The Terminal List showrunner breaks down Prime Video thriller’s similarities to Jack Carr’s best-selling book-Cydney Yeates-Entertainment – Metro

Chris Pratt stars as James Reece in The Terminal List (Picture: Prime Video)

Chris Pratt’s gripping psychological thriller The Terminal List arrives on Prime Video today, and it’s based on Jack Carr’s best-selling book of the same name.

The eight-part drama follows Navy Seal James Reece (Pratt) who is struggling with his mental health after his entire platoon is ambushed during a high-stakes operation.

With a fast-paced, action-packed plot and a star-studded ensemble cast, which includes Constance Wu and Taylor Kitsch, this show is sure to keep us all on tenterhooks.

But how similar is The Terminal List’s television adaptation to the original book series?

Showrunner David DiGilio explained to Metro.co.uk that the series is a ‘different take’ on the original material with the drama delving ‘deeper psychology of James Reece’.

‘We knew we had to maintain the military authenticity, this incredible story of vengeance and accountability, and James Reece as probably the most authentic character of the warrior class,’ he told us.

The series is now streaming on Prime Video (Picture: Prime Video)

‘But then everything else, we could heighten or dive deeper into things, like what’s happening in Reece’s head.’

‘That combination would not only make for a great show, but someone who’s a book fan can watch and go “I recognise that scene, wow they did that differently!” and so the show becomes surprising both to new fans and to old fans,’ DiGilio added.

DiGilio spoke of the difficulties he faced trying to adapt the book for the small screen.

The series is based on Jack Carr’s best-selling novel (Picture: Prime Video)

‘The hardest thing when you adapt a property is to understand why that property is working for so many people and maintain that even as you take something that’s written to be read inside our brains and put it onto the screen,’ he said.

‘That is essential because often writers make the mistake of changing something too much.

‘You need to change things like certain storylines and characters to make the cinematic experience work more completely. But if you lose the essential ingredient of the novel itself then you’re going to lose the audience completely.

‘You’re trying to honour this incredible novel and pivot into something that’s more psychological.’

DiGilio initially wrote with the novel open during the pilot phase.

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‘I actually spoke to Jack Carr regularly, really testing every idea and any change that I made, I made sure Jack was on board and excited about it,’ he shared.

‘Then we went into the writers’ room, we did a phase where we broke character arcs and season arcs and then we actually brought the book back and we tested every idea against the book.’

The Terminal List is available to stream on Prime Video.

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