‘Presumed Innocent’ Renewed For Season 2 As It Becomes Apple TV+’s Most Watched Drama Series
Another successful limited series is becoming an ongoing drama series — Apple TV+ has ordered a second season of legal thriller Presumed Innocent, with David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams and Season 1 star Jake Gyllenhaal returning as executive producers and author Scott Turow as co-executive producer.
The news comes a month into the run of Presumed Innocent, which already has become the #1 most viewed drama of all time on Apple TV+, per the streamer, as the story is headed into its conclusion with the final two episodes dropping July 17 and July 24.
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There are no details about Season 2 beyond the fact that it “will unfold around a suspenseful, brand new case.”
Like other hit limited series that became drama series, including White Lotus and Shōgun, there likely will be character(s) who link the seasons; we may get more clarity on that in the Season 1 finale.
There is no obvious blueprint for continuing the series from Turow’s body of work. His 1987 bestseller Presumed Innocent was followed by the 1990 The Burden Of Proof. Set in the same Illinois locale, the story follows the character Sandy Stern from Presumed Innocent after the events in that novel. The character was played by Raul Julia in the Presumed Innocent film adaption with Harrison Ford but does not exist in the TV series. Instead, the show introduced Gabby Beans’s Mya as a defense attorney.
RELATED: Apple TV+’s ‘Presumed Innocent’ Cast Guide: Who Plays Who?
Gyllenhaal’s Rusty Sabich is not a recurring character in Turow’s books, so it is unclear whether the Road House star would return as an actor. Presumed Innocent has a true book sequel, the 2011 Innocent, which again pits Rusty and Tommy Molto (played by Peter Sarsgaard in the series) against each other 20 years later after the mysterious death of Rusty’s wife.
Kelley is known for adding unexpected twists to a well known literary source material, so we will have to wait and see how Season 1 of Presumed Innocent ends for clues where the series would go next.
In addition to Kelley, Abrams and Gyllenhaal, returning as executive producers are Dustin Thomason, Matt Tinker and Rachel Rusch Rich. Presumed Innocent hails from Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and David E. Kelley Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Bad Robot is under an overall deal.
Last year, Idris Elba’s Hijack became the second Apple TV+ series to land on Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 streaming rankings for originals after blockbuster comedy Ted Lasso. With Presumed Innocent said to have eclipsed Hijack in viewing, we should expect to see the legal drama make an entrance on the Nielsen charts in the coming weeks. (So far, Nielsen has released streaming rankings through June 16, which includes the first couple of days of release of Presumed Innocent‘s first two episodes.)
Coincidently, Presumed Innocent comes from the same studio as Ted Lasso, WBTV.
Abrams and Rich executive produce for Bad Robot. Kelley serves as showrunner and executive produces through David E. Kelley Productions alongside Matthew Tinker. Gyllenhaal executive produces under his Nine Stories banner. Season 1 of Presumed Innocent is also executive produced by Thomason and Sharr White. Turow and Miki Johnson serve as co-executive producers. The first season is directed and executive produced by Anne Sewitsky and Greg Yaitanes.
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