A month ahead of its series premiere, Cinemax has seen fit to renew its period medical drama The Knick, from “retired” filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, for a second season of 10 episodes. Excitingly, Soderbergh, who executive-produced and directed all 10 episodes of the first season, will be returning to helm the entire second season as well. News of the pick-up comes just days after Soderbergh revealed that he was planning a second season, so Cinemax likely jumped at the chance to keep him around.
Set in downtown New York at the turn of the twentieth century, The Knick focuses on the doctors, nurses and staff of Knickerbocker Hospital as they push the bounds of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics.
Clive Owen stars in the series as Dr. John W. Thackery, a doctor at Knickerbocker who is forced to make bold medical decisions with his limited resources and who also combats a myriad of professional and personal problems throughout the series. Andre Holland, Eve Hewson, Juliet Rylance, Jeremy Bobb, Michael Angarano, Chris Sullivan, Cara Seymour, Eric Johnson, David Fierro, Maya Kazan, Grainger Hines, Leon Addison Brown and Matt Frewer co-star.
Speaking about The Knick‘s home on Cinemax, Soderbergh confided, “I wanted to be a big kid in a small school.” With his celebrity, Cinemax is likely thrilled to have him, and that comes with the added perk that he can really take The Knick wherever his heart desires. About the visual style of The Knick, which trailers have already hinted at, Soderbergh said:
“There’s a positive aspect to having a visual language that is very, very specific and very, very unified throughout the show. In this case, it’s not only creatively satisfying, but it’s, practically speaking, a better way to work.”
We’ll see what Soderbergh has up his sleeve when The Knick arrives August 8th on Cinemax.