LONDON — The producers of BBC-AMC spy thriller “The Night Manager,” starring Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman and Hugh Laurie, are in talks with the U.K. broadcaster to greenlight a second season after stellar ratings in the U.K. for the new show.
The £20 million ($28.7 million) six-episode first season, which launches in the U.S. on AMC on April 19, has been attracting up to 8 million viewers to its Sunday evening slot on flagship channel BBC One. The adaptation of John Le Carré’s novel even beat the latest drama series from “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes, “Doctor Thorne.” Now it appears the public broadcaster wants more.
Talks with the lead producers, Le Carré’s sons Simon and Stephen Cornwell, for another six-episode season have reached “an advanced stage,” according to reports.
“The Night Manager” is the first television project to be produced by the Cornwells’ company, The Ink Factory, which was founded in 2010. The series is directed by Susanne Bier, who won an Oscar for “In a Better World,” and was adapted by David Farr. It was exec produced by the Cornwell brothers alongside Stephen Garrett, Farr and the BBC’s Polly Hill.
The series follows former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston) who infiltrates the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Laurie) to uncover Roper’s unholy alliance with the West’s intelligence community.
The BBC and the Ink Factory would not confirm that talks for a second season were ongoing.
The show has been licensed around the world. Rights holders include Tele München Gruppe for German-speaking Europe, with Amazon Prime taking SVOD rights; C More and TV4 for the Nordic territories, excluding Denmark, where DR has the rights; Sky Italia for Italy; BBC First and SBS for Australia; TV3 for New Zealand; and AMC International for Iberia, Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia (excluding Japan), Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
