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
The indie production company, Madison Wells, is developing a feature adaptation of State of Terror, the best-selling novel by former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and New York Times best-selling novelist, Louise Penny. The high-stakes thriller of international intrigue follows novice Secretary of State Ellen Adams, who is unexpectedly brought into the administration by a newly-elected President, her political and personal adversary. Events soon erupt that sweep her into a world of global intrigue and diplomacy where the stakes could not be higher and the potential consequences, both personal and global, could not be greater. Both Clinton and Penny will serve as Executive Producers as well as consultants on the film, and HiddenLight Productions (founded by Hillary Clinton, Sam Branson and Chelsea Clinton) will produce.
Stampede Ventures has acquired the rights to Nick Schenk’s action spec script, Galahad, and is eyeing A-list directors for the first feature in a potential new franchise. The film will follow a badass ex-American special forces soldier who goes on a berserker, come-hell-or-high-water mission to avenge the death of an innocent woman. The quest will take him into the depths of modern American military supremacy and its sometimes awful shadow.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers and MyAnna Buring have signed on to star alongside Alec Baldwin in the hijacking action-thriller, 97 Minutes, from director, Timo Vuorensola (Iron Sky). The story centers on a hijacked 767 that will crash in ninety-seven minutes when its fuel runs out. Against the objections of NSA Deputy Toyin, NSA Director Hawkins (Baldwin) prepares to have the plane shot down before it does any catastrophic damage on the ground. The decision leaves the fate of the innocent passengers in the hands of one of the alleged hijackers on board who is an undercover Interpol agent — or is he? Meyers and Buring are playing passengers on the transatlantic flight, with Jo Martin, Michael Sirow, Pavan Grover, Anjul Nigam, Davor Tomic, Slavko Sobin, Luke J I Smith and Kasia Koleczek rounding out the cast.
Showtime and Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment have acquired U.S. distribution rights to the Tarik Saleh-directed action movie, The Contractor, starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster. The deal will see The Contractor released in a limited number of theaters in the U.S. by Paramount with a simultaneous PVOD release across platforms. Pine plays Special Forces Sgt. James Harper, who is involuntarily discharged from the Army and cut off from his pension. In debt, out of options, and desperate to provide for his family, Harper contracts with a private underground military force. When the very first assignment goes awry, the elite soldier finds himself caught in a dangerous conspiracy and on the run for his life.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
20th Television has optioned Steve Almond’s forthcoming novel, All the Secrets of the World, to adapt as a television series. Jon Feldman (Monarch; Designated Survivor) will pen the adaptation and serve as showrunner. The book, described as "a sweeping social novel," opens in 1981 in Sacramento, where 13-year-old Lorena Saenz has just been paired with Jenny Stallworth for the science fair by a teacher hoping to unite two girls from starkly different worlds. The unlikely friendship they form will draw their families into a web of secrets and lies, one that sends Lorena on an unforgiving odyssey through the desert, past the gates of a religious cult in Mexico, and into the dark heart of America’s criminal justice system.
Hulu has acquired the rights to develop Adrian McKinty’s upcoming novel, The Island, as a limited series. The Island is described as an intense thriller that tells the story of a family trip that turns into a living nightmare. After a tragic accident, a young wife with her new husband and his two children find themselves being hunted by locals in harsh bushland. Her husband doesn’t really believe in her, the kids don’t trust her, and the locals want to kill her. But Heather has been underestimated most of her life and she knows she is capable of bringing this family together and becoming the mother her children need, even if it means doing terrible things to keep them all alive.
FX, Lee Daniels, and 20th Television are taking another stab at adapting Sam Greenlee’s spy novel, The Spook Who Sat By The Door, as a TV series after a pilot, written by Leigh Dana Jackson and directed by Gerard McMurray, did not go forward at the network. "We are working on a redeveloping of it," FX Entertainment President Eric Schrier told Deadline. The Spook Who Sat By The Door tells the fictional story of Dan Freeman, a patriot and Vietnam vet, who is recruited as the only Black operative in the CIA as part of an affirmative-action program in the late 1960s. After a very competitive selection process, he trains in high-level combat and espionage. However, following this arduous training, this model recruit is rewarded with a post in the reprographics (aka photocopying) department, "left by the door" as a token of the CIA’s "racial equality." The FX pilot starred Y’lan Noel, Christina Jackson, Lucas Till, Nafessa Williams, Nathan Darrow, and Tom Irwin.
