Apple TV+ has ordered a second season of the legal thriller series Presumed Innocent, from David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams and first season star Jake Gyllenhaal, who return as executive producers and author Scott Turow as co-executive producer.
The news comes a month after the launch of Presumed Innocent, which is already the most-watched drama of all time on Apple TV+, according to the streamer. The story will reach its conclusion with the final two episodes on July 17 and 24.
There are no details about season two other than that it will "unfold around an exciting, brand new case."
As with other successful series-turned-dramas, such as HBO's The White Lotus and FX's ShÅgun, there will likely be character(s) that tie the seasons together; maybe we'll get more clarity on that in the season one finale.
There is no clear blueprint for the continuation of the series from Turow's oeuvre. His 1987 bestseller Presumed Innocent was followed by 1990's The Burden Of Proof. The story is set in the same town in Illinois and follows the character Sandy Stern from Presumed Innocent after the events of that novel. The character was played by Raul Julia in the film Presumed Innocent with Harrison Ford, but does not exist in the television series. Instead, the series introduced Mya, played by Gabby Beans, as a defense attorney.
Gyllenhaal's Rusty Sabich is not a recurring character in Turow's books, so it's unclear if the actor would return. Presumed Innocent has a true book sequel, Innocent, published in 2011, in which Rusty and Tommy Molto (played in the series by Peter Sarsgaard) compete against each other again twenty years later after the mysterious death of Rusty's wife.
Kelley is known for adding unexpected twists to well-known literary source material, so we'll have to wait and see how the first season of Presumed Innocent turns out for any clues as to what's next for the series.
In addition to Kelley, Abrams and Gyllenhaal, Dustin Thomason, Matt Tinker and Rachel Rusch Rich return as executive producers. Presumed Innocent comes from Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and David E. Kelley Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Bad Robot is under an umbrella deal.
Last year, Idris Elba's Hijack became the second Apple TV+ series to land in Nielsen's weekly Top 10 streaming rankings for Originals, following the blockbuster comedy Ted Lasso. With Presumed Innocent reportedly eclipsing Hijack in ratings, we can expect the legal drama to make an entrance into the Nielsen charts in the coming weeks. So far, Nielsen has released the streaming rankings through June 16, including the first few days of airing the first two episodes of Presumed Innocent.
Coincidentally, Presumed Innocent comes from the same studio as Ted Lasso, WBTV.
Abrams and Rich are producing for Bad Robot. Kelley serves as showrunner and produces with Matthew Tinker through David E. Kelley Productions. Gyllenhaal produces under his name Nine Stories. The first season of Presumed Innocent is also produced by Thomason and Sharr White. Turow and Miki Johnson are co-executive producers. The first season is directed and produced by Anne Sewitsky and Greg Yaitanes.
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