Monday, April 20, 2026

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

Bradley Cooper is set to write, direct, produce, and star in the Ocean’s 11 prequel also starring Margot Robbie. The film is currently set to release on June 25, 2027. Cooper and Robbie will play the parents of Danny Ocean (portrayed in the Steven Soderbergh Ocean’s trilogy by George Clooney). The movie follows a heist at the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, before Danny Ocean ever set foot in Vegas, where two masterminds—his parents—taught him everything he knows, as they pull off an epic heist.


Matt Smith (Doctor Who, House Of The Dragon) and Imogen Poots (Chronology Of Water) are attached to star in the mystery-thriller, The Salamander Lives Twice. According to the synopsis, Smith will play a debonair stranger "who washes ashore on a remote island wearing a Rolex and holding a briefcase he can’t open, with no memory of who he is or why he is there. Taken in by the sole inhabitants – Iris, a glamorous wine-soaked matriarch, her erudite daughter Goggy (Poots), and Baby, their giant naked butler – he is drawn into their bizarre and decaying world. But this is no accident. And what begins as sanctuary turns into something far stranger, far darker – a world of pent-up revenge, sinister family betrayal and shocking violence."


Academy Award nominee Demi Moore has joined the cast of Tyrant, the culinary thriller from writer-director David Weil at Amazon MGM Studios. Moore is the latest addition to the ensemble led by Charlize Theron (Monster, Bombshell) and Julia Garner (Ozark). Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Tyrant is said to be a high-stakes thriller set within New York City’s elite fine-dining scene. Weil wrote the screenplay, which is based on a story by Weil and Cody Behan.


Two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (The Serpent Queen) is set to headline the rescue thriller, Love And War, directed by Lisa Mulcahy (Lies We Tell), and written by Lisa Mulcahy and Elisabeth Gooch, Inspired by a true story, the film is about a mother forced to enter war-torn Syria to recover her young daughter after the child is taken across borders by her estranged husband. 


TELEVISION/STREAMING


Harlan Coben’s Final Twist has been renewed by CBS for a second season and will air as part of the network’s Fall 2026-27 schedule. The true-crime docuseries returns with new one-hour episodes following Coben as he guides audiences through gripping tales of murder to meticulously reveal hidden truths, deceptions, and lies. 


NBC‘s Law & Order: SVU, the venerable crime drama starring Mariska Hargitay, and the longest-running primetime drama on broadcast TV, will be back next fall for its 28th season. Although NBC had already announced the series’ pickup for the 2025-26 season, SVU had in reality received a two-season renewal, but the second year hadn't been made public. Michele Fazekas, who joined last season as SVU's first female showrunner, is expected to continue in the role. Defying gravity — and age — Law & Order: SVU is having its best season on Peacock and is NBC’s #1 drama among adults 18-49 in multi-platform viewing.


Meanwhile, Law & Order: Organized Crime, starring Christopher Meloni, won’t be returning for a sixth season on Peacock or NBC. Organized Crime follows Law & Order: SVU's Elliot Stabler (Meloni) in his return to the NYPD to work on the Organized Crime Task Force. With the Organized Crime cancellation, the only Law & Order spinoff that remains is the Law & Order: SVU renewal.
 

ABC has renewed its hit police drama, Will Trent, for a fifth season. Based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling book series, Special Agent Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was abandoned at birth. He endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system, alongside his on-and-off again love interest, Angie (Erika Christensen). Now, Will uses his unique point of view in the pursuit of justice and has the highest clearance rate in the GBI. In addition to Rodríguez and Christensen, the series stars Iantha Richardson as Faith Mitchell, Jake McLaughlin as Michael Ormewood, Sonja Sohn as Amanda Wagner, and Kevin Daniels as Detective Franklin Wilks.


CBS has a new NCIS spinoff series coming this fall. NCIS: New York will welcome back LL Cool J as NCIS Agent Sam Hanna (formerly starring in NCIS: Los Angeles), as he returns to his hometown of New York City to their field office, partnering with a roguish agent (Scott Caan) and helping lead a new team as they are tasked with high-stakes missions to defend one of the most vital cities and ports in the world. The series will air on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m., in between the flagship series NCIS and NCIS: Origins. NCIS: Sydney will join the lineup in midseason, replacing NCIS: Origins


Matt LeBlanc is set to lead the cast of the new crime drama, Flint, in development at CBS. The drama follows a burnt-out LAPD officer who, on the verge of retirement, is blindsided when the city extends his service by five years. Determined to get fired, he breaks rules and disobeys orders, which to his dismay, ends up making him a better cop.


Veteran ABC cop drama, The Rookie, which has emerged as a surprise hit with the under 18 crowd, thanks in major part to the show’s viral popularity on TikTok, has been renewed for a ninth season. The show follows John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), a man in his 40s, who becomes the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department, and is based on real-life LAPD officer William Norcross, who moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and joined the department in his mid-40s. In addition to Fillion, Melissa O’Neil and Eric Winter, The Rookie‘s main cast includes Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Mekia Cox, Shawn Ashmore, Jenna Dewan, Lisseth Chavez, and Deric Augustine.  


