Amazon Sets Its Own Harlan Coben Thriller, 'Lazarus' to Debut in October

Making television shows and movies is always a crapshoot. You can have all the best actors, scripts, sets, and directors, but everything can easily slide sideways if the wrong executive producer gets their way, or a director and actor have very different ideas. Sometimes a show fails just because people weren't into it. It's one reason for all the remakes, reimaginings, and revivals — if it was a hit once, there's a higher chance it could be a hit again.

It's also why Netflix's bottomless coffers give it such an advantage; the streaming service has the funds to throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks. Unlike most networks, it can produce ten miniseries and have nine fail, but still emerge victorious when the last one, in this case a British-set adaptation of Harlan Coben's novel, Stay Close, becomes an ongoing franchise. The franchise has become so successful that other streaming services are seeking to adapt American thrillers, with the notable exception of Amazon, which has just spent whatever it cost to have Corben write a thriller series for Prime Video.

Titled Lazarus, the Coben series is once again set in the U.K. and stars a cast of fan-favorite British actors. However, Amazon Studios isn't foolish enough to try to release it directly in competition with Netflix. Instead, Lazarus will arrive in time for Spooky Season, debuting in October 2025.