‘It’s Edgier’ : James Patterson Reveals Aldis Hodge’s Cross is His Favorite TV Adaptation

James Patterson named the new Cross series on Amazon Prime as one of his favorite TV adaptations of his books.

Patterson, 77, spoke with Dax Shepard about the TV and film adaptations of his books like the on the Armchair Expert podcast on June 6 and specifically praised the new Amazon Prime adaptation, which stars Aldis Hodge as detective Alex Cross.

“That's the first one where I really can look at and go like, ‘Yep. It's edgier,’ Patterson shared.  “It's more realistic about police work and I really like the way that turned out.”  

Variety reported that the Cross series has been renewed for a second season ahead of the first season’s debut.

Patterson also specifically praised Morgan Freeman for his portrayal as Alex Cross in the 2001 film adaptation of Along Came a Spider. “Morgan Freeman; can't argue with that.”

The Alex Cross author explained that he believed that the success of the film and TV adaptations were separate from the success of the novels. 

“The book is a book and they can't mess with it,” Patterson said. “And I always love the idea that the movie's even better, the movie's as good or something like that.” 

He also teased an upcoming TV adaptation of one of his books, confirming that “Renee Zellweger is attached” to the project. 

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While Patterson said he felt like the film and TV adaptations of his novels were a “mixed bag," he did believe that the late Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park and Westworld, did enjoy the film adaptations of his books.

Patterson completed Crichton’s novel Eruption in a unique collaboration after Crichton’s untimely passing in 2008. Crichton’s widow Sherri specifically tapped Patterson to complete the final manuscript, since she believed he had the skill and profile to tackle it.

"I remember thinking, ‘How amazing would it be if we brought these two masterminds of storytelling together,” Sherri told PEOPLE in an interview on May 31. “Once the connection was made between these two iconic writers, I got to step back and watch the collaboration come to life on that page."

Patterson also told PEOPLE exclusively that “If someone you admire passes, you go, ‘I just want some more.’ In this case, I wanted to find out how the story turned out, so it had to be written.”

Cross has not set a premiere date yet, but will be available to stream on Amazon Prime.

James Patterson and Michael Crichton’s novel Eruption is now available wherever books are sold.

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