Star Trek veteran Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager) is leading an Irish TV series about a hard-nosed New York cop in Ireland, from Blue Lights producer Two Cities Television. Mulgrew, who is also known for playing Red in Orange is the New Black, is starring opposite Colm Meaney (Star Trek: The Next Generation; Gangs of London) in The Yank. The series is set on the west coast of Ireland and sees seasoned NYPD detective Nora Savage take a career break following a traumatic event and moving to her family home. Expecting a change of pace, Nora is unexpectedly pulled into a murder investigation involving a female climate activist. As the investigation builds to a tense and savage climax, it pushes Nora and the squad into a thrilling hunt for the killer. John Connors (The Gentlemen, Irish Blood), India Mullen (Normal People, Under Salt Marsh), Cillian O’Sullivan (Daredevil: Born Again, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) and Jack Rowan (A Town Called Malice, Wreck) star alongside Mulgrew and Meaney.


NBC will air the pilot of the Peacock drama series M.I.A. for a special telecast on Thursday, May 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, a cross-promotion that follows the series’ binge drop on Peacock a week earlier on May 7.  The drama hails from Ozark co-creator Bill Dubuque and stars Shannon Gisela as Etta Tiger Jonze. Restless in the Florida Keys, Etta dreams of a life in Miami’s glittering, sub-tropical kingdom. When her family’s drug-running business shatters in tragedy, however, Etta embarks on a dangerous journey through Miami’s neon-lit underbelly that will define who she is and what she’s ultimately capable of. The cast also includes Cary Elwes, Danay Garcia, Brittany Adebumola, Dylan Jackson, Alberto Guerra, Maurice Compte, Gerardo Celasco, and Marta Milans.


CBS announced its fall season, which includes four returning franchise blocks: FBI on Mondays, NCIS on Tuesdays, Fire Country on Fridays, and a Robert & Michelle King pair on Thursdays. Matlock and NCIS: Origins are being held for midseason. Tracker, in its third year, and freshman Marshals, which alternate as No.1 most watched series each week, are staying put on Sunday behind 60 Minutes. The new crime dramas next season include NCIS: New York, Cupertino, and Einstein.


MASTERPIECE PBS and Playground have renewed Maigret, the contemporary adaptation of Georges Simenon’s beloved novels about the French detective, for a second season. Benjamin Wainwright (Belgravia: The Next Chapter; Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim) reprises the titular role, and Stefanie Martini (The Gold, Last Kingdom) returns as Madame Louise Maigret. Kerrie Hayes (Blue Jean, Criminal Record), Shaniqua Okwok (The Flatshare, It’s a Sin) and Reda Elazouar (The Family Plan 2, Sex Education) are also back as “Les Maigrets,” Maigret’s loyal team of detectives. Other returning cast include Nathalie Armin (Showtrial, After the Flood) as Prosecutor Mathilde Kernavel; James Northcote (The Last Kingdom, The Imitation Game) as Joseph Moers; and Rob Kazinsky (Star Trek: Section 31 and Pacific Rim) as Inspector Justin Cavre. This season sees dramatic changes in La Brigade Criminelle, with the introduction of Maigret's boss and mentor, Director of Police Xavier Guichard, played by Nathaniel Parker (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries). Guichard has become suspicious of Maigret's growing fame and decides to "take him down a peg."


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

Dan Bronson joined Write Place, Wrong Crime host Frank Zafiro to talk about his Jack Shannon series, including the new release, Shout at the Devil, and also shared some great Hollywood stories.


Spybrary host Shane Whaley was joined by Ayo Onatade, a crime fiction critic, commentator, blogger, and moderator, who has also served as judge and chair for some of the genre's most significant prizes, including the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, the Crime Wrtiers Association's award for best spy fiction. Ayo reveals her top five best spy novels, making a passionate case for each one — and her picks may surprise you.


House of Mystery Radio had interviews recently with three crime fiction authors: Faye Snowden, discussing her Southern gothic tale, Killing Breath, featuring homicide detective Raven Burns; A.L. Jensen, talking about Midsummer, Marriage, and Murder, featuring interior designer turned amateur sleuth Minna Halonen; and Erik D'Souza chatting about Death on the Rocks, a Suzanne Rickson mystery starring the senior sleuth.


On Crime Time FM, Paul Burke looked at new releases on the screen and fiction for April, 2026.

 
On Read or Dead, Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester discussed some of the books nominated for the Edgar Awards.


Dr. Jen Prosser investigated a substance that causes "fire eaters' lung," what disease you can get from sitting in a hot tub, and how you can be poisoned by stealing gasoline, on the latest Pick Your Poison podcast.

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