Stephen King's 'Mr. Mercedes' Renewed for Third Season

Stephen King's successes continue as AT&T Audience Network's Mr. Mercedes adaptation was renewed for a third season. Production on the 10-episode third season will begin in 2019, potentially to debut later next year.

David E. Kelly will return to oversee the writer's room, per Deadline, with Jack Bender returning to direct. Kelley shared in a statement, "Stephen King breaking story, Brendan Gleeson heading the cast, Jack Bender leading the charge…I'm excited."

"I am extremely proud of our show," Bender shared. "And I couldn't be more excited to continue unraveling this story with Stephen King, David E. Kelley and our superlative cast led by Brendan Gleeson."

The series is based on King's Bill Hodges trilogy, with the first book being Mr. Mercedes and with the subsequent novels being Finders Keepers and End of Watch. With the novel series consisting of three books, this upcoming season could see the adaptation's conclusion. Kelley, however, previously revealed he can see the series lasting even longer.

"The master plan, which of course is always subject to change, is each book would represent a whole season, and Mr. Mercedes is the first season," Kelley explained to The Hollywood Reporter last year. "Though in success it could go on beyond that. That's everybody's plan, isn't it? You keep going and going and you keep finding more new stories. But going into this, the idea is that we have three books and in success it would make for three seasons and then, who knows? Maybe longer if we're having fun."

In the second season, which concluded last month, the series picked up a year after Brady Hartsfield's (Harry Treadaway) 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 (Brendan Gleeson) has done his best to move on from his Brady obsession, teaming up with Holly Gibney (Justine Lupe) 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.

"Mr. Mercedes has resonated with such a wide audience, so we're thrilled to bring it back for a third season for our customers," Daniel York, senior executive vice president and chief content officer for AT&T, confirmed. "David E. Kelley, Jack Bender, and [producers] Sonar [Entertainment] have crafted a series that honors the original work by Stephen King and we can't wait to see where they take the show in a 'post-Mr. Mercedes world.'"

Stay tuned for details on the future of Mr. Mercedes.

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