Media Murder for Monday

Monday greetings to all, with a look at the latest crime drama news on air, on stage, and on the screen:

MOVIES

Don't Breathe director Fede Alvarez in talks to helm The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo sequel. Similar to Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series, Sony is skipping over two of the books in the series and adapting the latest book, The Girl in the Spider's Web, written by David Lagercrantz. The plot of the book involves Mikael Blomqvist's reporting of a brilliant computer scientist who's under threat by an organization Lisbeth Salander is working with in order to find someone from her past. There's no word on whether Sony will be offering Rooney Mara and her fellow Dragon co-star Daniel Craig roles in the sequel.

Patrick Dempsey has signed on as the lead in The Postcard Killings, directed by Janusz Kaminski from a script by Andrew Stern. Based on James Patterson and Liza Marklund’s novel, the film is about New York detective Jacob Kanon (Dempsey), who investigates the murder of his newly married daughter and discovers a trail of similar crimes reported throughout Europe — each killing accompanied by a postcard delivered to a local reporter.

Last week, it was announced that Gerard Butler would be returning to the Olympus Has Fallen action-spy franchise with a third installment, and now it appears Butler will also be heading to Scotland for the psychological thriller Keepers. Helmed by award-winning Danish director Kristoffer Nyholm (The Killing) and based on a true account, the film will see Butler playing one of a trio of lighthouse keepers, along with Peter Mullan and Joe Alwyn, who settle onto an island what should be a normal six-week stint - until they stumble upon something that leads to a battle for survival as personal greed replaces loyalty and three honest men are led down a path to destruction.

Ben Briand’s action-thriller Fever Heart has booked Alexander Skarsgard and Cara Delevingne in starring roles. The story follows an amnesiac (Skarsgard) who teams up with a quick-witted circus sharpshooter (Delevingne) to uncover his lost memories as they are dogged in violent pursuit by a charming and malevolent tracker. The film is set to begin shooting in 2017.

After finding success with The Raid, director Gareth Evans is returning to the big screen with the period thriller Apostle. The story centers around a mysterious man who travels to a remote island in search of his missing sister after she’s kidnapped by a religious cult, which is demanding a ransom for her return. But it soon becomes clear that the cult will regret the day it baited this man, who digs deeper and deeper into the secrets and lies upon which the commune is built.

TELEVISION

The CW is developing Marlowe, a drama series that's not based on the famous Raymond Chandler character Philip Marlowe but on the real-life African-American private investigator — a Jamaican immigrant and World War I veteran — who allegedly inspired him. Marlowe is a character-based procedural with a modern feel and contemporary soundtrack and "follows Samuel Marlowe from the mansions and red carpets of Beverly Hills to the jazz clubs and back alleys of Little Harlem, where he navigates crimes, mysteries and social issues ripped from today’s headlines through the prism of 1937 Los Angeles."

The CW has also bought a procedural drama from Dexter co-executive producer Lauren Gussis and Ryan Seacrest Productions. Titled Insatiable, the series is inspired by a real-life southern lawyer and top beauty pageant coach, Bill Alverson, who has been seen in the TLC reality series Coach Charming. The show centers on a disgraced, dissatisfied civil lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach who takes a vengeful, bullied teenager as his client, with no idea of what he’s about to unleash upon the world.

Netflix has renewed the crime thriller Longmire, starring Robert Taylor and Katee Sackhoff, for a 10-episode sixth season, but it will be its last, premiering in 2017 in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The show is based on the characters created by Craig Johnson and featuring Walt Longmire, the Sheriff of Wyoming's Absaroka County.

Patrick Heusinger (Jack Reacher 2) has been cast as the male lead opposite Stana Katic in Absentia, a 10-episode straight-to-series crime thriller for Sony Pictures Television Networks’ AXN. Absentia centers on an FBI agent, to be played by Katic, who disappears without a trace while hunting a serial killer and is declared dead. Six years later, she is found in a cabin in the woods, barely alive and with no memory of the years she was missing. Returning home to learn her husband (Heusinger) has remarried and her son is being raised by another woman, she soon finds herself implicated in a new series of murders. 

