THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES
After a year of negotiations, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio are set to star in Michael Mann’s Heat 2
sequel, which will start shooting in November. Bale will play Vincent
Hanna, the dogged LAPD Robbery Homicide detective played by Al Pacino in
the original film, while DiCaprio will play Chris Shiherlis, who was
played by Val Kilmer. Mann will return to write and direct the sequel,
which originated as a novel written by Mann and Meg Gardiner, released
in 2022. Heat 2 serves as both a prequel and a sequel, taking place both before and after the events of Mann’s seminal 1995 film. TheWrap
also reported that Adam Driver is in negotiations to play the villain,
Wardell, and Stephen Graham is in talks to play Neil McCauley, the
Robert De Niro role from the first film. A number of actresses are vying
for the role of Sharlene, originated by Ashley Judd, while other A-list
names are allegedly circling the project.
Josh Gad (Frozen) has been added to the cast of Warner Bros.’ upcoming Ocean’s Eleven prequel film, joining Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper and the recently announced Monica Barbaro. The actor is said to be taking on a significant role in the heist film, which will also be directed by Cooper. The screenplay was written by Cooper based on characters created by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. Robbie teased the plot at CinemaCon, sharing that she and Cooper were set to portray the parents of Danny Ocean (portrayed in the Steven Soderbergh Ocean’s trilogy by George Clooney). The film is currently set to release on June 25, 2027.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
Netflix is developing a TV adaptation of The Castaways author Lucy Clarke’s thriller, The Surf House, directed by Ed Lilly (Tell Me Lies). The Surf House is set high on the cliffs of Morocco and is based in a sanctuary for surfers and travelers chasing sunshine and waves. But the idyll hides a dark mystery, and when Bea washes in, seeking refuge after a dangerous encounter in Marrakesh, she soon gets caught in the current. A woman her age – who stayed in the same area, walked the same beaches, met the same guests – disappeared one year earlier, vanishing without trace, and her last known whereabouts was The Surf House.
A first look was revealed and a release date announced for Prime Videos' Reacher spinoff, Neagley. Starring Maria Sten in a reprisal of her fan-favorite character from the mothership series, Neagley will premiere with all episodes Wednesday, September 16 following the Reacher Season 4 finale. In the spinoff, Sten stars as Frances Neagley, a private investigator in Chicago and former military protégé of Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) in the Army’s 110th Special Investigations Unit. When she learns that a beloved friend from her past has been killed in a suspicious accident, she becomes hell-bent on justice. Using everything she’s learned from Jack Reacher and her time as a member of the 110 Special Investigators, Neagley puts herself on a dangerous path to uncover a menacing evil. The ensemble cast includes Greyston Holt as Detective Hudson Riley, Adeline Rudolph as Renee Birdwhistle, Jasper Jones as Keno, Matthew Del Negro as Pierce Woodrow, and Damon Herriman as Lawrence Cole. Ritchson guest stars as Jack Reacher.
Mark Harmon is returning to NCIS: Origins for a season-long arc. Harmon, who previously starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs for 18 seasons on NCIS, will appear in all episodes of Season 3 as part of a present-day mystery tied to his '90s Camp Pendleton days. This marks his third appearance on the spinoff series, though it’ll be the first time his character is part of the entire story. That story seemingly kicked off when he appeared in Season 2 for a Veterans Day crossover between NCIS and Origins featuring the younger Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and his team investigating the small-town death of a naval officer in the '90s on Origins – a case that was unexpectedly reopened in the present day on NCIS. NCIS: Origins follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Stowell) in the early '90s, years prior to the events of the flagship series. The series also stars Kyle Schmid, Mariel Molino, Tyla Abercrumbie, Diany Rodriguez, and Caleb Foote. Season 3 of NCIS: Origins will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT in the fall on CBS.
In more NCIS news, Michael Weatherly is returning as Tony DiNozzo in CBS's NCIS this fall for a season-long arc. The news arrives 6 months after NCIS: Tony & Ziva was canceled after one season at Paramount+. The spinoff reunited Weatherly with Cote de Pablo, who played Tony’s partner in life and in fighting crime, Ziva, on the original series. CBS declined to comment regarding whether de Pablo will also return to NCIS, nor if they plan to retcon the events from Tony & Ziva. Season 24 of NCIS will air Tuesdays at 8:00 PM, ET/PT this fall on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
After recent behind-the-scenes drama and reports that Tom Hardy would be leaving MobLand, it appears any conflicts have been settled enough for the actor to return to the series alongside Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. In the end, the show proved too big and too important to mess with the lead characters’ dynamic that had won over fans, and the actor also got support from Mirren on social media. In MobLand, Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, a fixer working for the Harrigan crime family led by Conrad and Maeve Harrigan (Brosnan and Mirren).
Joely Richardson (The Gentleman) is set as a series regular opposite Stellan Skarsgård in Apple TV‘s untitled thriller drama series from Alex Cary (Homeland) and Sony Pictures Television. The series is headlined and executive produced by Dakota Fanning. In the series, Fanning stars as an undercover Treasury agent in a multi-billion dollar international conglomerate, with world-changing political and criminal tentacles, who becomes conflicted between her mission and a belief that her principal target, the heir apparent to all that corrupt power, is at his core a good man and worthy of her love. Richardson will play Syd, Brant’s (Skarsgård) wife.
Disney+ has renewed the Polish drama, Breslau, for a second season and is ordering two more shows. After an unexpected release from prison, the second season continues to follow Franz Podolsky, who is reluctantly dragged into an investigation of a murdered woman that appears to be connected to a case he failed to solve years ago. The show stars Tomasz Schuchardt, Adam Bobik, Agata Kulesza, Ireneusz Czop, and Przemyslaw Bluszcz.
After 13 seasons, original cast member LaRoyce Hawkins is leaving the NBC police procedural, Chicago PD, as a series regular and will return to wrap up his character, Kevin Atwater’s, storyline in the first two or three episodes of the upcoming Season 14. The series is currently casting a new series regular, "a Black cop who is an agent of chaos." Hawkins debuted as Atwater in the Chicago P.D. series premiere in 2014 and has been a constant fan favorite across the show’s thirteen seasons. As part of Hank Voight’s (Jason Beghe) Intelligence Unit, Atwater served alongside fellow elite officers.
PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO
On NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, Ayesha Rascoe talked with Gregg Hurwitz about his new thriller, The Delivery.
On the latest Spybrary, Shane Whaley was joined by fellow Spybrarian and Head of Boston Station, Joe Modzelewski, to welcome bestselling espionage author Charles Cumming back to the show.
On Murder Junction, Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee spoke with Terry Deary, creator of the bestselling Horrible Histories books, now turned crime fiction writer, about his latest novel, Actually, I'm a Corpse.
Meet the Thriller Author welcomed award-winner author Amy Shojai, whose career spans more than three decades of writing about pets and suspense. Amy is the author of more than 35 pet-care books and a series of unique pet-centric suspense thrillers, where dogs and cats play an integral role in the story.
International bestseller J.D. Barker stopped by Elaine’s Literary Salon to discuss his new novel, The Probability of Murder (co-written with Patrick Logan). It features brilliant math professor, Ivy Reeves, who becomes embroiled in a murder case involving complex puzzles, as she assists Detective Vaughn Ryan in the investigation.
On the Air with Florenza chatted with Caitlin Rother about her new novel, Staged, in which investigative reporter, Katrina Chopin, is chasing two dangerous truths—her family's haunted past and a string of suspicious deaths that point to something far more sinister.
