show's final season. The drama is based on Alexander Rose's book Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring and stars Jamie Bell, Seth Numrich, and Daniel as members of the Culper Ring, a band of civilians who turned against their British king and helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War.  

Elizabeth Marvel (House Of Cards) has been cast in the high profile role of President-Elect Elizabeth Keane on the upcoming sixth season of Showtime’s flagship drama series Homeland. Season 6 will chronicle the events following the U.S. presidential election, with the entire season taking place between election day and the inauguration. (Homeland is likely to debut just before the actual 2017 Presidential Inauguration).

Speaking of things presidential, or at least, vice-presidential, Joe Biden is scheduled to make an appearance on Law & Order:SVU playing himself. Biden, who famously was a driving force behind 1994's Violence Against Women Act, has made raising awareness about sexual assault one of his main causes the last few years.

ABC announced that Timothy Hutton will be returning for the third season of American Crime. He'll rejoin other returning cast members Felicity Huffman, Regina King and Richard Cabral, who all previously committed to the award-winning drama's next installment.

Fans of Zoe McLellan's Special Agent Meredith "Merri" Brody on NCIS: New Orleans aren't as lucky, however, as CBS announced that McLellan won't be returning for season 3 of the series. The reason for McLellan’s exit was a creative decision, seeing as her character had been compromised in the Season 2 finale due to her association with a Homeland Security agent who turned out to be a misguided zealot. Her exit clears for way for a new FBI special agent, (previously announced new series regular Vanessa Ferlito) to look into concerns about Agent Pride’s NCIS team.

Revenge alum Henry Czerny, who appeared in Quantico's season 1 finale as a guest star, is returning to the hit ABC drama series in a major recurring role. Czerny plays Matthew Keyes, the CIA operative who approached and tried to entice Alex Parrish (Priyanka Chopra) to leave the FBI and join the CIA. In addition to Chopra, Czerny joins series stars Jake McLaughlin, Aunjanue Ellis, Yasmine Al Massri, Johanna Braddy, Blair Underwood, and Russell Tovey.

Tristin Mays (The Vampire Diaries) has signed on as a series regular opposite Lucas Till and George Eads in CBS’ new fall series MacGyver, a reimagining of the 1985 show about a resourceful and ingenious agent who improvises his way out of sticky situations using everyday items like rubber bands, chewing gum and a Swiss Army knife.

The long-running Law & Order: SVU is bringing E.T. star Henry Thomas and The Practice alum Kelli Williams on board to guest-star in an episode inspired by Making a Murderer. Thomas will portray a convicted rapist recently exonerated due to newly tested DNA evidence after 16 years in prison. Williams will play Melanie, the rape victim who identified him as her attacker.

The first trailer for Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency premiered at the recent ComicCon. Samuel Barnett plays the unconventional detective and Elijah Wood his sidekick, as the duo tackle one big metaphysical mystery per season.

A trailer was released for Startup, the upcoming drama on the Crackle network starring Adam Brody, Edi Gathegi, Martin Freeman, and Otmara Marrero. The plot centers on a desperate banker needs to conceal stolen money, a Haitian-American gang lord who wants to go legit, and a Cuban-American hacker who has an idea that will revolutionize the very future of money itself as they create organized crime 2.0.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Walter Mosley chatted with NPR about his most popular crime fiction series starring Easy Rawlins and being chosen as the 2016 grand master of the Mystery Writers of America.