Siân Brooke is set to lead the BBC One police thriller, Blue Lights, from the creators of The Salisbury Poisonings, with filming kicking off in Belfast. Brooke will play Grace and be joined by The Dig’s Katherine Devlin and newcomer Nathan Braniff as three rookie police officers in the Northern Irish capital. Grace made the decision in her 40s to leave her steady job and join the force, but just a few weeks into her role, she’s making so many mistakes, her decision no longer looks like a winning bet. Brooke is best known for her roles as Sherlock Holmes’s evil sister, Eurus, in the BBC’s Sherlock, and as disgraced Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick in ITV’s Stephen.
Gemma Arterton has joined the cast of J Blakeson’s upcoming Disney+ heist series, Culprits, alongside Eddie Izzard, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Niamh Algar, Kamel El Basha, Tara Abboud, Ned Dennehy, and Kevin Vidal. Arterton will play Dianne, a member of a heist crew which is being targeted one-by-one by a killer after each went their separate ways. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett was revealed in the lead role of Joe when the show was announced as one of Disney/Star’s debut UK originals last year.
Circle Network, the country lifestyle streaming outlet best known as the home of the Grand Ole Opry, will air the six seasons of the Western drama, Longmire, starting tomorrow. The crime drama, set in rural Wyoming and based on the novels by Craig Johnson, debuts on Circle at 10 PM ET/PT, 9 CT with season one, and consecutive episodes will air weekdays. Longmire follows the work of recent widower, Sheriff Walt Longmire, who works to investigate crimes in his town, assisted by staff, friends, and his daughter. The series stars Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, Lou Diamond Phillips, Cassidy Freeman, and Adam Bartley.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
Listening to the Dead is back with a new season, discussing the forensics behind the Great Train Robbery. In a world first, Listening to the Dead brings together the son of the robbery's mastermind, Bruce Reynolds, with a fingerprint expert who worked on the case back in 1963.
Yasmin Ango was interviewed by Robert Justice on Crime Writers of Color about her debut novel, Her Name is Knight, featuring an elite assassin heroine on a mission to topple a human trafficking ring and avenge her family.
The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer, Robert McCaw, about his Hawaiian crime thriller series.
On Wrong Place Write Crime, guest host John A. Hoda interviewed the Ghanaian-American former physician-turned crime author, Kwei Quartey, about his award-winning series, one featuring police detective, Darko Dawson, and another with private eye Emma Djan.
My Favorite Detective Stories welcomed Alafair Burke, crime novelist, professor of law, and legal commentator. She is a New York Times bestselling author of 18 crime novels, including a series featuring NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher, and another with Portland, Oregon, prosecutor Samantha Kincaid.
On the latest Writers Detective Bureau, Detective Adam Richardson explained what DHS Fusion Centers do; discussed what a Brady List is and how to use them in your writing; and went old school tech with Teletypes.
It was a Dark and Storm Book Club spoke with Colleen Cambridge about Murder at Mallowan Hall, part of a new historical series that introduces an unforgettable heroine in Phyllida Bright, fictional housekeeper for none other than famed mystery novelist Agatha Christie.
On CrimeTime FM, host Paul Burke and Tim Shipman, Chief Political Commentator for The Sunday Times, interviewed Paul Vidich about his Cold War spy thriller, The Matchmaker, and all things spy fiction-related, including an exclusive announcement of the highest placed living author on Tim Shipman's 120 top spy writers.
THEATRE
Broadway’s upcoming Macbeth, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, has rounded out its cast, announcing new additions, Amber Gray, Asia Kate Dillon, and Phillip James Brannon. Directed by Tony Award winner Sam Gold, Macbeth begins performances at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre on Tuesday, March 29, with an official opening on Thursday, April 28.
It's nice to see theatrical performance resuming around the world, as well. Dial 'M' for Murder by Frederick Knot returns with live performances on February 25 to The Mousetrap Theatre in Redcliffe, Australia. The story centers on Tony Wendice, a retired English tennis player, who is married to wealthy socialite Margot, an adulteress who has been having an affair with American crime fiction writer, Mark Halliday. Unbeknownst to them, Tony has discovered their affair and is planning to have Margot killed so he can inherit her fortune. The production runs through March 13.
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