Move over, Reacher. Let me start over.
Reacher won’t return until 2025 for Alan Ritchson’s third season as a brick sh*thouse with magical deduction powers, but that’s alright. Another sleuth (and an actual professional detective) will be able to fill that void while also, as a Cross trailer claims, “living rent free” in suspects’ heads.
James Patterson’s legendary D.C.-based forensic psychologist is heading back to adaptation city again, and Aldis Hodge will duly take on the Alex Cross role for Prime Video/Amazon, which has already greenlit two streaming TV seasons that promise to bring a new (and old) hero to the Dad TV realm. However, Patterson has penned dozens of Alex Cross-focused books, and curiosity sparks the question of which book that Cross‘ first season will adapt.
As readers know, the Morgan Freeman-starring movies were based upon the first two Alex Cross books, Along Came A Spider and Kiss The Girls, and the Tyler Perry movie adapted Patterson’s 12th Alex Cross book, simply titled Cross. As Hodge recently told TV Insider, however, the first season of Cross will not strictly adhere to any specific Patterson novel. Rather, the show “is based on the foundation of Alex Cross” with creator Ben Watkins using “the bone structure of that world and fill[ing] it up with a beautiful story.” Hodge further believes that the show will become “something completely unique.”
Watkins seconded the sentiment while speaking with Entertainment Weekly:
“I said I was not going to do any of the seasons based on the books. I thought it was really important that we give fans a new offering, that we honor the characters and the world so that they would feel like they were getting what they signed up for, but also then give them a new story.”
The first season will pick up after the death of Cross’ wife, and his search for the killer will occupy plenty of his headspace. In the story, Cross had hoped to take a leave of absence from work, but, according to Hodge, “he gets pulled into a very serious and sinister case with a new serial killer moving narcotics and they need him to handle it.” From the show’s synopsis:
Cross is a crime thriller that follows the investigations of brilliant forensic psychologist and DC Metro Detective Alex Cross. Together with his best friend and partner Detective John Sampson, Cross delves into the psyches of America’s most insidious killers while fighting to protect his family from the dangers of the criminal world.
Cross‘ will co-star Isaiah Mustafa, Caleb Elijah, Melody Hurd, Eloise Mumford, Samantha Walkes, Jennifer Wigmore, Alona Tal, Ryan Eggold, Johnny Ray Gill, and Juanita Jennings. The series debuts on November 14.