It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:
THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES
Studiocanal and Blumhouse are teaming up for a remake of The Bedroom Window, the 1987 thriller that starred Steve Guttenberg and Elizabeth McGovern and launched the star of Curtis Hanson, the late writer/director who went on to helm hits including L.A. Confidential and Wonder Boys. Based on the Anne Holden novel, The Witnesses, the original film follows a man who beds his boss’ wife, but during the tryst, she observes from his bedroom window a violent attack on a young woman. He goes to the police on his lover’s behalf to report a crime he didn’t actually witness and becomes a suspect and potential target for the attacker.
Lionsgate and Deon Taylor are set to reteam for Taylor’s latest project, Free Agents, a crime drama set in the world of professional athletes. The announcement comes just weeks after the studio acquired Taylor’s psychological thriller, Fatale (starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy). Taylor will direct Free Agents from a script he co-wrote with Joe Bockol, which centers on a group of pro football players who turn to crime to get back at the owners who are exploiting and underpaying them.
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is returning to theaters in North America with 10 minutes of new footage as it readies its Oscar run this awards season. The film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie will expand to over 1,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada with footage from four separate scenes not included in the original theatrical version.
Mindhunter star Holt McCallany has been cast as a lead opposite Jason Statham in Cash Truck, a revenge-based action thriller that writer/director Guy Ritchie is basing on the 2004 French film, Le Convoyeur. Statham stars as H, a cold and mysterious character working at a cash-truck company responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week. Weaving through a carefully constructed narrative, the film shifts across timelines and among various characters’ perspectives. McCallany will play Bullet, who leads the transportation team and brings aboard H, who might not be who he says he is.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
Hugh Laurie (The Night Manager, House) is developing a script for a TV adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's novels, but there is some mystery as to which of the Queen of Crime's books he is adapting, nor has he yet been attached to star. The project is being adapted for the BBC through ITV-owned producer Mammoth Screen, which has made several successful Christie adaptations for the BBC (aired on Amazon in the U.S.). Up next for the team is The Pale Horse, adapted by BAFTA-nominated Sarah Phelps, who won acclaim for her earlier TV version of the Christie classic, And Then There Were None.
The Crown producer Left Bank is developing a TV adaptation of Paul Sussman’s archeological thriller novels, The Khalifa Mysteries, and has tapped screenwriter Simon Allen, who has written on series including The Watch, Strike Back, and The Musketeers. The books have been described as the "intelligent reader’s answer to The Da Vinci Code" and mix modern-day police procedurals with archaeological mysteries.
Michael Mann will direct the pilot episode of Tokyo Vice, the crime drama series set to premiere on HBO’s forthcoming streaming platform HBO Max. In addition to serving as executive producer, Mann will also potentially direct further episodes of the show starring Ken Watanabe and Ansel Elgort, which is set to begin filming in February of 2020. Tokyo Vice is based on the nonfiction memoirs of Jake Adelstein (Elgort), a journalist who embedded himself with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police to sniff out corruption.
NBC has handed a put pilot commitment to the thriller drama, The Mother-In-Law, based on Sally Hepworth’s novel and shepherded by The Path creator Jessica Goldberg and Amy Poehler's production company. Written by Goldberg, The Mother-In-Law is centered around a woman’s complicated relationship with her husband’s family that ends in death and is described as "a gripping mystery that explores motherhood, class, race and how dangerous family secrets can be."
Fox has given a put pilot commitment to Chain of Command, a one-hour drama from writer April Fitzsimmons (Doom Patrol, Valor), Jamie Lee Curtis, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros TV. Written by Fitzsimmons from a story by Fitzsimmons and Curtis, Chain of Command revolves around a young Air Force investigator with radical crime-solving methodology who returns to her hometown to join a military task force that doesn’t want her, a family who has traumatized her, and must confront the secrets that drove her away.
The CW has picked up nine additional episodes of both of its new fall series, Batwoman and Nancy Drew, bringing both series to full-season orders with 22 episodes each. In Nancy Drew, Kennedy McMann stars as the brilliant teenage detective whose sense of self had come from solving mysteries in her hometown of Horseshoe Bay, Maine – until her mother’s untimely death derails her college plans and she finds herself a prime suspect in a crime.
