Harlan Coben's SAFE on Netflix: May 10

I can't wait for the Netflix launch (May 10) of Harlan Coben's Safe. I posted about this before, but wanted to give you a heads up of where to watch in the US.

I really enjoy Harlan Coben's books, and I've enjoyed the translations into TV series. Now we have another series, this one a UK series but with Michael C. Hall at the center of the production.

From Variety:

Like his new TV thriller “Safe,” they are efficient suspense delivery systems, and any deficiencies in character development are usually overshadowed by the satisfying tick-tock nature of the plot and the interlocking mysteries threatening upscale people who find themselves spiraling into trouble.

Safe, Coben’s second foray into TV after the U.K. series The Five, has a mostly British cast, and takes place in a luxury gated community in the English suburbs. At the center of this drama, however, is Michael C. Hall, an American actor who speaks here with a British accent. This will be jarring for viewers who watched him on “Six Feet Under” and “Dexter”: It’s hard to get Dexter Morgan’s flat American pronunciation out of your head as you watch Hall play a middle-class English surgeon.

Hall’s attempt at an English accent is reasonably successful, even if it sounds a bit forced at times. 

The good news is Safe is a plot-driven drama that doesn’t rely all that much on extensive conversation, and what dialogue it does have is workmanlike at best. But in its first two episodes, it delivers on what it promises in its taut opening scenes: It’s a slick portrait of one man’s descent into a nightmare, one that threatens to damage the fragile connections within several families. It’s essentially a propulsive nighttime soap opera littered with crimes, well-appointed kitchens, and surveillance cameras everywhere.

 

Read the rest of the Variety review here.

Harlan Coben's 'Safe' on Netflix; 8 episodes Netflix launch date, May 10

Executive producers, Harlan Coben, Danny Brocklehurst, Richard Fee, Nicola Shindler, Michael C. Hall.

Cast: Michael C. Hall, Audrey Fleurot, Amanda Abbington, Marc Warren, Emmet J. Scanlan, Hannah Arterton, Nigel Lindsay, Laila Rouass.

Harlan Coben's The Five on Netflix

Harlan Coben's "The Five," a crime drama filmed in Liverpool that debuted last year on Sky 1 in the U.K., is available today (9/15) on Netflix (U.S. & Canada).

It marked bestselling author Coben’s move into TV, and follows a group of friends as they discover that the brother of one them, who vanished years earlier, may still be alive after his DNA turns up at a murder scene.

From Variety:

The New Jersey-based author says his work is well suited to a streaming service, where people can watch multiple episodes. “In same way as you might say ‘I’m going to read one more chapter before I go to sleep,’ I think ‘The Five’ and ‘Safe’ are binge-worthy shows that you will start and finish in a day or two,” Coben told Variety.

Coben said he was pleased his new series has also landed at Netflix internationally. “In a sense, I don’t care where it airs, just like I don’t care if you read my book on paper or on digital, but I think it’s a more exciting platform for us, to get all of the episodes out at one time. I almost never watch a show that isn’t completed in case I do want to binge. I don’t watch anything live anymore.”

Harlan Coben thriller "Safe" coming to Netflix

From Variety:

Netflix and Canal+ in France have ordered “Safe,” a thriller from author Harlan Coben starring Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”). Hall was the star of Showtime series “Dexter” from 2006 to 2013, and in “Safe” will play a British pediatric surgeon raising two teenage daughters, Jenny and Carrie, alone after the death of his wife. The family is seemingly safe inside a gated community when the elder daughter sneaks out to a party and a murder and disappearance follow, changing all of their lives. 

Amanda Abbington (“Sherlock”) will also star in the show. Studiocanal’s U.K.-based production company Red will make the series, which will be on Canal+ in France and Netflix globally. 

Danny Brocklehurst (“Shameless”) has written the script for the eight-part drama, which is now shooting in the British cities of Manchester and Cheshire. 

Bestselling author Coben has moved steadily into TV. His first small-screen project was “The Five” for Sky in the U.K. That show was written by Brocklehurst, produced by Red and acquired by Canal+. “Safe” sees that team reunited. 

Netflix acquired “Happy Valley” from Red, but “Safe” will be the production’s first original for the streaming giant.  

Coben’s style lends itself to watching multiple episodes, which attracted Netflix, Shindler told Variety. “The serialized nature of this, and Harlan’s way of storytelling, lends itself to streaming. He’s all about the hook of a story,” she said. “After ‘The Five,’ he wanted to write something about family and how we build walls to keep out the bad people, but what if they’re on the inside? It’s about how far you’d go to protect your family.” 

Read more Here.

Harlan Coben's No Second Chance on Netflix

Today (12/16) Netflix premieres No Second Chance, the highly rated French miniseries based on the book of the same name by author Harlan Coben.

TF1, Europe’s largest TV network, aired the miniseries last fall to huge audiences. Over 9 million people tuned into the finale which broke a ten-year record on the network. It was sold to 64 countries, on top of winning the best series award at last year’s La Rochelle festival and won the award for best foreign limited series at Shanghai Television Festival. Coben, who created the show and served as Executive Producer, also has a cameo in which he plays Dana Delany’s husband. Sydney Gallonde, who produced Une Chance de Trop, has reteamed with Coben to adapt his novel Just One Look for TF1, currently in production.

In 2016, Coben had two #1 New York Times bestsellers with Fool Me Once and Home.

French Awards: Harlan Coben, James Ellroy

Two American Crime Writers were honored this week for their contributions to culture and society.

French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand on Sunday bestowed French state honors on prominent US and other cultural figures, including writer James Ellroy. Ellroy, author of "L.A. Confidential," was given the Order of Arts and Letters. Referring to him as "the master of dark dreams," Mitterrand said the author was "one of the most prominent names in modern literature."
Read the rest of the article HERE.

Another French award: Harlan Coben accepted the Vermeil Medal of Honor for contributions to culture and society. A film version of Coben's Tell No One, in which he made a cameo appearance, was a smash French film; his newest thriller, Live Wire, will be out next Tuesday, March 22.  Here's the video of Harlan accepting the award


Harlan Coben à l'Hôtel de Ville by mairiedeparis

Hat Tip: Shelf Awareness