Back in September, we were able to exclusively report that Steven Soderbergh has more ideas for “The Knick” and that he’s working with Barry Jenkins and actor André Holland to bring those to life. A little while later, Soderbergh spoke about what those plans might be and what the future of “The Knick” was originally going to look like. Months later, we have yet to get an official announcement about the project going forward. However, in a recent interview, Barry Jenkins confirms that he’s still involved and the project is still in active development.
Speaking to the L.A. Times’ The Envelope podcast, Jenkins talked about the idea of him doing a spinoff of “The Knick,” and apparently, the project is still very much moving ahead with the filmmaker emphatically confirming that news.
“Yeah, we’re still working on it. And look, I’m a ‘Knick’ fanboy first and foremost,” Jenkins said. “I wish that Steven would have gone through with the Season 3 plans, and then it when it became clear that he wasn’t, I felt like well, I love this thing, and I really want it to exist, what can I do to help it exist?”
“So, we’ve just been chasing it,” he continued. “But it’s such a special show that it’s going to take a lot of work to get that thing to be what it is, because, as a fanboy first and foremost, if Season 3 can’t live up to the heights, set up by Season 1 and 2, what’s the point of making it, you know?”
Borrowing from a rather controversial politician, Jenkins has a motto that drives him in the creation of this new version of “The Knick.” Well, a spinoff of a previously-used motto.
READ MORE: Barry Jenkins Hasn’t Let Go Of ‘Underground Railroad’ Yet [Interview]
“Make ‘The Knick’ great again,” he laughed. “Oh shit, no, keep ‘The Knick’ great, I think that’s the best way to say it. Keep ‘The Knick’ great; that’s my motto.”
Obviously, it’s still a bit early to know when we might see a return of “The Knick” or the spinoff, but if you want to see what Barry Jenkins can do with a TV series, “The Underground Railroad” is available to stream now on Amazon Prime Video.