MOVIES
Mark Wahlberg is lining up a noirish police procedural film titled Broken City, to be directed by Allen Hughes. Wahlberg would play a former cop turned private detective hired by the mayor to tail his cheating wife. When the wife's cheating partner is murdered, P.I. Wahlberg begins investigating the mayor, which leads him to an explosive real estate scandal.
Director D.J. Caruso and Cross Creek Pictures appear ready to resurrect a film project based on Lawrence Block's novel A Walk Among the Tombstones. The project languished for years, even though no less than Harrison Ford was interested in it at one point. If this latest effort gets off the ground, it will follow the book's protagonist, former alcoholic private investigator Matthew Scudder, as he reluctantly helps a Leganese drug kingpin whose wife is murdered in gruesome fashion.
Drew Barrymore is taking the director's reins for the teen mystery novel Heist Society by Ally Carter. Screenwriter Shauna Cross (Whip It) is adapting the story and aging the teenage characters a few years from teenagers to early twentysomethings. The film and novel follow Katarina "Kat" Bishop, the daughter of a master criminal who springs into action when her father is accused of lifting five paintings he actually didn't steal.
The film adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy isn't due in theaters until November, but you can catch a trailer on the Deadline site. The movie stars Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds and John Hurt.
Ray Liotta has joined the cast of the film The Place Beyond the Pines by writer-director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine). Liotta will play a corrupt cop, joining Ryan Gosling, playing a professional motorcycle racer who starts robbing banks to support his infant son, and Bradley Cooper as a determined young police officer who pursues him. Cianfrance says the inspirations for the story include author Jack London and Charles Darwin. The story unfolds over a couple of generations and Cianfrance adds "it's kind of a crime story, kind of a mystery. I've had people tell me they feel like it's The Deer Hunter meets The Godfather."
There have been several film adaptations of Patricia Highsmigh's Talented Mr. Ripley Ripliad creation from her novels, and the web site Word & Film takes a look at the various productions from 1960 to 2005, with video clips.
TV
NBC has found its replacements for Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay (who will have a limited role) in the police procedural Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Danny Pino, who starred for seven seasons on Cold Case, and Kelli Giddish, who has appeared in Damages, The Good Wife, Life on Mars and Without a Trace, will take over for the 13th season of the series.
NBC had added a sneak peak at ComicCon of their new series Grimm, which follows detectives investigating the supernatural with mythology inspired by the classic fairy tale works of the brothers Grimm. Several cast members will also be on hand for a panel on July 23rd.
TV Guide notes that a large number of new primetime dramas for the Fall are set to be filmed in New York City, moving away from Los Angeles, thanks to new tax breaks. All four of the freshmen CBS dramas are among that group, including J.J. Abrams' Person of Interest (starring Jim Caviezel); Unforgettable, based on J. Robert Lennon's short story "The Rememberer"; and midseason rookie-cop drama The 2-2, from Robert DeNiro's production company.
PODCASTS
NPR's All Things Considered chats with author James Morton about Morton's book The First Detective: The Life and Revolutionary Times of Vidocq: Criminal, Spy and Private Eye. It's a biography of Eugene-Francois Vidocq, the notorious criminal who wound up becoming the world's first detective.
THEATER
After a two-year hiatus, the 2012 International Mystery Writers' Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky, will honor the late Peter Falk and the character of Columbo. Four Columbo stories penned by William Link will be performed as Live Broadcast Theatre productions, presented in the style of old-time radio shows. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)
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