AT&T AUDIENCE Network Starts Production on Second Season of Critically Acclaimed Original Series "Mr. Mercedes"

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* AUDIENCE Network will begin production on the second season of its breakout show "Mr. Mercedes" next month in Charleston, South Carolina. The series, produced by Sonar Entertainment, will premiere this summer exclusively on DIRECTV, AT&T U-verse and DIRECTV NOW.

Television veterans David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal) and Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, The Drop, Live by Night) will be leading the season 2 writers room. Jack Bender (Game of Thrones, Lost, Under the Dome) will return to direct 8 of 10 episodes. King, Kelley, Bender and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill Entertainment will continue to serve as executive producers, along with Lehane. The second season will be based on King's best-selling Bill Hodges Trilogy, which includes, "Mr. Mercedes," "Finders Keepers" and "End of Watch."

The original cast, which includes Brendan Gleeson ("Harry Potter") as Detective Bill Hodges, Harry Treadaway ("Penny Dreadful") as Brady Hartsfield, Jharrel Jerome ("Moonlight") as Jerome Robinson, Scott Lawrence ("Avatar") as Detective Peter Dixon, Breeda Wool ("Unreal") as Lou Linklatter, Justine Lupe ("Francis Ha") as Holly Gibney, Nancy Travis ("How I Met Your Mother") as Donna Hodges, and Holland Taylor ("The Truman Show") as Ida Silver, will return for season 2.

New to the season are Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire") as Brady Hartsfield's doctor Dr. Felix Babineau and Maximiliano Hernandez ("Sicario") as Assistant DA Antonio Montez.

Season 1 of "Mr. Mercedes" followed a demented killer Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway) who taunts a retired police detective Bill Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.

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 episodes are available OnDemand on DIRECTV and U-verse platforms to DirecTV and U-verse customers. AT&T AUDIENCE Network is available on DIRECTV Ch. 239 or U-verse TV Ch. 1114 and via live streaming on the DIRECTV and U-verse apps and DIRECTV NOW.

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 and DIRECTV NOW 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 upcoming political thriller "Condor." New original comedies include "Hit The Road" and "Loudermilk." It's also home to the industry-first polyamorous romcom "You Me Her" and the MMA drama "Kingdom." AT&T AUDIENCE Network brings viewers real drama with its original documentaries "The Volunteers" and "The Sign" 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 Joe Buck" 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 AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, business, mobile and high speed internet services. We offer the nation's best data network** and the best global coverage of any U.S. wireless provider. We're one of the world's largest providers of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. Nearly 3.5 million companies, from small to large businesses around the globe, turn to AT&T for our highly secure smart solutions. 

AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at facebook.com/att and on YouTube at youtube.com/att.

© 2018 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

**Claim based on the Nielsen Certified Data Network Score. Score includes data reported by wireless consumers in the Nielsen Mobile Insights survey, network measurements from Nielsen Mobile Performance and Nielsen Drive Test Benchmarks for Q1 + Q2 2017 across 121 markets.

About Sonar Entertainment
Sonar Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment studio that develops, produces, finances and distributes content for global audiences. We offer a unique platform for creative talent with the support of a full-service studio and global distribution company. 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 has exclusive first look deals with George Clooney and Grant Heslov's Smokehouse Pictures, Robert and Susan Downey's Team Downey and Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions.

Sonar Entertainment's premium scripted series on-air, in production or slated to commence production include Mr. Mercedes, written by David E. Kelley, based on the novel by Stephen King, with the AT&T AUDIENCE Network for DIRECTV and AT&T U­-verse; The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan for AMC; Seasons One and Two of internationally successful The Shannara Chronicles, for Spike; and Das Boot, an eight­-part series based on the acclaimed movie, for Sky. Sonar Entertainment also distributes internationally, outside the UK, Taboo, for FX and BBC One, starring Tom Hardy and executive produced by Ridley Scott. Sonar Entertainment factual and lifestyle series currently on air or in production include Texas Metal for Discovery and Food's Greatest Hits for Scripps. Sonar Kids and Family series on-air or in production 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 titles comprised of award­-winning programs from RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment, and Tricon Films & Television.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

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