Welcome to Monday and a new edition of the latest crime drama news:
MOVIES
Phil Lord and Chris Miller are set to direct the adaptation of Martian writer Andy Weir's upcoming book Artemis. The novel (to be released in November) is a near-future thriller that follows directionless 20-something Jazz, chafing at the constraints of her small town, Artemis, which so happens to be the first and only city on the moon. A budding smuggler, Jazz unwittingly finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy for the control of her hometown. Publisher Crown describes Artemis as "an adrenaline-charged crime caper that features smart, detailed world-building based on real science."
Jude Law is in talks to join Blake Lively in the female spy thriller The Rhythm Section. Reed Morano in on board to direct the first film in what could become a franchise, with James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli spearheading the project. The Rhythm Section is being adapted from Mark Burnell’s series about character Stephanie Patrick — a woman who turns into an assassin to avenge the loss of her family in a mysterious plane crash.
Kristen Stewart is being eyed for the latest Charlie’s Angels reboot, playing one of the members of the iconic female private detective agency. Stewart’s is not the only name being considered, with other names, such as Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o, also in talks to join the project. Elizabeth Banks, who helmed Pitch Perfect 2, is directing the film, which is slated for a summer 2019 release.
Crispin Glover has joined the cast that includes Nina Dobrev, Luke Bracey, and Michael Madsen in Roger Avary’s feature film Lucky Day. Glover will play Luc, an utterly psychopathic contract killer who is out to avenge the death of his brother, accidentally killed by American safe-cracker Red (Bracey) during a job gone wrong.
The Boston Film Festival closed out its 33rd annual event with six awards to Sir John Hurt’s final film, the political thriller Damascus Cover. It took home honors for Best Film, Best Director (Daniel Berk), Best Actor (Johnathan Rhys Meyers), Best Actress (Olivia Thirlby), Best Cinematography (Chloe Thompson) and Best Ensemble Cast. The true-life spy thriller was shot in Casablanca and stars Rhys Meyers as an undercover agent sent to Syria in 1989 to smuggle a chemical weapons scientist and his family out of Damascus. Produced by the UK’s Big Book Media, the film is based on the best-selling 1977 novel by Howard Kaplan.
Lionsgate Premiere has just released the first trailer for Gotti, the new feature film about the mob boss with John Travolta playing the title role, Entourage star Kevin Connolly directing, and Kelly Preston and Stacy Keach as co-stars.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
John Grisham’s bestselling 1997 legal thriller novel The Partner is headed to television as a drama series project at Fox from writer Jon Cowan (Suits, Private Practice), Davis Entertainment (The Blacklist) and Sony Pictures TV Studios. The Partner is a David vs. Goliath story focused on Patrick Lanigan, a betrayed lawyer who stole money from his own firm, evaded men who would stop at nothing to find him, but now is coming home where an extraordinary trial is about to begin - because Lanigan, the most reviled white-collar criminal of his time, knows something that no one else in the world knows ... the truth.
BBC One has given the greenlight to an eight-part crime drama The Dublin Murders, based on Tana French’s award-winning series of mysteries. Sarah Phelps, who recently reimagined several Agatha Christie novels for the BBC, will adapt the first two books about the fictional Dublin Murder Squad, drawn from French’s In The Woods and The Likeness. Blending psychological mystery and darkness, each novel is led by a different detective or detectives from the same Dublin squad
Fox has given a script commitment plus penalty to The Nice Girls, a contemporary female take on the Joel Silver-produced 2016 feature film The Nice Guys, which starred Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe and was co-written and directed by Silver’s frequent collaborator Shane Black. Set in 1977 Los Angeles, The Nice Guys revolves around two very different PIs (Gosling and Crowe) who are forced to team up on a case.
BBC Worldwide and Amazon Prime Video have brokered a deal for the international organized crime thriller McMafia, which will see the streaming service premiere the series in over 200 countries excluding North America, the UK and China next year. AMC had previously closed a co-production pact and has rights in North America to the eight-part drama that stars James Norton and is inspired by the best-selling non-fiction book by Misha Glenny. It tells the story of Alex Godman (Norton), an English-raised son of Russian exiles with a mafia history, who has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of that criminal background. As he starts building his own legitimate business and forging a life with his girlfriend Rebecca (Juliet Rylance), his family’s past murderously returns to threaten them and Alex is forced to confront his values to protect those he loves.
Pretty Little Liars creator Marlene King is teaming up again with star Shay Mitchell for the ABC drama The Heiress. The series is described as a family soap with a mystery twist, set in the diamond world.
Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr., Psych alum Corbin Bernsen, and Dice star Andrew Dice Clay are set for recurring roles in the upcoming third season of SundanceTV’s critically-praised anthology series Hap & Leonard. Based on Joe R. Lansdale’s popular book series, Hap & Leonard follows two lifelong best friends turned crimefighters, Hap Collins (James Purefoy), an East Texas white boy with a weakness for Southern women, and Leonard Pine (Michael K. Williams), a gay, black Vietnam vet with a hot temper. Season 3 is based on the third installment of Lansdale’s series, The Two-Bear Mambo, and is set for premiere in early 2018.
Matthew Del Negro (Scandal) has signed on for a key recurring role in the upcoming second season of Amazon’s original drama series Goliath. Del Negro will play Danny Loomis, a charismatic yet devious political operator and consiglieri to the city’s power elite under the guise of being a "financial analyst." The series’ cast is led by Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo), who in January won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series for Goliath’s first season.
Nicole Kang has booked a recurring role in Lifetime’s straight-to-series psychological thriller drama You, from Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble. Written by Berlanti and Gamble based on Caroline Kepnes’ best-selling novel, You is described as a 21st century obsessive love story that asks, “What would you do for love?”
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
Two Crime Writers and a Microphone hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste welcomed Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers to review novels from Jenny Blackhurst and Gillian McAllister and also featured guest author Abir Mukherjee to talk about his books, gaining the kudos of of literary heroes, being an accountant, and his road to becoming a writer.
T. Jefferson Parker, the bestselling author of 23 novels, including Edgar Award-winners Silent Joe and California Girl, joined Crime Corner with Matt Coyle to discuss his new book war, The Room of White Fire featuring private investigator Rolan Ford.
Bookriot's Read or Dead podcast discussed the Miss Fisher film Kickstarter and the updated adaptation news for the Bill Clinton/James Patterson thriller, The President is Missing.
THEATER
Agatha Christie's classic whodunit And Then There Were None opens October 6 at Three Brothers Theatre Upstage in Chicagoland, with a twitst: the producers have alternate endings. Audience goers won't know what ending it's going to be until they get to it. Plus, the audience will see portraits of the characters in the play on the walls before the show and can vote for who they think is the villain.
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