Crime Casting News

 Hollywood is apparently taking note of the continuing popularity of thrillers and crime fiction, as evidenced by a lineup of movies on those themes currently in the pipeline. Some casting and title news of note:

According to Variety, Tom Cruise and United Artists have acquired rights to serial-killer thriller The Monster of Florence, with Cruise attached to produce and possibly to star, according to Douglas Preston, author of the bestseller.

Variety is also reporting that New Line has hired Mark Pellington to direct the mystery thriller Solace, about a doctor with psychic powers who is enlisted by the police to track a serial killer. The screenplay will be written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin (with revisions by Jamie Vanderbilt).

British TV director Jon Amiel (The Singing Detective) is on board for the film Creation, with husband-and-wife team Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly portraying Charles and Emma Darwin. The picture is described as "part ghost story, part psychological thriller and part love story."

Robert De Niro has pulled out of the project Edge of Darkness which began shooting in Massachusetts on August 18th. De Niro had signed to play an operative sent to clean up the evidence in the murder of a young woman. Mel Gibson stars as the victim's father, a homicide detective for the Boston Police Department who uncovers her secret life, a corporate cover-up, and government collusion.

Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen have joined the Screen Gems crime thriller Bone Deep, being directed by John Luessenhop. The film revolves around a group of criminals who find their $20 million plan interrupted by a hard-boiled detective (the previously cast Matt Dillon). Walker stars as the leader of the bank robbers, with Christensen as a newbie detective.

And a bit of film publishing news:  Fox Home Entertainment revived its Fox Film Noir series September 2 with three separate titles: Archie Mayo's Moontide (1942) with Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino; Elia Kazan's Boomerang! (1947) with Dana Andrews and Jane Wyatt; and Jean Negulesco's Road House (1948) with Cornel Wilde, Richard Widmark and Lupino. The studio also released Fox Horror Classics: Vol. 2 on September 9th, with a release date of September 16th for Charlie Chan: Volume 5 (starring Sidney Toler who replaced the original Chan, Warner Oland after the actor's death in 1938).