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
Crystal City Entertainment and Moonshot Films have acquired the rights to Lisa Jewell’s bestselling novel, Then She Was Gone, for a feature film adaptation. This follows news over the summer that Netflix is working on an adaptation of the UK writer’s 2023 book, None of This Is True. The 2017 thriller, Then She Was Gone, tells the story of Laurel Mack and the aftermath of her youngest daughter’s unexplained disappearance. Ten years on, a still grieving Laurel meets a seemingly perfect man, but his nine-year-old daughter’s resemblance to her own lost child soon becomes an obsession, leaving her no choice but to dig deeper into the past…whatever she might find. Actress and writer Catherine Steadman has joined the project as screenwriter.
Bret Easton Ellis's novel, American Psycho, is being adapted for the silver screen once again, with Luca Guadagnino on board to direct off a script by Scott Z. Burns. It’s being said that this isn't a remake of the 2000 film, but rather a new adaptation of the original novel, perhaps indicating it will be more faithful to the source material. Christian Bale starred in the original movie project, playing a wealthy New York City investment banking executive who hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
Lee Pace (the villain Ronan in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy) is set to join Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, and Katy O’Brian in The Running Man, Paramount’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Edgar Wright is directing the feature and co-wrote the script with Michael Bacall. The 1982 novel, written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, was set in 2025 in an America under a totalitarian regime that uses violent game shows to placate the disenfranchised masses. The novel centers on one desperate man (to be played by Powell), needing money for his sick daughter, who joins the most popular show, The Running Man, in which teams of killers hunt down contestants. The longer a contestant survives, the more money that person makes. But as the game show’s producers and killers will find out, this desperate man will break all the rules and expose the show’s dark secrets. Pace plays the brutal chief hunter for the network airing the game shows, who's also tasked by the producer with tracking down Powell’s character. Paramount has set a release date of Nov. 21, 2025.
Rebecca De Mornay, Noah Emmerich, Kunal Nayyar, and Sarah Bolger have joined the feature adaptation of Howard Roughan's legal thriller novel, The Up and Comer. The story delves into the seemingly perfect life of Philip Randall (Nate Mann), a brilliant attorney poised to become the youngest partner at his prestigious firm. Philip’s idyllic world begins to unravel when a former prep-school classmate (Andrew Burnap) threatens to reveal a devastating secret involving another woman (Shay Mitchell). Suddenly caught in a high stakes game of blackmail, murder, and revenge, Philip is forced to risk everything only to face the greatest danger of all – winning.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
The BBC has acquired Lynley, an upcoming contemporary adaptation of the bestselling mystery crime novels by Elizabeth George. Leo Suter (Vikings: Valhalla) and Sofia Barclay (Ted Lasso) star as the unconventional detective duo DI Tommy Lynley and DS Barbara Havers in the new series, currently in production in Ireland. They are joined by Daniel Mays (Magpie Murders), Niamh Walsh (The English Game), Michael Workeye (My Lady Jane) and Joshua Sher (Vera). The four-part series focuses on Tommy Lynley, a brilliant police detective but an outsider in the force – simply by virtue of his aristocratic upbringing. He is paired with Barbara Havers, a sergeant with a maverick attitude and a working-class background. With seemingly nothing in common and against all odds, the mismatched duo of Lynley and Havers become a formidable team, bonded by their desire to see justice done.
Downton Abbey star Phyllis Logan is leading a pan-global Channel 5 drama based on Parnell Hall’s Puzzle Lady mysteries. The Puzzle Lady [working title] will see the BAFTA-nominee play Cora Felton, who takes on the title role. When a strange murder takes place in the sleepy market town of Bakerbury, the local police are baffled by a crossword puzzle left on the body. With their case going nowhere, they turn reluctantly to Felton, a recent arrival, who happens to have a nationally syndicated crossword puzzle column. The series is for Paramount-owned Channel 5 and is being distributed in the U.S. by PBS Distribution. The series has begun production in Northern Ireland and is set to air next year. Hall, who died in 2020, wrote numerous puzzle lady books along with his Stanley Hastings mysteries.
The Morris Chestnut-starring Watson has received its premiere date on CBS for January 26 following the AFC Championship game, before the drama takes its regular time slot on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. Watson, inspired by the characters from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries, takes place six months after the death of the titular character’s friend and partner, Sherlock Holmes, at the hands of Moriarty. The modern take follows the historic detective as he turns his attention from solving crimes to solving medical mysteries. Chestnut stars as Dr. John Watson, who resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders. Watson’s old life isn’t done with him, though – Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century. The series also stars Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall, Ritchie Coster, Inga Schlingmann, and Rochelle Aytes.
Netflix unveiled a slate of images for its upcoming spy thriller series, Black Doves, starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw, ahead of its premiere date of December 5. Black Doves, which also stars Sarah Lancashire, is set against the backdrop of London at Christmas. It follows Helen Webb (Knightley), a quick-witted, down-to-earth, dedicated wife and mother — and professional spy. For 10 years, she’s been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to the shadowy organization she works for, the Black Doves. When her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is assassinated, her spymaster, the enigmatic Reed (Lancashire), calls in Helen’s old friend Sam (Whishaw) to keep her safe.
PODCASTS/RADIO
The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with paleontologist and crime writer, Leonard "Kris" Krystalka, whose latest novel is The Bone Field.
Crime Time FM presented a live event from Waterstones Tottenham Court Road, with legends Lisa Jewell and Mark Edwards talking about everything from killing people in sand to Marvel superheroes.
Meet the Thriller Author welcomed Jeffrey Archer, whose novels, including the Clifton Chronicles, the William Warwick novels, and Kane and Abel, have topped bestseller lists around the world, with sales of over 300 million copies.
Wrong Place, Write Crime host, Frank Zafiro, spoke with Bill Powers, a fifty-year veteran of law enforcement, as well as being an author, educator, and podcaster.
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