David E. Kelley adapting Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It’s pretty much a given that if Stephen King writes a book, the chances of it showing up on the big, or in this case the small screen are pretty good. King’s crime thriller, MR. MERCEDES, will be developed by Sonar Entertainment with “Boston Legal” and “Ally McBeal” creator David E. Kelly penning the script as a limited television series. This sounds like a good fit for King's story because the novel is very calculated, taking its time building towards a conclusion. The game of cat and mouse between Brady and Detective Hodges, if done right, should play well across the TV format. I'm looking forward to this one.

Jack Bender (“Lost”) will direct the series, which King himself describes as his first hard-boiled detective tale about a…

…a psychopathic killer who commits mass murder by driving his Mercedes into a crowd and the recently retired cop who makes it his mission to bring him down.

MR. MERCEDES is the first of a projected trilogy with FINDERS KEEPERS, the second part, to be published by Scribner in May of this year. “This is an amazing opportunity to adapt a script from material penned by one of the world’s most acclaimed and accomplished authors,” said Kelley. “Mr. Mercedes is a great story that will translate beautifully to the screen if I don’t mess it up.”