For thirty-five years, author Patricia Cornwell has been writing crime novels about a medical examiner named Kay Scarpetta. So far, there are twenty-nine books that center on this character – so there was plenty of source material for Liz Sarnoff to pull from when she set out to develop the TV series Scarpetta for the Prime Video streaming service. For this show, Nicole Kidman takes on the role of Kay Scarpetta, with Jamie Lee Curtis playing her older sister Dorothy – and Kidman and Curtis are both featured in the first batch of images that have dropped online. You can check them out at the bottom of this article.
Curtis is executive producing the series through her company Comet Pictures, while Kidman and Per Saari do the same for Kidman’s Blossom Films. Other executive producers on the show include Cornwell (through P&S Projects), Sarnoff (through Sarnoff TV) and Blumhouse‘s Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, and Chris Dickie. This show came out of Curtis’s first-look deal with Blumhouse and her relationship with Cornwell. Curtis is a big fan of Cornwell’s work and regularly moderates conversations with Cornwell, who is, Deadline notes, famously protective of her creations. The series is produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Blumhouse Television in association with Blossom Films, Comet Pictures, and P&S Projects.
David Gordon Green, who worked with Curtis on the recent trilogy of Halloween sequels, directed five episodes and also serves as executive producer alongside Amy Sayres.
When the project was first announced, Curtis provided the following statement: “Patricia Cornwell is a bonafide literary trailblazer, and collaborating with her to bring her beloved character Kay Scarpetta to life through the power of television and to introduce her to an entirely new audience is exciting. The confluence of Blumhouse and Comet bringing to life a dark, fun and layered work world and family life, spearheaded by the smart and sexy indomitable Kay Scarpetta is going to be a thrilling ride.“
Here’s what we know about the show and Nicole Kidman’s Kay Scarpetta: With skilled hands and an unnerving eye, this unrelenting medical examiner is determined to serve as the voice of the victims, unmask a serial killer, and prove that her career-making case from 28 years prior isn’t also her undoing. Set against the backdrop of modern forensic investigation, the series delves beyond the crime scene to explore the psychological complexities of both perpetrators and investigators, creating a multi-layered thriller that examines the toll of pursuing justice at all costs. The story unfolds across two timelines. This dual narrative explores Kay Scarpetta’s journey from her beginnings as a Chief Medical Examiner in the late ’90s to her present-day return to her hometown, where she resumes her former position while investigating a grisly murder. As Scarpetta pursues justice, she must navigate complicated relationships, including the fraught dynamic with her sister Dorothy Farinelli (Jamie Lee Curtis), confront long-held professional and personal grudges, and face secrets that threaten to unravel everything she’s built.
Kidman and Curtis are joined in the cast by Bobby Cannavale as Detective Pete Marino, Simon Baker as FBI profiler Benton Wesley, and Ariana DeBose as Kay’s tech-savvy niece Lucy Watson, with Rosy McEwen, Amanda Righetti, Jake Cannavale, and Hunter Parrish as past versions of Kidman, Curtis, Cannavale, and Baker’s characters, respectively.
Scarpetta will premiere on March 11, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Will you be watching? Take a look at the images, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
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