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
Isla Gie (The Sandman) will star alongside Martin Freeman (Sherlock) in the upcoming feature film adaptation of Alan Bradley's bestselling novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery. Adapted by Susan Coyne, the story follows the adventures of 11-year-old Flavia de Luce (Gie), who is both an amateur detective and an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. When she discovers a dead body in her family’s decaying British manor house and her father is accused of the murder, Flavia launches her own investigation to uncover family secrets and bring the true murderer to justice. The film will be directed by Emmy and BAFTA-nominated director, Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day).
American Beauty and The Walking Dead actress, Thora Birch, will make her feature directorial debut on an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s 2004 crime novel, Mr. Paradise. The works of Leonard (1925-2013), one of the masters of the hard-boiled crime novel, have previously been the inspiration for movies such as Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, Out of Sight, 3:10 to Yuma and the TV series, Justified. The story for Mr. Paradise centers on Kelly, an aspiring model, who witnesses a murder and gets caught in a web of intrigue.
Shia LaBeouf has joined the action thriller, Mace, directed by Jon Amiel from a script by David Chisholm. Mace is the harrowing story of two very different types of cops—a veteran officer Mace (LaBeouf), dangerous and corrupt, and Virgil Woods (Trevor Jackson), a young rookie who believes that he can change the system that fosters cops like Mace from within. It’s inspired by the recent racial injustice on the streets of America, with Woods refusing to be bullied and pitting his principles against the amoral Mace—risking everything to stop Mace from destroying the city by unleashing a gang war to cover up his crimes.
Martin Scorsese and the cast of Killers of the Flower Moon, which is based on David Grann's book of the same name, received a golden reception and enthusiastic standing ovation at the film's premiere at Cannes. The real-life story chronicles members of the Osage Native American tribe in Oklahoma in the 1920s, who are murdered after oil is found on their land, prompting the FBI to investigate.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
The story of the horrific murders of four students in the Idaho college town of Moscow in November 2022 is in the works for the page and the small screen. Bestselling author, James Patterson, and award-winning journalist, Vicky Ward, are teaming up on a nonfiction book about the crime, and Skydance Television is optioning the rights to the book for development as a docuseries. The book, which does not yet have a title or release date, will be published by Little Brown and Company, which stated that Patterson and Ward will give a dramatic account of the murders and the investigation of suspect, Bryan Kohberger. Patterson and Ward will draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, upcoming court transcripts, and also will attend Kohberger’s trial. Kohberger was indicted last week on burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves.
ABC has handed a series order to Drew Goddard’s pilot, High Potential, starring Kaitlin Olson. The drama is based on the popular French detective series HIP (High Intellectual Potential) and follows Morgan (Olson), a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind, who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department. When they discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential, she is brought on as a consultant to work with a by-the-book seasoned detective Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), and together they form an unusual and unstoppable team. The series also stars Javicia Leslie as Daphne, Deniz Akdeniz as Lev "Oz" Osman, Amirah J as Ava, Matthew Lamb as Elliot, and Judy Reyes as Selena.
FX has announced the summer premiere dates for some of its most critically-beloved shows including the return of Justified: City Primeval on July 18, with Timothy Olyphant returning as Rayland Givens. Having left the hollers of Kentucky fifteen years ago, Givens now lives in Miami, a walking anachronism balancing his life as a U.S. marshal and part-time father of a 15-year-old girl. A chance encounter on a desolate Florida highway sends him to Detroit where he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, a/k/a The Oklahoma Wildman, a violent, sociopathic desperado who’s already slipped through the fingers of Detroit’s finest once and aims to do so again. Mansell’s lawyer, formidable Motor City native, Carolyn Wilder, has every intention of representing her client, even as she finds herself caught between cop and criminal, with her own game afoot as well. These three characters set out on a collision course in classic Elmore Leonard fashion, to see who makes it out of the City Primeval alive.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the prologue and first chapter of Last Liar Standing by Danielle Wong, as read by actor Molly Heng.
Read or Dead regular host, Kendra Winchester, and special guest Liberty Hardy, discussed mysteries and thrillers for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month 2023.
On the Crime Writers of Color podcast, Robert Justice interviewed Cheryl Head, author of the Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries and her new standalone novel, Time’s Undoing.
On the All About Agatha podcast, co-hosts Jenni Bishop, Tina Hodgkinson, and Emma (last name withheld) stopped by for a discussion about ableism in Agatha Christie's novels.
On Crime Time FM, Tim Weaver (the David Raker series) and Heather Critchlow (Unsolved) joined Victoria Sellman to discuss the topics of missing persons in crime fiction and going off the grid.
There's a new podcast titled Pick Your Poison, hosted by "JP," an ER doctor and toxicologist with a passion for poisons. She’s been interviewed as a toxicology expert for television, online, radio, and print media. Her work ranges from cocaine, sports supplements, internal concealment of drugs for smuggling, to suicide, and has been recognized both nationally and internationally.
THEATRE
A Nancy Drew musical adaptation, Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor, is in development, featuring music by Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar winner Alan Menken, lyrics by Tony nominee Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde; Mean Girls), and a book by two-time Oscar winner Sarah Kernocha. Three-time Tony winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient, James Lapine, will direct. Lapine said, "After 175 Nancy Drew mysteries that span from her small town of River Heights to exotic locales around the world, the teen detective is about to tackle perhaps the most exotic locale of all to her: a musical theatre camp, Spotlight Manor. Alan, Nell, Sarah, and I have been having a ball letting Nancy and her pals take to the stage and sing for the first time." (HT to Shelf Awareness)
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