(Left) ‘The Batman’ director Matt Reeves at CinemaCon 2022. Photos: Eric Chardonneau. (Right) Melanie Griffith and Tom Hanks in ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Preview:
David E. Kelley is adapting ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ into a series.
While we would assume Reeves would be spending all his time preparing to shoot ‘The Batman’ sequel, he seems to have the bandwidth to work on another project –– and chances are the show might not be ready to go before cameras until he’s done with the main production on the movie.
What’s the story of ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’?
(L to R) Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis in ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Wolfe’s 1987 novel follows a Wall Street bond trader named Sherman McCoy, the quintessential master of the universe, who lives a charmed life until he takes a wrong turn, ends up in the Bronx, and his frightened mistress takes the wheel and runs over a Black man who approached the couple. Cue chaos!
What else are David E. Kelley and Matt Reeves working on?
Kelley is still aboard ‘Presumed Innocent’, which is going the anthology route for its second season, switching up the story and cast to include Rachel Brosnahan as the lead.
Reeves, as mentioned, is in pre-production on his ‘Batman’ follow-up, but he’s also a prolific producer, attached to various DC properties and others.
(L to R) Director Matt Reeves and actor Robert Pattinson on the set of ‘The Batman’. Photo: Warner Bros.
The small screen version starred Jake Gyllenhaal as a prosecuting attorney whose life is thrown into chaos.
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For Season 2, however, the show is going the anthology route, with some brand new source material –– in this case, ‘Dissection of a Murder’, the debut legal thriller novel by Jo Murray.
It’ll follow Leila Reynolds (Brosnahan) who has just been handed her first murder case. She’s way out of her depth but the defendant only wants her –– and to make matters worse, her husband is the prosecutor.
What was the story of ‘Presumed Innocent’ Season 1?
(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal and Bill Camp in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
‘Presumed Innocent’s first season starred Gyllenhaal as chief deputy prosecutor Rusty Sabich, as a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney’s office when one of its own is suspected of the crime.
The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.
Brosnahan plays Lois Lane in director James Gunn’s ‘Superman,’ due in theaters on July 11th, and also has a lead role in Al Pacino’s new Shakespeare adaptation ‘Lear Rex,’ which has yet to lock down a release date.
When will ‘Presumed Innocent Season 2 be on screens?
Apple TV+ has yet to announce when the new season might premiere, but we’d have to guess 2026 at the earliest.
Rachel Brosnahan on Prime Video’s ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’
Movies and TV Shows Similar to ‘Presumed Innocent’:
Nicole Kidman in ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering May 21, 2025 on Hulu. Photo: Disney/Reiner Bajo.
‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Season 2 receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.
Released on Hulu on May 21st with the first two episodes followed by one weekly, the second season of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ re-introduces us to enigmatic and experimental wellness “expert” Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman), who is still finding ways to have her clients deal with their issues –– usually through the liberal application of pharmaceuticals.
Henry Golding in ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering May 21, 2025 on Hulu. Photo: Disney/Reiner Bajo.
Given the chaos that enveloped the first season’s batch of clients, who showed up at a Californian retreat to be greeted by the mysterious Masha (Kidman), you might struggle to believe that anyone would want to subject themselves to her ministrations.
Yet without that suspension of disbelief (and honestly in the word of the wealthy and emotionally desperate, there is plenty of that), Season 2 of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ really wouldn’t exist.
It has a dramatic kin in ‘The White Lotus’ –– sharing the idea of privileged types going through experiences and (sometimes) processing trauma –– and like Mike White’s show for HBO, does rather run the risk of repeating itself.
Script and Direction
Dolly De Leon in ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering May 21, 2025 on Hulu. Photo: Disney/Reiner Bajo.
While Season 1 was mostly based on Liane Moriarty’s source novel, here show bosses David E. Kelley and John-Henry Butterworth branch off on their own storyline, with a similar concept but a brand new setting.
Here, the castle-like mansion of Zauberwald, nestled in breathtaking Alpine scenery is the location for the new retreat that Masha has been curating thanks to her old friend Helena (Olin).
While the frosty locale feels like an even more fitting background for Kidman’s chilly manipulator, the scripts can’t completely get away from the feeling that we’re treading similar ground. True, the issues are slightly different –– while Season 1 had a family mired in grief over the death of a teen, here there two different dysfunctional parent/grown child dynamics, along with a collection of other troubled souls –– but you really know a lot more what to expect this time, and the surprise is not there.
