Nearly five years after Mare of Easttown had its premiere on HBO, the award-winning crime series received a surprising production update from Kate Winslet, who plays the titular Mare.
Initially designed by showrunner Brad Ingelsby to be a miniseries, Mare of Easttown delivered the kind of prestige murder mystery crime fans were craving since the first season of True Detective. Set in the fictional Easttown, in Delaware County, the show followed Winslet as a hard-case detective digging into secrets old and new, trying to find the connection between the murder of a young woman and the disappearance of another years ago.
Mare of Easttown season 2 will possibly begin shooting next year
According to Deadline, Winslet revealed that there's a “strong likelihood” that Mare of Easttown will return for a second season. The acclaimed crime series, which took home three acting Emmy awards in 2021, came up in a conversation Winslet had while finalizing her directorial debut, Goodbye June.
“They were proper conversations around a timeframe when it could be possible. And so I think we probably will do it, and that’s the first time I’ve felt that,” claimed the Titanic and Avatar star.
Winslet didn't disclose any potential plot details, but stressed in the past that she would only play Mare again if the story was "too bloody good to resist." When asked about production details, the actress stated that there's a strong likelihood that Mare of Easttown will begin shooting its second season sometime in 2027, so fans will still have to wait a while.
A Mare of Easttown crossover with another HBO crime hit may be on the way
News of a possible Mare of Easttown season 2 comes shortly after HBO's Task was renewed for a second season. Both crime shows were created by Ingelsby and take place in the suburbs of Delaware County, just outside Philly.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ingeslby joked about Mare of Easttown and Task being part of a shared universe, claiming, "They exist in the same world, so it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Mare (Winslet) walked into a Wawa that Tom (Ruffalo) was in. I don’t have a story in mind that’s a crossover, but I love the idea of their worlds intersecting.”
Task is a Heat-style crime story that unfolds like a game of cat and mouse, whereas Mare of Easttown plays out like a more traditional whodunit mystery. Both series feature major Hollywood stars in the main roles, and it would be a delight to witness a crossover between Mark Ruffalo and Winslet's deeply flawed characters. There's a lot of room to explore in the dynamics of a tormented FBI agent and a small-town detective who's seen it all.