StarzPlay is adding another first run acquisition to their slate. The channel – which is available exclusively in the UK on Amazon Prime via Amazon Channels – has picked up UK rights to Audience network’s Stephen King adaptation Mr. Mercedes after striking a deal with international distributor Sony Pictures Television.
The show’s first season is now available to StarzPlay subscribers as of today. Season two will premiere on Thursday August 23rd, less than 24 hours behind the U.S. broadcast on Audience. That is consistent with the StarzPlay model of offering subscribers new episodes of Starz original series (Vida and Sweetbitter) and Lionsgate owned shows (The Royals) within a day of their U.S. premiere.
Based on the Stephen King novel and adapted for television by The Practice and Goliath scribe David E. Kelley, Mr. Mercedes follows demented killer Brady Hartsfield who taunts a retired police detective Bill Hodges with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again. The drama series is produced by Sonar Entertainment and stars Brendan Gleeson, Harry Treadaway, Kelly Lynch, Jharrel Jerome, Scott Lawrence, Robert Stanton, Breeda Wool, Justine Lupe, Ann Cusack, Mary Louise-Parker and Holland Taylor.
Check out Audience’s original trailer for Mr. Mercedes below:
