After two long years in development limbo, Cross, based on New York Times best-selling author James Patterson's Alex Cross book series, is gearing up to begin filming. In an interview with Aldis Hodge for his return to Freevee's Leverage: Redemption, Collider's own Christina Radish asked about the status of the new criminal drama. As a producer for the series, and also starring as the titular Alex Cross, Hodge was forthcoming with information on where production is at, and when, exactly, it will begin filming.
First picked up in 2020, Cross will focus on Hodge's character Alex Cross, a uniquely skilled detective and forensic psychologist. Though a loving and devoted father, Cross has a singular obsession with hunting down killers, and his inability to relinquish the hunt is exacerbated by the murder of his wife, which continues to plague him. Now acquired by Amazon, we asked whether filming was underway, to which Hodge responded, "No, we’re in pre-production right now. We’re getting everything ready – costumes, casting, sets. We start filming in January."
Aside from working with showrunner Ben Watkins (Hand of God), who he says "wrote a brilliant script," Hodge reveals what appealed to him most about the series is, "the magnitude of what the legacy of Cross is." The character spans across nearly 30 of Patterson's books, lending plenty of source material, and has been the subject of three feature films, Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider, and Alex Cross, with both Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry portraying the detective previously. Though already featured in films, a series adaptation could offer the potential to dig further into the material that was first published in the late '90s, and for fans of the books, Hodge says he's reading up and digging in, and even "chat it up" with Patterson to undrstand the character more.
On the producer side of the things, the Black Adam star was able to give us an even more detailed idea of where the show's progress is at. When asked whether he was closely involved with character development, Hodge replied:
"Our character development is pretty well-established at this point already. At this point, it’s mostly the casting and the regular producorial things of getting the looks down, costume, hair, all that kind of stuff. Really, the primary thing in this stage for us is casting."
In other words, if you have a dream cast for the Cross series, now's the time to hit social media with your fan-faves before pre-production gives way to filming in January. Currently, aside from Hodge, Ryan Eggold (New Amsterdam) has been cast as Ed Ramsey, a charming political figure with secrets whose taste for Cross sours, and Isaiah Mustafa (Shadowhunters) as John Sampson, Cross's best friend and partner.
Be on the lookout with Collider for Hodge's full interview, and more on Cross as the series develops. In the meantime, check out the trailer for Hodge's Leverage: Redemption Season 2 below: