It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:
THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES
Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Helen Mirren, and Danny DeVito will headline the cast in the next project from director Taylor Hackford, a film titled Sniff. Based on a script by Tom Grey, the story is described as "a stylish reinvention of the film noir." When two residents at a retirement community die under suspicious circumstances, retired detective Joe Mulwray (Freeman) is pulled back into the action by his former partner, William Keys (DeVito) as they uncover a hidden underworld of sex, drugs, and murder in the high-end luxury retirement community controlled by kingpin, Harvey Stride (Pacino), and his femme fatale enforcer, "The Spider" (Mirren).
John Lithgow has joined the cast of Sharper, the Apple Original Films thriller being directed by The Crown helmer, Benjamin Caron. Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, and Briana Middleton also star in the film, set to begin principal photography this week in New York City. The project, which will premiere in theaters and globally on Apple TV+, is based on a script by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka and unfolds within the streets of New York City, from the penthouses of Fifth Avenue to the shadowy corners of Queens. Motivations are suspect and expectations are turned upside down when nothing is as it seems.
Filming has begun in the UK on the spy thriller, Argylle. The film, based on the soon-to-be-launched spy novel of the same name from author Ellie Conway, follows the world’s greatest spy, known as "Argylle," as he is caught up in a globe-trotting adventure. The movie will be the first of at least three films in the franchise and is set in America, London, and multiple locations across the world. Henry Cavill takes on the titular role, headlining a cast that also includes Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICE
ViacomCBS and MTV Entertainment Studios have struck an exclusive overall deal with Emmy-nominated actor David Oyelowo and his wife, actress, writer, and producer Jessica Oyelowo, for original scripted and unscripted series via their Yoruba Saxon productions. In their first project under the pact, David Oyelowo is attached to star in the titular role in Bass Reeves, a limited series about the legendary African-American lawman of the wild West. Reeves was known as the greatest frontier hero in American history and is also believed to be the inspiration for The Lone Ranger. He worked in the post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.
Best-selling crime author, Ian Rankin, has written a TV series for Channel 4 in the UK that will see members of the public take on the role of detective and lead their own investigations. Murder Island, which was filmed during the summer and airs next month, will blend fact, drama, and competition formats. Filmed on the remote Scottish island of Gigha, the six-part series is based around a murder plot, written and developed by Rankin, that stars a group of amateur detectives who will compete to solve a crime and build a "watertight case" that can stand up in court. Contestants on Murder Island will be overseen by some of the UK's leading senior investigating officers.
The BBC unveiled the cast for the upcoming six-part period drama, The Gallows Pole, based on the novel of the same name by Benjamin Myers. The Gallows Pole fictionalizes the remarkable true story of the rise and fall of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners. Set against the backdrop of the coming industrial revolution in 18th century Yorkshire, the drama follows the enigmatic David Hartley (Michael Socha), as he assembles a gang of workers to embark upon a revolutionary criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become the biggest fraud in British history. Also starring are Thomas Turgoose, George MacKay, Tom Burke, Sophie McShera, Cara Theobold, Yusra Warsama, Eve Burley, Nicole Barber Lane, Samuel Edward-Cook, Anthony Welsh, Joe Sproull, Adam Fogerty, and Fine Time Fontayne.
British actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge has exited Amazon’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith series due to creative differences with fellow star and executive producer, Donald Glover. According to those close to the project, Waller-Bridge’s departure is amicable and her role will be re-cast. The series, based on Doug Liman’s feature starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, is a joint production between New Regency and Amazon Prime Video. The story of a married couple who discover they are spies hired to assassinate each other was first released in 2005 but somewhat overshadowed by the romance between the two leads.
Steve Howey has landed the male lead in True Lies, the CBS drama pilot adaptation of James Cameron’s 1994 action comedy movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. Written by Matt Nix and to be directed by Anthony Hemingway, the pilot’s plot is true to its movie roots: Shocked to discover that her bland and unremarkable computer consultant husband (Howey) is a skilled international spy, an unfulfilled suburban housewife is propelled into a life of danger and adventure when she’s recruited to work alongside him to save the world as they try to revitalize their passionless marriage.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
James Ellroy, the "demon dog" of American crime fiction, is doubling down on the world of podcasting. It was announced in April that he was working on a true crime audio series titled Hollywood Death Trip, and now he's partnering with podcasting firm Audio Up to adapt his American Tabloid novel into a scripted podcast. The 12-part series is set to launch on July 4, 2022, with casting to begin immediately.
On the Crime Cafe podcast, Debbie Mack interviewed Mark Edward Langley, author of the Arthur Nakai Mystery Series set in New Mexico.
Writer Types featured an end-of-the-summer blowout with five amazing authors including Matthew Fitzsimmons (Constance); Rachel Howzell Hall (These Toxic Things); Taylor Moore (Down Range); Tessa Lunney (Autumn Leaves, 1922); and Elisabeth De Mariaffi (The Retreat).
Michael Craft was the featured guest on Queer Writers of Crime. Michael is the author of seventeen novels, four of which have been honored as finalists for Lambda Literary Awards, and his 2019 mystery, ChoirMaster, was a Gold Winner of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award.
Read Or Dead talked about books featuring cults and people who become a part of them.
Margaret Mizushima was the guest on Speaking of Mysteries, discussing Striking Range, the seventh installment in her Timber Creek K-9 mystery series, in which Timber Creek County Deputy Mattie Cobb braves ice storms and murderers while looking into the death of a young woman and the kidnappers of the woman’s newborn
Meet the Thriller Author welcomed Andrews & Wilson, the bestselling co-author team of multiple covert ops and action-adventure thriller novels including Tier One and Sons of Valor. Brian Andrews is a US Navy veteran and former submarine officer, while Jeffrey Wilson has worked as an actor, firefighter, paramedic, jet pilot, and diving instructor, as well as a vascular and trauma surgeon.
Pauline Rowson stopped by My Favorite Detective Stories to chat with host, John Hoda, about her three seaside-themed thriller series.
Sunday Times bestseller, Samantha Downing (My Lovely Wife) joined CrimeTime FM to discuss what makes a great plot twist and also "pantsing."
Since last week's Cozy Ink podcast focused on mysteries with cats, this week's program gives equal time to the dogs.
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