(L to R) King Princess and Maisie Richardson-Sellers in ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering May 21, 2025 on Hulu. Photo: Disney/Reiner Bajo.
It won’t surprise you to learn (though we won’t specify how) that none of the guests are there by accident, but while the trippy sequences still work to some degree, with the highlights including Murray Bartlett’s disgraced children’s TV host talking with sentient versions of his own puppets and a standout sequence exploring the tortured history of Annie Murphy’s Imogen and mother Victoria, played by Christine Baranski, there’s less of a frisson this time.
Jonathan Levine, who was an executive producer and directed all of Season 1, returns for the lion’s share of the episodes, with Anthony Byrne also handling some. The Alpine setting does provide some visual interest, and the stark, strange castle retreat makes for a fun location. The visual language of the drug trips has also expanded in entertaining ways this season.
Cast and Performances
(Lto R) Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Murray Bartlett in ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering May 21, 2025 on Hulu. Photo: Disney/Reiner Bajo.
As with the first season, one of the strongest elements of the new run lies in the casting. Once you get over the idea of anyone willingly putting themselves in Masha’s hands, you can revel in several solid acting turns.
Murray Bartlett is prime among them. Having been on the other side of the retreat coin as the nervy, stressed Armond in ‘The White Lotus’ first season, here he’s still giving excellent energy as Brian, who was effectively cancelled after raging at his staff on camera. Bartlett is so good with this type of character, bringing nuance and depth to him.
Christine Baranski is playing a familiar role as the booze-happy Victoria, but once again her sheer ability to bring something extra to what could be a basic role is a marvel to behold. She makes for a great parent/child pairing with Annie Murphy, who channels real frustration and entitlement as Imogen, her daughter.
Mark Strong in ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering May 21, 2025 on Hulu. Photo: Disney/Reiner Bajo.
In similar fashion, Mark Strong and Henry Golding make for a good pair as billionaire David and troubled son Peter, whose relationship has been fractured by David’s past infidelity to Peter’s mother. They play well off each other, even if their storyline sometimes feels like an off-the-shelf dilemma.
Dolly DeLeon, meanwhile, is another standard as questioning nun Sister Agnes, struggling over past decisions and questioning her faith in not just her Catholic religion.
And, of course, Kidman, who while she’s really just doing a variation on her standard icy power play, still finds sparks of humanity within Masha, especially when the show takes a further dip into her past.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Annie Murphy and Aras Aydin in ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ premiering May 21, 2025 on Hulu. Photo: Disney/Reiner Bajo.
The second season of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ cannot entirely escape the feeling of déjà vu despite some fresh twists and turns. Still, the heightened reality works for the most part and the cast bring committed, watchable performances that carry this over the line.
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What’s the plot of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Season 2?
Nicole Kidman returns as the enigmatic healing guru Masha in the second season, based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling novel.
A new batch of wellness-seekers arrive at a mysterious Alpine resort of looking for transformative paths to betterment and happiness. During their stay, the guests partake in unconventional methods to reach their goals while Masha is forced to confront some past demons… Threatening to destroy both her own personal wellness, and that of her guests.
(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal and Renate Reinsve in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Launching on Apple TV+ on Wednesday June 12th with its first two episodes (before arriving weekly), ‘Presumed Innocent’ represents the latest attempt to capture a story in a new medium.
While not a direct remake of the 1990 Harrison Fordmovie (co-written and directed by Alan J. Pakula), this new adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1987 novel finds Jake Gyllenhaal taking over the role of Rusty Sabich, a prosecutor who finds himself in the middle of a legal firestorm when he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a colleague with whom he used to have a passionate affair.
Does ‘Presumed Innocent’ Acquit Itself Effectively?
(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal and Bill Camp in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
‘Presumed Innocent’ both benefits and finds a disadvantage in the expanded runtime offered by a series adaptation. It has the scope and space to explore the story more fully than a movie might, yet in places tends to instead plump for filler that doesn’t always add much in the way of value.
Storylines beyond Gyllenhaal’s central narrative tend to suffer somewhat from that bloat; while it’s good to see the role of his wife (played by Ruth Negga) given more shading, what the producers choose to highlight isn’t always as compelling as it might have been.
