Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Ben Affleck may don his director's hat again to take on a film adaptation of Dennis Lehane's latest novel, Live By Night. The book is set during the Prohibition era in Boston and follows Joe Coughlin, "the black sheep son of a police captain," as he moves up the ranks of organized crime.

Ewan McGregor will lead the cast of the Australian indie thriller Son of a Gun, playing a veteran criminal who takes a younger criminal under his wing.

CBS Films has offered Chris Hemsworth the role of terrorist hunter Mitch Rapp in in the big-screen version of Vince Flynn's bestselling novel series.

Julianne Moore is joining the Liam Neeson thriller Non-Stop about a federal air marshal (Neeson) challenged by a strange enemy who threatens the lives of his passengers.

Omnimystery News has a poster and the official trailer for the crime drama Gangster Squad, scheduled for release in January 2013, which is based on the book by Paul Lieberman and set in the 1950s LAPD.

TV

Gaumont International Television inked a deal with ABC for a potential straight-to-series project based on novelist James Patterson's character of New York Detective Michael Bennett. If the network likes the pilot, it will greenlight at 13-episode series for the project. (Hat tip to Omnimystery News.)

The infamous Depression-era bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are big in Hollywood right now. Fox bought a modern take on the duo from Sony TV; the untitled project is described as a "serialized drama about two sexy, young lovers from struggling families in East Texas, who use their respective skill sets to pair up and fight back, one crime at at time." Plus, Oscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford has signed on to direct the four-hour Bonnie & Clyde miniseries that will air on both the History and Lifetime networks.

CBS bought a project from McG and Mentalist executive producer Daniel Cerone. It's a female-lead crime drama about an unconventional young female detective for the San Francisco Police Department who gets fired from the force, only to be secretly recruited by the Chief of Police to become an undercover officer posing as a vigilante.

The online video site Hulu is continuing to expand its original programming slate, with the latest including a joint 6-episode project with the BBC for the conspiracy comedy/thriller series titled The Wrong Mans. Hulu also picked up the exclusive U.S. rights to the French crime drama Braquo (Heist), about four Paris policemen whose colleague commits suicide following a case where he is being unfairly blamed..

NBC is in talks to buy a detective drama from Universal TV and Scott Free Productions. The project stars Kevin Klein and revolves around a genius investigator who moves in with a compulsive thief.

Clark Gregg will reprise his film role as Agent Phil Coulson in a television pilot based on Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.

USA announced that Psych will return on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 for its upcoming seventh season.

Fox announced that the reality series Cops will return for a 25th season, taking turns in the police departments of Sacramento, Las Vegas, Portland (Oregon) and Alameda County, California.

David Suchet indicated that the next series of TV programs featuring his portrayal of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot will probably be the last. By then, Suchet will have appeared in every story Christie wrote featuring the Belgian detective. The upcoming final programs would include Labours of Hercules, Dead Man’s Folly, The Big Four, Elephants Can Remember and Curtain. (Hat tip to Crimespree.)

Film director Jane Campion talked with Hollywood Reporter about her new new project, a six-parter for the BBC and Sundance Channel called Top of the Lake. She called it "the anti-CSI procedural," which ties together a women's camp, a drug lord (played by Peter Mullan) and a murder mystery all in one.

PODCASTS

Suspense Radio's October lineup included Amy Shojal, Keith Rommel, and David Lyons on October 6th, and coming up on October 20th are John Connolly, Sandra Parshall, Tasha Alexander and Sam Hawken.

For a little bit of fun, check out this duet between Robert J Randisi and Parnell Hall at the recent Shamus Awards held at Bouchercon.

THEATER

Tom Hanks will play crime rep
orter Mike McAlary in Lucky Guy, the play Nora Ephron completed before she died in June at age 71. The role will mark the actor's Broadway debut in the limited-engagement run, scheduled at the Broadhurst Theatre with opening night set for April 1, 2013.