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
Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap and Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company are in talks to co-produce a remake of the classic 1934 comedy mystery, The Thin Man, after the rights recently became available. Previously, Rob Marshall and Johnny Depp were set to direct and star, respectively, in a remake, until Warner Brothers scrapped that project in 2012. Based on the Dashiell Hammett crime novel, The Thin Man is a murder mystery about a husband and wife who partner up to find a missing acquaintance, later discovered to be murdered. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, the 1934 film starred William Powell as husband Nick Charles and Myrna Loy as wife Nora Charles and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor for William Powell. (It was followed by five sequels.)
James Patterson is teaming up on a novel with the estate of the late author, Michael Crichton, based on an unfinished manuscript by Crichton set to be released by Hachette in June of 2024. The story centers around a once-in-a-century volcano eruption of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, which threatens a secret cache of chemical weapons that can destroy not only the island but the world. Like Chrichton's Jurassic Park, Eruption is planned to be the first book in a series, and it it's expected that as Deadline states, "we can expect a monster screen auction to erupt early next year."
Jhené Chase has been tapped to direct the forthcoming Christmas serial killer thriller, Santa’s List. Per Deadline: "The film is set in Deep Haven, which is known for its world-renowned Santa Claus festival that keeps the small town alive all year round. But beneath all the Christmas Spirit, tinsel, and lights, there’s a darkness lurking. And this year, the 12 days of Christmas get turned upside down. After the murder of her best friend, big city detective, Eve, is lured back to her hometown to solve the crime. With each passing victim, the killer seems to be closer to home than ever. Will she solve what 'my true love gave to me' before it’s too late or will Santa check the final name off his list?"
Reptile co-stars Alicia Silverstone and Karl Glusman have been set to lead The Bird and the Bee, a sexually charged thriller that marks Justin Kelly‘s third film for Yale Productions. Written by Atlantis actor Jack Donnelly, the film was shot under a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement and wrapped production this week. The story follows a successful executive (Silverstone) as she fights back a scorned younger lover (Glusman) who takes his obsession too far.
Taz Skylar is set to co-star opposite Daisy Ridley in the action-thriller, Cleaner, with Martin Campbell directing. The film will shoot at the top of 2024 and falls under the British Equity act allowing it to shoot during the current SAG strike. The story sees radical activists take over an energy company’s annual gala at the Shard – the tallest skyscraper in Western Europe – seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by a zealous extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, Joey Locke (Daisy Ridley) – suspended 90 stories up on the outside of the building – to save those trapped inside and take down the killers, whilst also finding a way to bring the corrupt energy moguls to justice.
TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN
Bruna Papandrea‘s Made Up Stories, Erik Feig’s Picturestart, and Fifth Season have acquired the rights to author Jessica Knoll's bestselling thriller novel, Bright Young Women, to develop as a television series. Knoll will pen the adaptation and serve as executive producer. Inspired by real-life events, the novel tells the story of the women whose lives were forever changed by Ted Bundy’s cross-country killing spree. Opening on the night of Bundy’s 1978 attack on a Florida State University sorority house in the early morning hours, the novel follows sorority president Pamela Schumacher as she seeks answers to questions that remain even after four decades. It culminates in a new narrative about the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle — one that suggests that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones.
Fox Entertainment has struck a first-of-its-kind drama development deal with a trio of production companies, Eagle Eye, Clapperboard, and Aux Singuliers. With the latter two of those, Clapperboard and Aux Singuliers, Fox is working on Dead Space [working title] from Young Wallander scribe Ben Harris. Grounded in the reality of the current space race, the series attempts to redefine the traditional police procedural as it explores the complex moral, political, and real legal machinations after a murder is committed aboard the International Space Station. It is said to follow in the footsteps of the BBC’s Vigil, which took a similar approach to a murder mystery on a Navy submarine.
CBS Studios is continuing its push into international drama with the Icelandic-based The Darkness. Lena Olin stars as Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir in the series, based on Ragnar Jónasson’s thriller books. It follows Hermannsdóttir as she investigates a shocking murder case while coming to terms with her own personal traumas. Faced with an impending early retirement and forced to take on a new partner, Hulda is determined to find the killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger. Sam Shore (Mystic) will write and Lasse Hallström will direct the six-part drama.
Peacock has renewed the dark comedic thriller series Based on a True Story starring Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina for a second season. The show is a satire of the true crime genre with elements that are loosely inspired by true events. Season 1 is about Ava (Cuoco) and her husband Nathan (Messina), a down-on-their-luck couple, whose lives collide with an infamous serial killer terrorizing Los Angeles. They seize the unique opportunity to capitalize on America’s obsession with true crime by making a podcast with the killer.
Netflix dropped a new trailer for Bodies, which is based on the mind-bending graphic novel by Si Spencer and described as a police procedural with a twist. When a body – the same body – is found on Longharvest Lane in London’s East End in 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053, one detective from each period must investigate. As connections are drawn across the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic political leader – Elias Mannix (Stephen Graham) – becomes increasingly central. Did he have a part to play in the murder? Or is something far more sinister at play? To solve the mystery, our four detectives must somehow collaborate and uncover a conspiracy spanning over 150 years. The series also stars Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Shira Haas, and Amaka Okafo and premieres October 19th.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
On the latest episode of The Red Hot Chili Writers, Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee interviewed historical crime writer, Nev March; discussed the unsolved Bombay Rajabai Clocktower Deaths; and debated research about the happiest times in our lives - and in the lives of orangutans.
On Crime Time FM, Leonora Nattrass chatted with Paul Burke about her historical mystery thriller, Scarlet Town; Laurence Jago; 18th century history; rotten boroughs; and sapient hog.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club spoke with Desmond Ryan, author of the Mary Margaret O'Shea mystery series.
A new Mysteryrat's Maze podcast is up featuring the mystery short story, "The Perfect Patsy," written by Bern Sy Moss and read by actor Jessica Williams.
This week's Pick Your Poison podcast took a look at a poison that makes you mad as a hatter and also its brand-new antidote; and a medicine that comes from a bean used in African witchcraft trials.
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