The Bone Collector is now an NBC TV series. The network has premiered a serial television adaptation of the Jeffery Deaver crime novel-turned 1999 movie, which starred Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. However, the small screen adaptation will brandish the formal title, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, after its main character.
NBC is bringing the murky murder mystery of The Bone Collector to television with a premium script – adapting Deaver’s original 1997 novel of the same name – by the duo of VJ Boyd (S.W.A.T., The Player, Justified) and Mark Bianculli (Doomsday, The Jury, The Good Neighbor). The series – a production of Universal Television and Sony Pictures Television in association with Keshet Studios – will see the scribes joined by executive producers in Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, and Rachel Kaplan.
Serving as director for the Lincoln Rhyme pilot is Seth Gordon, who – besides films like Baywatch, Identity Thief and Horrible Bosses – brings TV experience from episodes of The Goldbergs, The Good Doctor, Modern Family, The Office and the pilot of Sneaky Pete.
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector Release Date
Lincoln Rhyme premiered on NBC on Friday, January 10, 2020. The next episode is called “Russian Roulette” and it airs on Jan. 31.
Here’s the episode synopsis and a preview clip:
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector Episodes
We’ll keep track of all the info about the upcoming episodes of Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector here.
Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector Episode 1 – Pilot
air date: 1/10/20
read our review of the first episode right here!
Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector Episode 2 – God Complex
air date: 1/17/20
Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector Episode 3 – Russian Roulette
air date: 1/31/20
Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector Episode 4 – TBA
air date: TBA
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector Trailer
Watch the trailers for the show…
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector Cast
Russell Hornsby is set as the star of Lincoln Rhyme, as Deadline first reported. He will play Lincoln himself, inheriting the mantle of the character famously played by Denzel Washington in the 1999 film; a legendary forensic criminologist, seriously injured in his chase for the elusive Bone Collector, who is called back to aid young beat cop Amelia Sachs in the continuing hunt for the serial killer.
Arielle Kebbel plays Amelia Sachs, described as “a young beat cop who helps him hunt the deadly mastermind while also taking on the most high-profile cases in the NYPD.” The character is the television manifestation of Angelina Jolie’s Bone Collector character, Amelia Donaghy, this time brandishing the original book-adherent surname, “Sachs.”
Michael Imperioli is the series co-star, set to play Rick Sellitto, the NYPD detective partner to Russell Hornsby’s Lincoln. Imperioli will, of course, be forever associated with his Emmy-winning 1999-2007 role of the wayward Christopher Moltisanti on HBO’s peak television pioneer, The Sopranos (which has a prequel TV movie in the works), but he’s been showing up recently on several TV shows, with runs on shows like Project Blue Book, Hawaii Five-0, Lucifer and Californication. He’s also known from film roles in The Lovely Bones, Summer of Sam, Bad Boys and, most memorably, Goodfellas.
Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!
Additional cast members:
Ramses Jimenez (Vida, Fear the Walking Dead) is Eric Ortiz, described as “an NYPD detective and Sellitto’s (Imperioli) new partners.
Brooke Lyons (The Affair, Life Sentence) is Kate, described as “an invaluable addition to the investigative team.”
Roslyn Ruff (Madame Secretary, Divorce) is Claire, Lincoln’s caregiver.
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Story
The story of 1999’s The Bone Collector centers on Lincoln Rhyme (Washington), a forensic genius who, left paralyzed after an occupational accident, is in retirement. However, said retirement turns out to be short-lived, thanks to a young cop named Amelia Donaghy (Jolie), who seeks Lincoln’s help in her quest to track down a New York City-stalking serial killer who surgically removes the bones of his victims to leave as provocative puzzle clues for the police.
Deaver’s novel would kick off a sizable series of follow-up novels, with the literary franchise – last supplemented by 2014’s The Skin Collector – currently up to 11 books. However, The Bone Collector is still widely associated with the 1999 movie, which was directed by Phillip Noyce, who worked off an adaptation screenplay by Jeremy Iacone. Besides serving as a platform for Oscar-winning superstar Denzel Washington, the film was a key rung on which the then-burgeoning stardom of Angelina Jolie ascended.
Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.