Media Murder for Monday

Welcome to Monday and the weekly wrap-up of crime drama news:

MOVIES

Sony is picking up the rights to Hunting El Chapo: The Thrilling Inside Story of the American Lawman Who Captures the World’s Most-Wanted Drug Lord, the upcoming book by Cole Merrell and Douglas Century. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is the Sinoloa drug cartel boss who, in addition to being one of the most powerful crime lords of all time, had a knack for escaping his prisons. The project will compete with Fox's thriller, The Cartel, adapted from Don Winslow's fictional take on El Chapo, with Ridley Scott attached to helm. 

Tom Hanks' techno-thriller The Circle will have its much anticipated world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 29. Based on David Eggers’ 2013 novel of the same name, The Circle examines how perilous it is for technology companies to know everything about you at all times.

The STX action thriller Den of Thieves starring Gerard Butler and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson will be released on Jan. 19, 2018. The movie will also star Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. and Evan Jones, directed by Christian Gudegast from his original screenplay written with Paul Scheuring. The project follows an elite crew of bank robbers who set out to pull off the ultimate heist when they realize $120 million in cash is taken out of circulation daily and destroyed by the Federal Reserve.

TELEVISION

Jonathan Kellerman’s best-selling Alex Delaware novels will be adapted as a TV series by IDW Entertainment. Launched in 1985 with When the Bough Breaks, the novels follow Alex Delaware, a forensic psychologist who works with the LAPD to assist in solving murder cases. His partner in crime, Milo Sturgis, is a gay homicide detective, which has prompted praise from mainstream critics and the LGBT community for creating realistic and developed characters.

A second series of the award-winning spy drama The Night Manager is in development, according to director Susanne Bier. Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman starred in the BBC One thriller based on John le Carre's 1993 novel, but there is no word yet on their return for the follow-up. Although the book doesn't have a sequel, Susanne Bier, who won an Emmy for directing the first series, said that scripts for a second installment were being developed by "a team of writers," and BBC TV chief Charlotte Moore told The Telegraph that "Le Carre is very involved" in discussions about the next series. 

House of Lies alum Larenz Tate is set as the male lead opposite Allison Miller in the ABC drama pilot Salamander. The story centers on Ethan (Tate), a brilliant but misanthropic engineer who recruits a skeptical Homeland Security psychiatrist, Nora (Miller) to help him track a mysterious bank robber whose theft of 66 safety deposit boxes sets in motion a series of blackmails that might be linked to a greater conspiracy. South African actor Neil Sandilands will play Jack, a domestic terrorist of sorts, while John Leguizamo will co-star as an ex-cop and one of Ethan’s best friends.

Shudder, the premium streaming service backed by AMC Networks, has acquired the Scandi-noir drama Jordskott from ITV Studios Global Entertainment. The first two episodes of Season 1 will launch April 6, with two new episodes premiering each week thereafter. The 10-episode first season focuses on the seven-year disappearance of police investigator Eva Thörnblad’s (Moa Gammel) daughter, Josefine.

Patricia Clarkson is set to co-star in Gillian Flynn’s drama Sharp Objects for HBO. The straight-to-series eight-episode drama centers on reporter Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) who returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Eventually, she finds herself identifying with the girls too much. Clarkson will play Adora Crellin, Camille’s mother, and queen of Wind Gap’s highest society. 

Hal Holbrook is heading to Hawaii to guest-star on an upcoming episode of Hawaii Five-0. He'll play a veteran who served in the military with Steve McGarrett's (Alex O'Loughlin) grandfather and survived the bombing of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Sleepy Hollow alum Lance Gross has booked a series regular role opposite Meaghan Rath in The Trustee, ABC’s dramedy described as "a fun, female buddy cop comedy" about Eliza Radley, a driven but stubborn detective who finds unlikely help from her precinct’s trustee, a larger-than-life ex-con finishing out her prison sentence doing menial tasks for the police department. Gross will play police detective J.D. Hayes, a colleague and love interest of Radley.

Bobby Cannavale is joining the cast of USA Network’s Mr. Robot, while longstanding guest star B.D. Wong will be a series regular when the show returns sometime in October. Cannavale will play the the role of "Irving, described as a “laconic, no-nonsense used car salesman," and Wong continues his role as Whiterose, leader of the Dark Army hacker collective backed by China.

Erin Moriarty will take on a key role in Fox’s untitled university thriller drama pilot (formerly known as Controversy), joining Archie Panjabi, Austin Stowell, and Rita Wilson in the cast. The project tackles the hot-button topic of college campus sexual crimes, with Moriarty playing a co-ed who accuses several star fo
otball players of assault.

USA Network has found its actors to play Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. in the upcoming pilot Unsolved: The Murders of Biggie and Tupac. Marcc Rose (Shakur in Straight Outta Compton) will take on the role of Tupac, while Wavvy Jonez, who was discovered during a nationwide open casting call, will play Biggie Smalls. The drama is based on the experiences of former LAPD detective Kading, who is consulting on the pilot script and will also serve as co-executive producer.

Roslyn Ruff is set for a series-regular role opposite Reba McEntire in ABC’s untitled Marc Cherry drama pilot from ABC Studios. The project stars McEntire as Ruby Adair, the sheriff of colorful small town Oxblood, KY, who finds her red-state outlook challenged when a young FBI agent of Middle Eastern descent is sent to help her solve a horrific crime. Ruff will play Inez Winemiller, a jolly church lady who runs the local bed and breakfast.

CBS has punted (for now) the untitled Paul Attanasio Latino cop family drama pilot, executive produced by Leonard Goldberg, for "casting reasons." Written by Homicide creator Attanasio, the drama revolves around the multi-generational members of a Mexican-American family with deep roots in San Diego intertwine personally and professionally due to their powerful careers in law enforcement. 

Ewan McGregor is almost unrecognizable in the trailer for the third season of Noah Hawley's anthology series Fargo, which returns in April. McGregor will play the dual roles of twin brothers whose lives are turned upside down because of their twisted sibling rivalry that leads to petty theft and even murder.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Authors on the Air host Pam Stack welcomed Allison Brennan to the studio to discuss her two series—the Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan thrillers and the Maxine Revere cold case mysteries.

Hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste, of the Two Crime Writers and Microphone podcast, discussed censorship, World Book Day, writing, and more and also welcomed special guest Daniel Cole, who talked about his novel Ragdoll.

Beyond the Covers snagged author Alan Jacobson to discuss his latest thriller featuring esteemed FBI profiler Karen Vail who's on the hunt for an escaped serial killer.

Noir on the Radio host Greg Barth welcomed crime fiction author Chris Roy, who has a unique take on crime as a currently-imprisoned author. Independent publishers New Pulp Press signed Chris for his novel Sharp as a Razor in late 2016 and later that same year also picked up his Shocking Circumstances trilogy. 

THEATER

Tony Award-winning 59 Productions (An American in Paris, War Horse) and writer Duncan Macmillan are bringing Paul Auster's seminal American novel City of Glass to life in the world premiere stage adaptation at Manchester's Home Theater. The story follows reclusive crime writer Daniel Quinn who receives a mysterious call seeking a private detective in the middle of the night and quickly and unwittingly becomes the protagonist in a thriller of his own. The production continues at The Home through March 18 before moving on to the Lyric Hammersmith, 20 April-20 May

GAMES

Late Shift: A Cinematic FMV Crime Thriller is headed to PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The setup: after being forced into the robbery of a lucrative auction house, mathematics student Matt is left proving his innocence in the brutal London heist. The consequences of his actions take him on a vicious and violent journey across the capital, escaping the twisted web the player has the power to weave.