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https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/06/02/exclusive-sneak-peek-stephen-king-mr-mercedes-series/102393064/
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/stephen-king-mr-mercedes-it-movie-what-scares-him-1202518482/
Even so, it’s quite possible that if Mr. Mercedes, which premieres tonight, is renewed for a second season—and its encouraging reviews and buzz indicate that scenario is very likely—the show might return with a new, Mercedes-free title, to reflect the next book in King’s trilogy, which the series will follow.
In the 10-episode series, retired detective Bill Hodges (played by Brendan Gleeson) is taunted by the criminal behind the one unsolved case that still haunts him: a mass vehicular homicide in which the killer (played by Harry Treadaway) drove a Mercedes into a crowd of people lined up for a job fair, murdering 16 of them. The opening scene showcases the brutal murders in horrific detail, with later scenes (including one in Mr. Mercedes’ trailer, below) featuring the Mercedes caked with blood.
“There were a lot of questions, and I left that to Sonar and AT&T, because there was a moment where I thought, are we going to have to call this ‘Mr. Dodge?’” said executive producer Jack Bender, who directed several episodes. “I have a Mercedes; I love Mercedes! Stephen King created this, and because he did, we were able to do it.”
Added AT&T Audience Network head Chris Long, “the studio clears the name. It’s really left up to them to work through those legal issues. I’m indemnified.”
In a statement, Sonar Entertainment told Adweek, “we acquired the TV rights to the Mr. Mercedes book, and are now very much looking forward to bringing this well-known literary title to a viewing audience on Audience Network.” Acquiring TV rights to the novel also included the rights to the title.
There were no legal arguments from Mercedes, which told Adweek in a statement, “the content of this crime novel is subject to the artistic freedom of the author.”
Yet Mercedes could ultimately be dropped from the title if and when the show returns. Long and the producers said they intend to follow the storyline through King’s entire trilogy of books focusing on Hodges: Mr. Mercedes, 2015’s Finders Keepers and 2016’s End of Watch. But they haven’t yet decided if they’ll stick with the Mr. Mercedes name or switch to the title of the corresponding book.
“Jack and I haven’t discussed that yet. You could expand within the first book, another season. But one, you have to talk to Stephen, because it’s his trilogy, and two, you have to figure out, if you want to have a long-enough arc throughout the series, you have to make some decisions and not be completely adhering to the book,” said Long, adding that executive producer David E. Kelly, who wrote the entire season, will also need to weigh in about which creative approach he’d prefer.
Bender is torn about which title would be best. “It’s wonderful to tie it into Stephen’s books, because we’ve got this sexy new rerelease of the book with our cover, and that’s all great. So I don’t know,” said the director. “That’s going to be a question we’ll hopefully get into in the next few weeks, when we hopefully get an order for the next season.”
The commercial-free Audience Network—available to subscribers of DirecTV, DirecTV Now and U-verse—airs a combination of original series and syndicated shows like Mad Men, which began its run on the network in June. The network hasn’t had a breakout hit yet, though Long is well aware that Mr. Mercedes could finally change that.
So the network chief has beefed up the show’s marketing budget, and arranged for Mr. Mercedes to have an activation at Comic-Con last month, for the first time in network history. “We’ve absolutely upped the marketing campaign,” said Long. “There is a huge marketplace out there now, with all of this television. You’ve got to spend a little money to break though the noise. I have a fiduciary responsibility to the show and to my company, to make sure it gets enough eyes on it, so I think you have to spend the money.”
Press Release: EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 10, 2017 – Leading up to the highly anticipated season finale tomorrow, Oct. 11 at 8pm ET/PT, AUDIENCE Network is pleased to announce that it has picked up this year’s break out show, “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.
http://ew.com/tv/2018/01/11/mr-mercedes-season-2-jack-huston-maximilliano-hernandez/
During the show’s panel at The Contenders Emmys, the network told Deadline that the 10-episode sophomore run of the hard-boiled detective series will debut on Wednesday, Aug. 22.
While Season 2 plot details are being kept under wraps, Jack Huston (“Ben-Hur”), Maximiliano Hernández (“The Last Ship”), Tessa Ferrer (“Grey’s Anatomy”), and Virginia Kull (“Gracepoint”) are all joining the cast for the new season.
As reported last January, Huston and Hernández will appear as Brady’s (Harry Treadaway) doctor, Dr. Felix Babineau, and Assistant DA Antonio Montez, respectively.
