Neve Campbell to Star in ABC Mystery Series Avalon From David E. Kelley
Neve Campbell will reunite with The Lincoln Lawyer creator David E. Kelley and bestselling author Michael Connelly in the mystery drama Avalon for Disney's ABC. The Scream star, who appears in a recurring role on Netflix's Lincoln Lawyer, is set to play "somewhat inscrutable" LA Sheriff Department Detective Nicole "Nic" Searcy in the new series based on a short story by Connelly (The Lincoln Lawyer, Bosch). Kelley (Big Sky, Big Little Lies) and Connelly created the Catalina Island-set mystery drama that received a straight-to-series order as part of ABC's 2022-2023 programming slate.
Avalon takes place in the main city of Avalon on Catalina Island, where LA detective "Nic" Searcy (Campbell) heads up a small office. Catalina has a local population that serves more than 1 million tourists a year, and each day when the ferries arrive, hundreds of potential new stories enter the island. Detective Searcy is pulled into a career-defining mystery that will challenge everything she knows about herself and the island.
It's a gig no career-driven L.A. cop wants, but Nic soon discovers her valuable detective skills are needed more on Avalon than she could have imagined.
Kelley is writing the pilot episode of Avalon, created and executive produced by Kelley and Connelly for A+E Studios (Netflix's You and The Lincoln Lawyer, ABC's Big Sky) and Disney's 20th Television (Bones, Hulu's Only Murders in the Building). Executive producers are Ross Fineman (Damien, Goliath) for Fineman Entertainment, and Barry Jossen (Sex and the City, Project Blue Book) and Tana Jamieson (The Beast, Lincoln Lawyer) for A+E Studios.
"David E. Kelley is one of the great storytellers of our time and we are excited to continue our successful relationship with him on what we believe will be his next epic series on ABC," said Craig Erwich, president, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, when announcing Avalon's series order. "Michael Connelly's short story is ripe with mystery and intrigue, and we can't wait for David and Michael to bring this eerie and captivating world to life."
Connelly has written "a fantastic short story" with "a great protagonist," said Kelley of the character that will now be portrayed by Campbell. Said Connelly, "Being on a project with David E. Kelley again is amazing. This whole team of David, A+E and Ross Fineman has been wonderful to work with previously; and now joining up with ABC, well, I can't wait to start. Catalina is full of mystery and good storytelling. We're going to put it on the screen."
After starring as "final girl" Sidney Prescott in five Scream movies — a role she reprised earlier this year for the first time since 2011 — Campbell confirmed she would not be returning for the upcoming Scream 6 due to a pay dispute. In May, Campbell joined the cast of Peacock's video game adaptation Twisted Metal in which she is set to recur as a guest star alongside previously announced leads Anthony Mackie (Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), and Thomas Haden Church (Wings).