Harlan Coben on Bringing ‘Myron Bolitar’ to Netflix: “It’s Been Really Heady

Logo text Netflix 's long-running partnership with author Harlan Coben has produced a number of hits, most recently I Will Find You . The thriller starring Sam Worthington and Britt Lower entered the streamer's all-time top 10 for English-language series this week.

I Will Find You, Fool Me Once, Run Away and all the other adaptations of Coben's books at Netflix so far have been limited series. Netflix and Coben have yet to produce an ongoing show based on his books.

That's about to change. Netflix began production on Myron Bolitar this week in New York ( The Hollywood Reporter spotted a crew filming on Manhattan's Upper East Side). The show is based on Coben's long-running series of novels about a former basketball star-turned-sports agent (played by Colin Woodell) who goes the extra mile for his clients — including getting involved in solving mysteries on their behalf. Related Stories TV 'Outer Banks' Final Season Trailer: Pogues Out for Vengeance After That Major Death Movies Penélope Cruz, Sian Heder, Isabelle Huppert Set for Tributes Awards at Toronto Film Fest

"It's been really heady and really interesting" to see the show come together, Coben told THR . "The other series that I've done are all designed to be limited series — and I don't want season twos out of them, even if sometimes we think about them. My rule on that is that unless we can come up with a better story, I don't see a season two. With I Will Find You , what, would we have another kid go missing? … The Myron Bolitar series is created, like the books themselves, that we can run more than one season if we're so blessed."

The first Bolitar novel, Deal Breaker , was published in 1995. Coben told THR that the first season of the Netflix show will be primarily based on Drop Shot , the second book in the series. "It's going in other directions as well," he said, "but the mystery is from Drop Shot ."

Along with Woodell ( The Originals , Netflix's Pulse ), Myron Bolitar also stars KJ Apa ( Riverdale ) as Win Lockwood, Myron's best friend, and Diane Guerrero ( Orange Is the New Black, Doom Patrol ) as Esperanza Diaz, Myron's assistant (and in later books, his business partner). The cast also includes Jabari Banks, Chloe Fineman , Jamie McShane, Ben McKenzie, Ra'Mya Latiah Aikens, Isaiah Hill, Amanda Warren, Quincy Isaiah, Bebe Neuwirth, Griffin Dunne, Melissa Benoist, Charlie Tahan, Jamie Hector and Sandrine Holt.

David E. Kelley ( Margo's Got Money Troubles ) and Kyle Long ( Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. ) are co-showrunners and writers on the series, and Greg Yaitanes ( Dutton Ranch, Presumed Innocent ) is directing multiple episodes. Coben said he's excited to be working with the "embarrassment of riches" in the cast and creative team.

"Working with a titan like David E. Kelley has been really fun and interesting. He's so talented and has such a great track record," Coben told THR . "So to combine what we do together and taking our strengths and putting them together has been really great.

"It took a long time to figure out this cast — this one's harder for me. If you don't like David Burroughs in I Will Find You , well, that's only one book. But Myron has lived with me for a long time. … I'm so excited for the world to discover Colin Woodell. I think he's just an incredible talent, and it took a long time to find him. And now I even see him as Myron."

Coben attended the show's first table read last week and watched Woodell, Apa, Guerrero and the rest of the cast start to bring his characters to life.

"It's always a moment for me whenever I go on set the first time or whenever I go to a table read," he said. "I look around this room at the couple hundred people employed, and I realize one day Netflix is going to push a button, and it's going to go to 190 countries, 300 million households. And I think, wow — I had this idea in the corner of my house in New Jersey and now it's here. That never gets old."

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: The Hollywood Reporter. Open at source →