Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

A couple of recent updates regarding the film Parker, based on the professional thief created by Donald Westlake in his novels:  FilmDistrict is acquiring the US distribution rights to the film, and Jennifer Lopez is in talks to play the female lead opposite Jason Statham. Taylor Hackford is already on board as director, with the screenplay adaptation by John J. McLaughlin.

A suspense/thriller film written by Eric Nazarian and Sergei Bodrov titled Blood Brothers is in development. Although the plot is unknown, the setting is to be Russia and Bodrov is set to direct, with Channing Tatum being eyed as the star.

Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro all star in the upcoming thriller The Killer Elite, which follows the true story of an ex-special ops agent who is forced to rescue his mentor. The film doesn't arrived until September, but you can catch a trailer preview on Bish's Beat.

Welcome to the Punch, about a detective (James McAvoy) who forms an unusual partnership with a criminal (Mark Strong) to uncover a conspiracy, has added British actress Andrea Riseborough as the female lead. The film starts shooting in July in London.

TV

Masterpiece Mystery will air three episodes in July of the series based on Michael Dibdin's books featuring Italian police detective Aurelio Zen, starring British actor Rufus Sewell.  Dibdin's widow, Seattle author Kathrine Beck, has said that "these have done a very good job of capturing the essence of the books."

Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox will reprise their roles as Inspector Robbie Lewis and his partner DS James Hathaway in more episodes of the Inspector Lewis TV series. They're based on novels by author Colin Dexter, who consults on the production.

Showtime is teaming up with writer/producer David Goyer to create a drama based on the graphic novel series 100 Bullets, which included 100 issues between 1999 and 2009 and was written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso.  The noir series follows the attempts of the mysterious Agent Graves to destroy a secret group of families that control most of the world's wealth and power.

The short list of replacements for Chris Meloni on Law & Order: SVU has been whittled down to five: David Conrad (Ghost Whisperer), Kevin Alejandro (True Blood, Southland), Michael Raymond-James (Terriers), Danny Pino (Cold Case) and Rhys Coiro (Entourage). Meanwhile, Meloni has just been cast in the upcoming Superman movie reboot.

Criminal Minds fans can breathe easier, at least as far as Thomas Gibson's status is concerned. Although negotiations went down to the wire, the actor did come to an agreement to return as Special Agent Hotchner.

The CBS procedural Hawaii Five-0 will be a reunion of Lost stars when Terry O'Quinn returns in the Fall for a recurring role and joins fellow former Lost cast member Daniel Dae Kim. O'Quinn will portray a Navy Seal Lt. Commander who trained Alex O'Loughlin's McGarrett in Coronado and served with his father in Vietnam.

Jason Patric will star in the new FX drama pilot Powers, based on the graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming. It's a police procedural set in a world where superpowers are relatively common.

Law and Order: Criminal Intent may be coming to an end, but stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe aren't completely giving up hope it may come back in some form. But just in case, they added their farewells to the fans.

The new interactive graphic novel based on the TV series Burn Notice logged 100,000 page views its first day. Created in partnership with DC Comics and titled A New Day, the project bridges the storylines between the fourth and fifth seasons.

Stephen Root has been cast as a a shrewd businessman gangster in the FX drama pilot Outlaw Country, a crime thriller/family drama, set against the backdrop of Southern organized crime and Nashville royalty. It stars Luke Grimes as twenty-something Eli Larkin, who tries to leave a life of crime, John Hawkes as Eli's uncle, who is a big-time player in the Southern crime world, Haley Bennett as a country singer and Mary Steenburgen as her overprotective mother. 

PODCASTS

NPR's Diane Rehm Show featured Eva Gabrielsson, author of There Are Things I Want You to Know about Stieg Larsson and Me.

Suspense Radio added new interviews: on Saturday June 25th, Jon Land and Joseph Finder; and on Sunday June 26th, a split show with Chevy Stevens and Marcia Clark. All times are pacific time. 

THEATER

We had the murderous barber Sweeney Todd, so why not Bonnie and Clyde, the musical? Producers are bringing a version of Bonnie and Clyde, starring Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan, to Boardway previews on November 4, with a regular open on December 1 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Broadway. It has a good pedigree:  the book is  by Ivan Menchell, wh
o wrote The Cemetery Club; music is by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde); and lyrics are by Don Black (Sunset Boulevard).

Two Boys, a new opera by Nico Muhly and Craig Lewis, debuted at the English National Opera on June 24th. It's based on the true story of a teenager who stagged a younger boy outside a shopping mall in an English suburb, and a detective obsessed with the case who has to unravel fake identities and Internet intrigue to solve the motivations behind the tragedy. The opera will premiere at the Metropolitan in New York during the 2013-14 season.