In Reference to Murder

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

A spec script for the psychological thriller, Don’t Worry Darling, which will be directed by and starring Olivia Wilde, has sold to New Line after a hefty auction in which 18 different studios bid on the project. Wilde is reteaming on the project with the writer for Booksmart, Katie Silberman, who will rewrite the original script from Shane and Carey Van Dyke. Don’t Worry Darling is a psychological thriller about a 1950s housewife whose reality begins to crack, revealing a disturbing truth underneath.

District 9 writer/director Neill Blomkamp has parted ways with the Robocop sequel, Robocop Returns. MGM, the studio behind the project, still intends to proceed with the sequel, although details are sketchy at this time, including any news on a potential replacement director, writer, or any cast. Blomkamp announced his departure as being due to his shooting a new horror/thriller, adding that MGM couldn't wait and needed to start filming sooner.

Robert De Niro and Shia LaBeouf have committed to star in After Exile, with Joshua Michael Stern directing from a script by Anthony Thorne and Michael Tovo, based on true events from Tovo's life. After Exile is the story of Mike Delaney (LaBeouf) who, after being released from prison for killing an innocent man after a violent robbery, must re-enter his old life where he and his ex-criminal father (De Niro) attempt to save his younger brother from a life of drugs and crime.

Tommy Lee Jones has joined Katheryn Winnick, Aaron Eckhart, and Heather Graham in April Mullen’s conspiracy thriller, Wander. The film follows Arthur Bretnik (Eckhart), a mentally unstable private investigator, who, after being hired to probe a suspicious death in the town of Wander, becomes convinced the case is linked to the same conspiracy cover-up that caused the death of his daughter. Jones will play eccentric conspiracy theorist, Jimmy Cleats, with Graham set to play Shelley Luscomb, an attorney and close friend of Arthur. Winnick plays Elsa Viceroy, a mysterious authority figure who catches Bretnik’s attention as the investigation deepens.

Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding is in early talks to star in the G.I. Joe spinoff, Snake Eyes, with Robert Schwentke set to direct. Snake Eyes is a silent ninja commando who dresses in all black, never reveals his face and doesn’t speak. He stands out among the other members of his military anti-terrorist group and forms a special relationship with Scarlett, the team’s one-time only female member, while sometimes carrying out solo missions with his pet wolf, Timber. His archenemy is Storm Shadow, a ninja who is also his blood brother.

John Swab’s opioid-epidemic crime thriller, Body Brokers, has added Jessica Rothe, Owen Campbell, Thomas Dekker, Peter Greene, and Sam Quartin to the ensemble cast that includes the previously announced stars Melissa Leo, Michael K. Williams, Frank Grillo, Alice Englert and Jack Kilmer. Body Brokers is the true and untold story of the multibillion-dollar drug and alcohol treatment scheme where former drug addicts and dealers become millionaires as fly-by-night "body brokers," recruiting other addicts to seek treatment and selling these patients off to facilities paying the highest price.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

The upcoming snowboarding thriller, Shiver, is being adapted for television after Firebird Pictures, the indie set up by Bodyguard executive producer Elizabeth Kilgarriff, snapped up the rights to Allie Reynolds’s debut novel. The book is set in the French Alps and follows five friends who reunite years after taking part in a snowboarding competition, where their friend Saskia disappeared. While in a deserted lodge on top of a mountain, the secrets of the past come to light.

Amazon Studios has acquired the worldwide rights to the dark thriller, Blow the Man Down, from first-time feature filmmakers Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole. The film is set to make its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month after having its premiere at Tribeca in April, where it won Best Screenplay. Sophie Lowe, Morgan Saylor, June Squibb, and Marceline Hugot star in the film that is set in a salty fishing village on Maine’s rocky coast and involves a stew of murder, sex, and small-town secrets.

NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service has given a pilot order to One of Us Is Lying, based on Karen M. McManus’s bestselling young-adult mystery-thriller novel. The project is described as "The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars" and tells the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

CBS has opted not to pick up the crime drama, Instinct, for a third season, joining three other mid-season dramas at the network that are not going forward, including The Code, The Red Line, and Ransom. Based on the James Patterson novel, Instinct stars Alan Cumming as a former CIA operative who is lured back to his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer. Novakovic, Daniel Ings, Naveen Andrews and Sharon Leal co-star.

Netflix and A+E Networks’s Crime & Investigation have renewed the true crime documentary series, I Am A Killer, for a second season of ten episodes. It features in-depth interviews with some of the longest serving death row prisoners in America and looks at how they are treated in the prison system as well as the impact of their crimes on their communities and families.

BET Networks’s new streaming service, BET+, is ramping up production on its original content. Paula Patton is set to star in Sacrifice, a new original movie written, executive produced, and directed by Chris Stokes. Set in Los Angeles, the legal thriller stars Patton as Daniella Hernandez, a highly sought after entertainment lawyer as she navigates the nefarious lives of her rich and famous clients.

Better Call Saul alumna, Julie Ann Emery, is set for a recurring role on the upcoming sixth season of Amazon’s Bosch. Based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling novels, Bosch stars Titus Welliver as homicide Detective Harry Bosch, Jamie Hector as Jerry Edgar, Amy Aquino as Lt. Grace Billets, Madison Lintz as Maddie Bosch, and Lance Reddick as Deputy Chief Irvin Irving. Emery will play Sylvia Reece, one of the FBI agents brought in to investigate a murder on Bosch’s turf.

Arrow actress Katrina Law is heading to Hawaii Five-0 as a regular for Season 10 of the long-running CBS series. Law will play Quinn Liu, "a former Staff Sergeant with Army CID who was recently demoted for insubordination. After an explosive collision with Five-0 during a case involving veterans, Quinn becomes a loyal ally to the team. Sharp-tongued in several languages, she has a deep understanding of military culture, a mysterious past, and a deft ability to match wits with McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin)."

Jessica Hecht (Special), Parisa Fitz-Henley (Jessica Jones), and Eddie Martinez (Orange Is the New Black) are set as leads opposite Bill Pullman, Matt Bomer, and Chris Messina on the upcoming third season of USA Network’s anthology crime thriller series, The Sinner. Season 3 follows Detective Harry Ambrose (Pullman) as he begins a routine investigation of a tragic car accident that uncovers a hidden crime pulling him into the most dangerous and disturbing case of his career.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Debbi Mack interviewed crime writer Robert Crais on the Crime Cafe podcast about his latest novel, A Dangerous Man, the 18th book in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series. She also chatted with crime writer Bill Brier, who spent twenty-​five years in the movie business as a cameraman, film editor, and general manager before turning his hand to writing crime fiction.

Criminal Mischief Episode #25 included "A Stroll Through Forensic Science History" with host Dr. D.P. Lyle.

The new Mysteryrat's Maze podcast featured an excerpt from A High-End Finish, the first Fixer-Upper Mystery by Kate Carlisle, as read by actor Casey Ballard.

Two Crime Writers and a Microphone hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste talked about the fact there is no book news; US tours; and general "meandering nonsense."

Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham talked about the Tiny Pretty Things adaptation; Tana French in the New Yorker; the real-life Where the Crawdads Sing mystery; and they celebrated Women in Translation month.

The latest Meet the Thriller Author podcast welcomed Vince Milam, who has lived all over the world, traipsing through the Amazon, Congo, and Papua New Guinea – all the while capturing sights, experiences, and personalities that are incorporated into his writing.

On this week's Writers Detective Bureau, host and veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson took on the topics of "Being Held Without Charges, Stalking, and Desk Pops?"

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club spoke with Samantha Downing, author of the USA Today and #1 International Best Seller, My Lovely Wife.

THEATER

The Marlowe Theater in the UK is the next stop for the adaptation of Paula Hawkins's psychological thriller, Girl on a Train, with a run of August 20-24.

The Milton Keynes Theatre in the UK is presenting Agatha Christie's classic play, The Mousetrap, August 19-24. The story is set during a snowstorm that traps a group of strangers with an unknown killer in their midst.

The Theatre Royal Nottingham is staging Dangerous Obsession from August 20-24. When John Barrett unexpectedly appears at the home of Sally and Mark Driscoll, it is clear he is looking for someone to take the blame for his wife’s fatal accident. Dangerously obsessed and determined to seek retribution, Barrett strips away the conflicting secrets of the Driscoll’s apparently perfect lives, until his twisted revenge climaxes in the devastating conclusion of this compulsive psycho-thriller.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn has nabbed the closing night slot at this year’s New York Film Festival. Inspired by Jonathan Lethem’s best-selling novel, the project has a neo-noir narrative set in 1950s New York and follows a private detective (Norton) with Tourette syndrome as he becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving a Robert Moses–like master builder (Alec Baldwin). The cast also includes Bruce Willis, Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bobby Cannavale, Leslie Mann, and Cherry Jones. 

Universal Pictures has canceled plans to release the thriller, The Hunt, following the mass shootings last month in El Paso and Dayton. The statement posted on the studio's website added, "We stand by our filmmakers and will continue to distribute films in partnership with bold and visionary creators, like those associated with this satirical social thriller, but we understand that now is not the right time to release the film." The picture follows 12 people who discover they have been kidnapped and brought to The Manor, a hunting ground where billionaires pay top dollar to hunt them for sport.

James Jordan is set to join Angelina Jolie in the wilderness thriller, Those Who Wish Me Dead, based on Michael Koryta’s novel about a 14-year-old boy who witnesses a brutal murder and is hidden in a wilderness skills program. Jordan’s specific role in the Taylor Sheridan-directed film has not been released.

Patrick Schwarzenegger (Midnight Sun), Gilles Geary (The I-Land) and Hayley Law (Riverdale) are among cast members joining Michael Shannon and Alex Pettyfer in the feature crime-drama, Echo Boomers, which has started filming in Utah. Based on a true story, the film follows a group of disillusioned twentysomethings who break into and steal from the homes of the rich. Seth Savoy is making his directorial debut on the movie which he scripted with Kevin Bernhardt and Jason Miller.

David Zayas (Dexter) will play "John the Baptist" in the Michael Polish-directed action pic, Force of Nature, about a gang of thieves who plot a heist during a hurricane, only to have a cop complicate events. Zayas’s character is part of the bank heist crew, described as a ruthless, cold guy who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if means sacrificing people on his team. He joins the previously announced Mel Gibson, Emile Hirsch, and Kate Bosworth in the cast.

The younger set may be happy to learn that Disney is planning on a live action/animation remake of The Great Mouse Detective. The original cartoon mystery film was released in 1986 to widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Based on the children’s book series Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, the feature closely emulates Sherlock Holmes and centers on a heroic mouse named Basil who lives in Victorian London and is trying to solve a potentially deadly mystery.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Fox Entertainment has acquired the rights to The Spellman Files book series by Lisa Lutz, which revolves about a family of PIs, to develop as a drama series. The Spellman book series launched with Lutz’s debut novel, the 1997 The Spellman Files, and consists of six novels about the Spellmans, a close-knit family of private investigators who are intensely suspicious and spend much time investigating each other. At one point, the novels were in development as a feature at Paramount.

