HBO Developing a Sequel to A TIME TO KILL with Matthew McConaughey Titled A TIME FOR MERCY
After 25 years, HBO is producing a sequel to the film A Time To Kill, which was based on the novel by John Grisham. Matthew McConaughey is going to reprise his role as attorney Jake Tyler Brigance.
The sequel will be based on Grisham’s book A Time For Mercy, and it’s being developed as a limited series. It’s said that the series will consist of eight to ten episodes. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who produced the original film, will also be back to produce the sequel series.
The original story was set in Clanton, Mississippi and followed “a fearless young lawyer as he defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter. The case turned the small town into a boilerplate of tension that includes the inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.” The film helped launched McConaughey’s career.
In A Time For Mercy, which is the third book featuring the character the Brigance character, “Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Brigance’s fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career and the safety of his family on the line.”
When the book was released in 2020, it’s said that McConaughey was drawn to the idea of returning to the role that helped launch his career.
HBO is currently meeting with writers to pen the series, and as of right now, no director is attached.
Source: Deadline