‘Presumed Innocent’ To Leave Scott Turow Universe In Season 2 With ‘Dissection Of A Murder’ As Source Material & New Female Lead

Nov 02, 2024

EXCLUSIVE: Like other successful limited series that have became ongoing ones following their breakout success, Apple TV+‘s legal thriller Presumed Innocent did not have a blueprint for a second season.

Season 1 was based on Scott Turow’s bestselling novel of the same name but, as Deadline pointed out at the time of the renewal, there was no obvious path to continue the series from Turow’s body of work. Season 2 of the show, executive produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams and Season 1 star Jake Gyllenhaal and co-exec produced by Turow, is taking a completely different path with a female lead, Leila Reynolds, succeeding Gyllenhaal’s Rusty Sabich.

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According to sources, Apple TV+ and producing studio Warner Bros. TV have acquired the rights to Dissection of a Murder, the upcoming debut legal thriller by Jo Murray. The book, set for a spring 2026 publication by Pam Macmillan, follows Leila Reynolds who has just been handed her first murder case. She’s way out of her depth but the defendant only wants her – and to make matters worse, her husband is the prosecutor. Soon Leila is fighting to keep her own secrets buried too.

Things are still in flux but Dissection of a Murder is expected to serve as inspiration for the second season of what is shaping up to be a true anthology series. There had been an idea for a character or two from Season 1 to carry over for continuity in the vein of HBO’s The White Lotus; it is unclear whether that is still a possibility. Reps for Apple TV+ and WBTV declined comment.

In Season 1, Presumed Innocent become the #1 most viewed drama of all time on Apple TV+, per the streamer.

In addition to Kelley, Abrams and Gyllenhaal, returning as executive producers are Dustin Thomason, Matt Tinker and Rachel Rusch Rich. Presumed Innocent hails from Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and David E. Kelley Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Bad Robot is under an overall deal.

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