FX Picks Up ‘The Bridge’ For Second Season

FX formally announced today that its freshman cross-border drama The Bridge will be coming back for another season. The 13-episodes of the not unexpected second season will premiere next summer, the network says. Season 1 of the U.S./Mexico crime show wraps up on October 2. “We’ve been blown away by the compelling performances of Demian Bichir and Diane Kruger and the writing of Meredith Stiehm, Elwood Reid and their team, and are thrilled to be able to continue this journey for another season,” said Eric Schrier, President of Original Programming for FX Networks and FX Productions in a statement today. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Rich Ross, Carolyn Bernstein and everyone at Shine America.” Also today, Fox International Channels, which rolled out Season 1 around the world this summer, picked up the exclusive pay-TV rights for Season 2 in 125 countries.

The Bridge, which is adopted from the Euro-series Bron about a bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden, follows two cops — one Mexican, one American – as they jointly investigate a serial killer terrorizing the border. Starring Kruger as El Paso PD Sonya Cross and Bichir as Marco Ruiz her counterpart from Chihuahua State Police, the show debuted on FX on July 10 to 3.04 million viewers. It jumped up in Live+3 to 4.64 million to become the network’s biggest launch ever. The Bridge was also the No. 1 new scripted cable series of the summer in key demos. Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid adapted The Bridge for American television, with Shine America producing. Shine’s Carolyn G. Bernstein and Lars Blomgren of Shine Group’s Filmlance, which co-produced the original series with Denmark’s Nimbus Film, serve as executive producers with the writers. The Bridge is Shine’s first major U.S. scripted series since the 2008 acquisition of Reveille.