THE BIG SCREEN
The upcoming thriller novel The Whisper Man has been optioned for film as part of a major Hollywood deal. The novel from an anonymous author, who writes under a pseudonym "Alex North," has been snapped up by the production company AGBO, founded by Emmy award-winning directors Anthony and Joe Russo, of various Marvel superhero films and Arrested Development. The plot centers around a grieving father and his seven-year-old son, who move to the quiet town of Featherbank for a fresh start. But 15 years ago Featherbank was stalked by a serial killer, known as the "Whisper Man." The killer was finally caught and imprisoned, but there were always rumors he had an accomplice while the one link between victims is that in the days leading up to their disappearances, each claimed to have heard a whispering at their window.
20th Century Fox announced the premiere dates for two crime dramas, The Woman In The Window (October 4, 2019) and Bad Times At The El Royale (October 12, 2018). Amy Adams stars in The Woman in the Window, an adaptation of A.J. Finn’s hit Hitchcockian-style novel about an agorophobic child psychologist with a drinking problem who one day witnesses a crime take place in the house across the park; and Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Cynthia Erivo, and Dakota Johnson star in the mystery-thriller Bad Times, where seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
Spectrum/Charter Communications has chosen its first scripted series to launch a new lineup of original programming, and it's a project NBC turned down: Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba's cop drama, L.A's Finest. The Bad Boys spin-off series will follow Burnett (Union) as she move to Los Angeles and joins the LAPD, where she's partnered with a Nancy McKenna (Alba), a single mother who envies Burnett's freedom. L.A's Finest is set to premiere in 2019 exclusively on Spectrum.
Netflix has made a deal with Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg, and the Robert B. Parker estate to bring back for a potential series of feature films Spenser, the poetry-spouting, wisecracking former boxer-turned Boston P.I. made famous in 40 novels by Parker (as well as a TV series starring Robert Urich). The first film will be an adaptation of Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland, one of the eight Spenser mystery novels written by Ace Atkins, who took over the series after Parker died in 2010. The movie will differ from the novel, in that it begins with Spenser emerging from a prison stretch and stripped of his private investigator license, where he gets pulled back into the underbelly of the Boston crime world when he uncovers the truth about a sensational murder and the twisted conspiracy behind it.
Bryncoed Productions has optioned TV rights to Ian Sansom’s The County Guides series of novels. So far four such novels have been published, but the series is expected to span forty-four books by the time it is finished. The adaptation, which will be known as The County Guides To Murder, will be a multi-part television series, with Steve Thompson (Sherlock, Doctor Who) on-board to to adapt the books. The series follows the idiosyncratic Swanton Morley, a/k/a the People’s Professor, who is compiling a series of guides of the counties of England. Unfortunately, mysterious murders keep getting in the way of his academic endeavors.
Recently, it was announced that James Norton would be leaving the ITV period mystery Grantchester. Norton has played Vicar Sidney Chambers for the first three seasons of the show and will reprise that role in the upcoming fourth season, his last. Now, the network has hired Norton's replacement, Tom Brittney, who will play Will Davenport, Grantchester's new, young parish priest who "channels his boundless energy into a quest for social justice" and whose "own troubled past is unearthed." He will star alongside Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, once again played by Robson Green.
Newcomer Stella Baker has been set as a series regular opposite Lily Rabe, Amy Brenneman and Hamish Linklater in TNT’s thriller drama series Tell Me Your Secrets. Created and written by Harriet Warner (Call the Midwife), the project is described as an intense, morally complex thriller revolving around a trio of characters, each with a mysterious and troubling past: Emma (Rabe) is a young woman who once looked into the eyes of a dangerous killer; John (Linklater) is a former serial predator desperate to find redemption; and Mary (Brenneman) is a grieving mother obsessed with finding her missing daughter, Theresa (Baker). As each of them is pushed to the edge, the truth about their pasts and motives grows ever murkier, blurring the lines between victim and perpetrator. Xavier Samuel, Enrique Murciano, Chiara Aurelia, Ashley Madekwe and Bryant Tardy co-star.