‘Presumed Innocent’: Script and Direction
(L to R) O-T Fagbenle and Peter Sarsgaard in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Legal thrillers that feature a hefty chunk of courtroom time can be tough to pull off, yet ‘Presumed Innocent’ is in the seemingly safe hands of David E. Kelley, the man behind such shows as ‘The Practice’, ‘Ally McBeal’ and, more recently, Netflix’s ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’.
Yet even he has proved to not always be quite so reliable, the likes of another Netflix effort, ‘A Man in Full’ proving to have gotten away from him. ‘Presumed Innocent’ is certainly more effective than that rambling effort, especially when focused on Gyllenhaal’s character’s legal dilemma.
There are still issues –– including the brutality of the murder and the inclusion of sex scenes that go beyond simply helping to tell the story and becoming gratuitous at times.
(L to R) Nana Mensah and Noma Dumezweni in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Director Anne Sewitsky (‘Castle Rock’, ‘Black Mirror’) is among the executive producers and handles the first two episodes and episode eight, while Emmy Greg Yaitanes (‘House’, ‘House of the Dragon’) holds a similar producer role and directs episodes three through seven.
In true Apple style, the result is stylish and clearly expensive (check out some of the houses on display, and there is a solid chunk of location work), but it’s also sometimes a little overly grim and washed out in terms of color. While the show is naturally serious in tone, it’s sometimes less than thrilling directorially.
‘Presumed Innocent’: Performances
Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Gyllenhaal is here credited as an executive producer, so he’s obviously had some impact on the role. He plays Sabich with typical, slightly smug intensity and it’s hard not to wonder in the early going whether he was the wrong choice for the role, especially given the stamp Harrison Ford put on it in the movie version.
Yet as he eases into the part and Sabich’s world starts to disintegrate in the wake of the accusation, things certainly improve, and he brings plenty to the central part. Sabich is a watchable character to follow as he becomes more and more desperate, ever more willing to stretch the bounds of the law to help his case.
Ruth Negga as Barbara Sabich
(L to R) Ruth Negga and Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Negga, a veteran of roles in shows and movies including ‘Preacher’ and ‘Loving’, is always impressive, though here she’s sometimes hamstrung by the material the show gives her to work with. As her connection to her husband becomes distant upon learning what he’s suspected of, she spirals. Though her therapy sessions with Dr. Liz Rush (Lily Rabe) are effective, her own explorations of a relationship outside her marriage are less well considered. Still, Negga gives it her all.
Bill Camp as District Attorney Raymond Horgan
(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal and Bill Camp in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Bill Camp is, of course, a workhorse character actor and if we started to list his credits, we’d be writing a novel. But suffice to say he’s predictably excellent as Sabich’s mentor and a conflicted DA who soon finds his own job at risk. Camp plays rumpled, smart, cynical characters like no other, and here, he’s on his A game.
Peter Sarsgaard as Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tommy Molto
Peter Sarsgaard in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Peter Sarsgaard gives good creep as the smug, driven lawyer who replaces Sabich on his case and then starts to make him the focus of the murder investigation. He and Gyllenhaal have good, spiky chemistry as rivals.
O-T Fagbenle as DA Nico Della Guardia
(L to R) O-T Fagbenle and Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
O-T Fagbenle is perhaps one of the more confounding chances of the show –– not the actor, but the voice he chose (or the producers landed upon for him). He sounds for all the world like Walter Peck from ‘Ghostbusters’ and his weird, raspy delivery is off-putting, even as the actor does good work as an ambitious, scuzzy DA.
‘Presumed Innocent’: Final Thoughts
Lily Rabe in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
‘Presumed Innocent’ holds up well compared to the movie version despite its challenges. Naturally concerned about spoilers, Apple didn’t offer up the final episode, so we can’t say for sure if it sticks the landing, but from what was provided, it’s certainly an entertaining, if flawed legal drama that boasts a fine central performance.
It’s gripping in places and makes for a captivating watch, which says something in the crowded field of legal drama.
‘Presumed Innocent’: Receives 5.5 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the story of ‘Presumed Innocent’?
‘Presumed Innocent’ stars Gyllenhaal as chief deputy prosecutor Rusty Sabich, as a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney’s office when one of its own is suspected of the crime.
The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.
Who else stars in ‘Presumed Innocent’?
The cast for ‘Presumed Innocent’ also includes Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, Peter Sarsgaard, O-T Fagbenle and Renate Reinsve.
Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Presumed Innocent,’ premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Movies and TV Shows Similar to ‘Presumed Innocent’:
Premiering on Netflix beginning August 3rd is the second part of season 2 of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer,’ which is based on author Michael Connelly’s popular novels and was co-created by David E. Kelley (‘Boston Legal’) and showrunner Ted Humphrey (‘The Good Wife’).
What is the plot of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 2?
Season 2 of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ is based on author Michael Connelly’s novel ‘The Fifth Witness,’ and sees lawyer Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) taking on the case of Lisa Trammell (Lana Parrilla), a chef accused of murdering a real estate developer.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 2?
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with executive producer and showrunner Ted Humphrey about his work on ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 2 – Part 2, developing the series, adapting ‘The Fifth Witness,’ what fans can expect from the second half of season 2, why the season was split in two halves, Mickey’s current case, why Manuel Garcia-Rulfo was the right actor to play Mickey Haller, collaborating with Michael Connelly, and if we’ll ever see the show crossover with Connelly’s other series, ‘Bosch.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Moviefone: To begin with, why did you want to adapt Michael Connelly’s ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ novels into a series?
Ted Humphrey: I think first of all, it’s been one of the great pleasures of my career to work with Michael on this, and he’s super involved in it, just like he is with ‘Bosch’ and his other projects. He’s created a character that has a universal appeal. I’m a former lawyer myself. I love legal stories when they’re well done. I did a show called ‘The Good Wife’ for a long time. I love legal shows when they’re well-crafted. I think what Michael’s books have is an authenticity to the legal world. Everything that’s in the books, the nuts and bolts of what’s in the books is all accurate. That’s something that’s very important to me. We strove to do that on ‘The Good Wife,’ and I get very irked by legal shows and movies where things happen that aren’t realistic, often in terms of the timing of how they happen. Things happen very fast in a lot of legal TV shows. Somebody gets murdered and the next day somebody’s on trial. Of course, in real life, things take a lot longer than that. They take years sometimes. So I like to honor the real amount of time that things take, and I also like to honor the nuts and bolts of it. I think the nuts and bolts of it could be very interesting and the audience finds it very interesting when you make it dramatic, and Michael’s books do that. So, I thought this was a perfect vehicle to tell people interesting things about how the legal system works wrapped around this very compelling character. We’ve been able to do that now in both seasons with taking little tidbits of the legal process and building whole episodes around them. But ultimately, it all comes down to this very fundamentally hopeful character that Michael has created. I think the show tells a redemption story. When you meet this guy at the beginning of season one, he’s this broken man on a beach who’s lost everything. So, over the course of seasons, the show will tell this redemption story of this guy kind of growing into himself, becoming who he is, and figuring out who he is.
MF: Can you talk about what happened in the first half of Season 2, and what fans can expect from the second half?
TH: I’m going to actually take one step back and talk about season one for a second. Season one, again, had us meeting a man who has lost everything in his life to an addiction to pain pills. He’s lost his career, he has lost his family, he doesn’t really know where he is going, and he gets a lifeline thrown to him in the form of this very big media frenzy case that also will pay him a lot of money. It’s another thing our show does that I think smart legal shows do, which is they pay attention not just to the kind of big questions of right and wrong, but also to the nitty-gritty of what lawyers do with their day, which is make a living. Mickey’s a criminal defense attorney. He has to make a living. He needs clients who pay him money. He’s not a public defender. He used to be a public defender, but he’s not anymore. So, in seasons one, he wins this case and where we meet him in season two is he’s kind of in some ways the polar opposite of that guy. Now, he’s on top. Now, he’s this media celebrity and newspapers are interviewing him, and Jake Tapper is interviewing him and all of this stuff. Clients are pouring in and he’s flying a little too close to the sun. Hubris, a little bit of arrogance, and a little bit of stubbornness all play into him making some poor decisions about cases that he takes and so on. Then, in his personal life, he’s still struggling with the breakup of his marriage with his ex-wife, who he still pines for, who is played by Neve Campbell wonderfully. When that goes south, he meets this woman, Lisa Trammell, who’s a restaurateur. He has a one-night affair with her, and then she ends up becoming his client when she’s accused of the murder of this real estate developer who’s trying to buy her out and gentrify her neighborhood. Where we leave off at the end of the first half of season one is that he has been assaulted by persons unknown and left for dead in the garage of his building, kind of playing on the symbolism of cars and driving in our show that is so central to Los Angeles, but so central to this character as well. He’s literally beaten up and left for dead in front of his car in the garage of his building. So, when we pick up in the second half of season two, we find out what the aftermath of that was and how does he figure out who did this to him, and how does it play into the case? What are the twists and turns of figuring that out?
