It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new, late summer/Labor Day roundup of crime drama news:
THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES
Russell Crowe will play a former homicide detective tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past in Sleeping Dogs. The film marks the directorial debut of Adam Cooper, who wrote the script with Bill Collage based on E.O. Chirovici’s acclaimed novel, The Book of Mirrors. The story centers on Roy Freeman (Crowe), who is undergoing a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment. He is forced to grapple with the impact of an investigation from his former life, after a death-row inmate Freeman arrested ten years ago starts to proclaim his innocence. Intrigued and fighting to regain his memory, Freeman enlists his former partner to help him revive the case and discover the truth. Together, they set off to unravel a tangled web of secrets, forcing Freeman to make some horrific discoveries.
William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) will direct, and Kiefer Sutherland will star (as Lt. Commander Queeg), in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial using a 50-year-old play script written by Herman Wouk from his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Friedkin noted that the original novel, the 1954 film with Humphrey Bogart, and the Robert Altman-directed 1988 TV adaptation of the play, were all set during World War II, but he decided it "could be a very timely and important piece, as well as being great drama." He added therefore, "I've made it contemporary, involving the Gulf of Hormuz and the Straits of Hormuz, leading to Iran." Production is scheduled to get underway in January.
Following a competitive auction, Sony Pictures has landed rights to an adaptation of the novel, The Registration, by Madison Lawson, with Sydney Sweeney and Brad Fuller producing and Sweeney attached to star. In the book, it's legal to commit one murder in your lifetime if you Register the victim and accomplish the kill within fourteen days. So when Lynell Mize stands in line to Register the man who abused her as a child, she’s shocked to hear a stranger as he Registers her to be killed. Why would anyone who doesn't know her squander his one legal murder on her? Desperate to survive the next two weeks, Lynell soon discovers that multiple strangers have used their Registration on her. Along the way, she reunites with her estranged husband who is determined to dig up a past Lynell prefers to keep buried. With only days left to live, Lynell is determined to uncover the truth and survive a destiny not of her choosing.
Netflix has unveiled a first-look image and announced the release date for director Scott Cooper’s new film, The Pale Blue Eye, starring Christian Bale. The Pale Blue Eye, adapted from the novel by Louis Bayard, is a Gothic thriller set in 1830, where veteran detective Augustus Landor (Bale) investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He is aided by Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), a young cadet at the academy. The film’s all-star ensemble cast also includes Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, Hadley Robinson, Joey Brooks, Brennan Cook, Gideon Glick, Fred Hechinger, and Matt Helm.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
Bill Camp will reunite with his American Rust and The Looming Tower co-star Jeff Daniels in A Man in Full, Netflix's limited series from David E. Kelley and Regina King that's based on Tom Wolfe's 1998 novel. The story centers around Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Daniels), who faces sudden bankruptcy as his political and business interests collide and he has to defend his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace. Camp will play Harry Zale, known in business circles as "The Workout Artiste," a term to describe the "bootcamps" he puts debtors through. Zale stands between any hope Charlie (Daniels) has of saving his business empire. The cast also includes Diane Lane, William Jackson Harper, Tom Pelphrey, Aml Ameen, Sarah Jones, Jon Michael Hill, and Chanté Adams.
Netflix has revealed the cast and released a first-look image of its upcoming Australian original drama series, Boy Swallows Universe, based on Trent Dalton’s bestselling book. An all-Aussie production, the eight-part limited series stars Travis Fimmel (Vikings), Simon Baker (The Mentalist), and Phoebe Tonkin (H₂O: Just Add Water). The publisher’s synopsis reads: "A lost father, a mute brother, a junkie mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crime [sic] for a babysitter. It’s not as if Eli Bell’s life isn’t complicated enough already. He’s just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to be a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way — not the least of which is Tytus Broz, a legendary Brisbane drug dealer." The cast also includes Felix Cameron, Lee Tiger Halley, Bryan Brown, Anthony LaPaglia, and Sophie Wilde.
