Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

After launching their careers together on Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie are reuniting on the spy thriller, Five Eyes. Ritchie will direct and produce the project about an an agent (Statham) recruited by the global intelligence alliance, "Five Eyes," to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapon that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with a high-tech CIA expert, he sets off on a globe-trotting mission to infiltrate a billionaire arms broker's crime syndicate.

Amazon Studios, Skydance TV, and Paramount TV Studios have found their Jack Reacher. Alan Ritchson (Titans) has been tapped for the title role in Jack Reacher, the streamer’s drama series based on the character from Lee Child’s international bestselling series of books. As conceived by Child, the imposing, 6'5"-tall, 250-pound character of Jack Reacher is a U.S. Army veteran investigating suspicious activities that frequently put him in danger. (Santora is 6’4” and 235 pounds). The role was played by the 5'7" Tom Cruise in the 2012 Jack Reacher feature film and the 2016 sequel.

Greenland star Gerard Butler and Captain America actor Frank Grillo are set to star in the Joe Carnahan-directed action thriller, Copshop. The story centers on a small-town police station that becomes the unlikely battleground between a professional hitman (Butler), a smart rookie female cop, and a double-crossing con man (Grillo), who seeks refuge behind bars when there's no place left to run. Casting for the female lead is still in progress.

Stephan James is in final negotiations to co-star with Russell Crowe in Paramount’s thriller, American Son, which is based on the critically acclaimed French film, A Prophet. Andrew "Rapman" Onwubolu is on board to direct the movie from a screenplay by crime author, Dennis Lehane. The film centers on a man (James) who falls under the control of a ruthless mobster (Crowe) while in prison and later builds a multiracial crime syndicate to take down his mentor and earn a place for his crew alongside the Italian and Russian mafias.

A new trailer was released for the next James Bond installment (and the last one for Daniel Craig), No Time to Die, giving fans a deeper look at the long-awaited 007 movie — and its scarred (both emotionally and physically) supervillain played by Rami Malek.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Skydance Television is developing an original hour-long series headlined and executive produced by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first major foray into scripted television. Created by Nick Santora (Scorpion), the series is said to be a global spy adventure with a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter at the center of the story. Preliminary casting is underway for the role of the daughter. 

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington and The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar are among the cast of the second season of Netflix’s police interrogation drama, Criminal, which just released a trailer. The drama takes place exclusively within the confines of a police interview suite. It is a stripped down, cat-and-mouse drama that will focus on the intense mental conflict between the police officer and the suspect in question. Season two returns to the streamer on September 16.

Jess Ryder’s psychological thriller novel, The Ex-Wife, is getting the series treatment, with BlackBox Multimedia and Night Train Media teaming for an international co-production. New York Times bestselling author and actress, Catherine Steadman, known for roles in Downton Abbey and her novels including Something In The Water, has been drafted to pen the screenplay, marking her screenwriting debut. The Ex-Wife follows newlywed Tasha, who has the perfect house, a loving husband, and a beautiful little girl. She’d be set if it weren't for Jen, her husband's ex-wife who just won't leave them alone.

CBS has put in development The Bay, a one-hour police drama from director-producer Larry Teng (Nancy Drew); writer-producer Yalun Tu (Wu Assassins); and CBS Television Studios. Described as "The Good Wife meets NYPD Blue," the project centers on two newly partnered Chinese-American detectives who strive to overcome their gender, generational, and cultural differences as they work to bring justice to their dynamic and ever-changing San Francisco community. 

NBC has put in development a father-daughter murder mystery drama from Blindspot creator/executive producer Martin Gero and executive producer Alex Berger. Written by Berger, the story follows a dogged young reporter who witnesses the murder of her sister. As she launches an investigation to find the people responsible, she enlists the help of her estranged father – a legendary but reclusive investigative journalist.

Danish actor Roland Møller is set to co-star opposite Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Citadel, Anthony and Joe Russo’s upcoming global thriller series for Amazon Studios. Møller will play Laszlo Milla, a lead operative of Citadel’s rival intelligence agency, Manticore, who was incarcerated in a Citadel detention facility for years. Now liberated, Laszlo sets his sights on getting revenge on the man responsible for his capture, Mason Kane, and bringing down Citadel once and for all.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

Crime Cafe host, Debbi Mack, interviewed crime writer Karen Neary Smithson.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed James R. Benn to talk about The Red Horse, the latest installment in Benn's Captain Billy Boyle mysteries set in World War II Europe.

My Favorite Detective Stories host John A. Hoda chatted with Mike Omer about his Zoe Bentley series.

Brad Parks stopped by Meet the Thriller Author to chat about his books, writing at Hardees, and how he tackled subjects like quantum physics to turn into a thriller.

Faye Snowden, author A Killing Fire, was interviewed by Robert Justice on the latest Crime Writers of Color episode.

The Gay Mystery Podcast welcomed Ellen Hart, often called "the LGBTQ’s answer to Agatha Christie" and the author of thirty-five crime novels in two different series.

Suspense Radio's Beyond the Cover spoke with special guests Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson, the authors behind the latest Tier One thriller, Collateral.

Two Crime Writers and a Microphone host Steve Cavanagh became a guest on the show to talk about his newly released thriller, Fifty Fifty.

The featured guest on It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club was Alex Gilly. One of his translations, Thierry Cruvellier's The Master of Confession, was longlisted for the 2015 PEN Translation Prize. His own latest crime novel is the thriller, Death Rattle.

The latest Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast featured Josh Pachter's "The Secret Lagoon."