BET Networks is developing Sister Code, a one-hour family legal drama from writer Gregg McBride (A Heavenly Christmas) and Intrepid, the Emmy-winning banner of Blair Underwood (When They See Us, Quantico). Created by McBride, Sister Code focuses on the intense rivalry between two sisters, both high-powered lawyers, who are competing for managing partner of their father’s law firm. Their clash not only challenges their already difficult relationship and familial bonds but also the high-stakes cases they and their fellow female attorneys handle.

NBC has commissioned six additional scripts from new legal drama, Bluff City Law, starring Jimmy Smits. It's a good sign for the series since backup scripts are typically ordered around the premiere or after a few airings. Co-created by Georgaris and Michael Aguilar and written by Georgaris, Bluff City Law is a character-driven drama that follows the lawyers of an elite Memphis firm that specializes in the most controversial landmark civil rights cases. Led by legendary lawyer Elijah Strait (Smits) and his brilliant daughter, Sydney Keller (Caitlin McGee), they take on the toughest David-and-Goliath cases while navigating their complicated relationship.

In one of the biggest surprises this past pilot season, ABC’s NYPD Blue reboot did not go to series but was kept in midseason contention with a possibility for redevelopment. It now appears that particular iteration of NYPD Blue, a sequel to the original Emmy-winning series, is dead. However, it's not the end of NYPD Blue's comeback at the network, which aired the iconic 1990s cop drama series. According to ABC Entertainment president, Karey Burke, "There are conversations about continuing it but possibly in a different iteration." The recent NYPD Blue pilot starred newcomer Fabien Frankel and co-starred original cast members Kim Delaney and Bill Brochtrup. The sequel centers on Theo (Frankel), the son of Dennis Franz’s Detective Andy Sipowicz character from the original series, who tries to earn his detective shield and work in the 15th squad while investigating his father’s murder.

Jamie Dornan, Alec Baldwin, and Christian Slater are set to star in Dr. Death, a limited drama series from Universal Content Productions based on the Wondery podcast. Dr. Death tells the disturbing true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Dornan), a rising star in the Dallas medical community. Young, charismatic and ostensibly brilliant, he was building a flourishing neurosurgery practice when everything suddenly changed: patients entered his operating room for complex but routine spinal surgeries and left permanently maimed or dead. As victims piled up, two fellow surgeons (Baldwin and Slater) and a young Assistant District Attorney set out to stop him. 

Although this may come from the "don't hold your breath" category, talks are apparently still ongoing about a possible new incarnation of the real-time drama, 24, on the Fox network.

Christi Daugherty’s YA thriller series, Night School, set in a British boarding school, has been optioned for TV. The series has been translated into 23 languages and made into a popular web series which has over a million views on YouTube. 

Simona Brown (The Night Manager), Tom Bateman (Murder on the Orient Express), Eve Hewson (The Knick), and Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones) are to star in the Netflix psychological thriller, Behind Her Eyes, an adaptation of Sarah Pinborough’s novel. The project tells the story of Louise, a single mother and secretary who is stuck in a modern-day rut. On a night out, she meets and kisses a successful young man, David, who turns out to be her new boss. To complicate matters, she meets Adele, a new friend in town, who turns out to be married to David. As she becomes obsessed with the couple and entangled in the web of their marriage, they each reach out to her. But only when she gets to know them both does she begin to see the cracks: Is David really the man she thought she knew and is Adele as vulnerable as she appears? 

Netflix has set the premiere date for its police interrogation drama, Criminal, due to launch on September 20. The series, which stars For Life’s Nicholas Pinnock, Doctor Who’s David Tennant and Agent Carter’s Hayley Atwell, is set across four countries – France, Spain, Germany and the UK - and takes place exclusively within the confines of a police interview suite in those countries. It is a stripped down, cat-and-mouse drama that will focus on the intense mental conflict between the police officer and the suspect in question.

ABC has premiered a new trailer for the upcoming action-drama series, Stumptown, starring actress Cobie Smulders as private investigator Dex Parios. Based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Greg Rucka, the story follows sharp-witted army veteran, Dex, and her complicated love life, gambling debts, and a brother to take care of in Portland. 

USA Network just released a teaser trailer for Treadstone, the espionage thriller that premieres in October with a tale that is set within the sleek and brutal world of superspy Jason Bourne.

Time Magazine compiled a listing of "The 24 Most Anticipated TV Shows of Fall 2019" with trailers. There are several crime dramas on the list that are worth a look.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Authors on the Air featured guest host DP Lyle in an interview with fellow author, John Gilstrap, who's been contracted to write and co-produce the film adaptation of his book, Six Minutes to Freedom.

Authors on the Air regular host Pam Stack also welcomed prolific noir and fiction crime writer, Richie Narvaez, to the studio to discuss Hipster Death Rattle, a novel that plays out against a backdrop of rapid gentrification, skyrocketing rents, and class tension.

The two latest Speaking of Mysteries podcasts featured authors Hallie Ephron, talking about her new novel, Careful What You Wish For, and Alex Segura, talking about Miami Midnight, his fifth and final—or so he says—Pete Fernandez mystery.

The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson took on the topics of "Physical Agility, Foreign Nationals, and Missing Children."

THEATER

The Duke of York's Theatre, London, is presenting the stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins's book, The Girl on the Train, from August 17-23. The story follows Rachel, who learns that the woman she’s been secretly watching from her commuter train window every day has suddenly disappeared. Rachel soon finds herself as a witness and even a suspect in a thrilling mystery in which she will face bigger revelations than she could ever have anticipated.

The Theatre Royal Nottingham in the UK will stage Brian Clemens and Dennis Spooner's Anybody for Murder, August 13-17. It centers on Max, who is planning to murder his wife Janet, collect her life insurance, and enjoy life with his girlfriend when Mary and George arrive on their Greek island with news: Mary and Janet are beneficiaries of a huge fortune. Plans and plots hatch, and soon everyone is hellbent on murder. All that stands in their way is the presence of a neighbor who knows a thing or two about murder⁠—crime writer Edgar Chambers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are in talks to star in Deep Water, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, with Fatal Attraction director Adrian Lyne set to helm the project. Zack Helm (Stranger Than Fiction) and Sam Levinson (Euphoria) are writing the adaptation of Highsmith's psychological thriller in which Affleck and de Armas would play Vic and Melinda Allen, a married couple whose loveless marriage is held together by an arrangement where she can to take as many lovers as she wishes - so long as she never abandons her family. But when the husband grows jealous, he concocts a murderous plot in which many of the lovers turn up dead.

Chris Pine is attached to Newsflash to play iconic CBS newsman Walter Cronkite. The Ben Jacoby-scripted drama takes place on November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Texas. The drama also focuses on Don Hewitt, who was Cronkite’s producer and helped navigate the chaos in the historically tragic day in America.

Cate Blanchett is in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Nightmare Alley, joining Bradley Cooper as the headliners. Nightmare Alley is the story of a corrupt con man who teams up with a female psychiatrist to swindle people out of money, up until the point that they double cross one another. The story is based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham and was first adapted into a Fox film in 1947 directed by Edmund Golding and starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, and Coleen Gray. However, it is said that del Toro’s film will adhere more closely to the original novel.

John Swab’s crime thriller Body Brokers is lining up an impressive cast, including Academy Award-winning actress Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Emmy nominated actor Michael K. Williams (When They See Us, The Wire), Frank Grillo (Captain America: Winter Soldier) Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures), and Jack Kilmer (The Stanford Prison Experiment). Written and directed by Swab, Body Brokers is the true and untold story of the multibillion-dollar drug and alcohol treatment scheme where former drug addicts and dealers become millionaires as fly-by-night "body brokers," recruiting other addicts to seek treatment and selling these patients off to facilities paying the highest price.

Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, and Sarah Gadon are set to star in Black Bear, a suspenseful "meta-drama" written and directed by Lawrence Michael Levine. Currently shooting in the Adirondack Mountains in Long Lake, NY, the thriller centers on an expecting couple (Gadon and Abbott) who are confronted with an out-of-town guest Abigail (Plaza), a filmmaker suffering from writer’s block who soon finds herself at the center of a twisted love triangle.

Samuel Goldwyn has acquired the Goran Dukic-directed thriller Obsession about an out-of-work mechanic played by Mekhi Phifer who saves an older man (Brad Dourif) then promptly begins to falls for the man's wife (Elika Portnoy). Dourif’s George has plans to build a racetrack, and his wife forms a plot to murder him and rob him of his riches, drawing Phifer’s Sonny into the mix.

Jared Leto is in talks to join the cast of Warner Bros’ Little Things, a cop thriller starring fellow Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Rami Malek, with John Lee Hancock directing from his own script. Washington will play Deke, a burned-out Kern County sheriff who teams with an LA County Sheriff’s Department detective, Baxter (Malek), to reel in a wily serial killer, the role Leto is circling. Deke’s nose for the "little things" (hence the title of the movie) proves eerily accurate, but his willingness to circumvent the rules embroils Baxter in a soul-shattering dilemma. All the while, Deke wrestles with a dark secret from his past.

The first teaser trailer was released for The Irishman, the Martin Scorsese-directed film that stars Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Ray Romano, and Harvey Keitel. The film will open the New York Film Festival and get a theatrical release by Netflix this fall before it moves to the streaming service. The drama is an adaptation of Charles Brandt’s nonfiction book, I Heard You Paint Houses, and tells the true story of Frank Sheeran, who admitted killing 25 men for the mob, including his friend, the Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. Pesci plays Pennsylvania mob boss Russell Bufalino (who according to Sheeran’s testimony ordered the hit), Al Pacino plays Hoffa, and De Niro plays Sheeran. The film, first greenlit three years ago, uses digital technology to de-age seventy-something stars De Niro and Pacino, as well as co-star Joe Pesci. 

As Robert De Niro and director Martin Scorsese ready The Irishman for its premiere at the New York Film Festival, the duo are getting closer to teaming up yet again for the Paramount drama, Killers of the Flower Moon. De Niro is in early negotiations to join Scorsese's other most frequent actor collaborator, Leonardo DiCaprio, in the adaptation of the nonfiction book by David Grann. The project tells the true crime story of multiple murders of members of the Osage Indian tribe in 1920s Oklahoma that occurred after they found oil on their lands.

