Next Harlan Coben Book TV Adaptation Confirmed (and It’s a First)

This is Harlan Coben’s world, we just live in it.

The US thriller author is a one-man content factory for Netflix, which is currently ploughing its way through his back catalogue in search of more twist-stuffed mysteries to follow in the vein of Fool Me Once, Stay Close and The Stranger. And more is exactly what they’ve found. On the press circuit for Fool Me Once, the latest Coben novel to receive the page-to-screen treatment, the writer confirmed the next of his books lined up for Netflix: 2004’s Just One Look.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Coben announced: “We’re doing one right now in Poland based off my book Just One Look, we’re filming and Netflix Poland is working on. Also working on one in South America, believe it or not.”

Netflix Poland is already behind existing Polish-language Coben adaptations The Woods (2020) and Hold Tight (2022), two stories connected by the shared character of Pawel Kopinski (Paul Copeland in the original US-set books), played by Grzegorz Damiecki.

What makes Just One Look a first for Netflix’s Harlan Coben-based shows is that it’s already been made into a TV series once before, and not too long ago.

In 2017, French TV channel TF1 aired a six-part adaptation of the book starring Virginie Ledoyen in the lead role of Eva, a forest ranger who receives a mysterious photograph in the post, showing a group of strangers including her husband at a much younger age. He denies having anything to do with it, and promptly disappears, which leads Eva into a perilous investigation involving gangsters and long-buried secrets.

Despite having a great lead in Ledoyen, the 2017 series is far from the best Coben TV adaptation, so perhaps this Polish remake of the same story will be a little less Scooby Doo and a little more believable. They could certainly devote a bit more budget to the 20-years-earlier flashback wigs, for one.

As for the next English-language, UK-set adaptation from producers Nicola Schindler, Richard Fee and writer Danny Brocklehurst (the team behind The Five, Safe, The Stranger, Stay Close and Fool Me Once), there’s also more to come. Coben told RadioTimes.com:

“There’s no doubt that if Netflix wants us back, which hopefully everyone watching will make this happen, I’ll be working with Nicola [Shindler], Richard [Fee] and Danny [Brocklehurst] on at least another one or two. We want to keep this going, we love this kind of yearly thing if we can.

“We skipped last year but we’d love to try doing it where we have that New Year’s Day release for everybody, they can watch us hungover and we can join them in the new year.”

See you there!

Fool Me Once is available to stream now on Netflix.