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
Lío Mehiel, Thaddea Graham, Will Price, Christine Dye, and Burgess Byrd have joined previously announced cast members Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloë Sevigny in Amazon MGM Studios’s upcoming feature, After the Hunt. Luca Guadagnino is directing the film from a script penned by Nora Garrett. The film follows a college professor who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues, and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.
DeskPop Entertainment has acquired the thriller, Murder Motel, starring Oscar-nominee Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Alexandra Grey, Jeremy Luke, James Russo, Noel Gugliemi, Nicholas Turturro, Glenn Plummer, Naomi Grossman, Jaime Zevallos, Alexander James Rodriguez, and Leila Almas Rose. The film, which is written and directed by Paul Tully, follows ruthless drug dealers, Mickey, a Neo-Nazi meth dealer, and Tonya, a beautiful trans woman, who find themselves falling in love while seeking redemption in a 72-hour race against the clock. The film is scheduled for an August 6th release via DeskPop on DVD and VOD.
Vertical has acquired North American rights to Bad Genius, an English-language remake of the Thai thriller of the same-name, from Picturestart, Picture Perfect Federation, and Little Ray Media. Marking the directorial debut of J.C. Lee, a veteran producer whose credits include How to Get Away with Murder, the film is slated to hit select theaters in the U.S and Canada on October 11. Bad Genius is a high-stakes, high-octane thriller about a diverse group of students who team up to fight a system of injustice and inequity and take down the rigged academic institutions around them. Lee scripted the remake with Julius Onah, with whom he previously collaborated on the Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee, Luce.
TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN
The MHz Choice streamer has picked up Miss Merkel, which reimagines former German chancellor Angela Merkel moving to a small town with her husband and her pug, Helmut, as she discovers a new calling as an amateur detective. Starring veteran German actress Katharina Thalbach (The Tin Drum), the series is based on the books by writer, humorist, and actor David Safier (Berlin, Berlin). The deal includes two 90-minute tongue-in-cheek mysteries, with a third planned.
John Carroll Lynch has been cast as a series regular opposite Maggie Q in Prime Video's Untitled Renée Ballard Series, a Bosch spinoff. The new series follows Detective Renée Ballard (Maggie 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. Lynch will play Thomas Laffont, a retired former police partner who comes back to help Ballard run the department.
John Magaro (The Bride) has joined the cast of the espionage political thriller, The Agency, for Paramount+ with Showtime as a series regular. Currently in production in London, The Agency is based on the hit French drama series, Le Bureau des Légendes. The show follows Martian, played by Michael Fassbender, a covert CIA agent ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station. When the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites. His career, his real identity and his mission are pitted against his heart; hurling them both into a deadly game of international intrigue and espionage. Magaro will play Owen, an Operations Officer and agent handler. He joins previously announced series regulars Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith, Katherine Waterston, and Richard Gere.
A first look was revealed for the Sky/Starz series, Sweetpea, starring Fallout’s Ella Purnell. Based on the cult novel by C.J. Skuse and adapted by Kirstie Swain, Sweetpea follows seemingly ordinary Rhiannon Lewis. Although her childhood was haunted by a famous crime, Rhinannon’s life is normal now that her celebrity has dwindled. By day her job as an editorial assistant is demeaning and unsatisfying. By evening she dutifully listens to her friend’s plans for marriage and babies while secretly making a list. A kill list.
PODCASTS/RADIO
The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with crime fiction newcomer Ram Murali about his debut, Death in the Air, and discussed this year's Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.
The Pick Your Poison podcast investigated how your organs can turn green, the controversial start to forensic toxicology evidence, and more.
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