A trailer dropped for the thriller, The Hunt, which centers on a group of upper-class psychopaths who hunt regular folk for sport. The film stars Betty Gilpin, Ike Barinholtz, Hilary Swank, and Emma Roberts and opens September 27.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

CBS has given a series commitment to a Lincoln Lawyer adaptation from David E. Kelley, which CBS vice president, Thom Sherman, indicated is being targeted for the 2020-21 season. Based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling series of novels, The Lincoln Lawyer centers on Mickey Haller, who is described as "an iconoclastic idealist," who runs his law practice out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles.

The Expendables and Rocky co-stars Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren have reunited for The International, an action drama series that's being actively pursued by several networks and streaming services. Written by drama veteran Ken Sanzel (Numbers), the series stars Lundgren as a covert operative at the Department of Safety and Security at the UN. He is described as the UN’s secret special agent, a one-man S.W.A.T. team and hostage negotiator.

ABC has put in development Fight Like A Girl, a legal drama from Bull co-executive producers Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price, Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and CBS TV Studios. Written by Millard and Price, the series explores what "fight like a girl means" today through the lens of two female trial attorneys who fight with each other as much as they fight for their clients.

The cast has been set for Agatha Christie Limited’s The Pale Horse, the latest TV adaptation from Dame Agatha for the BBC. The Pale Horse centers on Mark Easterbrook (Rufus Sewell) as he tries to uncover the mystery of a list of names found in the shoe of a dead woman. His investigation leads him to the peculiar village of Much Deeping and also to The Pale Horse, the home of a trio of rumored witches. Word has it that the witches can do away with wealthy relatives by means of the dark arts, but as the bodies mount up, Easterbrook is certain there has to be a rational explanation.

Showtime has given a straight-to-series order to Rust, a drama based on Philipp Meyer’s debut novel, American Rust, starring and executive produced by Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom). Oscar nominee Dan Futterman (Capote) will write multiple episodes of the series. Rust is a compelling family drama that will explore the tattered American dream through the eyes of complicated and compromised chief of police Del Harris (Daniels) in a Rust Belt town in southwest Pennsylvania. When the woman he truly loves sees her son accused of murder, Harris is forced to decide what he’s willing to do to protect him.

Showtime also renewed its Kevin Bacon-led drama City on a Hill for a second season. The drama stars Bacon as a corrupt FBI agent who teams with Aldis Hodge’s assistant district attorney. The first season sees the two take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown in a case that grows to involve, and ultimately subvert, the entire criminal justice system of Boston. It also stars Jonathan Tucker, Mark O’Brien, Jill Hennessy, Lauren E. Banks, Amanda Clayton, Kevin Chapman, Jere Shea and guest star Sarah Shahi.

Aquaman star Jason Momoa has signed on to topline Sweet Girl, a revenge action film for Netflix, with Brian Andrew Mendoza taking on the project for his directorial debut. The story follows a devastated husband who vows to bring justice to the people responsible for his wife’s death while protecting the only family he has left, his daughter. The screenplay is by crime fiction author Gregg Hurwitz and Philip Eisner with current revisions by Will Staples.

Chris Messina (Sharp Objects) is headed for USA Network to star opposite Matt Bomer in the network's anthology series, The Sinner. In season three, announced back in March, star Bill Pullman reprises his role as Det. Harry Ambrose as he investigates a car crash and uncovers a crime that pulls him into the most dangerous and disturbing case of his career. White Collar alum Bomer stars as Jamie, a Dorchester resident and expectant father who looks to Ambrose for support in the wake of an accident. Messina will play Nick Haas, Jamie's college friend.

Lisseth Chavez (The Fosters) has booked a key recurring role on the upcoming seventh season of NBC’s Chicago P.D. She will play Vanessa Rojas, a street smart, gritty, resilient, fearless undercover cop. The role is reportedly a recurring one with an option to become a series regular.

Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me by Your Name) and Sofia Black-D’Elia (The Night Of) are set to star opposite Bryan Cranston in Your Honor, Showtime’s 10-part legal series based on the Israeli drama, Kvodo. Cranston stars as a respected judge whose son Adam (Hunter Doohan) is involved in a hit-and-run that leads to a high-stakes game of lies, deceit and impossible choices. Black-D’Elia will portray Frannie, Adam’s girlfriend, while Stuhlbarg will play Tommy, the much-feared head of a crime family.

Amazon will not be bringing back Too Old to Die Young, the series written by Nicolas Winding Refn and Ed Brubaker. It starred Miles Teller as a grieving police officer who, along with the man who shot his partner, finds himself in an underworld filled with working-class hit men, Yakuza soldiers, cartel assassins sent from Mexico, Russian mafia captains and gangs of teenage killers. Augusto Aguilera, Cristina Rodlo and Nell Tiger Free also starred in the series.

Fox has ordered six more episodes of its freshman series First Responders Live, which will move from its original Wednesday 9 p.m. time slot to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning television journalist Josh Elliott, First Responders Live provides a "raw, in-depth look at the brave American heroes, including firefighters, police officers, EMS technicians and first responders, who put their own lives on the line as they race into danger to save others."

Court TV, which came back on the air in May, has set a 37-part docuseries looking back on the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial, which will also mark Court TV’s first foray into the original programming space. The series, titled OJ25, will look back at the "Trial of the Century," with each episode focusing on every week of the 37-week trial. Exclusive new interviews with the key players in the case will take people behind-the-scenes of the trial, providing fresh perspective and insight on legal strategies and maneuverings, missteps, lost opportunities and more.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Laura Lippman was the guest on NPR's Fresh Air as host Terry Gross discussed Lippman's latest novel, Lady in the Lake.

This week's episode of Two Crime Writers and a Microphone featured a live recording from the Theakston's Crime Festival of the game show "Justice A Minute." The show included an amazing array of crime writers, with Mark Billingham captaining one team composed of Marnie Riches, Johnny Shaw, and Adrian McKinty, and Val McDermid captaining the opposition with Paul Finch, Stephanie Marland, and Mason Cross. Craig Robertson served as the independent adjudicator.

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up, featuring the fun mystery short story, "Cracking the Case of Humpty Dumpty" written by Chelle Martin and read by actor John Masier.

Writer Types came back from their summer hiatus with nine authors offering up what they've been reading this summer. The guests included Alison Gaylin, David Bell, Ellen LaCorte, Beau Johnson, David Gordon, Jen Conley, Jennifer Hillier, SC Perkins, and Richie Narvaez.

On the latest Read or Dead, hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham talked about Dean Koontz's new Amazon book deal, Scottish mysteries, and more.

The two latest Speaking of Mysteries podcasts featured author Alafair Burke, talking her 18th novel, The Better Sister, and also Rea Frey, discussing her latest book, Because You’re Mine.

Bill Koenig, Chief of Staff at the "Spy Commands" revealed his favorite spy books and spy TV shows on the Spybrary podcast.

The new Criminal Mischief podcast from D.P. Lyle focused on "Common Writing Mistakes."

The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast, hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on the themes of "Undercover Part II, License Plate Records, and Drug Money" in its one-year anniversary show.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Bookclub welcomed Amy Stewart, author of Girl Waits with Gun and the rest of the Kopp Sisters series, which are based on the true story of one of America’s first female deputy sheriffs and her two rambunctious sisters. The books are in development with Amazon Studios for a television series.

THEATER

The Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago is staging a production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. The iconic play centers around ten strangers who meet on a clandestine island, each hiding a murderous secret. Who will pay the ultimate price, as each is picked off one by one? The play runs through September 1.

In the UK, the Theatre Royal in Nottingham's production of Murder With Love begins August 6 with a run through the 10th. The Francis Durbridge play centers on Larry Campbell, a man hated by all, but none more so than David Ryder. Ryder pursues his wicked vendetta by obtaining a key to Campbell’s flat to kill him. Deceit, suspicion, blackmail and incrimination are woven into the web of crime culminating in a second killing and a tantalizing twist in the tail.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Treehouse Pictures has acquired the 2010 John Grisham novel, The Confession, and will develop it as a film. The story follow Donte Drumm, a young black man whose own forced confession put him on death row for the rape and murder of a high school cheerleader, and whose execution is scheduled in four days' time. It’s a race against the clock to exonerate him after a man walks into a priest's office and confesses to the crime from ten years earlier.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reuniting on-screen in The Last Duel, a project based on Eric Jager’s book, The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal and Trial by Combat in Medieval France, with Ridley Scott attached to direct. Damon and Affleck are also adapting the script with Oscar-nominated screenwriter, Nicole Holofcener (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). The story is set in the 1300s in Normandy and Paris and brings to life a colorful, turbulent age and three unforgettable characters caught in a fatal triangle of crime, scandal, and revenge.

The Other Side Of The Wind co-producer Dax Phelan is gearing up to direct his second feature, the suspense thriller, Kirkwood. The film follows former police detective Joe Dolan and his estranged teenage son, Max, who grow closer as they work together to cover up an accidental murder. When the family of the deceased hires a ruthless private investigator to re-examine the evidence in the case and the investigator begins to suspect the Dolans, Max’s sanity is pushed to the breaking point and Joe must go to extreme lenghts to keep their secret safe.

Jennifer Lawrence is set to star in an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Mob Girl by Teresa Carpenter.  Lawrence will also produce the film, which is based on the life of the mob wife turned police informant Arlyne Brickman, who grows up among racketeers on the Lower East Side of New York City where she’s drawn to the glamorous and flashy lifestyle of New York mobsters. Soon after, she begins dating "wiseguys" and running errands for them, before getting in on the action herself — eventually becoming a police informant and a major witness in the government’s case against the Colombo crime family.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Jeffery Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s Quibi short-form streaming service has picked up Skinny Dip, a comedy series based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2004 satirical novel. The project had been set up as a drama pilot at the CW in the 2018 cycle but did not move forward there. The series is described as a darkly comedic odyssey of revenge where a jilted woman miraculously survives a night in the open ocean after her husband suddenly flings her overboard on their anniversary cruise. Plucked to safety serendipitously by a retired cop, the two team up to gaslight her husband.

Robert Harris’s upcoming book, The Second Sleep, is being turned into a TV show by the producers of Downton Abbey. The Second Sleep follows a young priest, Christopher Fairfax, who arrives in a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of his predecessor. The land around is strewn with artefacts – coins, fragments of glass, human bones – which the old parson used to collect. Did his obsession with the Ancients lead to his death? Did he discover something kept secret for centuries? The novel is described as "a genre-bending thriller that explores the devastating potential of misused and oppressive doctrine, whilst challenging our notions of liberty and history."

Big Talk Productions is adapting a series of crime novels from Nigerian author Leye Adenle for the small-screen. The book series, which includes Easy Motion Tourist and When Trouble Sleeps, are gritty and vivid crime novels that center around sassy heroine Amaka and her dangerous fight against corruption and exploitation. It goes from the gated mansions of Victoria Island where rich politicians plot to subvert democracy to the crowded streets of Ojuelegba where violent gangs fight for control.

