AMC Renews Six Series Including ‘Kin’ and ‘Bloodlands,’ Announces Greenlights and Acquisitions
By Selome Hailu|February 10, 2022|Variety
AMC Networks announced renewals for six series across multiple platforms: “Kin,” “Bloodlands,” “My Life is Murder,” “London Kills,” “Creepshow” and the “Slasher” franchise. The new “Slasher” installment is entitled “Slasher: Ripper” and will star Eric McCormack as ruthless tycoon Basil Garvey. The announcements were made at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour.
“Kin,” the Irish gang drama streaming on AMC Plus, is returning for its second season. The series centers the Kinsellas, a crime family that wars with and ultimately kills powerful drug kingpin Eamon Cunningham (Ciarán Hinds). Season 2 will begin production this summer and follow the Kinsellas as they become the top dogs in Dublin but must deal with the consequences of Cunningham’s death. Charlie Cox, Clare Dunne and Aidan Gillen star. “Kin” is produced by Bron Studios and Headline Pictures. Peter McKenna serves as showrunner, executive producer, writer and creator.
Irish crime thriller “Bloodlands” has been renewed for its second season at Acorn TV. James Nesbitt stars as DCI Tom Brannick, whose secret identity as the assassin Goliath is threatened to come to light after the murder of a crooked accountant. Tom and the accountant’s widow Olivia (Victoria Smurfit) keep each other dangerously close as they try to solve the riddle her husband left behind, drawing in Tom’s fellow officers DS Niamh McGovern (Charlene McKenna), DCS Jacki Twomey (Lorcan Cranitch) and DC “Birdy” Bird (Chris Walley), as well as his daughter Izzy (Lola Petticrew). “Bloodlands” is executive produced by showrunner Jed Mercurio, Jimmy Mulville and Mark Redhead for HTM Television and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC.
New Zealand mystery series “My Life is Murder” also returns to Acorn TV for its second and third seasons. The series follows retired detective Alexa Crowe (Lucy Lawless) as she investigates suspects ranging from eccentric billionaires and grieving florists to tango dancers and fiery fashionistas. She works with her partner-in-crime-solving Madison (Ebony Vagulans), charismatic detective Harry (Rawiri Jobe) and café owner Reuben (Joe Naufahu). “My Life is Murder” is executive produced by Lawless, Claire Tonkin, Rachel Antony, Nicky Davies Williams, Pilar Perez and Don Klees.
British police procedural “London Kills” has been renewed for its third and fourth season at Acorn TV. Hugo Speer stars as detective inspector David Bradford, and Season 3 follows him and his team including detective sergeant Vivienne Cole (Sharon Small), detective constable Rob Brady (Bailey Patrick) trainee detective Constable Billie Fitzgerald (Tori Allen-Martin) as they investigate a series of linked murders. In season 4, Bradford’s behavior begins spinning out of control for a reason darker than his team can imagine. “London Kills” executive producers include Paul Marquess and Donna Wiffen for PGMTV and Catherine Mackin and Bea Tammer for Acorn Media Enterprises.
“Creepshow,” executive produced and showrun by Greg Nicotero for Shudder, has been renewed for its fourth season. The series is based on George Romero’s 1982 horror comedy classic and brings to life a series of vignettes, exploring terrors ranging from murder, creatures, monsters and delusions to the supernatural and unexplainable. “Creepshow” is produced by the Cartel with Monster Agency Productions, Taurus Entertainment and Striker Entertainment. For the Cartel, Stan Spry, Jeff Holland and Eric Woods executive produce while and Geoff Silverman and Anthony Fankhauser co-executive produce. For Monster Agency, Nicotero and Brian Witten executive produce and Julia Hobgood co-executive produces. For Taurus, Robert Dudelson, James Dudelson and Jordan Kizwani are executive produce. For Striker, Russell Binder executive produces and Marc Mostman co-executive produces.
Shudder’s “Slasher: Ripper,” which begins production this spring, is set in the late 19th century where newly promoted detective Kenneth Rijkers must track down the Widow, a killer who targets the rich and powerful. Developed and produced by Shaftesbury, “Slasher: Ripper” is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Thomas P. Vitale, Aaron Martin, Ian Carpenter and Adam Macdonald with producers Erin Berry and Paige Haight.
AMC Networks also announced that BBC America will co-produce “Mood” from actor, writer and singer-songwriter Nicôle Lecky. Based on her critically acclaimed play “Superhoe” and produced by Bonafide Films for BBC Three, “Mood” follows Sasha Clayton, a 25-year-old wannabe singer who spends her days smoking weed, stalking her ex-boyfriend (Jordan Duvigneau) on Instagram and avoiding her family until she is kicked out of her family home and becomes a social media influencer. The series is directed by Dawn Shadforth and Stroma Cairns, produced by Lisa Walters and written by Lecky. Executive producers include Lecky, Bonafide Films’ Margery Bone and the BBC’s Lucy Richer and Ayela Butt.
Allblk greenlit “Snap,” a six-episode psychological thriller following an imperfect god named A.O. who serves as the “moral compass” for the protagonist of each episode and challenges the beliefs they’ve held onto for most of their lives. Co-created by Eric Benet and Devin Hampton, “Snap” is set to begin production in mid-March and will debut in December 2022. Benet will star. Hampton serves as showrunner, director and executive producer alongside Benet with Ramon Villa and Lawrence Mestel serving as executive producers for Primary Wave and Brett Dismuke and Nikki Love serving as executive producers for Allblk. Angela White will serve as co-executive producer. The series will be produced by Sean Mik’ael Butler and Patrick Strøm in association with Cultivate Entertainment.
AMC Networks’ SundanceTV is producing new episodes of “True Crime Story: It Couldn’t Happen Here,” hosted by Hilarie Burton Morgan and following small-town American crime stories, and “True Crime Story: Indefensible,” hosted by Jena Friedman and following the “why” and “how” of crimes and the dysfunctional criminal justice system. The episodes will premiere on SundanceTV and AMC Plus in 2022. Produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment, executive producers of “It Couldn’t Happen Here” are Robert Friedman, Liz Yale Marsh and Mike Powers for Bungalow as well as Morgan for Mischief Farm, Liz DeCesare and Meg Mortimer for Authentic Management Productions and Po Kutchins, who also serves as series director. “Indefensible” is produced by Left/Right. Executive producers are Jena Friedman, Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver and Anneka Jones.
Sundance Now has acquired the dramas “The Suspect” and “Showtrial” from ITV Studios, with both set to premiere on Sundance Now and AMC Plus later this year. Sundance Now will also stream “The Suspect” in Canada.
“The Suspect” is a five-part thriller based on the novel by Michael Robotham. Aidan Turner stars as Joseph ‘Joe’ O’Loughlin, who appears to have the perfect life but gets caught in a web of deceit, Joe risks everything as he embarks upon a search for a killer that will take him into the darkest recesses of the human mind. The series is written by Peter Berry, directed by James Strong and also stars Shaun Parkes, Sian Clifford, Camilla Beepu and Adam James.
In “Showtrial,” criminal solicitor Cleo Roberts is called on to represent Talitha Campbell, the estranged daughter of a wealthy property developer, arrested in connection with the disappearance of fellow student Hannah Ellis. When Talitha is charged with murder, she refuses her father’s help and calls on Cleo to lead her defense against a prosecution weaponizing gender and social privilege against her. Written and created by Ben Richards and directed by Zara Hayes, the drama stars Tracy Ifeachor, Celine Buckens and James Frain.