Arrested Development star Alia Shawkat has been cast in FX’s The Old Man, joining previously announced cast members Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and Amy Brenneman. Based on Thomas Perry’s bestselling novel of the same name, The Old Man follows Dan Chase (Bridges), who absconded from the CIA decades ago and has been living off the grid since. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past. Shawkat will play Angela, described as a rising star at the FBI and a protégé to Deputy Director Harold Harper (Lithgow). Assigned to the pursuit of the fugitive Chase, Angela is swept into a world of buried secrets and hidden agendas that will put her relationship with Harper to the test.
The Oath's Cory Hardrict has been cast in a recurring role opposite Alex Russell in Season 3 of CBS’ police drama series S.W.A.T. Hardrict will play Nate, Jim’s estranged brother who reconnects with Street when a case brings them back together. Inspired by the 1970s television series and 2003 feature film, S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore as the locally born-and-raised sergeant tasked with running a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Jay Harrington, Lina Esco, Kenny Johnson, David Lim and Patrick St. Esprit also star.
Rafe Spall and Anne-Marie Duff have been cast in BBC Two’s dramatization of the Novichok poisonings in the historic British city of Salisbury in March 2018. Also joining the cast are Game Of Thrones actor Mark Addy and Ripper Street's MyAnna Buring, as well as Annabel Scholey and Johnny Harris. Written by McMafia writers Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn, the three-part miniseries will tell the story of how ordinary people reacted as their city became the focus of a national emergency when Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned by Russian operatives.
Minority Report alumna Meagan Good has been tapped for a key recurring role opposite Tom Payne, Michael Sheen, and Bellamy Young in Fox’s new drama, Prodigal Son. The series centers on criminal psychologist Malcolm Bright (Payne), who has a gift. He knows how killers think and how their minds work because his father Martin Whitly (Sheen) was one of the worst — a notorious serial killer called "The Surgeon."
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
A new episode of Mysteryrat's Maze podcast is up featuring the first chapter of the thriller, The Society, by C.G. Abbot (a/k/a Avery Daniels) as read by actor Ariel Linn. This one has a supernatural twist to it making it another episode perfect for your Halloween listening!
International and New York Times bestselling author, Tess Gerritsen, dropped by The Writer Files to chat about the role of luck in finding success as a writer; where she draws inspiration for her thrillers; her love-hate relationship with writing for the screen; and her unique creative process.
Author Stories welcomed Karen White to talk about her new Christmas mystery, The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street.
Wrong Place, Write Crime host chatted with Debbi Mack to discuss her Sam McRae mysteries.
The latest guest on Debbi Mack's own Crime Cafe podcast this week was lawyer-turned-writer Richard T. Cahill.
Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham talked about Stephen King's writers' retreat, got confirmation on Tana French being the best living mystery writer, and more.
Suspense Radio's Beyond the Cover spoke with Sandra Brown, author of over 70 bestselling books, whose latest is Outfox.
On the latest Spybrary podcast, host Shane Whaley interviewed the writer and director of the short spy film, The Dry Cleaner Movie.
On Criminal Mischief Episode #30, host Dr. DP Lyle talked about "Evidence."
The Writer's Detective Bureau, hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on the topic of burglary investigations.
It Was A Dark and Stormy Book Club interviewed authors who will be attending HallowRead, including Susan Viemeister (the Parker Williams and Bealtown Mystery Series); Bryan Nowak (The Dramatic Dead); and Melissa Caribou Annen (the Agent Raines series).
THEATER
Fresh from his Emmy-winning TV performance as serial killer Andrew Cunanan, Darren Criss will join the previously announced Laurence Fishburne and Sam Rockwell in the upcoming revival of David Mamet’s American Buffalo. Criss will play Bobby, the youngest in the play’s triumvirate of small-time hustlers looking to make a big score; Fishburne will play the character Donny; and Rockwell will play Teach. American Buffalo will begin previews on March 24, 2020, at the Circle in the Square Theatre, with an official opening on Tuesday, April 14.
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