TV
‘Insidious’ Star Drives Into Stephen King’s “Mr. Mercedes”
In a year so full of successful Stephen King adaptations, we suppose it should come as no surprise that AT&T’s Audience Network was able to find an audience for their King-adapted “Mr. Mercedes” series last year. Enough of an audience, in fact, that a second season was ordered ahead of the premiere season’s finale.
Last week we told you that Jack Huston (“Boardwalk Empire”) and Maximiliano Hernandez (Sicario) have joined the cast for the forthcoming second season, with Huston playing Brady Hartsfield’s doctor Dr. Felix Babineau and Hernandez portraying Assistant DA Antonio Montez. Deadline now adds that Insidious: The Lasy Key‘s Tessa Ferrer is set as a series regular opposite Huston.
Ferrer will play Cora Babineau, wife of Dr. Felix Babineau (Huston) and head of marketing at a major pharmaceutical corporation, who’s even more ambitious than she is beautiful. If her husband 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.
The second season will be based on King’s best-selling Bill Hodges Trilogy, which includes Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch.
Harry Treadaway returns as Hartsfield, alongside Brendan Gleeson as Bill Hodges. Jharrel Jerome, Scott Lawrence, Breeda Wool, Justine Lupe and Holland Taylor are also back.
Production begins next month in Charleston, South Carolina. Season 2 will premiere this summer on DirecTV, AT&T U-verse and DirecTV Now.
The spooky comic book series Afterlife with Archie is getting a live action television series adaptation from Disney+, and Deadline reports that it’ll premiere for Halloween 2027.
The upcoming series from Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions brings to life the comic book from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla.
Afterlife with Archie turns the town of Riverdale into a zombie-overrun apocalypse — where the only thing scarier than the undead is trying to survive your teenage years…
“When a supernatural spell from a certain teen-witch backfires, unleashing an army of the possessed dead upon Riverdale, Archie and his friends must fight to stay alive, testing the friendships, romances, and loyalties that have always held them together.”
“Afterlife with Archie has always been about more than just zombies — it’s about the friendships, loyalty and humanity that make Riverdale worth fighting for,” said Ayo Davis, president, Disney Kids & Family. “Roberto, Greg, Sarah and Jon have such a deep appreciation for these characters, and they’ve built something that’s equal parts thrilling and heartfelt. Fans are going to fall hard for this new version of the gang … and maybe scream a little too.”
“The world of Archie and Riverdale is the gift that keeps on giving,” said Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. Television Group and WBD US Networks. “To bring Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s incredible story to life with our partners at Berlanti Productions, Archie Comics and Disney+ is a thrill for all of us at WBTVG.”
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (“Riverdale,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”) will write the series.
“This was the comic book that started it all. Before there was a Riverdale, before there was a Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, there was Afterlife with Archie, which I collaborated on with the best horror artist in the business, Francesco Francavilla,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “Getting to turn Afterlife into a TV series for the amazing team at Disney+ with our incredible partners at Berlanti Productions, WB and, of course, Jon (Goldwater) and his Archie family is truly a full-circle moment — and the ultimate dream project for me. Time to say a prayer for Archie, Betty, Veronica and the whole gang, ‘cause THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING!!!!”
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