MF: What was the reason for splitting season 2 into two parts?
TH: It was not a decision we made. It’s something that Netflix does with some of their shows, particularly I think some of their bigger, more successful shows. They’ve done it with ‘Stranger Things.’ They’ve done that with ‘Ozark.’ They’ve done it with a lot of shows. It was something that they kind of toyed with and decided, “We’re going to try and do it here.” So, it was not really a creative choice of the producers of the show, but at the same time, it was something that we were fine with and we had a natural organic cliffhanger that came in the middle of the story to build to, so we didn’t have to kind of jam that in there. It was already going to be there. It worked out quite well. It gave us a natural place to split the season without us having to do anything artificial to make it happen.
MF: Can you talk about why you decided to adapt ‘The Fifth Witness’ for the second season?
TH: The way that worked, before we began the process of making the season, Michael Connelly and (executive producer) Dailyn Rodriguez, who I run the show with, and I got together for about a month and kicked around and decided that was the book that we wanted to do. We kind of figured out the tent poles of what that would look like for this season, so that we had a roadmap going into the season. We brought the writing staff in to write that, and ultimately the production staff in to make it, of course. It just felt like a natural progression from the first season to this season that we could make this transition from the broken man to the man who’s on top of the world. But of course, he’s not really on top of the world, and there will be a price to pay for that sort of hubris. In the series of books, there is a book in between them, which is called ‘The Reversal.’ We just felt, for story reasons that that book didn’t really fit as well here, but we love that book. So, it just kind of naturally organically fit. Now, having said that, Michael’s still writing these books, and he just published a new Mickey Haller book a couple of years ago and another one’s coming out this fall. But this particular book was written in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008. The story of the book actually deals with a woman whose house is being foreclosed on by a mortgage banker, and that wasn’t particularly relevant to 2023 Los Angeles. So, one of the things we did was we changed that to the gentrification debate that’s going on in Los Angeles today and the world of foodie culture and celebrity chefs. We made it a chef in a rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood, who this big real estate developer wants to buy her out of the restaurant and put up condos, or something like that. We also made her a love interest for Mickey, which she was not in the book, as a way of expanding upon his personal relationships.
MF: Can you talk about how Mickey’s judgment has been clouded with this case?
TH: Well, I mentioned this is a man who can be arrogant at times and who can make poor choices. One of the things I love about our show is we’re a show about lawyers and crime and all of those things, but we’re also a show that, I hope, features real human beings, and real human beings make dumb choices sometimes and do things maybe they shouldn’t. In this case, everybody is sort of saying, Mickey, “Are you sure you want to do this? This might not be the best idea.” Yet, he does it anyway because he kind of lets his pride and maybe his feelings for this woman, and certain other things cloud his judgment as to whether or not this is really a good idea. Complications ensue, let’s put it that way.
MF: Why was Manuel Garcia-Rulfo the right actor to play this specific version of Mickey Haller?
TH: So, we looked at a lot of actors. We’re going back now several years to when we were just starting to make season one. We’re talking about the fall of 2020 at this point, or the late summer of 2020, so we’re going back three years. We looked at a lot of actors. When we brought the show to Netflix, it was very important to Netflix, and to us, that we honor the Latino heritage of character. The movie that they made with Matthew McConaughey, they decided to go a different direction and they didn’t do that at that time. It was very important to us to do that. We looked at a lot of choices. The character in the books is Latino-American, but more American in the sense that he was born and raised in Los Angeles and doesn’t have an accent, and doesn’t really speak Spanish in the books. He’s a person of Latino heritage, but he is not a Latino-forward person. We looked at choices across the spectrum, and many fine actors who were terrific and just for one reason or another weren’t right. We were starting to wonder, “Gosh, who is this person?” Then Manuel auditioned and we watched his tape and I just said, “That’s it. There’s Mickey right there.” It wasn’t maybe at first exactly what we had in mind in the sense that that Manuel is 100% Latino, he is 100% Mexican, he has an accent, and English is not his first language. Spanish is his first language. He’s certainly not a lawyer. On the surface, he maybe isn’t exactly what’s on the page of the book, but when you see him play a scene from the show, you just go, “That’s it.” He’s got the effortless kind of charm and intelligence. He’s saying one thing, but there’s something very clever going on behind his eyes while he’s saying it, that is exactly who this character is on the page. It gave us the wonderful opportunity to explore even more fully than Michael does in the books, the Latino heritage of the character. I mean, do it in a very organic way where he speaks Spanish because he speaks Spanish, and it’s not something we had to jam in there. It just is what it is. A lot of that was driven by Manuel himself, who very much wanted to explore the heritage of this character, and will pitch different things that we do. Then we’ve built on it now, introducing his mother. We found a wonderful piece of chemistry between him and his daughter, and that they both speak Spanish and can communicate to each other that way. So, finding Manuel to play this part was lightning in a bottle.
