How Prime Video’s Hit Thriller Series Could Run For More Than 20 Seasons (And Fix a Major Movie Problem)

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This is why bestselling author James Patterson’s Prime Video adaptation Cross is so exciting both for fans of the books and for TV thriller aficionados who want a new long-term series to delve into. The streaming service’s two-season hit Cross was just renewed for a third season, with Aldis Hodge returning as its title character. A forensic psychologist and detective working in Washington DC, Cross is a brilliant but troubled mind. His hot temper, worsened by his wife’s murder, make Cross an unstable but unstoppable protagonist in season 1.

Cross Can Adapt Over 30 Books In James Patterson’s Novel Series

As Cross continues, Hodge’s character regains his ability to pin down even the most evasive of criminals, but the show’s eponymous hero must still face corruption within the police force and challenges at home. Hodge is the third actor to take on the part of Cross, with Morgan Freeman playing the detective in a 1997 adaptation of Patterson’s second Cross novel, Kiss the Girls. The success of this movie led to a 2001 sequel, Along Came a Spider, even though Along Came a Spider was actually the first Alex Cross novel that Patterson released in 1993.

Since 1993, Patterson has penned over 33 books in the series, meaning Cross has plenty of novels that the show can pull from for inspiration in further seasons. The character’s literary exploits are endlessly varied, meaning there is a diverse range of story opportunities for the show to explore as Cross continues. If Cross goes on long enough, the Prime Video hit could even readapt 2006’s 12th novel, simply titled Cross, which was the basis for 2012’s poorly received movie reboot, Alex Cross.

Cross Could Even Redeem 2006’s Misguided Movie Adaptation

Starring Tyler Perry in the title role, The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen’s Alex Cross was intended to start a new series of movie adaptations. Despite boasting a strong supporting cast including Giancarlo Esposito and John C. McGinley, Cross lost to Paranormal Activity 4 at the box office and ended up failing to even recoup its $35 million budget. With reviewers calling Alex Cross Cohen’s weakest thriller ever, even Perry’s well-received central performance couldn’t come close to salvaging this failed reboot.

Thus, the Alex Cross series was out of commission for a decade until, much like Prime’s Reacher TV show redeemed the underwhelming Tom Cruise movie series, 2023’s Cross season 1 did justice to the novels. Now, the success of Cross season 2 and the show’s renewal proves that the James Patterson adaptation can and should bring to life the rest of Patterson’s novels onscreen, salvaging a series that seemed to be dead in the water after 2012’s flawed reboot flopped at the box office.