Amazon has revealed its latest project, an adaptation of Cristina Alger's best-selling novel, The Banker's Wife. Set in the world of global finance, the thriller follows two women as they chase down answers following a mysterious plane crash. After shining a light on offshore accounts obviously meant to be kept in the dark because they're offshore accounts, the two find themselves in the crosshairs of a larger conspiracy involving money laundering, politics, and a complicated web of terrorists and criminals.

ITV is producing a new detective franchise, Invisible, written by Robert Murphy (lead writer on Left Bank’s long-running detective series DCI Banks) and starring The Crown’s Jason Watkins and Cold Feet’s Tala Gouveia. Set in Bath, Watkins plays the shy, modest DS Dodds, who is paired with the wildly ambitious DCI McDonald, played by Gouveia. Thrown together, boss McDonald and loyal sidekick Dodds forge a rumbustious, entertaining and ultimately effective partnership.

Jeff Bridges is set to star The Old Man, a new drama that has been ordered to series at FX. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Thomas Perry, the project centers on Dan Chase (Bridges), who absconded from the CIA decades ago and has been living off the grid since. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past. This will mark the first starring TV role of Bridges’ career, after being nominated for seven Academy Awards.

More cast additions to the upcoing Perry Mason series:  McMafia's Juliet Rylance is set as a series regular, and Andrew Howard (The Oath), Eric Lange (Narcos), Robert Patrick (True Blood) and Stephen Root (Barry) will recur opposite Matthew Rhys and John Lithgow. HBO’s limited series is based on the characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, with the reimagined Perry Mason set in 1931 Los Angeles.

Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black) is set for a recurring role on Hulu’s upcoming femme fatale thriller series Reprisal, from The Handmaid’s Tale executive producer Warren Littlefield and A+E Studios. Created, written and executive produced by Josh Corbin (StartUp), Reprisal is a "hyper-noir" story that follows Katherine (Abigail Spencer), a relentless femme fatale who, after being left for dead, sets out to take revenge against her brother and his bombastic gang of gearheads. DeLaria will play Queenie, the crowned matriarch of The Banished Brawlers gang.

Jamie McShane (Bloodline) and Rudy Dobrev (NCIS: Los Angeles) are set for recurring roles on the upcoming third season of military drama series SEAL Team. Starring David Boreanaz, SEAL Team follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous missions that our country can ask of them. McShane will play Captain Lindell, a hard charging leader who’s dedicated to bringing a new generation of operational adaptability to the Navy’s Tier One Command; Dobrev will portray Filip, a tough, capable field agent for Serbia’s SIA. 

HBO unveiled a new documentary series about the Atlanta child murders, and also set its documentary slate for the rest of 2019, including other crime-related programs.

The first trailer for Why Women Kill has dropped for the CBS All Access show that stars Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time), Lucy Liu (Elementary), and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Killing Eve) as a trio of women living in three very different time periods, but who all suffer infidelity from their spouses and each have murder on their minds as a result

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

The Writers' Bone podcast featured Laura Lippman, a former Baltimore newspaper journalist turned crime fiction author, whose latest novel, Lady in the Lake, is set in 1960s Baltimore and based on a real unsolved case in which a woman was found dead in a fountain.

RNZ National's Nine To Noon podcast with Hist Kathryn Ryan welcomed James Ellroy, whose bestselling books like The Cold Six Thousand and the L.A. Quartet novels paint vivid portraits of the seedier side of Los Angeles and the underworld.

Meet the Thriller Author chatted with James Swallow, a former journalist and award-winning writer including his Marc Dane novels featuring a former MI6 field officer turned private security operative.

The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast host, veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on the themes of "Writer's Detective Bureau Foreign Language Interviews, Long-term Undercover Investigations, and Witness Protection."

It Was a Dark & Stormy Book Club spoke with Bess Carnan, 2019 Winner of the William F. Deeck – Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers.

THEATER

The Dorset Theater in Dorset, Vermont, is presenting Mrs. Christie from August 1 through August 17. The production is based on Agatha Christie's myserious disappearance for eleven days in 1926. This is the world premiere of Heidi Armbruster’s classic new comedy showing Dame Agatha as she’s never been seen before.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

AWARDS

Nominations were announced for the 71st Emmy Awards, with several crime dramas leading the lists. In the Best Drama Series category, nods included Better Call Saul (AMC); Bodyguard (Netflix); Killing Eve (AMC/BBC America); and Ozark (Netflix). The Best Limited Series crime dramas include Escape at Dannemora (Showtime); Sharp Objects (HBO); and When They See Us (Netflix). Among the Best Actor in a Drama Series were Jason Bateman (Ozark) and Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), while Best Actress nods include Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh (for Killing Eve); Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder); and Laura Linney (Ozark). For all the nominees, check out the complete listing here, and for a by-the-numbers look, check here. The 2019 Emmy Awards broadcast will air September 22.

THE BIG SCREEN

Oscar winners Matt Damon and Tom McCarthy are joining forces for Stillwater, a feature which Damon will star in and McCarthy will direct. The project centers on Oklahoma native Bill Baker (Damon), oil-rig roughneck who travels to Marseille where his estranged daughter is imprisoned for a murder she claims she did not commit. He makes it his personal mission to exonerate his daughter and along the way develops a friendship with a local woman and her young daughter and embarks on a personal journey of discovery and a larger sense of belonging in the world.

Australian actress Lucy Fry, who played opposite Will Smith in the Netflix film, Bright, has been added to the cast of Waldo, joining Mel Gibson, Charlie Hunnam, and Morena Baccarin. Tim Kirkby is directing the action-thriller, which follows a disgraced LAPD detective (Hunnam), who’s spent the past three years living off the grid until he's reluctantly pulled back into his old life by a former lover in order to solve the murder of an eccentric celebrity’s wife. Dominic Monaghan, Eiza Gonzalez, Clancy Brown, and Jacob Scipio also co-star in the film, which is based on the Howard Michael Gould's novel, Last Looks.

A new trailer for the upcoming STX Films crime thriller, 21 Bridges, starring Chadwick Boseman as an embattled NYPD detective thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

In a competitive situation, Amazon has landed the rights to develop a script-to-series drama based on the Jack Reacher character from Lee Child’s bestselling book series (under the auspices of Scorpion creator Nick Santora). Tom Cruise starred in a pair of big-screen films based on the character, although last fall, Child said that he was looking to reboot "Jack Reacher" as a TV series with a new lead to replace Cruise, who he argued, "didn’t have that physicality" of the character. In his books, Reacher is frequently described as being 6 feet 5 inches tall (Cruise is 5 feet 7 inches).

Don Johnson is heading back to San Francisco for a revival of Nash Bridges via USA Network (the original series ran for on CBS from 1996-2001). The revival, currently just a two-hour special, is in early development, and it's possible that it could lead to a new ongoing series. Johnson will return as Bridges, set in the present day, while he is still running San Francisco’s Special Investigation Unit, albeit as he deals with a changed city, a new boss, and police work that focuses on modern data-crunching and predictive policing.

Quibi continues its content spree with a new series from The Killing creator Veena Sud, titled The Stranger, a shortform thriller from Fox 21 Television Studios. The logline: An unassuming young rideshare driver is thrown into her worst nightmare when a mysterious Hollywood Hills passenger enters her car. Her terrifying, heart-stopping ride with the stranger unfolds over 12 hours as she navigates the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles in a chilling game of cat and mouse.

The late Stan Lee’s Pow! Entertainment is developing a TV series about a Native American homicide detective based on characters created by Lee. Restless centers on homicide detective Adam Chaco who inherits the mystical powers of his American Indian ancestors after his estranged father dies, particularly those of his grandfather Mohe (Oscar winner Wes Studi), a powerful, revered shaman. Adam is forced to come to terms with a heritage he has long sought to escape, while facing down supernatural criminals he could never have imagined. The detective is aided by Interpol Special Investigator Bridghid Everly, a high-spirited descendent of a Druid Princess who also possesses extraordinary physical and psychic abilities

British broadcaster ITV and a slew of European networks have signed up to the remake of classic British detective drama, Van Der Valk. The three-part series follows a street smart and unapologetic Dutch detective (Marc Warren) as he navigates the lively and enigmatic city of Amsterdam solving mysterious crimes using astute human observation and inspired detection. The project is loosely based on the novels by Nicolas Freeling.

Viacom’s Channel 5 has picked up the four-part thriller, The Deceived. Set in Cambridge in the UK and Donegal, the northernmost county in Ireland, the contemporary psychological thriller follows a young English student called Ophelia, who falls in love with her married lecturer, Michael. However, when their affair results in a shocking and tragic death, Ophelia finds herself trapped in a world where she can no longer trust her own mind.

Luther creator Neil Cross is adapting his own novel of murder and the supernatural (Burial) into a four-part series for British broadcaster ITV. Retitled Because the Night, the show centers on Nathan, a well-meaning but aimless man who harbors a dark secret and is shaken when a figure from his past shows up on his doorstep.

FX has revealed the Season 4 cast for Emmy-winning limited series Fargo, toplined by Chris Rock. Joining Rock in the next installment are Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), Jason Schwartzman (Mozart in the Jungle), Ben Whishaw (James Bond: Skyfall), and also Jessie Buckley, Salvatore Esposito, Andrew Bird, Jeremie Harris, Gaetano Bruno, Anji White, Francesco Acquaroli, E’myri Crutchfield, and Amber Midthunder. Created, written, directed and executive produced by Noah Hawley (who also serves as showrunner), the fourth installment is set in 1950 in Kansas City, where two criminal syndicates have struck an uneasy peace - and to cement that peace, the heads of both families have traded their youngest sons.

Chicago P.D. has found its new interim superintendent following the death of Brian Kelton (John C. McGinley) in the show's Season 6 finale:  Prison Break alum Paul Adelstein will be joining the series in the recurring role of Interim Superintendent Jason Crawford. The show's former police superintendent, Kelton (McKinley), was apparently shot to death in his home by Voight (Jason Beghe) in the recent finale after he won the mayoral election and avoided being connected to the Intelligence Unit's investigation, culminating in what appeared to be a violent end to his feud with Voight.

Rose Leslie, who plays lawyer Maia Rindell on the CBS All Access legal drama, The Good Fight, won't be returning for Season 4. In Season 3’s finale, which served as Leslie’s swan song, she was sent to Washington, DC to launch a new firm with Michael Sheen’s Roland Blum.

Acorn TV announced its August 2019 slate, featuring the debut of My Life is Murder, starring Xena's Lucy Lawless as a fearless and unapologetic private investigator; the psychological thriller, Seesaw, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Deborah Moggach, starring David Suchet (Poirot) and Geraldine James; Thorne, series 1 & 2, starring David Morrissey as DI Tom Thorne in the gritty crime drama based on the bestselling series by Mark Billingham; plus, Neil Dudgeon's Top Ten, where Midsomer Murders star Neil Dudgeon introduces 10 standout episodes (one per week) from the macabre detective drama.

