After becoming a smash ratings hit in its debut season and ranking as 2018-19’s highest-rated new scripted series, Manifest will take to the skies for a second season at NBC, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
RELATED: Watch the First Nine Minutes of NBC’s Manifest
The series is about a commercial airplane that mysteriously disappears, only to re-appear five years later. While no time has passed for those onboard, the world has gone on without them, and new mysteries unfold for the passengers as they seek to find answers as to how and why their plane disappeared years ago.
“In just its first season, Manifest has answered many questions about the mystery of Flight 828 and, smartly, asks many more,” Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, co-presidents scripted programming at NBC Entertainment, said in a statement. “Congratulations to [creator] Jeff Rake, our producers, cast and crew who have created an incredibly addictive series with compelling characters and complex relationships.”
Though it earned generally mixed reviews from critics, the first season was a runaway hit with audiences intrigued by the mystery of Flight 828 and the drama surrounding their lives upon return. The pilot, which premiered in September 2018, drew the highest premiere numbers for any new series in the fall and continued to average approximately 12.61 million viewers every week, landing at second for overall viewers just behind CBS’ hit freshman drama FBI.
RELATED: FBI: CBS Sets Premiere Date for Most Wanted Spin-off Episode
Manifest is written and executive produced by Jeff Rake. Robert Zemeckis will executive produce for his Compari Entertainment with Jack Rapke. Jackie Levine from Compari will co-executive produce. Rake is known for writing/executive producing The Mysteries of Laura as well as co-creating The $treet and Miss Match as well as working on The Tomorrow People.
Robert Zemeckis is known for writing/directing all three Back to the Future films, and directing films like Romancing the Stone with Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito, Death Becomes Her with Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis, Contact with Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey and James Woods and the recent Allied.
The complete first season of Manifest, consisting of 16 episodes, can be viewed on NBC’s website or on Hulu.
