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
Sony’s 3000 Pictures has set Justin Kuritzkes to adapt City on Fire, the first of a bestselling novel trilogy by Don Winslow that is being developed as a star vehicle for Austin Butler. Winslow’s swan song trilogy – the final installment City in Ruins is just landing on the bestseller lists after being published by William Morrow – is a modern retelling of the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid and Greek tragic dramas set in the world of contemporary crime. Kuritzkes will start at the beginning, a struggle between two criminal empires — one Irish, the other Italian — that control all of New England, until a modern-day Helen of Troy tears them apart and starts a brutal war. Butler will play the main character, Danny Ryan, who is forced to grow from a street soldier into a ruthlessly efficient leader to protect his friends, his family and the home he loves.
Park Chan-wook is developing his acclaimed film Oldboy for the first time as an English-language series in partnership with Lionsgate Television. Park, who directed and co-wrote the original film, is set to produce the series alongside producing partner Syd Lim. The 2003 feature was an adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name written by Garon Tsuchiya and follows Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a man taken off the streets and imprisoned in a cell that resembles a hotel room for fifteen years, without knowing the identity of his captor or his captor's motives. When he is finally released, Dae-su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy and violence as he seeks revenge against his enigmatic captor.
TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN
Noah Jupe, who is starring opposite Michael Douglas in the Apple TV+ Benjamin Franklin biopic, is leading a TV drama adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’s cult classic, Engleby. Jupe will play the titular character, an enigmatic outsider who graduates from 1970s campus life to 1980s Fleet Street and beyond – haunted all the while by an unsolved mystery involving a friend and fellow student from his university days. The six-part drama is described as a "quintessential British murder mystery meets acute psychological character study, with a healthy dose of dark wit." Michael Keillor, who is helming the upcoming BBC/Netflix drama on the Lockerbie disaster, is directing, and Channel 4-backed production outfit Freedom Scripted is producing, although no network is attached as of yet.
Miss Scarlet wasn’t left alone for long, after Stuart Martin, who played William "The Duke" Wellington in the previous four seasons of the historical crime series, Miss Scarlet and The Duke, opted not to return for season five. Tom Durant Pritchard (The Crown) has joined the cast of the MASTERPIECE drama, playing Alexander Blake, a handsome former soldier and respected detective inspector who joins the force at Scotland Yard after Wellington's departure. He’s not particularly shocked by a woman working as a private eye, so Eliza takes this to mean she’ll be given more cases. But their relationship gets off to a rocky start since Blake has decided not to allow private detectives to aid in his investigations. As Blake and Miss Scarlet cross paths at various crime scenes across London, they can’t help but develop mutual respect for one another, and perhaps even an attraction.
ABC has renewed the Nathan Fillion drama, The Rookie, for a seventh season. Nathan Fillion stars as John Nolan, a man in his forties, who becomes the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department. Other cast members include Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey, Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen, Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune, Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, Tru Valentino as Aaron Thorsen, and Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez. The Rookie airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC, and streams next day on Hulu.
CBS has renewed the freshman series Elsbeth for the 2024-2025 season. The series follows the titular Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), who first appeared in The Good Wife and later in The Good Fight spinoff, an "astute but unconventional attorney who utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD following her successful career in Chicago." Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson round out the series' regular cast as Captain Wagner and Kaya Blanke, respectively.
One show that won't be returning is CSI: Vegas, with the network giving the drama the axe after three seasons. A follow-up to the 2000 CSI series, CSI: Vegas launched with original cast members William Petersen and Jorja Fox reprising their CSI roles in Season 1. The sequel’s current cast includes fellow original star Marg Helgenberger, who joined in Season 2, Paula Newsome, Mandeep Dhillon, Matt Lauria, Ariana Guerra, Jay Lee, and Lex Medlin.
MASTERPIECE Mystery! released its first trailer for the ninth season of Grantchester, which premieres Sunday, June 16 at 9/8c ET. The new season is set in 1961 and sees the poignant departure of Rev. Will Davenport (Tom Brittany) and the arrival of Rev. Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair).
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
On Crime Time FM, Juiie Anderson chatted with Paul Burke about her latest thriller, The MIdnight Man, the first book in a new historical crime series; Whitehall machinations; the birth of the NHS; the Clapham Literary Festival; The South London Women & Children's Hospital; the locked room mystery; and old British movies.
This week's episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Len Joy to discuss his novel, Dry Heat, and other writings.
Meet the Thriller Author spoke with Brian J. Morra, who spent his career in intelligence and national security, about his series, "The Able Archers," including the latest installment, The Righteous Arrows.
The Cops and Writers podcast traveled to San Francisco and the home of Fisherman’s Wharf, The Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and of course, Alcatraz, to chat with the City of San Francisco Police Sergeant and bestselling author, Adam Plantinga.
TG Wolff and Jack Wolff, the hosts of Mysteries To Die For Podcast, stormed the Wrong Place Write Crime studios and took over for an episode. Check out their interview with a mystery guest you may know.
On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed mysteries and thrillers nominated for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards.
The Pick Your Poison podcast took a look at the animal called the most venomous in the world, discussed if pee is an effective antidote, and how pantyhose makes swimming safer.
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