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The Institute adaptation
In a competitive situation, Spyglass Media Group’s TV division has optioned Stephen King’s latest novel The Institute to develop as a limited series, with David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies) and Jack Bender (Lost), the same creative team behind the critically acclaimed Mr. Mercedes, also based on a King novel, attached. The announcement marks the first television acquisition for Spyglass and was made by Lauren Whitney, President of Television for Spyglass. Additionally, Spyglass has set a multi-year first look deal with Bender to develop future projects for Spyglass, overseen by Whitney.
The project marks a reunion for Kelley and Bender who have worked together on Mr. Mercedes, DirecTV’s Audience Network’s adaptation of King’s Bill Hodges Trilogy that has been renewed for a third season.
Kelley will pen the adaptation for The Institute and Bender will direct. Both will executive produce.
“Having the opportunity to work on a new and brilliant book by Stephen King is an absolute privilege,” said Whitney. “We are thrilled to collaborate with this dream team, including the incomparable David E. Kelley, and Jack Bender, the architect behind this project, whose extensive directing and executive producing credits speak for themselves. After such a competitive pursuit, we have big plans for The Institute here at Spyglass.”
The Institute, on sale today, has received stellar early reviews. Publisher’s Weekly describes the novel as “the most gut-wrenching tale of kids triumphing over evil since It…”
Said King, “I’m delighted to be working with Jack and David, the creative team behind Mr. Mercedes. We think alike, and I believe The Institute is going to be a great success.”
Said Kelley, “It’s a privilege and a joy to be able to team with Stephen and Jack again. Stephen has written yet another compelling and brilliant book. I cannot wait to jump in.
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EXCLUSIVE: MGM+ has given a series order to The Institute, a thriller based on the 2019 Stephen King novel. Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone) and Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) are set to lead the drama from director/executive producer Jack Bender (Lost, Mr. Mercedes), writer/executive producer Benjamin Cavell (Justified, The Stand) and MGM+ Studios. Production is slated to begin in Nova Scotia later this year.
In the eight-episode The Institute, When 12-year-old genius Luke Ellis is kidnapped, he awakens at The Institute, a facility full of children who all got there the same way he did, and who are all possessed of unusual abilities. In a nearby town, haunted former police officer Tim Jamieson (Barnes) has come looking to start a new life, but the peace and quiet won’t last, as his story and Luke’s are destined to collide.
Barnes’ Tim Jamieson is a disillusioned ex-cop who takes a job as the night knocker in a small town, withdrawing from the world until Luke’s plight reignites him and gives him something to believe in.
Parker, who I hear has a one-year deal, will play Ms. Sigsby, the charming but iron-willed director of the Institute and a true believer in its awful mission. She’s certain history will come to see her as a hero.
“I’m delighted and excited at the prospect of The Institute, with its high-intensity suspense, being filmed as a series,” King said. “The combination of Jack Bender and Ben Cavell guarantees that the results will be terrific.”
The Institute follows another series by MGM+ based on King’s literary work, Chapelwaite.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work again with Stephen King. And The Institute, based on his critically acclaimed novel, is an exciting addition to the MGM+ original series slate,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “There is no creative team I would trust more to bring the book to life than Jack and Ben, whose creative vision and love of Mr. King’s voice, will bring this thought-provoking and gut-wrenching story to life, in the engaging, cinematic, and thrilling style MGM+ viewers expect.”
Bender has extensive experience in King series adaptations, having executive produced CBS’ Under The Dome; Audience’s Mr. Mercedes, whose Season 1 cast included Parker; and HBO’s The Outsider. At MGM+, he is also director/executive producer on hit horror series From, which counts King among its fans.
When The Institute was published in 2019, it was originally acquired by Spyglass for the Mr. Mercedes team of writer/EP David E. Kelley and EP Bender. This is a new incarnation of the project with a new writer and studio.
“I’m thrilled that Stephen King has entrusted me with another of his brilliant novels and continuing the extraordinary creative relationship with Michael Wright and MGM+,” Bender said. “Working alongside Ben Cavell and a team of exceptional writers, to tell the story of these uniquely gifted children, will ensure a suspenseful and engrossing series.”
Cavell is coming off adapting King’s novel The Stand into the 2020 Paramount+ miniseries of the same name.
“It is my great honor to have another chance to adapt Stephen King, who has been generous and collaborative beyond my wildest imaginings,” he said. “Also, the opportunity to work with Jack Bender, who has directed some of my all-time favorite television, is truly a dream come true. I couldn’t be more grateful to Michael Wright and MGM for putting this team together.”
Barnes starred as General Kirigan in Netflix’s series Shadow and Bone. He also guest starred on two Netflix anthology series, Black Mirror and Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. In features, Barnes was most recently in Anand Tucker’s crime drama The Critic opposite Mark Strong, Ian McKellen, and Gemma Arterton. He recently signed with Gersh and is also repped by Luber Roklin.
Parker stars in Paramount Global’s upcoming limited series The Gray House. On the film side, she is in Bernardo Britto’s Omni Loop, which premiered at this year’s SXSW festival and was also seen in Seneca: On the Creation of Earthquakes. She is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Bender is repped by UTA and Attorney Bob Myman. Cavell is repped by Larry Shuman at The Shuman Company, CAA, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
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Simone Miller (Run The Burbs) and Jason Diaz (Vampire Academy) have joined a cast.
Deadline details in today’s report, “Miller plays Kalisha, a sarcastic-but-friendly Institute inmate, who becomes one of Luke’s closest allies. Diaz plays Tony, the most sadistic of the Institute’s orderlies, who delights in wielding his power over the children.”
MGM+ previewed its upcoming thriller series “The Institute,” based on Stephen King‘s 2019 novel, at Content London on Thursday.
During the panel — which included head of MGM+ Michael Wright, “The Institute” director and executive producer Jack Bender and creator and executive producer Benjamin Cavell — a full trailer for the series was played in addition to a sizzle reel of MGM+’s 2025 slate. They also announced for the first time that King has come on board the project as an executive producer.
The trailer gave a first look at the Institute itself, a cement, brutalist-style building where kids with telekinetic powers are taken after being mysteriously abducted. Luke, played by newcomer Joe Freeman, is seen meeting the fellow children in the Institute as well as villain Ms. Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker) for the first time, who encourages him that he is doing something good for the world as he is hooked up to machines and made to move objects.