Warner Bros has debuted the second and final trailer for the NYC crime thriller, The Kitchen, based on a graphic novel by that same title. This is the feature directorial debut of Oscar nominated screenwriter Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) and stars Elisabeth Moss, Melissa McCarthy, and Tiffany Haddish as the wives of mobster husbands who continue to run their racket after the men are sent to prison.

Netflix has released a scene from upcoming UK drama, The Stranger, based on the novel from Harlan Coben. Richard Armitage takes the lead in the psychological thriller as Adam Price who is living the perfect life — two great sons, a watertight marriage — until a stranger approaches him at a bar and reveals a shocking secret about Price’s wife, Corinne. As Price delves into Corinne’s deception, he soon realizes that he’s become entangled in a dark conspiracy that could risk the lives of those around him.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

The Writers Routine podcast welcomed Stuart MacBride, author of the "Logan McRae" series to talk about his new book, All That's Dead, work ethics, and switching up the process.

It was a Dark and Stormy Book chatted with Robert Dugoni, who most recent thriller is The Eighth Sister.

A new Mysteryrat's Maze podcast is up, featuring the first chapter of Sifting Through Clues, a Cookbook Nook Mystery by Daryl Wood Gerber, who also serves as narrator.

Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham talked about controversy around the Staunch Prize, James Patterson's book about Jeffrey Epstein, and some 2019 releases that they haven't gotten to yet.

The Spybrary podcast welcomed listener John Nordin to submit a "brush pass review" for The Spy Who Sat and Waited, by R Wright Campbell.

The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast host, veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on the themes of "Occult Killings, Private Eyes, and Releasing a Crime Scene."

THEATER

The UK immersive theater experience, The Wolf Of Wall Street, will take place in a Liverpool Street location spanning four floors and 25 rooms decked out to represent the world of infamous 1990s New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, whose flamboyant life was depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s movie of the same name. A cast of sixteen will play multiple characters as featured in Belfort’s memoirs, from his Stratton Oakmont players to the FBI, placing audiences into a world of greed, power and excess. Staged by Stratton Oakmont Productions, the event will begin its run September 5th and is already booking tickets.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Netflix has picked up Red Notice, which might arguably be seen as its biggest commitment yet to a feature film. The globetrotting action heist thriller, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, was picked up after Universal Pictures passed on the project and has since added Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot to star. After a recent controversy regarding whether Netflix films were eligible for Academy Awards, the academy decided not to change its policy, allowing Netflix to submit films like 2018's Roma, nominated for Best Picture and the winner of three other Oscars.

Dexter Fletcher, who most recently directed Rocketman, has been hired to direct Sherlock Holmes 3 at Warner Bros., with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law returning to star. Fletcher takes over for Guy Ritchie, who directed the previous two "Sherlock Holmes" films, with the third installment expected to hit theaters on Dec. 21, 2021.

Christoph Waltz is set to return as uber-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the still-untitled "Bond 25." Waltz first portrayed the iconic Bond archenemy in 2015’s Spectre (although Donald Pleasence, Max von Sydow, and Telly Savalas have all played the character in previous "Bond" installments). The 25th James Bond film stars Daniel Craig for his fifth (and final) entry in the Bond franchise, with Cary Joji Fukunaga directing and Oscar winner Rami Malek set to play the film’s new villain.

Vin Diesel announced on Instagram that Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren are returning for Universal’s Fast & Furious 9. Theron played cyberterrorist Cipher who forced Diesel’s Dom to turn coats on his street family and operate for her. Mirren played Magdalene Shaw, the mother of Deckard (Jason Statham) and Owen (Luke Evans). They join new castmember to the franchise, John Cena, whose role is under wraps. The first franchise spinoff title, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters on August 2, pairing Johnson’s former U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs and Statham’s ex-MI6 agent Deckard Shaw, who join forces to take on Idris Elba’s international terrorist Brixton. (Mirren also stars in Hobbs & Shaw.)

The psychological thriller, The Woman in the Window, has had its release date pushed back to 2020 from its scheduled release date of October 4 of this year, following the decision to rework its structure. Based on a novel of the same name by A.J. Finn, the story follows a child psychologist who has become housebound due to suffering from agoraphobia, and spends her time spying her neighbors. While watching a seemingly perfect family who have just moved in, she witnesses a violent crime in their home but is torn over whether or not to call the police, since she is unable to trust herself enough to be certain of what she saw.

Two-time Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank is set to star in The Hunt, the political action thriller from screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse. Swank joins previously announced co-stars Ike Barinholtz, Betty Gilpin, Emma Roberts, Justin Hartley, and Glenn Howerton, with Craig Zobel set to direct. The Hunt touches on the escalating tensions between the political left wing and right wing in modern-day America. Per Deadline, "Set in the same humans-hunting-humans vein as Battle Royale, The Belko Experiment, and The Purge, The Hunt will use status, political beliefs, and affiliations as the trajectory for the deadly pursuits."

A trailer was released for the espionage thriller, The Operative, based on Yiftach R. Atir's novel, The English Teacher, and starring Diane Kruger as an undercover Mossad agent in too deep and on the run.

A new documentary, Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played With Fire, recently screened as part of the sixth Volvo Scandinavian Film Festival, and reveals the man behind the myth of late author Stieg Larsson, who created the Millennium crime trilogy featuring Lizabeth Salander.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s short-form video platform Quibi has put in development The Fugitive, from Scorpion creator Nick Santora, Thunder Road Films, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Warner Bros. TV. In the same vein as the 1993 Harrison Ford-starring film and the 1960s TV series starring David Janssen, The Fugitive centers on blue collar worker Mike Russo, who just wants to make sure his wife, Allison, and 10-year-old daughter, Pearl, are safe, when a bomb rips through the Los Angeles subway train he’s riding on. But the faulty evidence on the ground and "tweet-now, confirm-later" journalism paint a nightmarish picture: it looks to all the world that Mike was responsible for the heinous act. Wrongfully—and very publicly—accused, Mike must prove his innocence by uncovering the real perpetrator, before the legendary cop heading the investigation can apprehend him. 

In further news from Quibi, the short-form service is developing an adaptation of Harriet Tyce’s psychological thriller novel, Blood Orange, with Bodyguard and Line of Duty producer World Productions. The adaptation is being pitched as a twelve-part series consisting of ten episodes. The novel, which was published earlier this year, follows Alison Wood, a criminal barrister taking on her first murder case.

The streaming service eOne has picked up Major Crimes, an original anthology series that will follow the most daring heists, robberies, and crimes in Los Angeles history. Chris Collins (The Wire, The Sopranos) will pen the project and serve as showrunner. Each season of Major Crimes will be built around a single crime and take an in-depth look at both the detectives and criminals behind the case.

British network ITV has renewed Grantchester for another year. The show’s fifth season is set in 1957, the year Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told the British people that they had "never had it so good." For many of the residents of Grantchester, it really will feel like they’re in a delightful new Eden, but for all the talk of paradise on earth and faith-in-action, Geordie Keating (Robson Green) knows that trouble is never far away.

Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts) is set for a major role opposite Jude Law in the HBO and Sky drama, The Third Day, penned by Utopia writer Dennis Kelly. In the series, Law plays Sam, who is being drawn to a mysterious island off the British Coast and thrown into the unusual world of its secretive inhabitants. Isolated from the mainland, the rituals of the island begin to overwhelm him, and he is confronted by a trauma from his past. As the line between reality and fantasy blurs, Sam finds himself immersed in an emotional quest that puts him at odds with the islanders and begins to threaten their way of life. Waterston will play Jess, who Sam encounters on the island.

Netflix’s Mindhunter is set to return for its second season on August 16, nearly two years after the launch of the crime drama. The series, which stars Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany, initially launched in October 2017 and was quickly renewed for a second season a month after its debut. The second season of the series, which is about the early days of the FBI’s criminal psychology and criminal profiling division, will center on the Atlanta Child Murders, a series of killings between 1979 and 1981 that slain African-American children, teenagers and adults.

Woody Harrelson will star opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Kate, the Netflix thriller about a ruthless criminal operative who, after she’s irreversibly poisoned, has less than 24 hours to exact revenge on her enemies. In the process, she forms an unexpected bond with the daughter of one of her past victims.

Hulu’s upcoming Abigail Spencer-led thriller series, Reprisal, has added four series regulars to its cast, including Craig Tate (12 Years a Slave), Wavyy Jonez (Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.), Shane Callahan (Outsiders) and Rory Cochrane (CSI: Miami). Created, written and executive produced by Josh Corbin, the "hyper-noir" Reprisal follows Katherine (Spencer), a relentless femme fatale who, after being left for dead, sets out to take revenge against her brother and his bombastic gang of gearheads.

Carrie-Anne Moss will join season 2 of CBS All Access’s Tell Me a Story, while Season 1 stars Danielle Campbell, Paul Wesley, Odette Annable, and Natalie Alyn Lind are set for a return to the anthology fairytale series that refashions the tales into darker stories of crime, sex, and murder. Season 2 will feature three iconic princesses: the ladies from "Beauty and the Beast," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Cinderella." Moss, the matriarch of the sophomore run, is tied to all of them. 

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club podcast welcomed S.C. Perkins, whose debut mystery novel, Murder Once Removed, was the winner of the 2017 Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery competition, and also Leslie Karst, discussing the latest in her Sally Solari culinary mystery series, Murder From Scratch.

The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast, hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on the topics of "Therapy, Overdose, and a Veiled Threat."

Thrill Radio had a ThrillerFest theme this week, including one of the founding members of the International Thriller Writers, bestselling author and creator of Rambo, David Morell, as well as Kimberly Howe, ThrillerFest's Executive Director.

Debbi Mack started off a new season of the Crime Cafe podcast with an interview of Andy Rausch, a film journalist, screenwriter, film producer, actor, graphic novelist, and crime writer of such novels as Elvis Presley, CIA Assassin.

Meet the Thriller Author welcomed author Michael Lindley, who latest, Death on the New Moon, continues the story of attorney, Hanna Walsh, and Detective Alex Frank in the Low Country of South Carolina.

THEATER

The Hayes Theater in Australia is presenting Catch Me If You Can beginning July 20th. With book by Terrance McNally, lyrics by Marc Shaiman, and music by Scott Whittman and Marc Shaiman, the production is based on the true story of precocious teenager Frank Abignale, Jr., who ran away from home and posed as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer using millions in forged checks – until Frank’s lies caught the attention of FBI agent, Carl Hanratty.

