Media Murder for Monday

Mondays seem to roll around a lot faster than they used to - but at least, it means it's time for the weekly crime drama news roundup:

MOVIES

Cross Creek Pictures has preemptively picked up The Spy’s Son, based on Bryan Denson’s best-selling 2015 book, which tells the true story of a high-ranking star CIA officer who was caught selling secrets to the Russians. But he then embarrassed the U.S. government when he did it again, this time from behind prison bars by using his son, training him in the ways of spycraft, to continue to spy for Russia and to even ferret out the mole that ratted on him in the first place.

Cat Vasko has been hired to write the script for the adaptation of Gin Phillips' novel Fierce Kingdom for Warner Bros. The thriller is set over three hours and tells of a mother and son who are trapped in a zoo with a gunman on the loose.

Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse) is set to co-star in the upcoming psychological thriller Spinning Man from director Simon Kaijser, joining Pierce Brosnan, Guy Pearce, and Minnie Driver in the project based on George Harrar’s novel. The story follows Evan Birch, a professor and family man, whose past reveals a number of illicit relations with his students, and when a young woman is found murdered, Evan becomes the prime suspect. Shipp will play Anna, a college student conflicted by an affair she had with her professor.

The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival returns for its 18th iteration to sunny Palm Springs, May 11-14, at the Camelot Theatres. The festival kicks off with a restored print of Hollow Triumph (1948) with special guest, actress-filmmaker Monika Henried, daughter of star Paul Henried. Richard Duryea will also be in attendance for Roy William Neill's Black Angel (1946), which features a rare sympathetic role for his father Dan Duryea. Other guests include Sara Karloff, daughter of Boris, for a screening of the Val Lewton production The Body Snatcher (1945) directed by Robert Wise, and actor Andy Robinson from 1973's Charley Varrick, Don Siegel's classic heist film. (HT to Mystery Fanfare.)

The Cannes Film Festival has added Roman Polanski’s film Based on a True Story (D’Apres Une Histoire Vraie) to the official selection (playing out of competition). Eva Green, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Vincent Perez star in Polanski’s psychological thriller about a writer and her obsessive admirer. As Variety noted, "Polanski was forced to resign as president of the Cesar Awards in January after protests from feminist organizations over his longstanding rape case, so another round of protests could be in store."

The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York, is featuring a mini-festival called "Donald Westlake on Film" from May 12-14. The opening event is Point Blank followed by a discussion with Abby Westlake, Donald Westlake’s wife, and historian Luc Sante (Low Life), as moderated by guest curator Levi Stahl. (HT to Sarah Weinman)

TELEVISION

Movie star Hilary Swank is taking a break from the silver screen to appear on the small screen, joining the cast of the FX series Trust, which will also star Donald Sutherland. Trust will be a limited series event telling the story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, who was the heir to a vast oil fortune. Paul was kidnapped in Rome in 1973 by a group of mobsters looking to score a big ransom from his wealthy family members.

The Night Manager, adapted from spy author John le Carre’s novel, landed two honors at the British Academy Television Craft Awards, which celebrate the best behind-the-scenes talent. The Night Manager had wins in the fiction editing and sound categories.

A new documentary from Vince Vaughn being developed for the Audience Network will tackle police and race relations, with Vaughn adding, "The concept is really to humanize people on both sides."

WWE Studios has been an outlet for low-budget action and comedy films starring pro wrestlers, but in recent years has been reaching outside of the ring to produce and distribute other projects including its new thriller Sleight. The series stars Jacob Latimore as Bo, a teenage street illusionist and hustler who struggles to make ends meet for himself and his sister after the death of their parents. But Bo’s attempts to escape to a better life put him on a collision course with the drug lord Angelo, forcing him to use all the skills he’s built on the streets, including one secret ability that gives Sleight a comic-book bent.

Guest blogger Dennis Broe at Crime Fiction Lover posted a wrap-up of the best new crime shows from around the world.

ABC has set spring season finale dates for its scripted and unscripted series, including American Crime and Quantico.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Noir on the Radio host Greg Barth welcomed author Brian Stoddart to discuss his series of books set in 1920s Madras in India and featuring Superintendent Chris Le Fanu.

The Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast featured guest reviewer Ayo Onatade, of Shots Magazine, and also special guest Harry Brett a/k/a Henry Sutton who discussed his shift to "proper" crime fiction, meta-fictional crime novels, teaching degrees in crime fiction, and creative writing.

If you're a fan of old time radio, you should check out Adam Graham's list of the "Top Ten Greatest American Radio Detective Performances."

WSIU radio chatted with Laura Benedict, a recent finalist in the Edgar Awards Best Short Story category for her work "A Paler Shade of Death."

THEATER

Paul Auster's City of Glass is playing at London's Lyric Hammersmith theater until May 20. The story centers on 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 Syracuse Stage in Syracuse, New York, is presenting the comedy-thriller Death Trap, written by award-winning playwright and novelist Ira Levin, beginning May 12 with preview performances on Wednesday, May 10 and Thursday, May 11. The play received an Edgar Award for Best Play from the Mystery Writers of America and later earned a Tony.