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
Under a SAG Interim Agreement, certain independent movie productions (with no affiliation to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) are being allowed to continue, including the crime drama, King Ivory, from writer-director John Swab. Based on extensive research involving Oklahoma law enforcement and active gang members, King Ivory offers a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester, a.k.a. "Big Mac." With potency 100 times that of heroin and nearly undetectable at the border, the drug nicknamed King Ivory has flooded the market, triggering a tidal wave of overdoses, crime, and addiction. The film chronicles the efforts of a joint local, state, and federal task force, led by Layne West (James Badge Dale), Ty (George Carroll), and Beatty (Rory Cochrane), to prevent trafficking by the Irish Mob’s George "Smiley" Greene (Ben Foster), his mother Ginger (Melissa Leo), and uncle Mickey (Ritchie Coster), in partnership with the Indian Brotherhood’s Holt (Graham Greene) and the New Generation Mexican cartel’s Ramón (Michael Mando).
Jason Mitchell has signed on to star in the feature thriller, Black Heat, directed by Wes Miller from a script he wrote. Joining Mitchell in the project are rappers Tabatha "Dreamdoll" Robinson and NLE Choppa, in his first big-screen appearance. Billed as a roller coaster story of "suspense, drama, and unexpected twists," the story follows the broken lives of two parents portrayed by Mitchell and Robinson. After failing to get help from authorities, the pair go on a suicide mission to rescue their fifteen-year-old daughter, who’s under the control of the enigmatic King David, played by NLE Choppa.
Kenneth Branagh returns as Detective Hercule Poirot to solve a chilling supernatural mystery after a séance goes wrong in the first full A Haunting in Venice trailer. Set in post-Second World War Venice, a retired Poirot is summoned to attend a séance by an old friend, played by Tina Fey, to see if a psychic (Michelle Yeoh) is a fake. When one of the séance guests in the decaying, haunted Venice palazzo is murdered, Poirot steps in to identify the killer, only to face a world of supernatural shadows and secrets.
A North American distribution deal with Canadian outfit Swapna Scarecrow was struck for the action thriller, MR-9: Do Or Die, with a scheduled release in 150 U.S. and Canadian screens on August 25. Based on the popular Bangladeshi spy novel series, Masud Rana, the film charts the story of spy MR-9 (played by ABM Sumon), a skilled and veteran spy with a muddled past, who's chosen to join forces with an elite group of international agents. Together they must stop a terror attack aimed at Las Vegas, organized by tech villain Roman Ross (Frank Grillo).
TELEVISION/STREAMING
NBC streamer, Peacock, announced the John Wick prequel series, The Continental, will premiere on September 22 with the first episode of the three-part event titled "Night 1." Episode 2 will debut on September 29, and the final episode will hit the streamer on October 6. The Continental stars Colin Woodell as a young Winston Scott—the hotel manager at The Continental. It will explore the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins centerpiece of the John Wick universe through the eyes and actions of Woodell’s young Winston, as he’s dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind. Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne.The cast also includes Ayomide Adegun, who will portray a young Charon; Peter Greene, who plays Uncle Charlie; Mel Gibson as Cormac; Ben Robson as Frankie; Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles; Jessica Allain as Lou; Mishel Prada as KD; and Nhung Kate as Yen.
The dual Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes may result in a rather barren landscape for the fall television season, at least as far as scripted series are concerned. So, NBC made some scheduling changes to accommodate that dark reality by slotting the second half of season five of Magnum P.I, which was originally intended for mid-season, to debut in the fall on Wednesday nights. It will be joined by a couple of other series with episodes already in the can, including a 13-episode season for the Shanola Hampton-fronted missing persons drama, Found, and also The Irrational, a procedural starring Jesse L. Martin. The rest of NBC's lineup will include some unscripted programs, already produced episodes of the medical drama, Transplant, and reruns of Law & Order.
