AT&T AUDIENCE Network Picks Up Critically Acclaimed Original Series "Mr. Mercedes" For 3rd Season

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the dramatic finale of season 2 of "Mr. Mercedes," AT&T AUDIENCE Network has picked up this critically acclaimed drama for a 3rd season. Production for the 10 1-hour episodes is scheduled to begin in early 2019 in Charleston, South Carolina with the premiere launching later in the year.

The series is produced by Sonar Entertainment.

Returning for the 3rd season will be David E. Kelley ("Big Little Lies," "Ally McBeal") to oversee the writer's room and Jack Bender ("Lost," "Under the Dome") to direct. In addition to King, Kelley and Bender, Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill Entertainment, Tom Lesinski and Jenna Santoianni of Sonar Entertainment, and Shane Elrod and Kate Regan of AT&T AUDIENCE Network will continue to serve as executive producers.

"Stephen King breaking story, Brendan Gleeson heading the cast, Jack Bender leading the charge…I'm excited," said Kelley.

"I am extremely proud of our show," said Bender, "and I couldn't be more excited to continue unraveling this story with Stephen King, David E. Kelley and our superlative cast led by Brendan Gleeson."

"'Mr. Mercedes' has resonated with such a wide audience, so we're thrilled to bring it back for a third season for our customers," said Daniel York, senior executive vice president and chief content officer for AT&T. "David E. Kelley, Jack Bender and Sonar have crafted a series that honors the original work by Stephen King and we can't wait to see where they take the show in a 'post-Mr. Mercedes world.'"

"AT&T AUDIENCE Network has been a great partner and we are delighted to continue this journey with them," said Tom Lesinski, CEO, Sonar Entertainment. "We look forward to the new storylines the outstanding creative team will be developing."

The 2^nd season of "Mr. Mercedes" took place a year after Brady Hartsfield's thwarted attempt to perpetrate a second mass murder in the community of Bridgton, Ohio. Since the incident, Hartsfield had been hospitalized in a vegetative state. Retired Detective Bill Hodges did his best to move on from his Brady obsession, teaming up with Holly Gibney to open Finders Keepers, a private investigative agency. But when unexplainable occurrences began to affect hospital staff members attending to Brady, Hodges is haunted by the feeling that Brady was somehow responsible.

Stephen King describes "Mr. Mercedes" as his first hard-boiled detective tale. The novel was published by Scribner in June 2014 and became an immediate No. 1 New York Times Bestseller upon its release.  Shortly after the release of the novel, King announced that "Mr. Mercedes" was the first of a projected trilogy. The second novel, "Finders Keepers," was published by Scribner in June 2015, and the third novel, "End of Watch," was published by Scribner in June 2016. 

"Mr. Mercedes" season 1 and 2 episodes are available OnDemand on all DIRECTV platforms. AT&T AUDIENCE Network is available on DIRECTV Ch. 239 and via live streaming on the DIRECTV app and DIRECTV NOW and WatchTV.

*About AT&T Communications
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About AT&T AUDIENCE Network
Always Original. Always Bold. Never Ordinary. AT&T AUDIENCE Network brings fresh, provocative content exclusively to DIRECTV, AT&T U-verse, DIRECTV NOW, and WATCH TV customers. It's committed to pushing the envelope with a growing slate of critically acclaimed original series.

Its latest lineup includes an adaptation of Stephen King's "Mr. Mercedes" and conspiracy thriller "Condor." Original comedies include "Loudermilk" and the industry-first polyamorous romcom "You Me Her." AT&T AUDIENCE Network brings viewers real drama with its original documentaries "Give Us This Day" and "Alone In The Game" and intimate celebrity interviews on "Off Camera with Sam Jones." "The Dan Patrick Show" and "The Rich Eisen Show" offer sports fans live, daily news from renowned sports journalists. And "Undeniable with Dan Patrick" puts viewers front row for in-depth chats with sports icons like Derek Jeter and Michael Phelps. Plus, music fans can see exclusive concerts by today's hottest artists on AUDIENCE Music. It's original entertainment you won't see anywhere else.

About Sonar Entertainment
Sonar Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment studio that develops, produces, finances and distributes content for global audiences. Our financial strength and independence provides us with the freedom to fund development and productions on a global scale and partner with the most innovative storytellers in the industry. Sonar Entertainment premium series include Mr. Mercedes, written by David E. Kelley, based on the novel by Stephen King, with AT&T Audience Network; The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan for AMC; Das Boot, an eight-part series inspired by the acclaimed movie, for Sky; scripted drama series The Hunt and documentary series Lorena, both produced with Jordan Peele for Amazon; scripted sci-fi comedy series Weird City, produced with Jordan Peele for YouTube Premium; and an A.I. documentary series produced with Robert Downey Jr. for YouTube Premium. Sonar Entertainment also distributes internationally, outside the UK, Taboo, for FX and BBC One, starring Tom Hardy and executive produced by Ridley Scott. Factual and lifestyle series include Texas Metal for Discovery and Food's Greatest Hits for Scripps. Sonar Kids and Family series include Counterfeit Cat, airing on Disney XD in the US, Teletoon in Canada, on Hulu and in over 200 countries worldwide; and Go Away Unicorn! for Disney. In addition, Sonar Entertainment distributes over 1,000 award-winning library titles comprising over 3,000 broadcast hours.

About Temple Hill Entertainment
Temple Hill Entertainment is a production company based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2008, and its films have earned over $4.5 billion at the worldwide box office. Recent releases include: First Man for Universal Pictures, directed by Academy Award winning director, Damien Chazelle (La La Land), and starring Ryan Gosling; The Hate U Give for Fox2000, starring Amandla Stenberg, and directed by George Tillman Jr.; and Dan Fogelman's Life, Itself for Amazon Studios. It is best known for producing adaptations of successful properties, including the Twilight film series, the Maze Runner series, and film adaptations of Nicholas Sparks' and John Green's novels, Safe Haven and The Fault in Our Stars. In addition to DirectTV's Mr. Mercedes, Temple Hill was also behind Rosewood for FOX, and Revenge for ABC. Our upcoming series include Looking for Alaska, based on the novel by John Green, for Hulu. 

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

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