Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Although the film adaptation of Lee Child's novel One Shot (the ninth in his Jack Reacher series) has seen some ups and downs in its development, it may be on track again. Screenwriter and director Christopher McQuarrie has been pulled into the project by Mutual Film and Cruise/Wagner Productions, who are hoping to make a franchise out of the series.

Crimespree Cinema offers up the trailer for the upcoming film, The Town, based on Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves starring Ben Affleck as a bank robber who falls for one of his victims. The film is set to premiere September 17th.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Escher Holloway and Sarah Habel have been signed to star in the indie crime drama A New York Heartbeat from filmmaker Tjardus Greidanus. It follows a young gang leader who blunders into the gambling nest of a
notorious gangster and ends up seeking shelter from an exiled crime lord and his niece.

Sam Trammell (True Blood) will star in the crime thriller Guns, Girls and Gambling, playing an up-and-up sheriff working with a corrupt sheriff (Dane Cook) to search for a priceless American Indian artifact stolen during a poker
game.

TV

ABC has renewed its new drama Rookie Blue after only three weeks on the air, a little surprising, but since the series has averaged a respectable 7.1 million viewers since its debut, not shocking. However, there's no word yet on when the second season of episodes will be aired.

The CBS procedural CSI: NY has been rocked by the departure of Melina Kanakaredes after six seasons with the show. Sela Ward is pretty much a lock to join the cast as her replacement, playing an experienced investigator from Washington, D.C. who is driven by her empathy for the victims.

It appears that Kirsten Vangsness may pull double-duty, appearing on the Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior spinoff in either a regular or recurring capacity. Her FBI computer tech character from the original Criminal Minds series, Penelope Garcia, would join a cast that includes Forest Whittaker and Janeane Garofaolo.

The first photos and a trailer have been released for the BBC's new take on Sherlock Holmes in a more modern setting, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson. The three 90-minute episodes, written by Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat, will premiere in the UK in late July and early August.

Andre Royo (The Wire) will guest star in the third season premiere of Fox's FBI/Sci-fi series Fringe, playing Henry, a "soulful taxi driver who is unexpectedly forced into a tense situation with Olivia (Anna Torv)."

Peter Weller is joining HBO's serial killer series Dexter for eight of the 12 episodes for its upcoming 5th season, which premieres on September 25. The former "Robocop" will play a Miami Metro cop who gets entangled in an internal affairs investigation. 

WEB/RADIO

BBC Radio 7 this week has Agatha Christie's "Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel"; Christie's Hercule Poirot in "Elephants Can Remember"; PD James' Adam Dalgliesh in "Devices and Desires" (Episode 1); Adam Baron's Hold Back the Night; and the "Design for Murder" podcast feature also investigates whether British theatre great Noel Coward turned detective before the war.