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
Jason Clarke will star opposite Kiefer Sutherland in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial from Paramount Global and Showtime, playing the character of Lieutenant Barney Greenwald, a defense attorney who begrudgingly represents Stephen Maryk (Jake Lacy). While the USS Caine was engulfed in a deadly typhoon off the coast of Iran, Maryk invoked Article 184 of Naval Regulations to relieve his superior, Lt. Commander Phillip Francis Queeg (Sutherland), of duty. Maryk, self-righteous and insistent that his extreme actions were justified, argued Queeg was mentally unstable and that his paranoid delusions were endangering the ship and crew. As a result, Maryk took command and in doing so, steered the Caine directly into the storm. Fortunately, the ship and her entire crew survived, giving Maryk a deep belief that his actions were warranted. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial was originally written in 1951 by Herman Wouk and will reportedly be retold for modern times. Other recently added cast members include Monica Raymund, Lance Reddick, Griffin Dunne, Elizabeth Anweis, Lewis Pullman, Francois Battiste, and Gabe Kessler.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
Oscar and Tony-nominated Ruth Negga has been tapped to star opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Presumed Innocent, Apple TV+’s upcoming limited series from David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’s Bad Robot and Warner Bros. TV. Inspired by Scott Turow’s courtroom thriller novel, Presumed Innocent is the story of a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorneys’ office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. The book was published in 1987 and was turned into a 1990 feature starring Harrison Ford in the role Gyllenhaal is taking on. Negga will play Barbara Sabich, the role played by Bonnie Bedelia in the film. Barbara is an artist, gallerist, mother, and wife whose life is upended when her husband, Rusty Sabich (Gyllenhaal), is accused of murdering his mistress. Barbara fights to keep her family intact as she tends to her broken heart and broken marriage, and contends with her husband’s highly publicized trial.
Nicole Kidman is set as a lead alongside Zoe Saldaña and Laysla De Oliveira on Taylor Sheridan’s CIA drama series, Lioness, at Paramount+. Lioness is based on a real-life CIA program and follows Cruz Manuelos (De Oliveira), a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Saldaña will play Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program tasked with training, managing, and leading her female undercover operatives. Kidman will play Kaitlyn Meade, the CIA’s senior supervisor who has had a long career of playing the politics game. The cast also includes series regulars Jill Wagner, Dave Annable, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, Hannah Love Lanier, Stephanie Nur, and Jonah Wharton.
Peacock is developing the mystery series Freeman, set in a small, picturesque town in Georgia. Peacock reportedly won the project in a highly competitive battle and has set up a mini writers’ room. The story follows a family, which moves to a small, picturesque town in Georgia after acquiring a lucrative inheritance, including the mysterious house known as Freeman Manor. It’s soon discovered that there are mysteries and darkness hidden within the walls—and the town at large—that go back generations.
Disney+ is ready to give the greenlight to an adaptation of CJ Sansom’s bestselling Shardlake novels, depicting an unlikely detective working under Henry VIII’s reign. With a working title of Shardlake, the series will shoot in the UK this year and sources said it could comprise four episodes, although if it's successful, it might lead to further seasons. The first book in Sansom's series, Dissolution, introduces readers to Dr. Matthew Shardlake, a hunchback lawyer-turned-detective in Tudor England. He is sent by Thomas Cromwell, the ultimate Tudor powerbroker, to investigate the beheading of Robin Singleton, a commissioner responsible for disbanding monasteries after Henry VIII declared himself supreme head of the Church of England. The BBC explored adapting the Shardlake novels for television in 2007 and even cast Sir Kenneth Branagh to play the detective. The project never made it to air, however, and Branagh eventually signed up to star in Wallander for the BBC.
There will no second season for the mystery thriller series, 1899, which was canceled by Netflix. 1899 was a series about the mysterious happenings on the deck of a migrant steamship heading west to leave the old continent. The passengers, a mixed bag of European origins, are united by their hopes and dreams for the new century and their future abroad. But their journey takes an unexpected turn when they discover another migrant ship adrift on open sea. What they will find on board, will turn their passage to the promised land into a horrifying nightmare. The series starred Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, and Miguel Bernardeau. Production of 1899 took place on a newly-built, state of the art virtual production stage housed at Babelsberg Studios in Germany—the largest such facility in Europe.
Meanwhile, The Nurse, a Danish thriller TV series adapted from the book by Kristian Corfixen, will make its debut on Netflix later this year. The project is based on the true story of nurse Christina Aistrup Hansen, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 for four counts of attempted murder of patients at Nykøbing Falster Hospital. Produced by SAM Productions and directed by Kasper Barfoed, The Nurse stars Josephine Park as Hansen and Fanny Louise Bernth as her colleague, Pernille Kurzmann Larsen.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
The Spybrary podcast welcomed journalist Adam Brookes, author of the espionage novels, Night Heron, Spy Games, and The Spy’s Daughter.
The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Lynn Slaughter about her crime writing and her young adult fiction.
CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Winner, Robert Goddard, spoke with Paul Burke on Crime Time FM about This is the Night They Come for You and The Fine Art of Invisible Detection.
The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with thriller author, Lisa Jewell; discussed a cunning plan to meet your New Year's resolutions; talked about books to look out for in 2023; and revealed 101 recipes using chickpeas that no one really wants to eat.
Katie Tallo stopped by My Favorite Detective Stories to speak with John Hoda about her thrillers Dark August and Poison Lilies, featuring amateur sleuth Augusta (Gus) Monet.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine podcast featured a thrilling tale of art forgery and lofty aspirations that go awry in "What Kind of Criminal," read by author LaToya Jovena.
THEATRE
If you haven't already seen The Ohio State Murders on Broadway at the James Earl Jones Theatre, you don't have much longer, as the play is scheduled to close January 15. The play made history by being the first Broadway production of acclaimed 91-year-old playwright Adrienne Kennedy works and stars Audra McDonald as a writer and lecturer coming to terms with a horrific incident from her past: the murders of her two infant daughters.
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