MF: What’s your experience been like working with author Michael Connelly on this series?
TH: Michael’s incredible to collaborate with. In the past, in my career when I’ve adapted novels, you don’t usually work really closely with the novelists. Sometimes they don’t really want to be involved in that process, and often, for good reason. They can be very precious about the work. Michael is one of the most collaborative people I’ve ever worked with and one of the least precious about the characters and the world that he’s created, and he should be precious about those. The raison d’être of the show is to honor what he’s done in the books and to honor those characters in that world. But he’s the first person to pitch, “Hey, I think we can do better than what was in the book. Let’s do this.” Or if somebody pitches a change, if it’s a good change, he’s the first person to say, “Yes, let’s do that.” So, he’s so refreshingly not precious about it. What he’s precious about is he wants to make the best show possible and whatever that is, the best idea wins. He’s 100% on board with that. So, it’s been really one of the great experiences of my career to work with him on this.
Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch in ‘Bosch: Legacy.’ Photo: Tyler Golden. Copyright: Amazon Freevee.
MF: Finally, as fans of the novels know, Mickey Haller is actually the half-brother of Connelly’s other popular literary character, Harry Bosch. Is there any chance that there could ever be a ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ and ‘Bosch: Legacy’ crossover, or is that impossible because the two shows are produced by different studios?
TH: As I understand it, it’s an impossibility because of the different auspices involved. I mean, I guess one might never say never because stranger things have happened in the world. But we have approached it as these are two completely different worlds. We’ve had to approach it that way. They approached ‘Bosch’ that way as well because in the Bosch books, Mickey Haller occurs quite a bit, but Amazon didn’t have the rights to that character, so they’ve inserted different characters into those places, and we’ve kind of done the same thing. We’ve interestingly built two parallel worlds in two different shows on two different platforms, that both spring from a common source if you will. Interestingly, I’ve seen articles online about the crossover of actors between the shows, which is not something we’ve given any thought to, meaning we’re not purposely trying to cast actors that have been in ‘Bosch,’ nor are they purposely trying to cast actors that have been in our show, but yet, we appear to do that. There are a number of actors who’ve appeared in both shows in different roles, which is interesting. But it’s not something we’ve paid attention to. There have also been articles about common locations, and it’s like, we shoot in an authentic real world LA and they shoot in an authentic real world LA, so of course they’re going to be common locations. But I think, creatively, organically, they spring from the same source, and there’s a common ethos behind both series. of books, which then infuses both television series. So, I think people who enjoy one tend to enjoy the other, certainly because they both delve into certain things. I kid Michael, that my sister is a public defender and has been for a long time, and she said that Michael’s her favorite author and that Harry Bosch is her favorite character in fiction. I said to Michael that, “You’re doing something right If a public defender’s favorite character is a cop, because public defenders and cops don’t usually get along very well.”
Though it would seem to have wrapped up its story –– especially since it is based on a novel –– with its first season, Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ is preparing a second.
It would seem that the streaming service is ready to go the ‘White Lotus’ route and turn the concept into an anthology, with star Nicole Kidman the sole name (so far) from Season 1 set to return.
What was the story of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ first season?
(L to R) Luke Evans, Melvin Gregg, Michael Shannon, Manny Jacinto, and Bobby Cannavale star in Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers.’ Photo: Vince Valitutti/Hulu.
Debuting in September 2021 as Hulu’s most-watched Hulu original ever — drama, comedy, limited series or unscripted –– the show saw nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living with a 10-day star at a boutique California wellness resort run by director Masha (Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine “perfect” strangers have no idea what is about to hit them…
It remains to be seen whether the idea can work a second time, since audiences, even those who have not read the book, will know what to expect. Still, viewers embraced the second run of HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’ adaptation (which also starred Kidman) despite that show’s first season being planned as a limited series.
