Media Murder for Monday

Monday means it's time for the latest crime drama news from stage and screen:

AWARDS

The Screen Actors Guild announced this year's winners for outstanding performances in both film and television. Idris Elba was a standout, making history by winning two awards for his roles in Beasts of No Nation (film) and Luther (BBC-TV). On the film side, Leonardio DiCaprio took home a trophy for his role in The Revenant and Brie Larson also won for her portrayal in Room, while the award for ensemble acting went to the film Spotlight. Viola Davis also won another statue (among her many awards to date) for her work in ABC's How to Get Away With Murder.

MOVIES

Harrison Ford and Anthony Hopkins are set to star opposite Paul Bettany, Natalie Dormer and Martin Freeman in the political thriller Official Secrets. The story centers on a young British intelligence officer who became famous when leaking information to the press, alleging that the NSA was engaging in illegal activities in order to pressure the U.N. Security Council to approve a resolution of war against Iraq in 2003. Hopkins will portray a retired U.K. general, and Ford has been cast as a C.I.A. agent.

Robert Zemeckis is directing another spy thriller, which just signed on Jared Harris in the lead role. The untitled project, set in World War II and based on a script by Steven Knight, follows married assassins who fall in love and wed in Casablanca while on a mission to assassinate a German ambassador - until the husband receives intel that his wife may be a double agent working for the Germans. Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard are set to play the married spies.

Kathryn Bigelow will take the director's chair for an untitled true crime drama from an original screenplay by Mark Boal. The film will be set against the backdrop of Detroit’s devastating riots that took place over five summer days in 1967

Jaume Collet-Serra Collet-Serra and Liam Neeson have worked on several films together, including 2015’s Run All Night, 2014’s Non-Stop and 2011’s Unknown, and now they are re-teaming for The Commuter, a thriller that follows a man (Neeson) who gets caught up in a criminal conspiracy.

The team behind the 2000 cult classic American Psycho is reuniting for a look at real-life American psycho Charles Manson titled The Family, from director Mary Harron and screenwriter Guinevere Turner. The project actually centers on the infamous Manson Family murders through the eyes of graduate student Karlene Faith as she works with three young, brainwashed women who were part of the cult.

Johnny Depp is in early talks to star in Paramount’s crime thriller Triple Frontier, about the world of smuggling, organized crime, and terrorism in South America. The ensemble thriller also has an offer out to Tom Hanks and had hoped to snag Will Smith, but the actor had scheduling conflicts.

Clive Owen has come aboard the psychological thriller Anon, written and directed by Andrew Niccol. Set in a world with no privacy, ignorance, and anonymity, the thriller centers on a detective in a world without privacy, ignorance and anonymity - the end of crime. But when Owen’s character stumbles on a young woman who doesn’t exist, he discovers it may not be the end of crime but the beginning.

If you're wondering when your much-anticipated new film is going to be released during 2016, Cinema Blend has a handy schedule for you of all of the upcoming projects.

TELEVISION

Julia Roberts is set to star in and produce ADX, a drama based on the real life groundbreaking lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Prisons over the treatment of inmates at the infamous ADX supermax facility in the Rocky Mountains. The  project is based on a NY Times Magazine article, “Inside America’s Toughest Federal Prison,” written by Mark Binelli.  

The CW added two paranormal thrillers to its pilot season, including Frequency, a re-imagining of the time-travel film of the same title (that starred Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel and Elizabeth Mitchell). Written by Supernatural alum Jeremy Carver, the small-screen project centers on a contemporary female police detective who discover she can speak via ham radio with her estranged father (also a detective) who died in 1996. They forge a new relationship while working together on an unresolved murder case, but unintended consequences of the “butterfly effect” wreak havoc in the present day.  

NCIS is adding a new team member to help fill the vacuum left by the outgoing Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo (played by Michael Weatherly). "Tess" will be an FBI Special Agent in her late 30s who has recently transferred to Washington D.C. from New York City’s Counter-Terrorism Unit. She's described as thrice-divorced, "quick-witted, sarcastic, and shrewd to boot."  The show is looking for a “name” actress to tackle the role, with the character introduced in time for the Season 13 finale to set up her character arc for Season 14.

Julie Ann Emery (Fargo and Better Call Saul) will guest star in the final five episodes of Major Crimes' fourth season on TNT. She'll play Detective Stephanie Dunn, a hard-nosed narcotics investigator who is asked to transfer to Major Crimes and aid in the search for a murderer who may be connected to the killing of an off-duty cop from 12 years earlier.

The 24 reboot 24: Legacy has chosen its female lead in the form of Homeland's Miranda Otto, who will star opposite Corey Hawkins in the Fox pilot. Otto will play Rebecca Ingram, the smart former head of CTU now married to a U.S. Senator and struggling with second thoughts about having left the counterterrorism agency.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Unfortunately, the latest Crime Vault podcast will be its last, since Little Brown didn't renew the commission for hosts Michael Carlson and Mark Billingham. But you can enjoy the final show that features a Q&A with Alex Marwood whose new novel The Darkest Secret is out in ebook and audio; a chat about the 100 Bestsellers of the year 2015 and the changing place of women in the list; a "Game Changers" profile – a look at books that shifted the landscape; more new release reviews and much more.

Crime and Science Radio had an interview with forensic pathologist Judy Melinek and her co-author/husband TJ Mitchell (who is himself a a forensic pathologist).

On Crime Cafe, private eye author M. Ruth Myers chatted with mystery author Debbi Mack about her Maggie Sullivan mystery series and other work.

Suspense Radio's Beyond the Cover podcast welcomed Yannick Bisson, star of the TV show Murdoch Mysteries, and David McCallum (star of The Man from U.N.C.L.E and NCIS), who just released his debut crime novel, Once a Crooked Man. (Note if you're at work - this podcast has an auto-start feature).

Bestselling author John W. Mefford joined Crime Fiction FM for their first ever audio AND video episode to discuss his new book, the first in his new Alex Trout thriller series, At Bay.

THEATER

American playwright Joseph Goodrich's world premiere stage adaptation of the Ellery Queen whodunit Calamity Town is running now through February 21 at the Vertigo Theater in Calgary. Canada’s only professional theatre dedicated to the mystery genre takes on the 1940-set production, which sees the amateur sleuth and mystery author moving to a quiet New England town only to find dark secrets lurking around every corner.