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
Robocop Returns has landed director Abe Forsythe (Little Monsters), who takes over from Neil Blomkamp after he exited the project in August. The film is being developed as a direct sequel to the original 1987 movie, and the original film's screenwriters, Ed Neumier and Michael Miner will be producing. The original Robocop (directed by Paul Verhoeven) centered on a police officer who, on death’s doorstep, is used as an experiment to create a new type of half man, half machine officer who struggles with resurfacing memories and corrupt city officials.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley has added Holt McCallany (Mindhunters) to the Fox Searchlight film's cast of Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, and Willem Defoe. Based on William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel, the project revolves around an ex-carnival con-man turned spiritualist (Cooper), who teams up with a female psychiatrist to scoop cash out of the wallets and lives of their wealthy marks with some less than holy moves – until things take a sour turn. McCallany will play Anderson, a get-the-job-done bruiser with more going on that is first apparent from his tough guy persona.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
NBC has put in development Escape, an action thriller drama based on the 2015 Russian series Quest, from Lucifer executive producer Jason Ning. In the story written by Ning, six complete strangers wake up on the roof of a building in San Francisco and are told they have 36 hours to live unless they can solve a series of deadly games set throughout the city.
ITV-owned producer Big Talk and British writer Sean Conway (Ray Donovan) are working on a drama adaptation of Tade Thompson’s African noir novel, Making Wolf (to be published in May 2020). The book tells the story of Weston Kogi, a London security guard who returns to his West African home country and thinks telling people he works as a homicide detective is harmless hyperbole. However, he is kidnapped and forced by two separate rebel factions to investigate the murder of a local hero, Papa Busi. Solving the crime may tip a country on the brink into civil war and cost Weston his life.
Harrison Ford is headed for the first regular television role of his career. The star of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark is attached to star in a series adaptation of The Staircase, detailing the trial of American novelist Michael Peterson, who was accused of murdering his wife in 2001. Peterson claimed his wife died after falling down the stairs at their home, but police suspected he bludgeoned her to death and staged the scene to look like an accident. The project is currently being shopped to networks and streaming services.
Yorgos Lanthimos is set to direct an adaptation of The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, in development at Fox Searchlight Television. Based on the best-selling book by Mark Seal, the limited series will tell the true story of Clark Rockefeller, a gregarious, successful, and mysterious descendant of the Rockefeller clan. When his wife Sandra begins to suspect that Clark isn’t who he says he is, his decades-long web of deception slowly begins to unravel.
Dr. Who and Good Omens star, David Tennant, is to play infamous Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen in the three-part ITV drama, Des. The project is based on the Brian Masters book, Killing For Company, in which the author cooperated with Nilsen to get inside the mind of a man who murdered at least 15 men and boys between 1978 and 1983 (Nilsen died in jail last year.) Joining Tennant is The Crown star Jason Watkins, who will play Masters, and Line Of Duty actor Daniel Mays, who features as Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay.
Trainspotting and Broadwalk Empire actress, Kelly Macdonald, is to play the police officer suspected of corruption in season six of BBC One’s smash-hit crime drama, Line Of Duty. Macdonald will star as Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson, who draws the attention of anti-corruption unit AC-12 for her unconventional conduct during the investigation of an unsolved murder. Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar will return as the AC-12 officers investigating Macdonald’s character.
Quibi’s untitled action thriller starring Liam Hemsworth has added five new cast members: Jimmy Akingbola, Sarah Gadon, Zach Cherry, Christoph Waltz, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. The series from Scorpion creator Nick Santora follows Dodge Maynard (Hemsworth) who, out of desperation to take care of his pregnant wife before a terminal illness can take his life, accepts an offer to participate in a deadly game where he soon discovers that he’s not the hunter but the prey. Gadon is set to play Dodge’s wife Valerie, and Cherry will step into the role of Looger, Dodge’s best friend from childhood. Akingbola’s role is being kept under wraps.
Adam Rose and Taylor Black have been tapped for recurring roles opposite Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba on the upcoming second season of Spectrum’s action drama, L.A.’s Finest. Season one of the series follows Syd Burnett (Union), who was last seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel and left her complicated past to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna (Alba), a working mom with an equally complex history, Syd was forced to confront how her unapologetic lifestyle was masking a greater personal secret.
The trailer has dropped for Dare Me, the USA Network program based on Megan Abbott’s 2012 novel of that same name. Dare Me, which will follow the lives of some competitive high school cheerleaders in "a small Midwestern town," is set to debut on December 29, with Abbott as one of its executive producers.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
Harlan Coben spoke with France 24 about his books and how "writers never like to admit it but all lead characters are based on them."
A new episode of Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the first chapter of "The Cupid Caper" by Larissa Reinhart, read by actor Teya Juarez.
Elizabeth Zelvin’s short story, "A Work In Progress" (from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: May/June 2019) is the current selection for the AHMM Podcast.
Writer Types welcomed three authors for an interview, Nicci French, Nick Kolakowski, and Trey R Barker.
Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham gave some recommendations of books you can pick up during the holiday season to gift to the people in your life — or just get for yourself.
Suspense Radio's Beyond The Cover welcomed as special guest, the international bestselling author, John Connolly, to chat about the latest in his Charlie Parker series, A Book of Bones.
Crime Cafe host Debbi Mack chatted with true crime writer and private investigator, Dennis N. Griffin, about his books and founding The Transparency Project.
Wrong Place, Write Crime host Frank Zafiro chatted with Lou Berney, author of November Road, which this year won the Anthony, Barry, Left Coast Crime, and Macavity Awards for Best Mystery Novel, as well as the Hammett Prize.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club spoke with John Glatt about his latest true crime book, The Family Next Door, which tells the horrific story of the Turpin Family.
The Crime Time podcast reviewed the film adaptation of Doctor Sleep; the book, The Lying Room by married-couple authors, Nicci French; and Andrew McGahan’s The Rich Man’s House.
The latest Partners in Crime episode discussed the Golden Age of crime fiction, the comeback of audio fiction, and more.
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