The Mars Theater in Lafayette, GA is staging a production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. The classic tale of eight strangers stranded on an island with a murderer in their midst runs through July 21st.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Media entrepreneur and producer David Haring has picked up the rights to NYT bestselling author Kat Martin’s Texas Trilogy book series, with plans on developing the first book, Beyond Reason. Released in 2017, Beyond Reason centers on Carly Drake, a woman who has recently moved home to take over her grandfather’s trucking company but is soon stalked by danger.

Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired world sales rights for Blood On Her Name, a Southern gothic thriller directed by newcomer Matt Pope and starring Bethany Anne Lind (Ozark), Will Patton (Remember The Titans), and Elisabeth Röhm (Joy). The neo-noir feature centers on a single mother and her panicked decision to cover up an accidental killing, a choice that spirals out of control after her conscience compels her to return the dead man’s corpse to his family.

Sam Claflin, perhaps best known for playing Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games films, is the latest to sign on to Legendary’s Enola Holmes movie, based on The Enola Holmes Mysteries books series by Nancy Springer. He'll be joining star and producer Millie Bobby Brown, as well as Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter, Fiona Shaw, and Adeel Akhtar.

Nigerian-British actress Susan Wokoma has also landed a role in the Harry Bradbeer-directed Enola Holmes adaptation, which follows the adventures of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ much younger sister, Enola, a highly capable detective in her own right.

The first trailer for Rian Johnson’s Knives Out was released, and it shows a wild take on whodunits that Johnson says is a tribute to Agatha Christie. The film stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Katherine Langford, Noah Segan, Edi Patterson, Riki Lindhome, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Agatha Raisin producer Free@Last TV and Cold Courage writer Brendan Foley are developing a TV detective drama based on Freeman Wills Crofts’ classic Inspector French novels. Wills Crofts (1857-1957), a railway engineer turned author, was a peer of Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler and was thought to be highly regarded by these writers. Set in 1920s Ireland, Scotland and England, Inspector French is a dogged world-class detective banished from Scotland Yard to post-partition Northern Ireland where he battles to introduce modern policing techniques to a reluctant force.

There's to be another remake attempt at Lovejoy, the Ian McShane-starring British television comedy-drama mystery series based on the novels by John Grant (under the pen name Jonathan Gash), which ran from 1986-1994 on BBC1. Blue Sky Pictures acquired the rights to the original novels with plans to "update it for the 21st century for both the millions who followed the original and a whole new generation of viewers." The series centers on roguish antiques dealer Lovejoy, who has a reputation for recognizing exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antiques from fakes.

Paramount Television has put in development Lock Every Door, a thriller drama based on Riley Sager’s just-released novel. The description reads "No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich, famous, or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s oldest, most elite and secretive buildings in the Upper West Side. When a fellow apartment sitter goes missing, Jules begins to dig into the Bartholomew’s mysterious history, discovering sordid secrets hidden within its walls and that her fate may already be doomed like those that came before her."

The Kaley Cuoco-led adaptation of The Flight Attendant has been picked up by WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service. Based on Chris Bohjalian’s New York Times bestseller of the same name (for which Big Bang Theory alum, Cuoco, bought the rights in October 2017), the thriller follows Cassandra Bowden, a flight attendant who wakes up hungover in a Dubai hotel room…with a dead body next to her. Instead of informing the police, she joins her fellow crew members on a flight to NYC, where she is met by FBI agents with a few questions about her recent layover. Unable to piece together what happened, Cassandra begins to suspect that she might be the killer.

Covert Affairs’ Kari Matchett and True Blood’s Stephen Moyer are set to star in the Canadian spy drama, Fortunate Son. The series, which is set in the social and political chaos of the late 1960s, the Vietnam War, and the anti-war protest movement, follows a woman who helps smuggle Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders across the Canadian border. What she doesn’t know is how these actions will unfold and who is watching her.

Amazon is finalizing a third season renewal of the thriller series, Absentia, starring and executive produced by Castle alumna Stana Katic. Created by Gaia Violo and Matt Cirulnick and based on a pilot script originally written by Violo, Absentia centers on FBI agent Emily Byrne (Katic), who had disappeared without a trace and was declared dead after hunting one of Boston’s most notorious serial killers.

The suspense drama series Ransom, which has aired on CBS in the U.S., Global in Canada and TF1 in France, will not be getting a fourth season. Ransom follows crisis and hostage negotiator Eric Beaumont (Luke Roberts) and his elite Crisis Resolution team who work to balance the demands of their personal lives with their careers as negotiators who handle high-pressure kidnappings and hostage situations.

Shortform video streaming platform Quibi won't launch until spring 2020, but the venture founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg has already lined up a long list of programming including: El Señor de Los Cielos, a three-hour series that will tell the origin story at of the drug lord at the center of Telemundo's top-rated telenovela; #FreeRayshawn, about a young, black Iraq War veteran who is set up by New Orleans police; the comic murder mystery, Mapleworth Murders; Wolves and Villagers, described as a "Fatal Attraction-esque story"; and an untitled Liam Hemsworth thriller.

ABC has set premiere dates for its fall TV series, including the premieres of the mystery-themed thriller drama Emergence, and Stumptown, about a sharp-witted army veteran who becomes a private investigator in Portland, Oregon. Returning crime drama shows also include How to Get Away with Murder and The Rookie.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club podcast welcomed Susan Elia MacNeal, the bestselling author of the Maggie Hope mystery series.

Writer Types hosts Eric Beetner and S.W. Lauden chatted with Owen Laukkanen, Stephanie Gayle, Greg Herren, and Carter Wilson.

Read or Dead, hosted by Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham, talked about a new seven-figure film deal, as well as Stranger Things and all things Nancy Drew.

Alison Gaylin was the featured guest at Speaking of Mysteries, discussing Never Look Back, her new mystery in which the decades-old murder spree being investigated by Quentin Garrison for Closure, his true-crime podcast, is personal.

The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast, hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on the topics of "Mass Shooting Aftermath, Partners, [and]Inside a Detective Office."

THEATER

LA's Geffen Playhouse has extended the run of Mysterious Circumstances through July 22. Inspired by The New Yorker article "Mysterious Circumstances: The Strange Death of a Sherlock Holmes Fanatic" by David Grann, the play focuses on Richard Lancelyn Green, the world's foremost scholar on Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who is found dead in his London apartment. With multiple suspects and competing motives, Green's death raises questions that may be answered only by Holmes himself.

St. Paul, Minnesota's Park Square Theatre is presenting Rule of Thumb, three one-act murder mysteries by Agatha Christie, beginning July 12 with a run through August 25. In The Wasp’s Nest, Hercule Poirot comes between a bitter triangle of lovers to prevent a sinister murder; in The Rats, adulterous lovers find themselves lured to a flat, only to be trapped like rats and framed for murder; and completing the triple bill is a tense thriller about a woman who is hospitalized after seemingly falling from her balcony in The Patient.

The Theater at Monmouth in Maine has two crime-themed productions: the musical mystery dramedy Murder for Two (running through August 16), in which one actor investigates the crime, the other plays all of the suspects, and both play piano; and a staging of Baskerville, A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, from July 11 through August 15.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Henry Cavill will star in Legendary’s upcoming Enola Holmes as the iconic Sherlock Holmes. The film, starring Millie Bobby Brown and directed by Harry Bradbeer, is based on Nancy Springer’s book series, "The Enola Holmes Mysteries," with a script written by Jack Thorne. The stories follow the adventures of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ much younger sister, Enola, a highly capable detective in her own right. It was also announced last week that Adeel Akhtar and Helena Bonham Carter have been added to the cast.

Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening is in negotiations for the role of Euphemia in 20th Century Fox’s Death on the Nile, the Kenneth Branagh-directed follow-up to his 2017 Agatha Christie adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. Bening would join Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Tom Bateman, and Letitia Wright, as well as Branagh, himself, who will reprise his role as iconic detective Hercule Poirot. 

Paul Ben-Victor has been added to the cast of the Tim Kirkby-directed action thriller, Waldo, joining previously announced cast members Mel Gibson, Charlie Hunnam, Morena Baccarin, Dominic Monaghan, Eiza Gonzalez, Jacob Scipio, and Clancy Brown. Known for his role as Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos in HBO’s critically acclaimed The Wire, Ben-Victor will step into the role of Detective Pete Conady in the film. Based on the novel Last Looks by Howard Gould (who also adapted the screenplay), the story follows a disgraced LAPD detective (Hunnam), who’s spent the past three years living off the grid. He’s reluctantly pulled back into his old life by a former lover in order to solve the murder of an eccentric celebrity’s wife.

Since late 2018, there have been rumors about the possibility of a Breaking Bad movie that escalated when series lead Bryan Cranston essentially confirmed the news in a radio interview. After a few months of silence on the sequel front, both Cranston and co-star Aaron Paul tweeted the exact same image, leading to further speculation that both will be involved in the project in some capacity.

A preview was released for Bill Condon's The Good Liar, based on Nicholas Searle's novel of the same name, showing the tension and drama that arise when a recently widowed woman (Helen Mirren) crosses paths with a covert con artist (Ian McKellen) who just identified his latest target.

A second trailer dropped for The Informer, a new thriller starring Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, and Clive Owen. Based on the novel Three Seconds by the Swedish crime writing duo, Roslund & Hellström, the film follows Pete Koslow (Kinnaman), a reformed criminal and former special operations soldier, who finds himself working undercover for FBI handlers to infiltrate the Polish mob's drug trade in New York.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

In one of the first big sales of the 2019-20 broadcast development season, CBS has given a series production commitment to The Lincoln Lawyer, a legal drama from The Practice creator David E. Kelley that's based on Michael Connelly’s series of bestselling novels. Scripted by Kelley, The Lincoln Lawyer centers on Mickey Haller, an iconoclastic idealist, who runs his law practice out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles.

Freeform has given a pilot order to Close Up, an hour-long suspense drama co-executive produced by How to Get Away With Murder creator, Peter Nowalk, and ABC Signature, part of Disney TV Studios. Written by Keith Staskiewicz (Three Delivery), Close Up is set in the seemingly ordinary suburban town of Centreville, NJ. But Centreville high school student, Rachel Guyer, is on a mission to expose the truth about her seemingly normal hometown and turn her community inside out.

Following strong ratings, CBS has ordered a second season of its hit summer action-adventure series, Blood & Treasure. The series, which premiered May 21, is a globe-trotting action-adventure drama about a brilliant antiquities expert (Danny McNamara) and a cunning art thief (Sofia Pernas) who team up to catch a ruthless terrorist who funds his attacks through stolen treasure. 

Liam Hemsworth is set to star in an action thriller for Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s short-form video platform Quibi. The project is being spearheaded by Scorpion creator Nick Santora, who will write and executive produce the series. The logline: "Desperate to take care of his pregnant wife before a terminal illness can take his life, Dodge Maynard (Hemsworth) accepts an offer to participate in a deadly game where he soon discovers that he’s not the hunter… but the prey."