French private broadcaster TF1 has picked up the crime thriller series, Syndrome E, the first TV series adapted from the work of international best-selling thriller writer, Franck Thilliez. Distributor Newen Connect also has plans to showcase the series at Unifrance Rendez-Vous, the international sales event for French programs. The series is an edgy dark thriller centered on 45-year-old Franck Sharko, a surly, loner cop haunted by the death of his daughter Eugenie, who appears to him in taunting visions. It’s gotten even worse with his latest investigation, a mysterious case of missing children and a disturbing 1960s movie that spurs people who watch it to commit bizarre and dangerous acts. Detective Lucie Hennebelle is a 35-year-old single mom who joins forces with Sharko after realizing events in her own past could be tied to the case. The two beleaguered inspectors form an electrifying duo as they conduct an investigation that leads them from Morocco to Canada, shedding light on dark and troubling scientific experiments.
LevelK has boarded the Icelandic crime drama, Cold, directed by Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen and based on the bestselling book, The Undesired (Kuldi) by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir. The story centers on Óðinn, living alone with his daughter Rún. As he investigates decades-old deaths at a juvenile treatment center, he begins to suspect that the sinister secrets are connected to his ex-wife’s mysterious suicide as well as his daughter’s strange behavior.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer, Kimberly McCreight, discussing her latest novel, Friends Like These, as well her other books, some of which are being adapted for the screen.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club welcomed Bill and Teresa Peschel. Bill is the Pulitzer-prize winning editor behind annotations of the novels of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, the revivals of three books about Victorian poisoner William Palmer, and eight books of annotated fan fiction about Sherlock Holmes, including short stories about Mark Twain’s encounters with Holmes, Watson, Mycroft, and Irene Adler. He's also co-owner of Peschel Press with his wife, Teresa (who also writes science fiction under the pen name, Odessa Moon).
My Favorite Detective Stories chatted with Matt Cost, a former owner of a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, as well as serving as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he turned his hand to writing mysteries, including the Mainely Mystery series and Port Essex series, and his latest novel, Love in a Time of Hate.
The latest Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast featured author collaborators Michael Bracken and Sandra Murphy and their story, "Sit. Stay. Die."
On Queer Writers of Crime, authors Rob Osler, Brad Shreve, Dea Poirier, and Neil Plakcy recommended novels they think you will love.
Crime Time FM hosts, Victoria Selman and Paul Burke, chatted with Bloody Scotland Festival Director Bob McDevitt and Scottish crime writers, Sarah Smith (Hear No Evil) and Abir Mukherjee (the Wyndham and Banerjee series), about what makes Bloody Scotland so special; the McIlvanney Prize and Scottish Debut Novel Awards; and what it takes to put on a successful hybrid festival.
The latest episode of The Red Hot Chili Writers featured Rev. Richard Coles, former rock star and vicar turned crime author, who discussed his novel, Murder at Evensong; St. Guinefort the greyhound; and the meaning of modern faith.
NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday "Books We Love" feature asked staff members to choose some of their favorite mysteries and thrillers.
THEATRE
Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, Murder on the Orient Express, arrives at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, from now through October 23. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stopped the Orient Express in its tracks. The next morning, an American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed, his door locked from the inside. Isolated with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on famed detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer before they strike again.
Chicago's Idle Muse Theatre Company will perform The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, from September 22 through October 23. The new adaptation by Michael Dalberg uses a gender twist: Dr. Henri Jekyll (Brandi Jiminez Lee) struggles to endure in Victorian England, but finds the cards heavily stacked against her: with her father gone and professional prospects sabotaged, she finds herself isolated and trapped. Forced to look inward for reprieve, she manifests her own savior in Mr. Edward Hyde (Jack Sharkey) but finds the road to salvation is paved with ruin.
Miss Holmes Returns is being staged at the Lifeline Theatre in Chicago through October 16. In another gender-bending take, Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson are back on the case. After a string of successes in assisting Scotland Yard, a seemingly clear-cut murder case finds itself at the detective’s feet. The powers that be know for certain the murderer was a young woman of immigrant heritage, but Holmes and Watson aren’t as sure. Can they find the truth before the authorities catch and convict their suspect?
