Media Murder for Monday

One of the good things about Mondays is that it's time once again for this week's latest roundup of crime drama news:

AWARDS

Room, a film about an abducted woman intent upon survival for her young son and herself, has swept the Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Canadian writer Emma Donoghue, whose bestselling novel was the basis of the movie. Benjamin August won Best Original Screenplay for the Atom Egoyan thriller Remember, which stars Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau. In the television awards, the Canadian police drama 19-2 took three prizes, including Best Dramatic Series.

MOVIES

Leonardo DiCaprio, J.J. Abrams, and Forrest Gump screenwriter Eric Roth are teaming up with Paramount to make a play for David Grann's new nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: An American Crime and the Birth of the FBI (and are the frontrunners to land the rights in one of the hottest Hollywood auction of the year so far). Killers of the Flower Moon is a nonfiction story about the mysterious murders of the Osage Indians tribe in Oklahoma, where oil desposits sat beneath their land. The case was turned over to a brand new law enforcement agency known as the FBI, which fought against corruption to solve the case.

Michael Keaton is the first star to be cast in American Assassin, the adaptation of the Vince Flynn bestselling novel series. Keaton will not be playing Mitch Rapp, the title character (who ruthlessly carries out covert counter-terrorist operations for the CIA) in the book series. Instead, the actor will portray Stan Hurley, a badass Cold War veteran who teaches the young assassin everything he needs to know.

Masters Of Sex star Lizzy Caplan is joining the cast of the untitled film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script by Steven Knight and star Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. The plot follows two assassins (Pitt and Cotillard) who fall in love during a mission to kill a German official and marry, but their romance is cut short when Pitt learns a devastating secret about his wife that prompts him to turn on her. Caplan is set to play Pitt’s character’s sister.

Halle Berry, who starred in the Bond film Die Another Day, is stepping into another super-spy franchise, Kingsman 2, playing a CIA head opposite Taron Egerton. It was also reported that Berry would be signed for a two-picture deal, meaning that the next Kingsman film may wind up being the middle chapter in a trilogy.

Studio 8 and Battle Mountain Films have teamed for an untitled crime thriller that will be directed by Italian filmmaker Francesco Munzi. The story is set in New York City's violent but lucrative underworld of cargo theft and centers on a young man who is mentored by a brilliant thief and must choose between ambition and family as he rises to prominence.  

TELEVISION

CSI co-star George Eads is returning to CBS with a role in their pilot MacGyver, a reimagining of the 1985 series about a resourceful and ingenious agent who improvises his way out of sticky situations using everyday items like rubber bands, chewing gum and a Swiss Army knife. Also joining the MacGyver reboot is the original’s creator Lee David Zlotoff who will be an executive producer. Eads will play Lincoln, "a man who could easily be written off as an eccentric conspiracy theorist but he’s a legit government employee with great capability for compassion."

Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Debra Monk rounds out the cast of Drew, the CBS drama pilot based on the Nancy Drew character from the classic mystery book series. The project is being re-imagined as Nancy (star Sarah Shahi) in her 30s, working as a detective for the NYPD where she investigates and solves crimes using her uncanny observational skills. Monk will play one of the main characters in the books, Hannah Gruen, the Drew family’s trusted cook/housekeeper who served as a surrogate mom for Nancy.

Revenge alum Nick Wechsler has been cast as the male lead opposite Tracy Spiridakos in the Fox drama pilot Recon. The project centers on Alexa (Spiridakos), a young, driven FBI analyst tasked with embedding herself in a suspected terrorist family. Wechsler will play Freddie, a skillful and hardworking FBI agent who struggles with moral conflict while at the center of a key mission. He joins previously cast Alexander Siddig and Sarita Choudhury.  

Sarah Wayne Callies (Colony) has closed a deal to reprise her role as Dr. Sara Tancredi opposite fellow returning stars Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell in Fox’s Prison Break event series, a nine-episode follow-up to the cult 2005 Fox action series. The casting won’t affect Callies’ series regular role on Colony, which was recently renewed for a second season on USA Network, since Prison Break is a limited event series only.  