British actress Holliday Grainger is set as the female lead opposite Tom Burke in Cormoran Strike, BBC One’s new limited series based on J.K. Rowling’s bestselling crime novels (written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith). Cormoran Strike centers on Strike (Burke), a war veteran turned private detective operating out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. Though he’s wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike’s unique insight and his background as an SIB Investigator prove crucial in solving three complex cases which have eluded the police. Grainger will play Robin Venetia Ellacott, Strike’s assistant and secretary. 

Author Lynda La Plante has quit ITV’s Prime Suspect prequel after an alleged row over the portrayal of the early days of her heroine Jane Tennison, to be played by Stefanie Martini as a younger version of the role made famous by Dame Helen Mirren in the original series. La Plante had apparently been enthusiastic about the project until she got wind of how her character will be adapted.

Kamar de los Reyes (Salt) has landed a key recurring role on the upcoming fourth season of Fox genre series Sleepy Hollow, playing Jobe, the burly bodyguard for Malcolm Dreyfuss (Jeremy Davies). Jobe is the heavy who takes care of people (like Tom Mison’s Ichabod Crane) who stand in the way of Malcolm’s big plans. Currently filming in Atlanta for a 2017 return, Sleepy Hollow heads in
to its fourth season after some major changes, with most of the cast having been revamped, the premise adjusted somewhat, and the setting moved to Washington D.C., which opens new storyline possibilities.

UKTV, has commissioned a new comedy drama, Murder on The Blackpool Express, for its comedy channel Gold. The two-part UKTV Original, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, is a mixture of comedy and classic murder mystery and is set on a guided tour coach trip to Blackpool.

Fox has unveiled its mid-season schedule which includes highly anticipated premieres on the way, including Sleepy Hollow, 24: Legacy and the final season of Bones, as well as the season finale dates for shows such as Lethal Weapon, Gotham and Lucifer.

Lady Gaga is set to appear in the third season of American Crime Story, playing the legendary couture designer Donatella Versace. The storyline will tackle the murder of Donatella's brother, Gianni Versace, by the serial killer Andrew Cunanan on the steps of his Miami Beach home. Meanwhile, Season 2 of American Crime Story will focus on Hurricane Katrina and is aiming to film alongside Season 3 in early 2017. 

NCIS veterans George Schenck and Frank Cardea have been named co-showrunners of the long-running CBS drama series after the sudden death of showrunner Gary Glasberg at the age of 50. "The NCIS family suffered a tragic loss with the sudden passing of our showrunner, Gary Glasberg," Schenck and Cardea said. "It’s with heavy hearts that we assume his duties. We are fortunate to be surrounded by an incredibly talented and dedicated cast and crew, which will make the transition that much easier. Thank you to the NCIS fans for the outpouring of love we have all received."

A trailer was released for Season 6 of Homeland, which sees Claire Danes' tireless C.I.A. agent iving in Brooklyn to help Muslims living in the States. The entire season will take place between Election Day and Inauguration day, though it releases close to the latter in real time. Homeland Season 6 premieres on Jan. 15.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

John Grisham chatted with host Brian Koppelman on the podcast The Moment, talking about whether or not he has a mission in his writing, when he first started thinking of himself as a writer, and the issues in our justice system that he continues to wrestle with 25 years later.

The A Stab In The Dark crime podcast host Mark Billingham was joined by Shetland author Ann Cleeves and Nordic Noir author Yrsa Sigurdardottir to discuss being marooned with murder. Both Ann and Yrsa have strong ties to two islands, Shetland and Iceland, and they discussed what it's like to write fiction based there and how islands influence crime stories. Paul Hirons also visited Killer Women and revealed more about this new festival.  

THEATER

David Hare's new play The Red Barn is showing at the UK's Lyttelton Theatre until January 17. The play is based on the Georges Simenon psychological thriller novel La Main, which follows two couples on their way back from a party as they struggle home through the snow ... only not everyone arrives safely. The cast includes Mark Strong (A View from the Bridge), Hope Davis (God of Carnage), and Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager).