While it may have originated as a one-off miniseries, The Night Manager, the lavish, Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie-starring BBC-AMC co-produced spy thriller, could be coming back for more.
The BBC confirmed Thursday that a second season of the hit show was in the early stages of development, with original producer The Ink Factory again on board. But the U.K. public broadcaster also emphasized that a second run was not certain at this stage.
“The Ink Factory, BBC and AMC are in the early stages of developing a potential second series of The Night Manager, but nothing is definite yet and we have nothing to announce,” a BBC spokesperson told THR.
Directed by Susanne Bier (who won an Emmy for her work), the original six-part series, rumored to have cost in the region of $30 million, was based on the 1993 spy thriller by John Le Carre and told the story of a hotel manager and former British soldier (Hiddleston) who is recruited to infiltrate the inner circle of a millionaire arms dealer (Laurie).
Such was the response to the show, with sales to more than 180 countries and numerous awards, including two Emmys and three Golden Globes, that rumors of a second season started bubbling up early on. But with Le Carre not having written a follow-up book and an adaptation of the prolific author’s work never having been taken beyond original texts before, it was unclear whether it would be a possibility.
However, speaking at a conference in Jerusalem earlier this week, Bier confirmed to Broadcast magazine that a script for the follow-up was “slowly being adapted.”
Whether Le Carre is involved in the second season is as yet unknown. The author, meanwhile, is preparing to bring his most famous character back from retirement, with the first novel in 25 years featuring George Smiley — the central fictitious spy in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold — due to be published in September.
