Leading up to the highly-anticipated season finale tomorrow, Oct. 11 at 8pm ET/PT, AUDIENCE Network has announced it has picked up Mr. Mercedes for a second season. Production for the 10 one-hour episodes is scheduled to begin in February of 2018 in Charleston, South Carolina with the premiere launching later in the year. The series is produced by Sonar Entertainment.
Returning for the second season will be television veterans David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal) to write the script and Jack Bender (Lost, Under the Dome) as director. King, Kelley and Bender will also continue to serve as executive producers, along with Dennis Lehane, who will also write. The second season will be based on King’s best-selling Bill Hodges Trilogy, which includes, Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch.
“I’m excited and thrilled,” said Kelley. “Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Jack Bender, Brendan Gleeson… this is a special team indeed.”
“Mr. Mercedes is Stephen King writing about the monsters inside his characters rather than outside,” said Bender. “We were extremely fortunate to attract an amazing cast, led by Brendan Gleeson and Harry Treadaway, to bring these flawed, complex colorful characters to life. With Sonar and AT&T, along with great scripts and our talented team in Charleston, I am thrilled to keep telling this story.”
“We’re thrilled that the first installment of ‘Mr. Mercedes’ resonated with such a wide audience,” said Christopher Long, head of AT&T AUDIENCE Network. “David E. Kelley, Jack Bender, Dennis Lehane, and Sonar did a masterful job crafting a series that honored the original work by Stephen King. We’re excited to have the opportunity to create a second season with this incredible team.”
“AT&T AUDIENCE Network has been a great home for the series and we are thrilled to be moving forward with the entire creative team returning,” added Tom Lesinski, CEO, Sonar Entertainment. “We can’t wait to get back into production and deliver another outstanding season.”
Season 1 of Mr. Mercedes followed a demented killer Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway) who taunts a retired police detective Bill Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.
Stephen King describes Mr. Mercedes as his first hard-boiled detective tale. The novel was published by Scribner in June 2014 and became an immediate No. 1 New York Times Bestseller upon its release. Shortly after the release of the novel, King announced that Mr. Mercedes was the first of a projected trilogy. The second novel, Finders Keepers, was published by Scribner in June 2015, and the third novel, End of Watch, was published by Scribner in June 2016.
Mr. Mercedes Season 1 episodes are available OnDemand on DIRECTV and U-verse platforms to DirecTV and U-verse customers. AT&T AUDIENCE Network is available on DIRECTV Ch. 239 or U-verse TV Ch. 1114 and via live streaming on the DIRECTV and U-verse apps and DIRECTV NOW.