It’s an increasing phenomenon for companies on the hunt for successful titles that can attract audiences to convert what are originally announced as one-shots into continuing series. HBO in particular has drawn dividends with ‘The White Lotus’ which went from one season made in the midst of the pandemic to an ongoing anthology series that carries over one or two actors each time. That show, created by Mike White, has earned plenty of awards acclaim and seen big viewership.
Moriarty, meanwhile, has become a go-to author for companies looking for source material. Her book ‘Apples Never Fall’ is in development and several others have been optioned.
The series stars John Stamos as Marvyn Korn, who following a scandal is fired from his job as a college basketball coach and moves to California to coach a high school girls’ basketball team.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with John Stamos about the second season of ‘Big Shot,’ how he named the series, his character, how he’s changed, being a parent, introducing boys to the series, and how the death of Bob Saget inspired one of the season’s storylines.
John Stamos stars in ‘Big Shot’ season 2 on Disney+.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with John Stamos, Yvette Nicole Brown, Sara Echeagaray, Jessalyn Gilsig, Cricket Wampler, Sophia Mitri Schloss, Nell Verlaque, Tisha Custodio, and Tiana Le.
Moviefone: To begin with, is it true that you actually came up with the name for the series?
John Stamos: Right. I came up with that name. Brad Garrett from ‘Everyone Loves Raymond,’ he had the idea and he pitched it David Kelly years ago. The original title, it was called ‘The Big Ugly’ or something like that. I said “No, we’re not calling it ‘The Big Ugly.’” I just started pitching stuff and ‘Big Shot’ seemed to stick.
A big shot to me is not like in the Billy Joel song. Big Shot to me is a good person, a good human, somebody who does their best. Marvyn talks about that a lot. At the end of the day, can you look in the mirror and say, “I did my very best today. I was a good person. I was loving. I was kind.” That’s what I’ve learned from the character I think too.
MF: Can you talk about how Marvyn Korn has changed between since season one?
JS: Just a little bit. That’s the beauty of it. I love that he learns, and I love that he can say I’m sorry. Usually he’ll stick his foot in his mouth. He’s growing, and he’s evolving. There’re just new challenges all the time that comes up with him now that his daughter’s a little older.
He wasn’t a present father and so he learned that last season. There’s a lot of controversy. A lot of sparks going with Emma, my daughter and I love it. The show got lighter in places. We spent a little more time with the girls and some of the fun stuff that they would do and then it gets deeper. I’m always gravitating towards the dramatic stuff.
John Stamos in ‘Big Shot’ season 2. Photo: Disney/Christopher Willard.
MF: How is Marvyn dealing with being a father now?
JS: He tries. That’s the thing, he tries. He wants to be a good parent. I think last season at the end of the year, he nailed it. He thought it was about spending time or discipline. It is all that, but at the end of the day, it’s about sacrifices and sacrificing something that you want for the good of your child.
You don’t win a trophy at the end of the day, get a banner or a ring. What you do get is a better, smarter, more loving version of you out there in the world. That’s a good lesson and that’s obviously what I try to bring home to my family and my son.
MF: Is it true that one of the storylines this season was based on the passing of your friend Bob Saget?
JS: Yeah. We started the show a few months after Bob Saget passed away and I pitched a story where Marvyn loses a friend, a mentor, and starts to question his legacy. When Bob died, he just got this outpouring of love that was rarely seen. The sad thing was that he didn’t know how loved he was, I don’t think. He didn’t know how important he was to people and how many lives that he’s changed.
I wanted Marvyn to be able to hear it from the girls. At the graduation the girls get together, and they tell me what I meant to them and the world, and it’s nice when people get to hear what they mean to people. That’s what Bob did. He left nothing on the table. He always told you how much he loved you and how proud he was of you. You walked away feeling better when you spent time with Bob. He was incredibly human.
(L to R) Charlie Hall in ‘Big Shot’ season 2. Photo: Disney/Christopher Willard.
MF: Finally, this season will introduce boys to the campus of Westbrook High School, how will that change the dynamics of the show?
JS: Boys, yeah. It was very smart, and it just opened up a lot. The guys are really good. One of them is the son of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Charlie and he’s a big, tall, handsome guy. They’re great.
