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
Blake Lively and Diablo Cody have teamed up for Lady Killer, a feature adaptation of a graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics. Lively will star and produce while Cody will pen the script. The comic was written by Joëlle Jones and Jamie S. Rich, with Jones, who made a splash writing and drawing Catwoman for DC, supplying the art. Jones took inspiration from 1950s advertisements to craft a story set in that period, which focused on a picture-perfect housewife…who just happens to lead a secret life as a deadly killer for hire. The comic first hit shelves in 2015 and even won an Eisner Award for best limited series in 2016.
Universal Pictures has picked up the rights to adapt Reikon’s video game, Ruiner, with Wes Ball attached to direct Michael Arlen Ross’s screenplay. The videogame is an action shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyber metropolis Rengkok. The game follows a wired psychopath who fights against a corrupt system to uncover the truth and retrieve his kidnapped brother. Under the guidance of a mysterious hacker, he battles through a world of brutal violence and cutting-edge technology, inching closer to the dark secrets hidden within the city’s neon-lit streets.
TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN
Anya Taylor-Joy (Furiosa: A Mad Max Story) is returning to screens on Netflix, playing the lead role of the murderous Grace Bernard in an adaptation of Bella Mackie’s novel, How to Kill Your Family. The novel follows the story of Grace, the illegitimate daughter of a millionaire who abandoned her and her mother, ignoring her mother’s pleas for help as she was close to dying. Grace vows revenge and decides to kill every member of her father’s family, leaving him for last.
In a competitive situation, Hulu has landed the hostage-recovery drama series, The Envoy, from The Rookie creator, Alexi Hawley, and Lionsgate Television. The Envoy is inspired by journalist and producer Adam Ciralsky’s June 2024 Vanity Fair story about Roger Carstens and his team at the State Department who have brought home 70 American hostages during the past four years.
Gina Rodriguez has come aboard Season 3 of ABC’s Will Trent, based on the novels of Karin Slaughter. The Jane the Virgin star will enter the Ramon Rodríguez-led series as assistant district attorney Marion Alba, who is new to Atlanta. She is described as "charismatic" and "confident," though after her first encounter with Will (Rodriguez) falls flat, the pair is surprised to learn that they must work together to investigate a crime in the world of Atlanta gangs.
Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) and Freddie Highmore (The Good Doctor) are set to star in The Assassin, a thriller series penned by Harry and Jack Williams for Prime Video. Secluded on a remote Greek island, retired assassin Julie (Hawes) has a somewhat thorny reunion with her estranged son, Edward (Highmore), visiting from England. Armed with questions around new information about his paternity, Edward battles to find the right time to speak to his frustratingly distant mother. But when the moment finally presents itself, things take a deadly turn as Julie’s dangerous past catches up with her and they are forced to flee the island and go on the run together in a fight for survival.
Netflix has set Thursday, October 17 for the Season 3 premiere of The Lincoln Lawyer. The new season sees the return of series stars Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole, Angus Sampson, and Yaya DaCosta, all reprising their roles. The 10-episode third season is based on the fifth book in Michael Connelly’s "Lincoln Lawyer" series, The Gods of Guilt, and will include a flashback sequence that gives us some insight into how Mickey Haller became Mickey Haller — not just the brilliant criminal defense lawyer but the husband, the father, and the man that he would come to be.
Peacock has given a straight-to-series order to the South Florida-set, female-led crime thriller, M.I.A., from Ozark co-creator Bill Dubuque. In M.I.A., running drugs is a family affair for Etta Tiger Jonze. But when her family is slaughtered before her eyes, Etta sets out to exact justice on those responsible – avenging her blood family. At the same time, she builds her chosen family, igniting her series journey from powerless orphan to South Florida’s most powerful criminal Queenpin.
Emmy Award winner Matthew Rhys (The Americans, Perry Mason) has joined the cast of Netflix's The Beast in Me, the mystery thriller project, created, written, and executive-produced by Gabe Rotter. He joins previously announced Claire Danes. Following the tragic death of her young son, acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs (Danes) has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self. But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis (Rhys), a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly.
PODCASTS/RADIO
Speaking of Mysteries chatted with Karin Slaughter about This Is Why We Lied, the 12th Will Trent mystery.
Ava Glass spoke with Paul Burke on Crime Time FM about her new thriller, The Trap; Emma Makepeace; meeting her first spy; and the FBI novel to come.
This week’s episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Anna Willett, author of several thriller novels, including five books in The Cold Case Mystery series.
On the latest Spybrary Spy Podcast, acclaimed spy authors Joseph Kanon and Paul Vidich sat down for an intriguing discussion that delved deep into the world of writing spy fiction.
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