My Wife and Kids alum Brooklyn Sudano has landed a main role opposite Clive Standen in Taken, NBC’s straight-to-series adaptation of the hit movie franchise. Written and executive produced by Alex Cary (Homeland), the series is a modern-day prequel to the film franchise that depicts how Bryan Mills (Standen) developed and sharpened his particular set of skills. Sudano will play Asha, an attractive, well-educated young student from an upper middle class family who is furthering her education when she first meets Bryan (Standen). It was also announced that Michael Irby will join the cast, playing a member of Bryan’s OPCON (Operational Control) team of elite operatives who take care of America’s national security emergencies on the ground.  

Weeds star Justin Kirk will play the lead in Fox’s drama pilot APB, joining fellow cast member Eric Winter (The Mentalist). The project centers on an enigmatic tech billionaire Gideon Reed (Kirk) who purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a dear friend’s murder and sets out to rethink everything about the way cops do business. Winter will play Sgt. Tom Murphy, a vice cop, a tough guy with a big heart and a family man who is married to homicide detective Amelia Murphy (Natalie Martinez).

The true crime tale Lost Girls is moving from Warner to Amazon. The project is based on the 2013 nonfiction book by investigative reporter Robert Kolker about a serial killer targeting sex workers on Long Island.  

Comedian Craig Robinson is taking a turn for the dramatic with a reoccurring guest role on USA's Mr. Robot, playing a neighborhood local who reaches out to Elliot (Rami Malek) in his time of ne
ed. He joins rapper Joey Bada$$ and Chris Conroy are also new faces this season.

The latest Chicago series from Dick Wolf has a brand-new name, changing from Chicago Law to Chicago Justice, according to Deadline. Deadline also reported that Nazneen Contractor (24) has signed on to star in the fourth installment of the Chicago franchise, playing Assistant State's Attorney Dawn Harper alongside Philip Winchester's lead prosecutor. The spin-off will first air as Episode 21 of Chicago P.D. this season.

Freddy Rodriguez has signed on to play one of the lead roles in the CBS drama pilot Bull. Written by Phil McGraw and Paul Attanasio, Bull is based on popular daytime talk show host Dr. Phil’s early days as head of one of the most prolific trial consulting services of all time. It centers on Dr. Jason Bull, who runs Trial Sciences Inc., a company that analyzes juries to help develop defense strategies. Rodriguez will play Benny, the only lawyer on the team, who provides legal strategy and acts as the lawyer in their mock trials.

Amazon announced that Ripper Street will end after its fifth season, which recently began filming in Dublin. In the final season, Joseph Mawle (In the Heart of the Sea) rejoins the series as the feared Detective Inspector Jedediah Shine, intent on a mission of revenge after last being seen in the series two finale when Inspector Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) plotted with Drake (Jerome Flynn) to take Shine’s life.

Hat tip to Crime Fiction Ireland for posting ITV's "first look" at Rowan Atkinson as Inspector Maigret in the upcoming series based on the character of novelist George Simenon.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

NPR profiled Alphonse Bertillon, the nineteenth century French criminologist and "The Man Behind The Modern Mug Shot."

The most recent This is Criminal podcast profiled Jane Toppan, born 1857, who set up a successful private nursing career in Boston. Said to be cheerful, funny and excellent with her patients, nothing about “Jolly Jane” suggested she could be “the most notorious woman poisoner of modern times.”

THEATER

The Vertigo Theatre in Calgary announced its 40th anniversary season lineup, starting off with a staging of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep starring Graham Percy as the iconic detective Phillip Marlowe.  Other productions in the pipeline include Agatha Christie’s play The Hollow and a new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher of Frederick Knott’s classic thriller Wait Until Dark.

GAMES

Arc System Works is putting together an interactive game called Chase: Unsolved Cases Investigation Division – Distant Memories. It looks to be a detective story that's not wholly unlike the company's Hotel Dusk, which followed former NYPD officer Kyle Hyde as he attempts to unravel the mystery behind a dusty old hotel that's eerily connected to the death of his former friend and partner, Brian Bradley.