Ferrer, meanwhile, will play Felix’s wife Cora, the head of marketing at a major pharmaceutical corporation, who is even more ambitious than she is beautiful. If Felix has a genius for manipulating people from the inside out as he reaches into their brains and rewires them, Cora has a genius for influencing people from the outside in. Her beauty, brains and force of will, judiciously softened with poise and extreme charm, make her a formidable saleswoman of whatever she’s peddling.
Lastly, Kull will play the role of Sadie McDonald, a nurse on the neurology ward — known as the “Brain Bucket” — at Mercy General Hospital. An epileptic who has recently gone off her medication, Sadie is prone to occasional microscopic seizures, which pull her away from the task of taking care of her most popular patient, Brady.
In addition to Treadaway, other original cast members returning for Season 2 are Brendan Gleeson as Detective Bill Hodges, Jharrel Jerome as Jerome Robinson, Scott Lawrence as Detective Peter Dixon, Breeda Wool as Lou Linklater, Justine Lupe as Holly Gibney, and Holland Taylor as Ida Silver.
The "Mr. Mercedes Immersive Experience" will give fans a glimpse into the past and a peek into the future of the AT&T AUDIENCE Network original series based on the trilogy by Stephen King. Fans can be the first to play the virtual reality (VR) escape room game, "Mr. Mercedes: Lair Escape," on the HTC Vive Pro – the next generation of VR headsets. In the "Mr. Mercedes: Finders Keepers" augmented reality (AR) adventure game, they'll collect clues to unlock never-before-seen content and special prizes.
The "Mr. Mercedes Immersive Experience" will include:
- Augmented Reality Adventure Game – Download the app to embark on an AR-driven investigation helping Detective Bill Hodges crack the case and claim a reward if you succeed.
- Virtual Reality Escape Room Game – Be fully immersed in a virtual escape room inside Brady's lair. Escape before time runs out or you're trapped forever!
- Recreating the Physical World of "Mr. Mercedes" – The show's set designers are recreating Finders Keepers, Mercy General Hospital and Brady's lair using actual props.
- Bringing Brady to Life Through Projection Mapping – 3-D light projection will creepily bring Brady to life in his hospital bed. Is he in a coma or did you just see him move?
- Lenticular Photo Experience – This photo op will transform the participant's face into Brady's along with a socially shareable GIF.
- Private Screening Room – Media, VIP and lucky fans will get the chance to watch a sneak peek of season 2.
The series picks up a year after Brady Hartsfield's thwarted attempt to perpetrate a second mass murder in the community of Bridgton, Ohio. Since the incident, Hartsfield has been hospitalized in a vegetative state. Retired Detective Bill Hodges has done his best to move on from his Brady obsession, teaming up with Holly Gibney to open Finders Keepers, a private investigative agency. But when unexplainable occurrences begin to affect hospital staff members attending to Brady, Hodges is haunted by the feeling that Brady is somehow responsible.The original cast, which includes Brendan Gleeson ("Harry Potter") as Detective Bill Hodges, Harry Treadaway ("Penny Dreadful") as Brady Hartsfield, Jharrel Jerome ("Moonlight") as Jerome Robinson, Scott Lawrence ("Avatar") as Detective Peter Dixon, Breeda Wool ("Unreal") as Lou Linklatter, Justine Lupe ("Francis Ha") as Holly Gibney, Nancy Travis ("How I Met Your Mother") as Donna Hodges, and Holland Taylor ("The Truman Show") as Ida Silver, is joined by Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire") as Brady Hartsfield's doctor Dr. Felix Babineau, Tessa Ferrer ("Grey's Anatomy") as Dr. Babineau's wife Cora Babineau, and Maximiliano Hernandez ("Sicario") as Assistant DA Antonio Montez for season 2.
Season 2 of "Mr. Mercedes" will premiere on AT&T AUDIENCE Network on Wednesday, Aug. 22 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The problem with using Finders Keepers, said executive producer/director Jack Bender, was that "our heroes didn’t come into it until halfway through the book." Even though the words "Finders Keepers" are included in the season, the main action is taken from the trilogy capper. Just prepare yourself for things to get a little stranger, “a little what the f*** are you talking about?" Bender said.
Newton’s Peter Saubers is 16, smart and personable, he’s a junior in high school and on the college track. From a seemingly happy home, but that picturesque Midwestern life was derailed when his father was disabled during the Mr. Mercedes massacre.
Turman’s Judge Bernard Raines is the no-nonsense judge presiding over Lou Linklatter’s murder trial, he suffers no fools and takes no prisoners. He is none too pleased with the lawyers working on this case who seem hell bent for trial.
Dern – who will next be seen on the big screen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – will play John Rothstein, a famous and reclusive writer living on the fringes of Bridgton, Ohio.