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
Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss and Taryn Manning are joining the action-thriller, Every Last One of Them, joining the previously cast Mike Hatton, Paul Sloan, Brian Hayes Currie, Mary Christina Brown, Nick Vallelonga, and Claire Kniaz. Christian Sesma is directing from a screenplay co-written with Chee Keong Cheung, Alistair Cave, and Edward Thomas, although details about the plot haven't been revealed.
Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj's upcoming untitled Bollywood film is inspired by a novel from the "queen of crime," Agatha Christie, and marks the first time that Agatha Christie Limited, which looks after the author's estate, has franchised her stories to an Indian filmmaker. Bhardwaj will only say of the plot, "A murder takes place in a misty Himalayan hill resort. As the whodunit unfolds, a couple almost unwittingly begin sleuthing to get to the bottom of the crime." Bhardwaj, 55, has directed and produced 15 films, including three modern-day adaptations of Shakespeare's plays - Maqbool based on Macbeth, Omkara based on Othello, and Haider based on Hamlet - which have a cult following among fans.
Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios has optioned rights to David Gilman’s thriller novel, The Englishman. Gilman is a former reconnaissance platoon paratrooper in the British Army, a firefighter, and a professional photographer who has also spent time as a writer on the ITV series, A Touch Of Frost. His published works include the "Master Of War" historical novels and the adventure series, Danger Zone. The Englishman centers on a former soldier whose work in the French Foreign Legion taking on terrorists in sub-Saharan Africa brings him to the attention of MI6. He is soon recruited for an undercover mission that takes him on a relentless search through the network of a dangerous international organized crime operation. The book is viewed as the first in a series.
Peter Sarsgaard, Riley Keough, and Bill Burr are joining Jake Gyllenhaal in The Guilty, for Netflix. Also joining the cast are Byron Bowers, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, David Castañeda, Christina Vidal, Paul Dano, Ethan Hawke, Adrian Martinez, Beau Knapp, and Edi Patterson. Antoine Fuqua is directing, while Nic Pizzolatto (True Detective) is writing the thriller, based on the Danish drama, Den Skyldige, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film will take place over the course of a single morning in a 911 dispatch call center, where operator Joe Bayler (Gyllenhaal) tries to save a caller in grave danger. However, he soon discovers that nothing is as it seems.
Jake Gyllenhaal is also in talks to star in Michael Bay's next film, an action movie titled Ambulance. While the logline for the film is being kept under wraps, Ambulance is said to be a remake of a 2005 film from Denmark about two brothers staging a robbery who steal an ambulance as their getaway vehicle with a paramedic and a dying patient in the back.
Gerard Butler will star in Night Has Fallen, the fourth installment in the successful "Fallen" box-office franchise. The film will reunite Butler and the Angel Has Fallen creative team, with Robert Kamen returning to write the screenplay and Ric Roman Waugh set to direct. Butler will return as U.S. Secret Service agent Mike Banning, although the plot details haven't been divulged. The fourth film in the franchise will be filmed at Millennium Media’s Nu Boyana Studios in Bulgaria and throughout Europe.
Colin Firth, Gemma Arterton, Simon Russell Beale, and Pappa Essiedu are attached to star in the period drama, Curtain Call, with Anand Tucker directing. The film, set in 1930s London, revolves around a feared theater critic named Jimmy Erskine (Beale); his loyal assistant; a newspaper owner who wants to get rid of the critic; and an actress who has been devastated by the excoriating theatrical reviews. The critic’s determination to survive ensures that the other characters are caught in a web of blackmail, deceit and murder. Patrick Marber adapted the script from Anthony Quinn’s novel.
Scott Eastwood has signed on to star alongside Tyrese Gibson, Famke Janssen, Kevin Durand, and Mel Gibson in the action-thriller, Dangerous, which is to be directed by David Hackl (Saw V). Eastwood will play a reformed sociopath who, after the death of his brother, heads to a remote island which soon falls under siege from a deadly gang of mercenaries. Forced to fend for himself, he discovers their role in his brother’s demise and sets off on a relentless quest for vengeance.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
ITV has announced a new four-part suspenseful thriller, Our House, based on Louise Candlish’s bestselling book of the same name. The four-part series tells the story of Fiona, who arrives home one day to find strangers moving into her house. With all her family’s possessions and furniture nowhere to be seen, Fiona believes there’s been a huge mistake and insists her home isn’t for sale. Events spiral beyond her control, and she’s unable to reach her husband, Bram. With her life as she knows it disappearing before her eyes, Fiona digs deeper and also realizes her husband has disappeared too. But the secrets and lies have only just begun.
