By James Barber
“The Terminal List,” based on former SEAL Jack Carr’s best-selling series of books about the lethal operator James Reece, is set to premiere on July 1, 2022. Prime Video will release all eight episodes at once, so make your streaming plans for Independence Day weekend.
Chris Pratt, who’s successfully made the transition from comedy actor to kickass action star, plays Reece, a former SEAL who’s on a mission to track down everyone who’s responsible for an attack on his family.
Few people would’ve guessed that the actor who played sweet Andy Dwyer on “Parks and Recreation” would end up as “Guardians of the Galaxy’s” Star-Lord in the Marvel movies, Owen Grady in the “Jurassic World” series or hero veteran Dan Forester in “The Tomorrow War.” None of those characters comes close to the relentless brutality of Reece, so Pratt’s taking a huge step with “The Terminal List.”
Carr, whose next Reece novel, “In the Blood,” is set for release on April 12, 2022, wrote about the announcement today on his blog. He’s upfront about the fact that the show makes some changes to the novel.
“There are certainly differences,” Carr writes. “Knowing that telling a story visually over an eight-part series would entail changes, I went into the project with an open mind. What was important to me, Chris, and Antoine was that the series keep the dark, gritty, visceral, primal, violent tone of the novel. If you watch it with the book in hand with the intent of noting every discrepancy, that might not be the most pleasurable viewing experience.
“But if you go in expecting it to not follow the book exactly with the understanding that telling a story visually will be different, you are going to have a blast! The good part about it not following the book to the letter is that there will be surprises in store even if you know the novel by heart.”
The “Antoine” that Carr mentions is Antoine Fuqua, who produced the series with Pratt and directed the first episode. Fuqua has directed a slew of modern classics like “Training Day,” “Shooter,” “Olympus Has Fallen” and “The Equalizer.”
“The Terminal List” also stars Remi Adeleke as Terrell “Tee” Daniels. Adeleke is a former Navy SEAL who’s playing his biggest role to date after small parts in “Transformers: The Last Knight” and “6 Underground,” both directed by Michael Bay. Adeleke also has a part in Bay’s upcoming military veteran thriller, “Ambulance.”
LaMonica Garrett (“1883”), Alexis Louder (“The Tomorrow War”), Constance Wu (“Hustlers”), Jeanne Tripplehorn (“Criminal Minds”), Taylor Kitsch (“Friday Night Lights”), Patrick Schwarzenegger (“The Long Road Home”), Riley Keough (“Logan Lucky”) and Jai Courtney (“The Suicide Squad”) round out the cast.
James Reece fans will be glad to know that Carr was deeply involved with the show and is publishing a new hardcover edition of “The Terminal List” to coincide with the series.
“I have been involved with every part of the process,” he wrote on his site. “It was an incredible learning experience, and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of such an amazing team. A new hardcover special edition of ‘The Terminal List’ with a new forward and exclusive behind the scenes photos is scheduled to drop in the coming months. In that forward I detail the process of bringing ‘The Terminal List’ to life.”
