With numerous projects up in the air (give us the new Salem’s Lot movie, you cowards!), a new Stephen King adaptation is in development and has tapped its two leads. Soon coming to MGM+, The Institute will receive its on-screen telling just five years after the best-selling book was published. The series will star Shadow and Bone and The Punisher’s Ben Barnes as well as Weeds and Angels in America’s Mary-Louise Parker in the leading roles. No stranger to standing at the helm of spooky scary stories, Jack Bender will serve as the drama’s executive producer and director. Bender’s previous credits include films like Child’s Play 3 and TV shows such as The Sopranos and Lost. Adapting the iconic piece of literature to series form is screenwriter and novelist Benjamin Cavell, whose work can be seen on Justified and The Stand – just to name a few.
Over eight episodes, the series will tell the story of a young teen named Luke Ellis who holds a set of special powers. When the 12-year-old is kidnapped, he finally wakes up, he finds himself in a place known only as The Institute where others like him are kept under lock and key. Meanwhile, in the neighboring town, an ex-police officer named Tim Jamieson (Barnes) is haunted by the ghosts of his past and made the move for small town life to get away from the world he left behind. Along the way, the ex-cop’s life collides with Luke’s in a way neither could have seen coming.
While she doesn’t find her way into the synopsis, Parker’s character, Ms. Sigsby, is an integral part of the story behind The Institute. She’s the top dog at the facility and the villain of the story, although she sees herself as a hero for carrying out the experiments on the young super-abled patients (prisoners). Although she’ll always be the face of Weeds to us, most recently, Parker appeared in Netflix’s live-action/animated hybrid film, Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp, and will soon be seen in the television drama, The Gray House. Meanwhile, Barnes most recently appeared in the last season of Black Mirror with his latest film appearance in last year’s The Critic.
Stephen King Is Excited For Another Adaptation
Since Brian De Palma brought audiences Sissy Spacek’s most terrifying role in 1976’s Carrie, directors and producers have been trying to keep up with the public’s ongoing love for the legendary author’s writings. We’ve been lucky for classics like The Shining, Pet Sematary, and It to receive their on-screen tellings with prequels and sequels oozing from pen to film. In a statement to celebrate his latest crossover, King said, “I’m delighted and excited at the prospect of The Institute, with its high–intensity suspense, being filmed as a series. The combination of Jack Bender and Ben Cavell guarantees that the results will be terrific.”
As of right now, no release date for The Institute has been set but production is slated to begin later this year in Nova Scotia. Stay tuned for more updates.
via Collider