HBO readies documentary on 'Serial' podcast subject Adnan Syed
It's an expansion of the original series.
The Serial podcast continues to have an effect years after its debut. HBO and Sky are producing a documentary series, The Case Against Adnan Syed, that will cover the allegations against the subject of Serial's first season. The four-hour project will cover the circumstances leading up to Hae Min Lee's murder in 1999, the original trial and, crucially, the decision in the wake of the podcast to vacate his original conviction and grant a retrial.
The two companies haven't announced a premiere date for the show, but HBO will distribute it in the US while Sky will handle European distribution.
The Case Against Adnan Syed has been in development since 2015, so it's not a quick cash-in on tragic circumstances. It does, however, illustrate the mounting influence of podcasts in more conventional mediums. Amazon has had success with a Prime Video series based on Lore, for instance, while FX is creating a TV show from Welcome to Night Vale. Simply speaking, there's a large audience willing to check out follow-ups to these podcasts, especially when they center around real-world events that are still unfolding.
