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
Scarlett Johansson is set to lead the true-crime thriller, Featherwood. Johansson will portray Carol Blevins, a heroin addict and "Aryan Princess featherwood" (property of a gang member) who became one of the FBI’s most important informants during a six-year investigation into the murderous, neo-Nazi crime and drug syndicate known as the Aryan Brotherhood Of Texas. Blevins, who lived with the gang, memorized details, pre-empted murders, and interrupted robberies, helping to convict thirteen members of the group. However, her harrowing journey left her with significant physical and mental scars and she lives under constant threat of reprisal by the ABT. The movie is based on the award-winning, six-part Dallas Morning News article by Pulitzer Prize finalist, Scott Farwell.
Luke Hemsworth has joined the cast of the Prime Video sequel series, The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, in a recurring role, joining the previously announced cast of Taylor Kitsch, Tom Hopper, and Chris Pratt. Co-created by The Terminal List author, Jack Carr, and Season 1 creator-showrunner, David DiGilio, the prequel, set five years before the mothership series, takes viewers on Ben Edwards’s journey from Navy SEAL to CIA paramilitary operator, exploring the darker side of warfare and the human cost that comes with it. The series focuses on enigmatic Special Operator Ben Edwards, portrayed by Kitsch. Hemsworth will portray Jules Landry, a self-obsessed CIA contractor who hides a dangerously volatile personality beneath his muscled veneer.
Joel Kinnaman (The Suicide Squad) and Cara Jade Myers (Killers of the Flower Moon) are set to star in the thriller, Ice Fall. Stefan Ruzowitzky, director of Oscar-winning crime-drama, The Counterfeiters, will helm the film which is written by George Mahaffey (Chief Of Station). The story follows a young Indigenous game warden who arrests an infamous poacher only to discover that the poacher knows the location of a plane carrying millions of dollars that has crashed in a frozen lake. When a group of criminals and dirty cops are alerted to the poacher’s whereabouts, the warden and the poacher team up to fight back and escape across the treacherous lake before the ice melts.
Dermot Mulroney and Tony Shalhoub are the newest additions to Amazon MGM Studios' crime thriller, Play Dirty, the first project based on Donald E. Westlake’s Parker crime fiction novels (written under the pseudonym Richard Stark) to emerge from a pact between the studio and Team Downey in 2022. Directed by Shane Black, Play Dirty centers on professional thief Parker (Mark Wahlberg), who after being double-crossed and left for dead, sees his hunt for revenge bring with it a shot at the biggest heist of his career. But even with the help of his partner, actor/con artist Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), he’ll still need to outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world’s richest man if he hopes to stay alive.
Chinese megastar Fan Bingbing has been tapped to star opposite Liam Neeson in Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky, the sequel to Jonathan Hensleigh’s 2021 action film, The Ice Road. The film sees Neeson return as big-rig ice road driver Mike McCann who, honoring his late brother’s last wish, travels to Nepal to scatter his ashes on Mt. Everest. While on a packed tour bus traversing the deadly 12,000 ft. terrain of the infamous Road to the Sky, McCann and his mountain guide encounter a group of Nepalese mercenaries and must fight not only to save themselves and the busload of innocent travelers, but also the local villagers’ homeland. Fan portrays Dhani, a veteran Mt. Everest guide with multiple ascents whose indigenous knowledge and extraordinary yet unlikely fighting skills add a unique bend to Mike’s survival and unexpected quest for justice.
Emmy Award winner Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) has re-teamed with Nobody writer Derek Kolstad (John Wick franchise) on a new action project titled Normal, with Ben Wheatley set as director. The script, written by Kolstad, follows Ulysses (Odenkirk), who is thrust into the temporary role of the sheriff for the small sleepy town Normal after the previous one’s untimely death. When the town’s bank is robbed by an out-of-town couple, Ulysses arrives on the scene to find that the town is hiding much more sinister deep-seated secrets under its surface and everyone—from the bartender to the priest—is in on it. And Ulysses, who has until now only focused on running away from the demons of his past, must uncover the full extent of this criminal conspiracy.
TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN
Beau Bridges has been tapped for a major recurring role opposite Kathy Bates in Matlock, CBS‘s upcoming drama series inspired by the classic TV show of the same name. He will take over the role played by Jamey Sheridan in the pilot. Originally targeted for this midseason, Matlock will debut in 2024-25 due to strike-related delays. Matlock stars Bates as Madeline "Matty" Matlock, a brilliant septuagenarian who achieved success in her younger years and decides to rejoin the work force at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases. Bridges plays Senior, the firm’s managing partner who has an indomitable presence that immediately alters the temperature of any room.
The BBC is keeping its Agatha Christie tradition alive by setting Towards Zero as its next adaptation of Dame Agatha's work, following on from 2023’s limited series Murder Is Easy. Towards Zero unfolds around the murder of an elderly widow at a clifftop seaside house—linking a failed suicide attempt, a schoolgirl wrongfully accused of theft, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player. The book will be adapted by Rachel Bennette, the writer behind BAFTA-nominated Zadie Smith adaptation, NW. She has also written for World on Fire and Ripper Street.
Acorn TV has partnered with Paramount’s British broadcaster Channel 5 on Ellis, a three-part detective drama series starring Sharon D. Clarke. The series follows DCI Ellis, a tenacious cop who is parachuted into failing investigations. Each two-hour episode sees Ellis—accompanied by her right-hand man DS Harper, played by Andrew Gower (Outlander)—arrive at a different police station, where she will have to win over the local detectives and immerse herself in the cases she has come to solve. As a black female cop, Ellis is used to being dismissed and overlooked, but she is a first-class murder detective, with a determination for justice and a deep well of compassion for those who need it.
A first look was revealed for the upcoming Netflix spy series, Black Doves. The drama follows Helen Webb (Keira Knightley), a quick-witted, down-to-earth, dedicated wife and mother—and professional spy. For ten years, she’s been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to the shadowy organization she works for: the Black Doves. When her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is assassinated, her spymaster, the enigmatic Reed (Sarah Lancashire) calls in Helen’s old friend, Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) to keep her safe.
PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO
NPR's Morning Edition chatted with George Pelecanos, who recalls the day police raided the author's home, and how fifteen years later, he's ready to write about it
NPR's Book of the Day focused on two novels where the characters are grappling with the natural elements—and with mysterious deaths. First, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly spoke with Alex Michaelides about The Fury, a murder mystery in which a famous actress and her friends are trapped on a remote Greek island by the ferocious Mediterranean wind. Then, Scott Simon asked Sarah-Jane Collins about Radiant Heat, which follows a young woman who survives an Australian wildfire, only to emerge from her house and find a dead woman she's never met—clutching a piece of paper with her name and address.
NPR's Scott Simon also chatted with C. L. Miller about her debut mystery, The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder, set in the English countryside.
On Crime Writers of Color, Robert Justice interviewed Danielle Arceneaux, author of Glory Be.
Paul Vidich and Charles Cumming chatted with Paul Burke on Crime Time FM about their latest novels, Beirut Station and Kennedy 35, and the Cold War.
The latest episode of the Crime Cafe featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Melissa Yi, who is also an emergency physician, about her newest crime novel, White Lightning, featuring Dr. Hope Sze.
Read or Dead hosts Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed books with threatening titles.