Ed Asner and Alan Cumming have joined USA Network’s upcoming drama, Briarpatch. The series is a gender-swapped adaptation of Ross Thomas’ novel of the same name, which sees Rosario Dawson playing a version of Thomas’ lead character, Ben Dill. Allegra Dill is a dogged investigator returning to her border-town Texas home after her sister is murdered, but what begins as a search for a killer turns into an all-consuming fight to bring her corrupt hometown to its knees. Asner will play the role of James Staghorne Sr., president and owner of the town’s only newspaper, while Cumming will play the role of Clyde Brattle, a charming and murderous arms dealer.

Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis, Ryan Kwanten, and newcomer Jordan Alexander are set as series regulars in Sacred Lies: The Singing Bones, the second season of the Sacred Lies anthology series from Blumhouse Television for Facebook Watch. The new season features a new cast and storyline that draws inspiration from a story collected from the Brothers Grimm, The Singing Bones, as well as real-life murder cases.

Chris Chalk (Gotham) and Shea Whigham (Homecoming) are set as series regulars opposite star Matthew Rhys in Perry Mason, HBO’s limited series based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner. The series, set in 1931 Los Angeles, follows the origins of legendary criminal defense lawyer, Perry Mason (Rhys), who is seeking redemption when the case of the decade lands in his lap. Additionally, Nate Corddry (Mom), Veronica Falcon (Queen of the South), Jefferson Mays (I Am The Night), Gayle Rankin (GLOW), and Lili Taylor (Chambers) have been cast in recurring roles.

Bodyguard’s Keeley Hawes is to star in the British crime drama, Honour, for ITV. The two-parter will see Hawes star as the real-life Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Good, who brought five killers to justice following the death of Banaz Mahmod, the young Londoner murdered by her own family for falling in love with the wrong man. 

Hunter Doohan (Truth Be Told) is set as a lead opposite Bryan Cranston in Your Honor, Showtime’s 10-episode limited series based on a popular Israeli drama (Kvodo). The legal thriller hails from Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice) and Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife). Doohan will play Adam Desiato, a high school senior who is involved in a hit-and-run accident that sets off a chain of events that lead to lies, deceit and impossible choices for himself and his father, a respected New Orleans judge (Cranston).

Henry Ian Cusick (The Passage) has joined the cast of CBS’s action drama, MacGyver, as a series regular for its upcoming fourth season. Cusick will play Russ, a quick-witted Oxford-educated ex-military who is a master manipulator and salesman — skilled in propaganda and lie detection with an extremely high emotional intelligence. 

When CBS made its new series pickups last month, the network passed on all remaining pilots with the exception of conspiracy thriller drama, Surveillance, starring Chicago PD alumna Sophia Bush. However, after further deliberation, the network has decided not to proceed with a series order. Surveillance is described as a complex and timely spy thriller centered around the head of communications for the NSA (Bush), a charming operative who finds her loyalties torn between protecting the government’s secrets and her own.

Universal Television has let the options on the entire cast of its NBC’s drama pilot, Prism, lapse while the studio continues conversations with Netflix about picking up the project to series. As was previously reported, producers want to retool the project and shoot a new pilot for the streaming service after the parties involved considered it too "premium" for the peacock network. Written by Daniel Barnz, Prism is inspired by Rashomon, the 1950 Japanese period psychological thriller directed by Akira Kurosawa. Every episode follows a murder case told through the perspective of a different key person involved.

Sony dropped a first look at the upcoming Charlie’s Angels reboot from director Elizabeth Banks. The action-packed new trailer sees a new generation — Kristen Stewart, Ella Balinska and Naomi Scott — working for the mysterious Charles Townsend. This go-around, Charlie’s top-secret agency has gone global, and teams of Angels are guided by multiple Bosleys taking on dangerous missions. The reboot also stars Noah Centineo, Sam Claflin and Patrick Stewart.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Spybrary's latest episode featured Mick Herron talking about his new book, Joe Country, the 6th novel in the Slough House/Jackson Lamb series.

In the latest Writer's Detective Bureau, veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson took on topics including "Bio-Terrorism, State Level Investigations, and Having Your Back to the Door."

Episode #22 of Criminal Mischief investigated "Common Medical Errors in Fiction."

THEATER

Following the Norwich Theatre Royal's current run of the adaptation of Paula Hawkins's novel, Girl on a Train (with performances through July 6), the theatre will stage a production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap beginning July 8 with a run through July 13. Christie's classic play centers on a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow who discover there is a murderer in their midst.

Meanwhile, UK theatre-goers have time to catch a performance of The Mousetrap at the Theatre Royal in Brighton, which runs through July 8.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Paramount Pictures has acquired the screen rights to Adrian McKinty’s novel, The Chain. The Chain tells the story of Rachel, who learns that her 11-year-old daughter has been kidnapped, and the only way to get her back is to kidnap another child. Her daughter will be released only when that next victim’s parents kidnap another child. If Rachel doesn’t kidnap another child, or if that child’s parents don’t kidnap a child, her daughter will be murdered. She is now part of The Chain, a terrifying and meticulous chain letter-like kidnapping scheme that turns parents from victims into criminals.

Lionsgate has acquired global film rights to Gerard de Villiers’ best-selling action-spy series, S.A.S. The project will be titled Malko and is a project for Michael Fassbender to star in and produce, with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle) writing the screenplay. With the deal, Lionsgate has secured the full rights to de Villier’s catalogue of best selling espionage thrillers, serialized through 200 books that have been translated into multiple languages and sold north of 120M copies worldwide. Fassbender will play the super spy-for-hire, Malko Linge, an Austrian nobleman and freelance CIA operative who spent his formative years in a special Nazi work camp for captured spies.

The Spanish box office hit, The Body (El Cuerpo), is set to get an English-language remake with Isaac Ezban directing. The thriller centers on a detective searching for the body of a femme fatale which has gone missing from a morgue.

Sean Penn's next directorial venture, Flag Day, is heading into production as it rounds out its cast; Penn will be joined onscreen by his daughter and son, Dylan and Hopper, along with Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Norbert Leo Butz, Dale Dickey, Eddie Marsan, Bailey Noble, and Katheryn Winnick. Tony-winning playwright Jez Butterworth (behind Broadway’s The Ferryman) penned the screenplay, which is based on Jennifer Vogel’s 2005 memoir, Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father's Counterfeit Life. The book tells the story of a daughter coming to terms with her perceptions of her criminal father, a bank robber and career counterfeiter who evaded arrest for six months.

Cary Elwes has joined the cast of Black Christmas, the Blumhouse Productions remake of the 1974 slasher cult classic for Universal Pictures. Elwes will play a main part in the film, but details of the role were not disclosed. The updated version of Black Christmas is set at Hawthorne College over the holidays when, one by one, sorority girls on campus are being killed by an unknown stalker. But the killer is about to discover that this generation’s young women aren’t willing to become hapless victims as they mount a fight to the finish.

Ice Cube is negotiating to team with Dave Bautista in The Killer’s Game, the Simon Kinberg and Rand Ravich-scripted adaptation of the Jay Bonansinga novel. Bautista plays an elite hitman named Joe Flood who learns he has a terminal disease. A devout Catholic, he won’t kill himself, and instead takes out a contract on himself and makes sure the woman he has fallen in love with is financially set. When Flood gets word he was misdiagnosed and is fine, his new mission is to protect his lover and try to call off the hit even though several assassins are now vying for the bounty, with Ice Cube playing the best of those assassins.

Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver) is joining I Care A Lot, the Black Bear Pictures thriller starring Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage. J Blakeson (The Disappearance Of Alice Creed) is directing from his own original screenplay. Oscar-nominee Pike will play Marla Grayson, a highly successful legal guardian with a knack for using the law to her benefit and her elderly clients’ detriment, living a life of luxury at their expense. But when her seemingly innocent next victim turns out to have dangerous secrets, Marla must use every ounce of her wit and cunning to stay alive.

Morena Baccarin is the latest to join the cast of the Tim Kirkby-directed action thriller, Waldo, starring Mel Gibson and Charlie Hunnam. The project is based on the novel, Last Looks, by Howard Michael Gould, and centers around a disgraced LAPD detective (Hunnam), who’s spent the past three years living off the grid. He’s reluctantly pulled back into his old life by a former lover in order to solve the murder of an eccentric celebrity’s wife. 

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

The Television Critics Association’s 35th Annual TCA Awards nominations were announced last Wednesday. Up for Best Drama Series are the crime dramas Better Call Saul (AMC); The Good Fight (CBS All Access); and Killing Eve (BBC America). Best Movie or Miniseries also includes Escape at Dannemora (Showtime); Sharp Objects (HBO); and When They See Us (Netflix). Among the Best Achievement in a Drama Series nominees are Amy Adams for Sharp Objects (HBO); Patricia Arquette for Escape at Dannemora (Showtime); Christine Baranski for The Good Fight (CBS All Access); and Jodie Comer for Killing Eve (BBC America).

BET Networks has put into development Black Mambas, a one-hour drama from Rebel creator Amani Walker. Black Mambas follows the journey of four powerful women who are bikers. After growing tired of the violent crimes and injustice in their hometown of New Orleans, they decide to take justice into their own hands.

The Killing’s Michelle Forbes has signed on to USA Network’s CIA drama, Treadstone, joining Jeremy Irvine, Brian J. Smith, Patrick Fugit, Michael Gaston, Tess Haubrich, and Shruti Haasan in the cast. The drama hails from Heroes creator Tim Kring and Ben Smith (a producer of the "Bourne" franchise) and explores the origin story and present-day actions of a CIA black ops program known as Operation Treadstone — a covert program that uses behavior-modification protocol to turn recruits into nearly superhuman assassins. The first season follows sleeper agents across the globe as they’re mysteriously "awakened" to resume their deadly missions.

HBO has scheduled Monday, August 12 for the premiere of the ten-part limited series, Our Boys. The project is set in the summer of 2014, when three Jewish teenagers are kidnapped and murdered by Hamas militants. Two days later, the burned body of a Palestinian teenager from eastern Jerusalem is found in a forest on the western outskirts of the city. In the ensuing days, an agent from the internal terror division of Shin Bet investigates the murder, while the parents of the slain teenager begin their long and anguished journey toward justice and consolation.

The Hallmark Channel posted a trailer for its newest Mystery 101 movie, Playing Dead, where crime fiction professor Amy (Jill Wagner) and Detective Travis (Kristoffer Polaha) team up to solve the latest murder in their small town.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham talked about mysteries by Australian authors, along with some news about Linda Fairstein, women writing in the mystery genre, and more.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Cara Black to discuss Murder in Bel-Air, the 19th installment in Black’s Paris-set series featuring private eye, Aimée Leduc.

