It took awhile but Amazon has officially picked up a second season of thriller Absentia starring and executive produced by Castle alumna Stana Katic. It will debut in 2019 on Prime Video in the U.S., as well as in select markets globally, including Australia, Austria, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey and the U.K.
New cast members joining season two — currently filming in Sofia, Bulgaria — include Matthew Le Nevez (The Widow) and Natasha Little (The Night Manager). Patrick Heusinger returns for season two as Emily’s (Katic) ex-husband and Special Agent Nick Durand. Absentia was commissioned for Sony Pictures Television’s international networks. It is produced by Masha Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures Television.
Soon after Absentia’s Amazon debut in February, speculation started about a Season 2 renewal. In anticipation of a pickup, Sony last spring got the writers back together to work on scripts. In June, the series was renewed in Canada.
Absentia centers on FBI agent Emily Byrne (Katic). In season one, Emily disappeared without a trace and was declared dead after hunting one of Boston’s most notorious serial killers. Six years later, Emily was found in a cabin in the woods, barely alive, and with no memory of the years she was missing. Returning home to learn her husband had remarried and her son was being raised by another woman, she soon found herself implicated in a new series of murders. In season two, after tracking down and killing her abductor, Emily struggles for a tenuous new normal with son Flynn and ex-husband Nick. But her obsessive investigation into the questions that haunt her uncovers a serial killer and a spiraling conspiracy that threatens more than just her family.
Le Nevez will pplay Cal Isaac, a rugged ex-Navy SEAL with a disarmingly upbeat disposition. Cal’s familiar with the demons that chase Emily (Katic) and proves to be a loyal and sympathetic counterpart to the series heroine. Little will portray Special Agent Julianne Gunnarsen, an accomplished, enigmatic and beautiful FBI Profiler with a chilly efficiency who joins the ranks of the Boston FBI Field Office after a deadly terrorist attack rocks the city.
Absentia’s returning cast also includes Cara Theobold, Neil Jackson, Angel Bonanni, Paul Freeman and Patrick McAuley..
“Absentia really resonated with our Prime Video audience who were enthralled by the thrilling storyline and complicated characters,” said Vernon Sanders, Co-Head of Television, Amazon Studios. “Stana Katic is immensely talented and we look forward to her peeling away the layers of a twisted conspiracy that is deeper than her character “Emily” could have ever imagined in season two.”
Absentia, created by Gaia Violo and Matt Cirulnick based on a pilot script originally written by Violo, started with a 10-episode straight-to-series order by Sony Pictures Television Networks’ AXN for premiere on AXN’s worldwide channels and a plan to seek distribution in the U.S. and outside of AXN’s footprint once the show was completed. It landed at Amazon after launching on Sony’s AXN channels in fall 2017, ranking as the number one program in its time slot when it debuted in Spain, Portugal, Romania and Poland.
“From its inception on Sony’s international networks, Absentia has been a hit with global audiences,” said Marie Jacobson, EVP, Programming & Production, Sony Pictures Television Networks. “We’re thrilled to push our story forward into season two and couldn’t ask for a better home than Amazon for our signature Sony Networks series.”
The series is executive produced and directed by Oded Ruskin, alongside executive producers Julie Glucksman, Katic and Maria Feldman. Directors also include Adam Sanderson and Kasia Adamik.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.