A 29-Part Book Series Adaptation with Endless Potential
Amazon’s Scarpetta is on the way, and like Reacher, its run is essentially limitless. The latter series first hit Prime Video in 2022 and has continued on through two additional seasons to great success. Based on the book series by Lee Child, Reacher has dedicated each of its seasons to a single book. With 30 books in the Reacher lineup, the sky is basically the limit. Now, Scarpetta is set up with the same sort of potential.
Prime Video’s Scarpetta will be based on the Kay Scarpetta series by author Patricia Cornwell, which follows a forensic pathologist who uses her skills to solve mysteries. The upcoming show will star Nicole Kidman as Kay Scarpetta and is being developed by Liz Sarnoff. In addition to Kidman, Scarpetta will star Jamie Lee Curtis as Kay’s sister. It’s certainly something to look forward to, and with a March 11, 2026, premiere date, we won’t have long to wait.
Amazon’s Scarpetta Is Based On A 29-Part (And Counting) Book Series
Part of what makes Reacher‘s success so exciting is that, so long as interest keeps up, there’s enough source material to keep the show going for 27 more seasons. Similarly, Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series is currently made up of 29 novels. If this upcoming Prime Video project takes Reacher‘s approach of adapting each novel as an individual season, then the sky is truly the limit.
Unlike the Reacher books, however, Cornwell’s Scarpetta is still ongoing. This remarkable author has released a steady stream of novels every year or so, beginning with the first installment, Postmortem, in 1989 and currently ending with 2025’s Sharp Force. Just as Cornwell shows no signs of stopping, Prime Video isn’t limited to only a handful of adaptable material. Scarpetta can literally never run out of stories to tell.
Reacher Has Set A Fantastic Precedent For Scarpetta & Other TV Book Adaptations
Given the expansiveness and success of Cornwell’s work, adapting the Scarpetta stories seems like a no-brainer. However, it’s been a long journey to get this project off the ground. Way back in 1992, Demi Moore was attached to a Scarpetta movie adaptation (via MovieWeb), but it never made it to fruition. In the decades since, the movie and TV rights have changed hands several times, but nothing ever came of it, until now, of course.
Reacher‘s success was a great indicator that Scarpetta would be viable, and its approach to adapting the extensive book series set the stage beautifully. There were no efforts to condense stories, and the decision to adapt full novels into full seasons has led to consistently high scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Though it’s still unclear whether Scarpetta will take the same approach, Reacher‘s proven success is a strong sign that Prime Video should keep the ball rolling with this and other adaptations.
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