I was the youngest guy on the set over the years. I was the teenager looking up to everybody and I grabbed my mentors over the years, and people I worked with and now I’m the old guy having to pay it forward. I accept the responsibility and I enjoy it. The girls are just full of life and love. They’re fun, they’re happy and they’re fearless. They come to the set and I learned from them as well.
(L to R) John Stamos, Tisha Custodio, Nell Verlaque, Tiana Le, Cricket Wampler, Sara Echeagaray in ‘Big Shot’ season 2. Photo: Disney/Christopher Willard.
Though the movie was a success, and chatter about a sequel followed, nothing has emerged on the big screen since. Still, fans of the car-loving lawyer are about to get the next best thing: a TV adaptation from Netflix.
As a show, ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ adapts ‘The Brass Verdict’, the second book in Connelly’s series. Legal show veteran David E. Kelley – who has brought us the likes of ‘Boston Legal’, ‘Ally McBeal’ and ‘The Practice’ – created the new series, while ‘The Good Wife’s Ted Humphrey is running the show.
There’s no McConaughey here, though ‘The Magnificent Seven’s Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is taking on the role of Mickey Haller, the iconoclastic idealist lawyer who runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car (which is where he gets the name). He drives the streets of Los Angeles helping those who most need it with cases big and small (and bending one or two rules along the way).
Mickey is trying to find his footing again after spending time away from practicing law. He returns to Los Angeles where he finds himself dragged back into the business with a mystery to solve. He is also working on rebuilding relationships.
(L to R) Neve Campbell and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in Netflix’s ‘The Lincoln Lawyer.’
Mickey has two ex-wives: He most recently divorced Lorna (Becki Newton) who is part secretary and part therapist, and supportive and encouraging of Mickey. Then there’s his first, Maggie (Neve Campbell), with who he shares a daughter named Hayley (Krista Warner).
Kelley and co. originally set up the show in 2020 at the more traditional network CBS, where Kiele Sanchez was cast to play Lorna. The CBS version saw Mickey returning after spending time in rehab for opioid addiction, and it’ll be interesting to see if that element remains in the Netflix incarnation (though given the usually edgier content on streaming services, we’d be shocked if it didn’t).
The one vague disappointment here? That Prime Video owns the rights to the connected ‘Bosch’ book series – Haller happens to be the younger half-brother of Harry Bosch – which means a crossover is supremely unlikely, even given the continued presence of Titus Welliver’s Bosch in new IMDb TV series ‘Bosch: Legacy’. Who wouldn’t want to see Bosch bring his grumpy detective wisdom to his younger half-sibling?
Still, if it’s anything like the movie (and, of course, the novels), ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ could well be worth taking a ride with, especially if it’s successful and leads to more of the books hitting screens. The series will drive on to Netflix on May 13th.
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller in Netflix’s ‘The Lincoln Lawyer.’
David E. Kelley, who gave us “The Practice,” “Ally McBeal” and “Boston Legal,” is prepping another legal drama for TV.
He’s developing “The Lincoln Lawyer” for CBS, based on the bestselling novels by Michael Connelly. Matthew McConaughey starred in the 2011 film of the same name as Los Angeles lawyer Mickey Haller, who runs his practice out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car.
No word yet who’ll be playing the maverick criminal defense attorney in this new series.
Last year, Kelley picked up his 11th Emmy for HBO hit “Big Little Lies. ” His collaborations with CBS include “Picket Fences,” which ran for from 1992-1996, as well as the medical drama “Chicago Hope.”
Amazon’s “Bosch,” which is currently in its fifth season, is also based on Connelly’s novels. ”
“Castle” fans will remember him as one of Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion)’s card-playing mystery novelist friends on the ABC series. And Clint Eastwood directed an adaptation of his novel “Blood Work” in 2002.
Nicole Kidman must have really loved making “Big Little Lies.” Not only did the star go back for Season 2 of the HBO drama, she’s taking part in a mini-reunion for the upcoming Hulu series “Nine Perfect Strangers.”
Kidman is reteaming with “Big Little Lies” screenwriter David E. Kelley for the adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s latest book, published last fall.
The satirical thriller is set at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation to nine stressed city dwellers. Kidman will play the resort’s director Masha, a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. But their peaceful stay takes a turn for the wild.
Kelley will co-write and serve as co-showrunner on the series alongside writer John Henry Butterworth (“Fair Game,” “Edge of Tomorrow”).
Kidman and Kelley are also teaming up for HBO’s “The Undoing.”
“Nine Perfect Strangers” is expected to debut in late 2020.