After the success of the Indian version of The Night Manager (which emerged as the most watched series ever across all specials on Indian streamer, Disney+ Hotstar), The Ink Factory is planning further Indian adaptations of John le Carré novels. The Ink Factory manages the 25 novels under Carré's estate, and executive producer Tessa Inkelaar, who oversees the company’s Asia slate, told Variety, "We are in the process of adapting one, which is in a relatively late stage of adaptation and one, which is at an early stage. We’re very keen to bring more le Carré to India."
ABC News Studios has dropped a full trailer for Mother Undercover, which will stream on Hulu on July 27. The four-part docuseries follows four mothers on a mission to save or get justice for their children. In incidents of murder, international kidnapping, mass suicide, and judicial corruption, the group transform into undercover detectives, mounting covert operations, and taking matters into their own hands. Mother Undercover marks the third title in ABC News Studios’ true crime summer slate, following The Ashley Madison Affair and Betrayal: The Perfect Husband.
The streamer BritBox International has added a pair of British dramas for broadcast in the U.S. to its August slate: the detective drama, Granite Harbour, will launch on August 1, and the psychological thriller, The Ex-Wife, will premiere on August 10. Granite Harbour stars Romario Simpson as Lance Corporal Davis Lindo, who envisions becoming a Scotland Yard detective after completing his tour with the Royal Military Police, only to find himself training in Aberdeen in northeast Scotland. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with his mentor, DCI Lara "Bart" Bartlett, played by Hannah Donaldson, and the duo find themselves in a bit of a corporate power struggle when a wealthy and notable citizen dies under suspicious circumstances. The Ex-Wife is based on Jess Ryder’s hit psychological thriller novel of the same name and follows Tasha (Celine Buckens), whose perfect family life turns into a nightmare when her husband (Tom Mison) is threatened by his ex-wife (Janet Montgomery), who won’t leave them alone and seems intent on staying in the picture.
Prime Video has released several first-look images for Marnie Dickens’ Wilderness, from Firebird Pictures. Written and created by Dickens and based on B.E. Jones’s novel of the same name, Wilderness is a twisted love story, where a dream holiday and a supposedly "happily-ever-after" life quickly turn into a living nightmare. Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen star as Liv and Will, a happy British couple who seem to have it all until Liv learns about her husband's affair. Enter the American road trip Liv’s fantasized about since she was little, from Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon, on through Yosemite, ending up with a hedonistic weekend in Las Vegas to blow off the dust and sweat. For Will, it’s a chance to make amends, for Liv, it’s a very different prospect—a landscape where accidents happen all the time, the perfect place to get revenge.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
Speaking of Mysteries welcomed S.A. Cosby to discuss his latest novel, All the Sinners Bleed, which features Sheriff Titus Crown, making the choice to live in a no-man’s-land between people who believe in him, people who hate him because of his skin color, and people who believe he is a traitor to his race. As tough as he is, though, nothing—even his experience as an FBI agent—could have prepared him for the evil he uncovered.
On the Spybrary podcast, intelligence historian Michael Smith revealed more about his latest book, The Real Special Relationship – The True Story of How the British and US Secret Services Work Together.
The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with thriller author, Karin Slaughter; remembered literary great Cormac McCarthy; and discussed authors whose deaths range from the gruesome to the downright bizarre...including death by flying tortoise.
Vern Smith chatted with Paul Burke on Crime Time FM about his crime novel, Scratching the Flint; editing the anthology, Jacked; Toronto; corruption; and policing.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured the third vacation episode for the summer holiday, with Misty Simon reading the first chapter of the book, All That Glitters Isn't Old, by her namesake Gabby Allan, which releases 7/25. Whit is up to her ears in this one with Goldy wanting a friend from the past cleared of a murder Whit isn't certain he didn't commit. Things are shady on Catalina Island right now and Whit has to figure out whodunnit before they do it again.
Pick Your Poison's topic this week was a type of poison that affects three million people each year and what this poison has to do with chemical weapons; plus, a toxin so potent it can kill lions in just a few steps.
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