Spybrary's latest episode featured a guest panel discussing the works of James Bond continuation author, John Gardner.

On this week's Writer's Detective Bureau, host Adam Richardson, a veteran police detective, took on topics including "Character Arc, Detective Sergeant Demotion, and Sex Offenders."

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN

Bradley Cooper is in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro's retelling of William Lindsay Gresham's noir novel, Nightmare Alley. Cooper would replace Leonardo di Caprio after the actor couldn't come to an agreement with the film's producers. The 1947 adaptation starred Tyrone Power as an ambitious young con-man who teams up with a female psychiatrist who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the tables on him, out-manipulating the manipulator.

Entertainment One has set Jon Turteltaub to direct Insane, a film based on "Crazy" Eddie Antar, the late consumer electronics king who wound up serving six years in prison for perpetrating one of the greatest securities frauds in history.

Dominic Monaghan (Lost) and Clancy Brown (Brilliance; Emergence) are joining Mel Gibson and Charlie Hunnam in the upcoming action-thriller, Waldo, directed by Tim Kirby. Based on the novel by Howard Gould, the story centers around a disgraced LAPD detective (Hunnam), who’s spent the past three years living off the grid. He’s reluctantly pulled back into his old life by a former lover in order to solve the murder of an eccentric celebrity’s wife. There’s no information on who exactly Monaghan will be playing in the film, but Brown will play the role of plain clothes detective Big Jim Cuppy.

Emile Hirsch is joining Mel Gibson in Force of Nature. Hirsch will play a cop who must protect the remaining residents of a building in the midst of a hurricane evacuation while violent criminals attempt to pull off a mysterious heist within the structure. Gibson plays a stubborn retired detective who refuses to evacuate and fights back when the thieves show up at his doorstep.

Chad Michael Murray, Shea Buckner, Tyler Olson, Lydia Hull, and Jessica Abrams are set to co-star opposite Bruce Willis in the action thriller, The Long Night. Directed by Matt Eskandari, the film follows two ruthless criminals who break into a disgraced doctor’s home to be given medical attention after one of them is shot during a robbery gone wrong. Knowing that he lacks the expertise to patch up the injured trespasser, the doctor must protect his family at all costs.

Crime Fiction Lover posted a list of "The top five crime films at Cannes 2019." The list doesn't include Martin Scorsese’s Jimmy Hoffa assassination film, The Irishman, since Cannes refused to allow Netflix a place in the main competition.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

BBC One, Victoria outfit Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited are teaming up on The Pale Horse, a TV drama adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel first published in 1961. Sarah Phelps (The Witness For The Prosecution) has scripted the two-part drama which has Amazon Prime Video on board as U.S. co-production partner. In the novel, a mysterious list of names is found in the shoe of a dead woman, and one of those named, Mark Easterbrook, begins an investigation into how and why his name came to be there. He is drawn to The Pale Horse, the home of a trio of rumored witches in the small village of Much Deeping. Word has it that the witches can do away with wealthy relatives using dark arts, but as the bodies mount up, Easterbrook is certain there has to be a rational explanation.

BBC One is also adapting Emma Healey’s novel, Elizabeth Is Missing, as a TV movie. Oscar winner Glenda Jackson is set to star as an elderly woman descending into dementia who embarks on a desperate quest to find the best friend she believes has disappeared. Her search for the truth goes back decades with shattering consequences.

Amazon Studios will release the political thriller, The Report, in movie theaters on Sept. 27 and then drop the film on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 11. The film, which stars Adam Driver, Annette Bening, and Jon Hamm, takes place in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, as CIA agents begin using extreme interrogation tactics on people they think were behind it. The film follows one man’s pursuit of justice and chronicles not only the CIA’s secret torture program but also the struggle to release the report that tested the nation’s separation of powers and the rule of law.

Netflix has begun production on the ten-part UK-Spanish crime drama, White Lines, which is written by Money Heist creator Álex Pina. Laura Haddock leads the cast in the English-language series in which the body of a legendary Manchester DJ is discovered twenty years after his mysterious disappearance from Ibiza. When his sister returns to the beautiful Spanish island to find out what happened, her investigation leads her through a world of dance clubs, lies and cover-ups. Also starring are Marta Milans, Juan Diego Botto, Nuno Lopes, Daniel Mays, Laurence Fox, and Angela Griffin.

Cinemax is adapting Trackers, a thriller drama series based on the novel by bestselling South African author Deon Meyer. James Gracie, Rolanda Marais, and Ed Stoppard are set to star. The project interweaves three storylines set in Cape Town that center around a violent conspiracy involving organized crime, smuggled diamonds, state security, black rhinos, the CIA, and an international terrorist plot.

Spectrum Originals has ordered a second season of L.A.'s Finest, the streaming service's first original series. The project stars Gabrielle Union, who reprises her character from Bad Boys II, Syd Burnett, as she leaves life in Miami behind and becomes an LAPD detective, partnered with Nancy McKenna (Jessica Alba).

Jude Law is set to star in The Third Day, a six-part limited series from HBO and Sky. Law plays Sam, who after being drawn to a mysterious Island off the British Coast, is thrown into the unusual world of its secretive inhabitants. Isolated from the mainland, the rituals of the island begin to overwhelm him, and he is confronted by a trauma from his past. As the line between reality and fantasy blurs, Sam finds himself immersed in an emotional quest which puts him at odds with the islanders and begins to threaten their way of life.

DGA-Award winning director Dennie Gordon has been tapped to direct the Season 2 finale of Warrior, Cinemax’s Tong Wars drama series from Justin Lin and Banshee co-creator Jonathan Tropper. Warrior is a gritty, action-packed crime drama set in 19th century San Francisco during the time of Chinatown’s most powerful organized crime families, or tongs.

Nicholas Pinnock (star of ABC’s forthcoming legal drama For Life), David Tennant (Doctor Who), and Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) are to star in Netflix’s police interrogation drama, Criminal. The format bending series consists of 12 episodes of 45 minutes with three episodes each set across four countries – France, Spain, Germany and the UK. The drama takes place exclusively within the confines of a police interview suite, a stripped down, cat-and-mouse drama focusing on the intense mental conflict between the police officer and the suspect in question.

The Flash alum Matt Letscher is set to recur as newspaper titan William Randolph Hearst on TNT’s The Angel of Darkness, the network’s upcoming limited series sequel to The Alienist (based on Caleb Carr’s bestselling book). Brittany Batchelder, a guest star on The Alienist, has also been elevated to a recurring role for Season 2. The Alienist’s lead cast, including Evans, Daniel Brühl and Dakota Fanning, all return for the new storyline, which finds Fanning’s Sara Howard with her own private detective agency and enlisting the help of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) to hunt down an elusive killer.

Former Iron Fist star Tom Pelphrey and Jessica Frances Dukes are set as new series regulars on the upcoming third season of Netflix’s Ozark. Season 2, starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney, continued to follow Marty Byrde (Bateman) and his family as they navigate the murky waters of life within a dangerous drug cartel. Joseph Sikora and Felix Solis will recur in regular roles, while Lisa Emery and Janet McTeer have been promoted to series regulars for Season 3. 

Arliss Howard (Moneyball), Desmond Harrington (Dexter), Kelly Jenrette (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Ness Bautista (Sense8) are set as series regulars for season 2 of Spectrum Originals’s anthology series, Manhunt. They join previously announced Jack Huston, Cameron Britton, Carla Gugino, Judith Light, Gethin Anthony, and Jay O. Sanders. Season 2, Manhunt: Lone Wolf, will chronicle one of the largest and most complex manhunts on U.S. soil — the search for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Bomber, Eric Rudolph (Huston) — and the media firestorm that consumed the life of Richard Jewell (Britton) in its wake.

Paul Wesley, who co-starred in the first season of Tell Me a Story, will be back to star in the second season of the CBS All Access anthology series, playing a new character in the drama. Tell Me a Story, based on a Spanish format, takes the world’s most beloved fairy tales and re-imagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller. Season 2 will feature the tales of three iconic princesses – Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. (Season 1 weaved together dark stories based on The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel.)

The mystery/thriller/sci-fi series, Orphan Black, has been resurrected from the dead with audiobook and ebook forms, thanks to a partnership with digital fiction startup Serial Box. Tatiana Maslany has signed on to voice the cloned sisterhood in Orphan Black: The Next Chapter, which is set eight years in the future from where the series left off.

CBS has announced the premiere dates for its 2019-2020 fall season, including returning crime drama favorites such as the NCIS franchises, Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, and Magnum, P.I.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Crime Fiction in Oxford is a series of podcasts offering two overviews - of detective fiction in general and of Oxford crime fiction in particular - as well as offering the opportunity of hearing celebrated crime writer Colin Dexter.

The latest Writer Types, hosted by Eric Beetner and S.W. Lauden, is back with two of their favorite writers:  Blake Crouch, who's just released his new novel, Recursion, and Brian Panowich, who recently published the follow-up to his novel, Bull Mountain. Plus they interviewed Steve Lauden about his new novelette, That'll Be The Day.

A new episode of Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up with the first two chapters of A Baker Street Wedding by Michael Robertson, read by Kelly Ventura.

In the latest edition of Criminal Mischief: The Art & Science of Crime Fiction, host DP Lyle delved into the "Autopsy of a Thriller."

Wrong Place, Write Crime host Frank Zafiro chatted with Colin Conway, who discussed his new release, Charlie-316.

Writer's Detective Bureau host, veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, took on his latest topics of "Writer's Detective Bureau Female Suspects, Writing Research, and Police Cars."

Crime Writers On... featured an episode recorded before a live audience at PodX in Nashville, where the panel discussed the stylized, semi-serious Netflix documentary, The Legend of Cocaine Island, and the team played a few rounds of "Crime Writers Against Humanity."

THEATER

A production of Agatha Christie's classic, The Mousetrap, moves to Theatre Royal, Brighton, from Monday, July 1 through Saturday, July 6. The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow discover, to their horror, that there's a murderer in their midst. 

The Hayes Theater in Sydney is presenting the Australian premiere of The Razorhurst, with book and lyrics by Kate Mulley and music by Andy Peterson. From the 1920s until the 1930s, two vice queens, Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine, ruled the Darlinghurst underworld. Their rivalry was infamous, leading to a litany of violent crimes enacted by their razor gangs as each struggled to gain dominance in a world of sly grog (a/k/a bootleg liquor), narcotics, and prostitution.

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival is producing the classic Agatha Christie tale, Witness for the Prosecution, at the Idaho Shakespeare Amphitheater in Boise though July 28. The story revolves around a woman who hatches a desperate plan to save her husband from jail when he's accused of murder.