Welcome to a new week and a new roundup of crime drama news:
MOVIES
Feature film rights to David Grann's true crime book, The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI, were snapped up last year after a bidding war for $5 million by Imperative Entertainment, and now the producers are in talks to bring Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro on board. The book follows the aftermath of an oil discovery on Osage Indian tribal lands in Oklahoma, which led to conspiracy, greed, and murder among the tribe that caused the federal government to step in. It also chronicles the rise of J. Edgar Hoover, who led the investigation into the murders and ended up making a name for himself.
Smart House, a new techno-thriller from James Wan, is being developed by Lionsgate, with Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) on board to direct from a script by Brad Keene (The Grudge 3). Based on an original idea by Wan, Smart House follows a family in the witness protection program who are placed in the custody of a state-of-the-art, autonomous "smart house." When a group of assassins locates the family, the house goes into lethal defense mode to protect them.
Clint Eastwood is set to direct a drama based on the book The 15:17 To Paris: The True Story Of A Terrorist, A Train, And Three American Heroes. The book was written by Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone, and Jeffrey E. Stern and is based on the 2015 real-life incident when an ISIS terrorist boarded a train from Brussels to Paris armed with an AK-47 and enough ammo to kill more than 500 people. The terrorist might have succeeded except for three American friends who refused to give in to fear.
The first trailer was released for American Assassin, based on the novel by Vince Flynn. The film stars Dylan O’Brien as Mitch Rapp, a man recruited by the CIA after terrorists kill his fiancée, into a black ops mission aimed at stopping World War III in the Middle East. Michael Keaton also stars as a Cold War veteran who would be the most feared training officer in the CIA if more than a handful of people at the agency actually knew of his existence.
A new trailer was released for The Beguiled, Sofia Coppola’s screenplay adaptation of Thomas Cullinan’s novel of the same name, which will screen in competition at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The Beguiled stars Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Kirsten Dunst, and Colin Ferrell in the atmospheric thriller set during the Civil War at a Southern girls’ boarding school where its sheltered young women take in an injured enemy soldier. As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, "the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events."
TELEVISION
Last Monday, I noted that although a new limited X-Files series wasn't in the works yet, a new audiobook release would help pacify fans. Later that week, Fox announced that yes, there is going to be another "event series," this time expanded slightly to ten episodes. Stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have been confirmed to appear in the new season, which will be helmed by series creator and original executive producer, Chris Carter, and air during the 2017-18 television season.
Lifetime has given a straight-to-series 10-episode order to the romantic thriller You, based on Caroline Kepnes’ best-selling 2014 novel. The work is described as a 21st century love story that asks, "What would you do for love?" When a brilliant bookstore manager crosses paths with an aspiring writer, his answer becomes clear: anything. Using the internet and social media as his tools to gather the most intimate of details and get close to her, a charming and awkward crush quickly becomes obsession as he quietly and strategically removes every obstacle, and person, in his way.
TNT’s upcoming straight-to-series drama The Alienist, which has been filming in Europe, is making a casting change midstream with Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker) stepping in to co-star as Teddy Roosevelt, replacing Sean Astin who originally was cast in the role. "Unfortunately because of scheduling difficulties, Sean Astin will no longer play the role," TNT said in a statement. The psychological thriller drama is set in 1896, when a series of gruesome murders of boy prostitutes has gripped the city. Newly appointed top cop Roosevelt (Geraghty) calls upon Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl), a criminal psychologist — aka alienist — and newspaper illustrator John Moore (Luke Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret.
Producer and Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein has optioned TV rights to the new book by Detroit author and Kresge literary fellow Stephen Mack Jones. Weinstein, a fan of crime fiction who named his son after detective story author Dashiell Hammett, came across a blurb describing Jones' book, August Snow, when it was published in February. The book's protagonist is a half-black, half-Latino ex-cop and private detective working in Detroit named August Snow who testified against a crooked mayor and corrupt police officers and is adjusting to a Motor City that’s both gentrifying and decaying. Weinstein isn't alone in his interest, however, as there are other offers to adapt the book on the table.
Niels Arden Oplev, who directed the pilot for USA’s Mr. Robot, has been tapped to direct and executive produce the TNT hourlong pilot The Deep Mad Dark, an atmospheric mystery-thriller about the complexities of friendship. The story centers on Detroit neurosurgeon Polly Lewis who embarks on an unorthodox study in the field of memory and trauma. Her once closest friend – the irreverent, brilliant Tash Hollander – comes home after living many years in a strange, off-the-grid community in Belize and insinuates herself into Polly’s life in ways that threaten everything Polly has achieved.
Crackle announced it had greenlighted the techno-thriller movie In The Cloud and is also developing the 10-episode seies The Oath, written and created by former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy Joe Halpin and centering on a gang whose members turn on each other after being picked off by the FBI. Other projects under development include RPM, a "high-octane" drama set in the working-class streets of Boston’s most corrupt neighborhoods where a used-car salesman moonlights as a getaway driver for a Boston crime syndicate.
Jerry Ferrara, Jesse Bradford, and Todd Lowe will join USA Network’s Ryan Phillippe-starrer Shooter as recurring characters. Beverly D’Angelo will also return as Patricia Gregson, steely-eyed National Security Advisor to the President, when the show returns for its second season July 18.
RADIO/PODCASTS/VIDEO
The Writer Types podcast showcased four different crime fiction authors, Sara Paretsky, William Kent Krueger, Lori-Rader Day, Marcus Sakey, and Sean Chercover.
Inside Thrill Radio host Jenny Milchman welcomed Matt Coyle, David McCaleb, Nadine Nettmann, and Lili Wright for a program titled "Win, Lose, or Draw."
Haunted NIghts Live was joined by Ridley Pearson, a New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels. Ridley was also awarded The Raymond Chandler Fulbright fellowship in detective fiction from Oxford University in 1990, was an Edgar Award nominee, and was admitted to the Missouri Writer Hall of Fame in 2013.
Two Crime Writers and a Microphone hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste featured Miranda Dickinson, talking about genre, crossovers between romance and crime, and her publishing journey.
Sasscer Hill stopped by Authors on the Air Radio to chat about her new series featuring Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau agent "Fia McKee," and the AAR podcast also welcomed two time Edgar Award & Dagger Award shortlisted crime novelist, Adrian McKinty, Macavity Award finalist Jennifer Kincheloe, and Kate White (The Secrets You Keep).
THEATER
Captain America star Chris Evans will make his Broadway debut at Second Stage in spring 2018 in a revival of Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan’s 2001 play Lobby Hero opposite Michael Cera. Trip Cullman will direct the project, which is set in the lobby of a Manhattan apartment building where an ambitious young security guard clashes with a stern boss, an intense rookie cop, and her unpredictable partner.
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