Once upon a time, Angelina Jolie was linked to a cinematic effort to bring Patricia Cornwell’s monumental forensic pathologist, Kay Scarpetta, to the big screen. That clearly did not end up happening. Over a decade later, Nicole Kidman decided to pick up the role as part of her unending efforts to become streaming TV queen and make the world forget about her part in the Aquaman movies. Sound like a plan? Sure.
Seriously though, Kidman has recently mesmerized with Hulu’s trippy wellness thriller, Nine Perfect Strangers, while juggling duties for Prime Video Amazon’s Expats and Taylor Sheridan/Paramount+’s Lioness. Additionally, she joined up with fellow Paddington villain Hugh Grant in HBO’s The Undoing, and she and the rest of the Big Little Lies ladies are gearing up for a third season of that HBO hit. Does she even have the bandwidth to star in another TV show?
Apparently so, and although three of the above series are David E. Kelley productions, Kidman turned a new gear by signing on with Blumhouse Television for a Kay Scarpetta series that will stream on Prime Video/Amazon. As if she doesn’t have enough on her plate, this is allegedly happening:
Plot
As Patricia Cornwell devotees realize, dozens of Kay Scarpetta books, beginning with 1990’s Postmortem, exist for the taking. This series could take the Reacher route (also on Prime Video/Amazon) by launching the series with the first book and then diving to and fro with subsequent outings, or not. Yet my point is this: no shortage of source material exists, and no shortage of readers will be waiting for this show to surface.
Also, perhaps the show will enlighten us as to whether Scarpetta doesn’t seem to age because she might be a vampire? Only halfway kidding there, but despite the fact that so many books do exist, there’s a surprising dearth of details on where this show plans to begin. That’s been the case since early 2023, when Deadline initially reported that this series was “expected to receive an order for two eight-episode seasons,” which would be brought to life by Amazon Studios and Blumhouse:
Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta books have completed their long journey to the screen with a blockbuster TV series starring Oscar winner Nicole Kidman in the title role and Oscar nominee Jamie Lee Curtis as the famous forensic pathologist’s sister Dorothy, I have learned. Kidman is executive producing through Blossom Films and Curtis through Comet Pictures the drama, from writer-showrunner Liz Sarnoff (Barry) and Blumhouse Television, which I hear is nearing a two-season straight-to-series order at Prime Video.
When will this happen? As noted above, Kidman is very in demand on TV these days, and Jamie Lee Curtis recently finished wrapping Halloween-related duties while terrorizing the Berzatto fam on The Bear in an ongoing capacity. Recently however, TVLine reported that the deal did come together and that the show “is set to begin filming in Nashville this September.” Fingers crossed.
Cast
Jamie Lee Curtis and Kidman are the only confirmed cast members thus far. Surely, more news will arrive soon on that end.
Release Date
We are outta luck here, although it doesn’t seem likely that this series will surface until at least late 2025.
Trailer
If only! Cornwall’s iconic character has been waiting to grace screens for literally decades, so we can wait at least a bit longer. Since we haven’t yet mentioned Kidman’s recently released Netflix movie in which she gets busy with Zac Efron, here’s the trailer for A Family Affair.