THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES
Mads Mikkelsen and Armie Hammer have been confirmed to star in writer-director Amma Asante’s The Billion Dollar Spy, which is based on the book of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, David E. Hoffman. The project is based on the true story of how Soviet engineer, Adolf Tolkachev (Mikkelsen), and his CIA handler, Brad Reid (Hammer), risked their lives to help bring an end to the Cold War.
Josh Duhamel, Abbie Cornish, Nick Nolte, and Omar Chaparro are set to star in the action thriller, Blackout, with filming underway in Mexico City. Blackout follows Cain (Duhamel), who wakes up in a Mexican hospital with no memory. After meeting Anna (Cornish), he discovers who he is but soon finds himself fighting for his life as several warring cartel factions attack him, each looking for something he has stolen. Cain looks towards co-worker and mentor, DEA Agent McCoy (Nolte), for answers.
Sydney Sweeney will take the lead role in the crime drama, Silver Star, which charts the story of an unlikely couple: Buddy, a 20-year-old fresh out of jail, and Franny (Sweeney), a pregnant 19-year-old. After Buddy's botched robbery attempt at the bank that foreclosed on his childhood home, he abducts Franny, triggering an unexpected journey together. Casting for the male lead is underway with filming scheduled for early 2021 in the U.S.
The celebrated Thai martial arts star, Tony Jaa, will play the lead in an English-language action-thriller film (as yet untitled) that's hoped to be the first installment of a three-picture franchise. Jaa will play a legendary assassin who disappeared three years ago and becomes the target of criminal organizations and law enforcement agencies. According to producers, the story will unfold in an unconventional structure, and as the manhunt accelerates, the mystery of the assassin’s identity is slowly unraveled.
Matt Damon will be making an unbilled cameo in Steven Soderbergh’s latest HBO Max crime thriller, No Sudden Move. The project is set in 1955 Detroit and centers on a group of small-time criminals who are hired to steal what they think is a simple document. When their plan goes horribly wrong, their search for who hired them and why weaves them through all echelons of the race-torn, rapidly changing city.
TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES
Cush Jumbo, James Nesbitt, Richard Armitage, and Sarah Parish have been set as leads in the series adaptation of Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel, Stay Close, for Netflix. Coben is penning the eight-episode drama, which will be relocated from the U.S. to the UK. The story follows three people living comfortable lives who each conceal dark secrets that even the closest to them would never suspect. As the past comes back to haunt them, threatening to ruin their lives and the lives of those around them, what will be their next move?
CBS is taking a shot on adapting the German police procedural dramedy, Einstein, with major changes to the original concept. The 2017 German series was a police procedural about the unknown great-great-grandson of Albert Einstein, a theoretical physics professor, who helps the police in solving murder cases. The CBS take centers on a roguish, out-of-the-box-thinking physics professor who happens to be the secret, illegitimate great-granddaughter of Albert Einstein. She begrudgingly partners with a Boston homicide detective not only to help solve the most puzzling of crimes, but also to address the problems inside the institution of policing itself.
CBS has put in development the drama, Tempest, from Jeff Buhler. The story centers around an ex-Army intelligence officer and her survivalist brother-in-law as they work together to solve the mysterious death of her husband. Their discovery that he was one of 127 test subjects in a top secret government mind control program leads them to try to track down and save the remaining test subjects before they commit the most heinous acts of terror.
Amazon Prime Video has acquired the psychological thriller drama series, Tell Me Your Secrets, starring Lily Rabe, Amy Brenneman, Hamish Linklater, and Enrique Murciano. The 10-episode drama revolves around a trio of characters who all have a mysterious and troubling past. 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.
Amazon is also in negotiations to pick up the action-thriller screenplay titled Ruby, which is about a female assassin. Plot details are sketchy, but the story is said to be in the spirit of the Geena Davis-Samuel L. Jackson 1996 cult action, Long Kiss Goodnight, which followed a schoolteacher suffering from amnesia who sets out on a journey to find out who she is with the help of a private detective until they uncover a dark conspiracy.
