Unlike the series, which was filmed in Boston, the new movies were filmed in Toronto (to take advantage of lower production costs). The first two movies retained the novels' Boston setting (parts of Toronto passed for Boston), while the second two were re-written to take place in Toronto. Second Spenser film series Beginning in 1999, Joe Mantegna played Spenser in three TV movies on the A&E cable network: Small Vices (1999), Thin Air (2000), Walking Shadow (2001). Marcia Gay Harden played Susan, while Shiek Mahmud-Bey and, later, Ernie Hudson played Hawk. Robert B. Parker had a significant role in the development of the TV movies (all three films were adapted by Parker, with his wife co-authoring Walking Shadow). Spenser Netflix movie Spenser Confidential (formerly called "Wonderland") is a mystery film directed by Peter Berg and written by Sean O'Keefe. The film is very loosely based on the 2013 novel by Ace Atkins, an authorized continuation of the Spenser series. It uses the names of characters from the series of novels and a Boston setting, but otherwise departs substantially from the Parker/Atkins novels. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as Spenser, Winston Duke as Hawk and Alan Arkin as Henry Cimoli. Post Malone, Iliza Shlesinger, Bokeem Woodbine and Donald Cerrone also appear. Spenser Confidential was released by Netflix in March 2020. The movie received generally negative reviews, with Atkins taking negative swipes at both Wahlberg and the movie itself in the pages of the two Spenser novels released after the movie. Shared universe Spenser and Hawk live in the same Boston literary universe as Parker's other, later series characters: private investigator Sunny Randall and small town police chief Jesse Stone, the former of whom was possibly mentioned in passing as a blonde jogging with an English bull terrier, while the latter had a much larger role in Back Story. Susan Silverman is Sunny Randall's psychologist in Melancholy Baby. The fictional Taft University, where Susan teaches, was also a primary setting for the Spenser novel Playmates and the non-Spenser novel Love and Glory. References External links Official site of Robert B. Parker Official site of Ace Atkins The Thrilling Detective website's page on Spenser — contains a list of Spenser novels, movies and TV episodes Book series introduced in 1973 Fictional characters from Boston Fictional gunfighters Fictional private investigators Literary characters introduced in 1973 Series of books Fictional characters from Wyoming Characters in