THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES
Amazon MGM Studios' United Artists and Scott Stuber have acquired rights to one of the most iconic ’90s erotic thrillers, Basic Instinct. Writer Joe Eszterhas is returning to pen a not-yet-titled reboot of the Paul Verhoeven-helmed box office hit, which starred Michael Douglas as Detective Nick Curran and Sharon Stone as his case’s seductive prime suspect, Catherine Tramell, a manipulative crime novelist.
Actress Taylor Russell has exited The Thomas Crown Affair, the Michael B. Jordan-directed reimagining of the classic Steve McQueen film. Sources said the exit was due to creative differences, and the studio is recasting the role as production continues in London. Russell was set opposite Jordan in the role of an insurance investigator who suspects that an adventurous banking executive is pulling off ambitious heists, and they develop sparks between them. That role was played by Faye Dunaway opposite McQueen in the 1968 original, and by Rene Russo opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 1999 version.
Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta’ Compton), Carlos Ponce (Couple’s Retreat), and rapper Lil Mama are starring in the action-thriller Mercy Mercy Me, written and directed by Wes Miller (A Day To Die). The crime thriller, set in 1985, sees two reformed outlaws, Mercy (Lil Mama) and Khaos (Mitchell), pulled back into the life they left behind. They’re forced to take on a dangerous job that pits them against mob bosses, a crooked detective (Ponce), and their own past sins.
Hood River Entertainment (A Day To Die) is in production on Jackrabbit, a mystery-comedy-thriller written and directed by Emmy and Peabody winner Ballard C. Boyd, a longtime producer and segment director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The story follows investigative reporter George (Kuhoo Verma) who moves to New York but needs a roommate. Knowing no one else in the city except her childhood best friend Trish (Soojeong Son), George agrees to move in with Trish’s city bestie, Avery (Taylor Ortega), an aspiring actress and full-time mess. Due to a clash of personality and a series of mishaps, the two women quickly end up at each other’s throats and competing for Trish’s friendship—until Trish mysteriously vanishes. The women reluctantly team up to track down their friend, only to discover Trish’s disappearance is just the first of many secrets.
Norwegian actress, Thea Sofie Loch Næss (The Ugly Stepsister), is set to headline CRCL9, a psychological thriller from writer-director M. Axilleas and Chris Weitz's Depth of Field (Murderbot). Inspired by real events, the film has Loch Næss playing an American woman studying in Europe who has been targeted by an online stalking game. As the situation becomes increasingly dangerous, she starts playing the game herself in an attempt to outwit her stalker.
TELEVISION/STREAMING
Slow Horses star Jack Lowden is reuniting with Apple for an untitled series based on Metropolis, from Philip Kerr’s globally bestselling Berlin Noir book series. BAFTA nominee Tom Shankland is said to be on board to direct. Peter Straughan, who won the Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Conclave, will serve as showrunner as well as adapt the script and co-executive produce. The Berlin Noir book series revolves around iconic detective Bernie Gunther, a police officer newly promoted to the intimidating and elite Berlin Murder Squad, who must investigate what seems to be a serial killer targeting victims on the fringes of society. His 1920s Berlin is a city of unprecedented freedom and dizzying turbulence, the Nazis just a distant nightmare waiting in the wings.
Chrissy Metz (This Is Us) is the latest to join the cast of the Apple and A+E Studios as-yet-untitled series based on the bestselling crime novels by Lars Kepler. Metz joins the previously announced series regular stars, Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, Stephen Graham, Bill Camp, and Rory Culkin. The project tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his adopted daughter, FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Beetz), up against Jurek, how far will Jonah go?
FX has greenlit Ryan Murphy’s The Shards, a new drama series based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name. The story, which is set in the early 1980s and features some autobiographical elements from Ellis’s life, centers on Bret (Igby Rigney), a student at an elite L.A. prep school whose world is upended by the arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory (Homer Gere), which coincides with the murders of a serial killer. Graham Campbell will play Thom Wright, one of Bret’s close friends.
Kevin Rankin (Claws), Adelaide Clemens (Under The Banner of Heaven), and Bevin Bru (Batwoman) have been cast in ABC's one-hour drama pilot, RJ Decker, joining the previously announced Scott Speedman and Weruche Opia. Rob Doherty created the series based on Carl Hiaasen’s 1987 novel, Double Whammy. The project centers on RJ Decker (Speedman), disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con, who starts over as a private investigator in the colorful-if-crime-filled world of South Florida, tackling cases that range from slightly odd to outright bizarre with the help of his journalist ex, her police detective wife, and a shadowy new benefactor—a woman from his past who could be his greatest ally or his one-way ticket back to prison.
Paramount+ has confirmed a series order to NOLA King, a spinoff from Taylor Sheridan’s hit drama, Tulsa King, which will star Samuel L. Jackson. NOLA King follows Russell Lee Washington Jr. (Jackson) who, after befriending Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) during a 10-year stint in federal prison, is sent to Tulsa by New York’s Renzetti crime family to take Dwight out once and for all. Inspired by what Dwight created in Tulsa and impressed with the possibilities of second chances, Washington returns to New Orleans, the home he abandoned 40 years ago, to rekindle his relationship with his family, friends, and to take control of the city he left behind. In so doing, he incurs the wrath of his former employers in New York, and makes himself vulnerable to old NOLA foes, both criminal and cop.
CBS's missing persons drama, Tracker, will see the departures of series regulars Eric Graise (computer expert Bobby Exley) and Abby McEnany (business handler Velma Bruin), leaving star Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw and Fiona Rene’s lawyer Reenie Green as the sole stars/characters going into Season 3. (Fellow original cast member Robin Weigert, who portrayed Velma’s wife Teddi Bruin, as well as the backend of Colter’s operation, left the series after Season 1.) Based on the bestselling novel, The Never Game, by Jeffery Deaver, Tracker stars Hartley as Colter Shaw, "a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family."
PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO
The latest Crime Time FM focused on serial killers, with authors Asia Mackay (Killing it and A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage) and Sam Holland (The Echo Man and The Countdown Killer) chatting with Victoria Selman about writing the worst kinds of killers and having fun doing it; whether serial killers have a high IQ; and more.
Debbi Mack's guest on the latest Crime Cafe podcast was clinical psychotherapist and crime writer Harper Kincaid (the Bookbinder Mystery series), talking about the challenges and joys of the writing life, along with the inspiration for her books, and advice for anyone who wants to write.
Murder Junction welcomed crime writer Gordon Brown to discuss his new novel, The Cost (written as Morgan Cry) and delve into to his colorful employment history which includes finding a way to sell all sorts of things in all corners of the globe.
The Sunday Tea podcast chatted with Skye Alexander about her historical Lizzie Crane Mystery series, featuring ambitious and beautiful New York jazz performer Lizzie Crane and her troupe trying to make it in music in the roaring 1920s and navigating mysterious murders that take place along the way.
A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the mystery short story, "Perfect Partner," written by Vinnie Hansen and read by actor Shannon Muir.
Want to know why cocaine is used in the operating room? What toxin has been used in bombs, impregnated into clothing and sprayed on salad bars? What rat poison is treated with vitamins? The latest Pick Your Poison podcast investigated.
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