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
The Michael Crichton and James Patterson novel, Eruption, has been bought at auction by Sony in a seven-figure deal. The adaptation has snagged Oscar-winning Free Solo directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, and Deadline also reports that conversations are ongoing with Keanu Reeves to potentially star. Eruption, which Crichton spent 20 years writing before his death in 2008, follows a history-making volcanic explosion that is about to wipe away the big island of Hawaii. However, a secret held for decades by the U.S. military is far more terrifying than any volcano.
Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies) is in talks to join Austin Butler in Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller, Caught Stealing, for Sony Pictures, a project based on the book by Charlie Huston, who is also writing the script. Caught Stealing follows Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of '90s NYC.
Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I), Tom Ellis (Lucifer), Geoff Bell (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso), and Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who) are the latest names to have joined Netflix’s movie The Thursday Murder Club, based on the book by Richard Osman. They join a star-studded British and Irish ensemble including Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, and Henry Lloyd-Hughes. The story follows a group of friends in a retirement home who gather to solve murders for fun, but find themselves caught in a real case. The four members of the club will be played by Mirren (ex-spy Elizabeth), Kingsley (ex-psychiatrist Ibrahim), Brosnan (former union activist Ron), and Imrie (ex-nurse Joyce).
TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN
Apple TV+ has ordered a second season of the legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, with David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams, and Season 1 star Jake Gyllenhaal returning as executive producers, and Presumed Innocent author Scott Turow as co-executive producer. The news comes a month into the run of the series, which already has become the #1 most viewed drama of all time on Apple TV+. There are no details about Season 2 beyond the fact that it "will unfold around a suspenseful, brand new case." Gyllenhaal’s Rusty Sabich is not a recurring character in Turow’s books, so it is unclear whether the actor would return.
Game of Thrones alumna Emilia Clarke is set as a lead in Ed Brubaker’s Prime Video drama, Criminal, an interlocking universe of crime stories based on the multi-Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series created by Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Clarke will play Mallory, a slick and daring armed robber who's partnered with Ricky Lawless (Gus Halper) in a passionate Bonnie-and-Clyde-like affair. Mallory is a woman on the edge, living on the wrong side of the law and hiding secrets that will bring her and her entire crew into the danger zone. In addition to Halper, Clarke joins previously announced cast including Charlie Hunnam, Richard Jenkins, John Hawkes, Adria Arjona, Logan Browning, Kadeem Hardison, Pat Healy, Taylor Sele, Aliyah Camacho, Michael Mando, Marvin Jones III, Michael Xavier, and Dominic Burgess.
Prime Video has also set the premiere date for the Aldis Hodge-starring crime thriller series, Cross, for November 14. Cross is a complex, twisted, pulse-pounding thriller created by showrunner and executive producer Ben Watkins, based upon the characters from James Patterson’s best-selling Alex Cross book series. The drama follows Alex Cross (Hodge), a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, to identify—and ultimately capture—the murderers. In addition to Hodge, Cross also stars Isaiah Mustafa, Juanita Jennings, Alona Tal, Samantha Walkes, Caleb Elijah, Melody Hurd, Jennifer Wigmore, Eloise Mumford, and Ryan Eggold. In an unusual move, the series was renewed back in May by Prime Video for a second season, even before the premiere of season 1.
Courtney Taylor has been cast as a series regular opposite Maggie Q in Prime Video's Untitled Renee Ballard Series, which is a Bosch spinoff. The procedural follows Detective Renée Ballard (Q), who is tasked with running the LAPD’s new cold case division—a poorly funded, all-volunteer unit with the largest case load in the city. When Ballard uncovers a larger conspiracy during her investigations, she’ll lean on the assistance of her retired ally, Harry Bosch, to navigate the dangers that threaten both her unit and her life. Taylor will play Samira Parker, who is convinced by Ballard, her former mentor, to return to the LAPD’s Cold Case Unit five years after leaving the force.
PODCASTS/RADIO
James Lee Burke chatted with Crime Time FM's Paul Burke (no relation) about his career and Dave Robicheaux; the Diamond Dagger; Knights Errant; cooking for Davy Crockett, and more.
This most recent episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer, Phil M. Williams.
The Cops and Writers podcast interviewed bestselling author and ghostwriter, Joshua Lisec.
The latest Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast featured the mystery short story, "Conversation With the Murderer," written by Heidi Hunter and read by actor Mary Catherine.
The latest installment in the podcast from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine featured Iain Rowan's riveting story, "Scars," from AHMM's Sept/Oct 2022 issue.
THEATRE
February 6, 2025 will see the world premiere of Picture You Dead, the seventh Peter James book featuring Roy Grace to be adapted for the stage by award-winning writer Shaun McKenna. The play will tour at major theatres across the UK until July 26, 2025. The Roy Grace books were also previously adapted by ITV for its critically acclaimed prime time drama about the Brighton-based detective, with season four of the crime series to be broadcast later this year.
Comments