HBO will plunge once more into the story of Robert Durst with a sequel to The Jinx, the hit docuseries that ultimately led to the late real estate scion’s conviction on murder charges.
While Durst died in January 2022 — months after he was found guilty of murder, though that charge was posthumously vacated — director Andrew Jarecki continued his investigation, during which the filmmakers found “hidden material” not included in the 2015 docuseries.
The Jinx – Part Two — which is currently in production with a planned 2024 release — will also feature new interviews with people in Durst’s orbit who previously did not come forward, as well as audio from Durst’s own prison phone calls.
Durst — the oldest of four children born to Seymour Durst, heir to the Durst Organization real estate empire, and socialite Bernice Herstein — was implicated in several murders and mysterious disappearances over the course of his life, but, perhaps thanks to his wealth, justice eluded him.
Durst had long been a suspect in the disappearance of his former wife Kathie McCormack Durst, who vanished in 1982 at the age of 29; she was declared legally dead in 2017, 27 years after Durst divorced Kathie on grounds of spousal abandonment.
Kathie’s disappearance was the basis of the 2010 film All Good Things, starring Ryan Gosling as a Durst-inspired character. Jarecki, who directed that film, was later approached by Durst, a fan of All Good Things, which resulted in Durst participating in what eventually became the 2015 docuseries The Jinx.
The six-part series investigated Durst’s troubled life and his alleged role in Kathie’s disappearance, as well as the shooting death of his best friend Susan Berman in 2000 — which he was convicted of in 2022, thanks in part to an accidental admission while filming The Jinx — and the death and dismemberment of his neighbor Morris Black in 2001.
“What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,” Durst said to himself after excusing himself from The Jinx interview to go to the bathroom, not realizing he was still wired for sound. The day before the March 15th, 2015 finale of The Jinx, Durst was charged with Berman’s murder.
Although Durst was finally charged with murder related to McCormack’s disappearance, he died before he could go to trial; it’s unclear whether the six-episode sequel series has unearthed more evidence related to that crime.