Black Bear Television has nabbed the rights to Mary Kubica’s Local Woman Missing, an upcoming mystery novel about a series of strange disappearances. The story is told through different perspectives and timelines, and revolves around three missing women from the same town whose disappearances have remained unsolved. One day, over a decade after the women go missing, one of the victims shockingly returns home. That raises a number of questions. Where has she been? What happened to the other women? And who is responsible?
Emmy winner Kim Delaney has been tapped to star in Lifetime's original movie, The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother’s Hunt for Justice. The movie is inspired by the emotional story of Mari Gilbert, played by Delaney, a mother whose daughter’s disappearance led to the discovery of 19 bodies, many of which are believed to have been murdered by an unidentified Long Island serial killer. The film follows her relentless pursuit for answers and the truth. Emmy-winning journalist Deborah Norville, who covered Gilbert’s story as anchor for Inside Edition, will executive produce.
NBC has put in development a drama from husband-and-wife writing duo, April Maguire and Will Honley. In the untitled drama, a year after a weekend getaway ends in tragedy, a diverse group of former high school friends reunites in the hopes of getting closure. Their reunion takes a dark turn, however, when a stranger begins taunting them and exposes dangerous secrets that lead them to question whether their friend’s death was really an accident.
Adam Goldberg has been tapped as a lead opposite Queen Latifah in The Equalizer reboot, which has a straight-to-series order at CBS to launch this season. A reimagining of the classic series, The Equalizer stars Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall, an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. Goldberg will play Harry Keshegian, an endearing, eccentric, and paranoid tech geek whose experience as a white-hat hacker lets him know what the real conspiracies are. He’s as loyal as they come and like a brother to McCall. The series, which recently started production, also stars Chris Noth, Lorraine Toussaint, Tory Kittles, Liza Lapira, and Laya DeLeon Hayes.
Marnee Carpenter (Criminal Minds) is set as a series regular opposite Rebecca Breeds in CBS’s Silence of the Lambs sequel series, Clarice. Additionally, Jayne Atkinson, Shawn Doyle, and Tim Guinee have been cast in recurring/guest roles in the midseason crime drama series based on Thomas Harris’ famous character. Clarice is set in 1993, one year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs. It tells the personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Breeds) as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high-stakes political world of Washington, D.C.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
The new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast features the mystery short story, "The Belle Hope," written by Peter DiChellis and is read by actors Max and Brianne Vogt Debbas.
Crime Cafe host, Debbi Mack, interviewed crime and suspense writer Sandra Woffington, author of the Wine Valley Mystery series.
Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Anthony Horowitz to discuss Moonflower Murders, his latest novel to feature book editor, Susan Ryeland, first introduced in the 2017 Magpie Murders.
The featured guest on My Favorite Detective Stories was Frank Bequaert, who trained as an electrical engineer, before turning his hand to writing short stories, including "Never Kidnap a Crime Novelist" under his pen name of Stan Dryer.
Suspense Radio's Beyond the Cover chatted with Dr. Ian Smith, known for his work on dieting and nutrition, who just completed his first thriller, The Unspoken.
Meet the Thriller Author spoke with Danny Gardner, who has enjoyed careers as an actor, director, and screenwriter. His latest book is Ace Book Coon, the second book in the series featuring disgraced Chicago Police Officer, Elliot Caprice, who is caught between two worlds in 1950s Chicago.
Wrong Place Write Crime welcomed James Swallow to discuss his Marc Dane novels as well as the considerable other IP universes he's written in (Star Trek, 24, Highlander, Deus Ex, and more).
The Writer's Detective Bureau podcast, hosted by veteran Police Detective Adam Richardson, celebrated its 100th episode with Adam answering a whole slew of writers' questions during a Facebook Live event.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured a true-crime book review roundup.
Multi award-winning writer, Craig Russell, joined Theresa Talbot on The Tartan Noir Show to talk about what it’s like to have your books translated into 25 languages; how to immerse yourself in the world you are writing about; and how having really great headphones can change your life. Five of his Jan Fabel novels have been made into movies, with Craig making a cameo appearance as a detective.
