Another Stephen King adaptation is on the way, this time for the hardboiled detective thriller Mr. Mercedes, which pits a too-old-for-this detective against a maniacal killer who runs people over with a Mercedes (naturally). Originally announced last year, Mr. Mercedes has now been picked up by AT&T’s Audience Network (home of boxing drama Kingdom) and has received a ten episode straight-to-series order.
The show has also netted its two leads, with Brendan Gleeson portraying Detective Bill Hodges and Anton Yelchin cast as the mentally deranged Brady Hartsfield. Hartsfield lures Hodges back into the game from retirement with a series of creepy letters and emails, leaving the hardened detective alone and without backup to solve the grisly murders and stop the Mercedes Killer before he strikes again.
Thankfully, there will be plenty of material for the show if it moves past the first season, since Mr. Mercedes is the beginning of a trilogy. The second book, Finders Keepers, debuted last summer and the series-ender, End of Watch, will hit shelves in June.
As it was originally announced, David E. Kelley and Jack Bender are set to adapt the series, with Kelley on as showrunner. Mr. Mercedes is decidedly gnarly, so it’ll be interesting to see what Kelley (who created Ally McBeal and The Crazy Ones) brings to the material as its writer.
There’s still a ways to go until Mr. Mercedes‘ debut on DirecTV and AT&T Uverse, unfortunately, as it was confirmed that the project has an estimated debut sometime in 2018. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on any new announcements surrounding the series though, so stay tuned.
