Media Murder for Monday

Monday means it's time once again for the latest crime drama news roundup:

MOVIES

Benedict Cumberbatch is in early negotiations with Fox Searchlight to star in The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, with David Bar Katz adapting the book by Mark Seal. The project is based on the true story of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, an imposter who conned his way into various jobs on Wall Street — as well as a marriage — posing as a member of the Rockefeller family. After achieving a life in rarefied social circles, his past finally catches up with him, and he fears losing custody of his only daughter.

Alex Pettyfer (Magic Mike, Elvis & Nixon) will make his directorial debut with Back Roads, a murder mystery in which he will also star opposite Jennifer Morrison, Juliette Lewis, and Nicola Peltz. Based on the 1999 debut novel of the same name by author Tawni O’Dell, the project tells the story of a man caring for his three younger sisters after the death of their abusive father and imprisonment of their mother for his murder, whose life takes a dangerous turn when he finds himself the leading suspect in another local murder.

Oscar winner Robert Duvall is the latest to join New Regency’s Steve McQueen-helmed heist thriller Widows. The acting legend’s addition bolsters an already-strong cast that includes Viola Davis, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, Elizabeth Debicki, and Daniel Kaluuya.

Lionsgate released a trailer for The Hitman’s Bodyguard, starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson as an unlikely duo who must work together to testify at the International Court of Justice to bring down an evil man.

TELEVISION

The British Bafta Award finalists for excellence in television programming included nods for crime dramas The Secret and The Witness for the Prosecution in the Mini-Series category. The International Category included nominations for The Night Of (HBO/Sky Atlantic) and American Crime Story – The People Vs OJ Simpson (FX/BBC).

CBS Television Studios has pre-emptively bought the rights to Edgar-winning author Meg Gardiner’s forthcoming novel UNSUB to adapt for television. The thriller follows a female detective on the trail of an infamous serial killer – inspired by the still-unsolved Zodiac case – when he breaks his silence and begins killing again. The detective, who grew up watching her father destroy himself and his family chasing the killer, now finds herself facing the same monster.

ABC Is developing the crime series Harrow, described as "darkly funny" and "irreverent." The show centers on a forensic pathologist named Dr. James Harrow who is TV-level brilliant and unorthodox ... and also a murderer.

Donald Sutherland is set to play billionaire oil man J. Paul Getty in the first installment of the FX anthology series Trust, executive produced by the Slumdog Millionaire trio Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, and Christian Colson. Season 1 takes place in 1973, when the young heir John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Rome and his mafia captors attempted to extract a multimillion-dollar ransom from his wealthy family.

David Morrissey will headline The City and the City for BBC Two, joining an international cast that features German actress Maria Schrader, U.S. actor Christian Camargo, rising British actress Mandeep Dhillon, and veteran British actors Ron Cook and Danny Webb. Described by the BBC as a "genre-busting thriller" based on the 2009 novel by China Mieville, The City and the City follows the investigation of Inspector Tyador Borlu (Morrissey), a detective in the Extreme Crime Squad of the fictional rundown European city of Beszel, into the death of a foreign student. He soon discovers that the dead girl came from Beszel’s sister city, Ul Qoma, and was involved in the political and cultural strife that exists between the two. To do his job, Borlu must work alongside the Ul Qoman police.

Hulu acquired the Canadian crime drama Pure, which stars Ryan Robbins (Arrow, The Killing), Alex Paxton-Beesley (Copper), AJ Buckley (CSI: NY, Narcos), Peter Outerbridge (Orphan Black) and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Rosie Perez. Inspired by true events, it follows a Mennonite pastor trying to protect his family and preserve his faith while battling drug trafficking within his community.

Keanu Reeves Is heading to TV for the first time to star in the Pop Network series Swedish Dicks, Private Investigators. The project centers on former stuntman Ingmar Andersson (Peter Stormare) trying to carve out an existence as a private detective in Los Angeles. He runs into a struggling DJ (Johan Glans) who decides to leave that life behind to join Ingmar in solving cases and trying to top L.A.'s most successful P.I. company. Keanu Reeves will have a recurring role as Tex Johnson, an old stunt-performing friend of Ingmar's with "an interesting history."

USA Network announced its spring/summer schedule, including the new thriller The Sinner, based on Petra Hammesfahr’s book and starring Jessica Biel as a young mother who commits a startling act of violence and to her horror, has no idea why. Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) finds himself obsessed with uncovering the woman’s buried motive. Returning USA shows include the narcotics thriller Queen of the South, inspired by the global best-selling novel La Reina Del Sur by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, and The Shooter, based on the best-selling novels by Stephen Hunter and the 2007 Paramount film starring Mark Wahlberg,

While fans of The X-Files wait impatiently to see if there will be another limited series of the show, they can take solace in a new audiobook, X-Files: Cold Cases, with David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi (Walte
r Skinner), William B. Davis (the Cigarette Smoking Man) and the Lone Gunmen (Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, and Bruce Harwood) all reprising their roles from the original TV show.

The venerable true crime series Dateline has been sold in 80% of the country for a September premiere in national syndication on Fox and other television affiliates. Double runs of Dateline will also be offered to stations to air as a two-hour true crime block.

HBO released a trailer for its upcoming miniseries The Wizard of Lies, starring Robert DeNiro as the disgraced and imprisoned financier Bernie Madoff. Michelle Pfeiffer co-stars as Bernie’s wife, while Alessandro Nivola, Nathan Darrow, and Kristen Connolly play his children.  

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Author Paul Levine visited Libby Hellmann on the 2nd Sunday Crime podcast to talk about his new book, Bum Luck.

Author Harry Hunsicker made an appearance on WFAA-TV to talk about his new crime thriller, The Devil's Country.

Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste, the hosts of the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast, chatted with their special guest Steve Mosby, who talked about his brand new book You Can Run, his career so far, and the dark side of crime fiction.

Suspense Radio this week welcomed guests Daniel Pyne (screenwriter and author of Catalina Eddy), former Navy Seal Thom Shea, and bestselling author Kate White (The Secrets you Keep).

THEATER

Tony nominee Max von Essen stars as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in a limited engagement of The Dreyfus Affair at the BAM Fisher theater Off-Broadway. Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, the multi-media production shines a light on the controversial conviction and false arrest of a highly decorated French Jewish officer in 1894 - the consequences of which were felt for decades in the political landscape in France and the rest of the world. The Ensemble for the Romantic Century production starts April 27 and continues through May 7.