The CW has acquired additional seasons of the Canadian drama series, Coroner and Burden of Truth, along with a three-episode Bulletproof special event. Burden of Truth follows Joanna Chang (Kristin Kreuk), a ruthless, big-city lawyer who returns to her small hometown in Millwood for a case that will change her life forever; Coroner is based on the Jenny Cooper series of novels by M. R. Hall and stars Serinda Swan as a recently widowed coroner in Toronto who investigates suspicious deaths; Bulletproof follows NCA detectives and best friends, Aaron Bishop (Noel Clarke) and Ronnie Pike Jr. (Ashley Walters), who investigate some of the UK's most dangerous criminals.
Rachel Keller has been cast in a lead role opposite Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe in HBO Max’s upcoming drama series, Tokyo Vice, from executive produce Michael Mann, who is directing the pilot episode. Keller will play Samantha, a role recast after Odessa Young pulled out due to scheduling conflicts. Created and written by J.T. Rogers and based on Jake Adelstein’s nonfiction book, Tokyo Vice is a firsthand account of a young American journalist (Elgort) working the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat.
Netflix has ordered a third season of its drug-trafficking drama series, Narcos: Mexico. When it returns, it will be without series lead Diego Luna (who portrayed drug cartel leader Félix Gallardo), and with a new showrunner. Season 2 ended with Luna’s Gallardo sentenced to prison for his drug trafficking crimes and there had been speculation he would not return if the series was renewed for a third season. Series co-creator Carlo Bernard will be taking over day-to-day showrunning duties from Eric Newman, who is stepping back after five seasons.
Due to Covid-19, CBS has trimmed the orders for most of its scripted series from a full-season 22 episodes down to 16-18. The programs affected include the NCIS franchise, Blue Bloods, SEAL Team, Magnum P.I. and Bull.
The CW has announced premiere dates for its new season next January, including the returning series Nancy Drew (January 20), and new drama, Walker (January 21) starring Jared Padalecki, which is a reboot of the 1990s series, Walker, Texas Ranger.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
On a recent episode of the podcast In GAD We Trust, James Scott Byrnside stopped by to discuss mystery tropes of the Golden Age such as "the dying message," "the false solution," and "the seance." Authors singled out for particular praise include Christianna Brand and Anthony Berkeley Cox, whereas G. K. Chesterton and Ellery Queen come in for some criticism. (HT to The Bunburyist blog)
Two Crime Writers and a Microphone hosts, Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste, discussed horror novels in honor of Halloween, including their favorites; the differences between crime and horror; and much more.
Debbi Mack interviewed crime and suspense writer, A.C. Frieden, on the Crime Cafe podcast.
Dr. DP Lyle returned to My Favorite Detective Stories to chat about his award-winning books and also consulting with novelists and television shows.
Suspense Radio welcomed thriller author, Brad Parks, to talk about his latest book, Interference.
Meet the Thriller Author chatted with author Dan Padavona about his Darkwater Cove Psychological Thrilles series, the latest of which, Don't Breathe, was published October 29th.
Wrong Place, Write Crime spoke with Drew Murray about his new novel, Broken Genius.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured a "Halloween Cozy Roundup."
Doug Johnstone was the special guest on The Tartan Noir Show, chatting about the stroke he had at the beginning of lockdown and how he finished the first draft of a new novel while recovering. He's the author of a series that started with A Dark Matter, shortlisted for this year’s McIlvanney Prize.
The Gay Mystery Podcast spoke with Randy Boyd, whose four novels, including two mystery/thrillers, have been nominated for five Lambda Literary Awards and all feature main characters who are black, gay, and living with HIV/AIDS.
Maxine Mei-Fung Chung was interviewed by Robert Justice for The Crime Writers of Color podcast. Maxine is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist who lectures on trauma, gender and sexuality, clinical dissociation, and attachment theory. The Eighth Girl, her debut novel, was published earlier this year and has been optioned for film by Netflix with Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan.
Tori Eldridge stopped by the Unlikeable Female Characters podcast to talk about her Lily Wong series, as well as her best self-defense tips, and her thoughts on violence and vengeance in crime fiction.
The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast featured prolific short story author, John M. Floyd, recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement, reading his story, "On the Road With Mary Jo," from the January/February 2019 issue of EQMM.
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