The FX drama Trust is heading to the BBC after Sky dropped the Donald Sutherland-starring U.S. acquisition ahead of its debut in the UK. The series tells the story of the true-life kidnapping of the heir to billionaire John Paul Getty and was created by Simon Beaufoy and executive produced by Danny Boyle, Beaufoy and Christian Colson, with Boyle directing the first three episodes.
Entertainment Weekly profiled author Megan Abbott and wondered if she's Hollywood's next big novelist. The award-winning author has three projects currently in development: a pilot based on her popular novel Dare Me, in production at USA where it's being helmed by director Steph Green (The Americans); You Will Know Me, her 2016 murder mystery set at a gymnastics tournament (optioned directly by AMC); and Give Me Your Hand, which explores the brutal science-academic community, is being developed by Skydance Media and TV-megaproducer Marti Noxon (Dietland, HBO’s star-studded Sharp Objects).
Hugo Speer (The Musketeers, Father Brown) and Sharon Small (Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Trust Me) are set to star in the streaming service Acorn’s first straight-to-series commission. The pair are joined by EastEnders actor Bailey Patrick and newcomer Tori Allen-Martin in the five-part drama, which will tell the story of a team of top murder detectives and be shot like a documentary. Each episode will feature a different murder in addition to a serialized story involving the lead detective’s missing wife. Speer stars as Detective Inspector David Bradford, who comes back to work after his wife goes missing and there are still no significant leads on her case. Small will play ambitious Detective Sergeant Vivienne Cole, who has been running the murder team in David’s absence and is frustrated by David’s approach to their investigations.
Fox announced the fall premiere dates for is new and returning programs, including 9-1-1 on September 23 and Lethal Weapon on September 25.
If you want to know which of your favorite shows from last season have been renewed or canceled, here's a handy list that includes not only the broadcast and cable networks but also several live-streaming services, as well.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO
Star Chamber co-hosts Michael West, Daniel Dark, and Stephen Zimmer welcomed dark fantasy/post-apocalyptic/military thriller author Peter Welmerink and award-winning crime fiction author Linda Sands for a discussion on writing, the life of writers, their own works, various genres, and a whole lot more.
On The Men Who Explain Miracles podcast, Detection Club President Martin Edwards talks about locked-room mysteries such as Murder of a Lady (1931) by Anthony Wynne and other titles in the British Library Crime Classics series for which he serves as a consultant. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell at the Bunburyist)
Author Michael Robotham stopped by ABC News Australia for a chat about his writing and latest projects, as well as one profound personal regret: that he never received his father’s praise.
Authors on the Air host Tina Susedik welcomed Simas to Your Book Garden to talk about her up-coming release, Quilted to Die, the fourth book in her Grace Gabbiano Mystery series.
Two Crime Writers and a Microphone hosts Steve Cavanagh and Luca Vest featured a special extended interview with Mark Billingham to talk about his new novel The Killing Habit, Bill Oddie, King Kitten, Theakstons Crime Festival, and much more.
Writer Types spoke with authors Joe Clifford (the Jay Porter series), Lisa Brackmann (the Ellie McEnroe series) and had an exclusive sneak peek at the new true crime podcast, The Long Dance, from Eryk Pruitt.
Spybrary was joined by Jeremy Duns to discuss the myths surrounding one of the Cold War's greatest spy operations and potentially it's greatest spy, Oleg Penkovsky.
THEATER
The Milton Keynes Theatre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire in the UK is staging Love From A Stranger July 3 to 7, a play written by Agatha Christie (with Frank Vosper) and one of Dame Agatha's less well known pieces. Directed by Lucy Bailey, the play tells the story of Cecily Harrington who is swept off her feet by a handsome and charming stranger. She recklessly abandons her old life to settle in the remote and blissful surroundings of a country cottage. However, her newfound love is not all that he seems. Justin Avoth will play the role of Nigel Lawrence and Cecily Harrington is played by Helen Bradbury.
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