André Holland Says ‘The Knick’ Season 3 with Barry Jenkins Is Alive: ‘We’re Working Very Hard to Make It Happen’

January 21, 2024 @ 6:22 PM

There’s hope yet for fans of Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed two-season Cinemax series “The Knick” to continue, as actor André Holland says a third season is very much alive.

TheWrap spoke with Holland on Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival about his new film “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” but we couldn’t let him leave the studio before we asked about the proposed “The Knick” Season 3.

When asked what the premise of this season would have been, which had Holland’s “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins involved and was revealed in 2020, Holland said, “I would tell you but there is still a possibility [it could happen]. We are working very hard to make it happen. Keep writing about it, keep talking about it and maybe we can convince the powers that be to write the check.”

When asked if Jenkins is still involved, Holland said that he was, and what’s more – the two “talked a couple of nights ago and he’s still in lockstep with us.” In this new configuration of the medical drama series, Soderbergh would still produce and Jenkins would direct. “It will still happen,” Holland added.

Holland appeared on a panel at Sundance with Soderbergh, who was at the festival with a new film of his own, the ghost story “Presence.”

While “The Knick” is unlikely to return to Cinemax or HBO, Holland told TheWrap that original creators Jack Amiel and Michael Begler would be back and some of the other actors have also expressed interest in returning. He said that the series, while initially somewhat ignored, has become a cult favorite in the years since and the team is looking to use that enthusiasm when finding it a new home.

“The Knick” premiered in 2014 and revolved around New York City’s Knickerbocker Hospital in the early part of the 20th century. Clive Owen starred as the egotistical, cutting-edge Dr. John W. “Thack” Thackery, who was also a functioning opium addict. Holland played Dr. Algernon C. Edwards, a Black surgeon whose more contemporary sensibilities sometimes clashed with the establishment, who fretted not only over his ideas but also (of course) his skin color. It was a vivid series, rich in period detail, and it was over way too soon.