EXCLUSIVE: MGM+ has given a collection order to The Institute, a thriller based mostly on the 2019 Stephen King novel. Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone) and Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) are set to guide the drama from director/government producer Jack Bender (Misplaced, Mr. Mercedes), author/government producer Benjamin Cavell (Justified, The Stand) and MGM+ Studios. Manufacturing is slated to start in Nova Scotia later this 12 months.
Within the eight-episode The Institute, When 12-year-old genius Luke Ellis is kidnapped, he awakens at The Institute, a facility full of youngsters who all obtained there the identical method he did, and who’re all possessed of bizarre skills. In a close-by city, haunted former police officer Tim Jamieson (Barnes) has come seeking to begin a brand new life, however the peace and quiet received’t final, as his story and Luke’s are destined to collide.
Barnes’ Tim Jamieson is a disillusioned ex-cop who takes a job because the night time knocker in a small city, withdrawing from the world till Luke’s plight reignites him and offers him one thing to imagine in.
Parker, who I hear has a one-year deal, will play Ms. Sigsby, the charming however iron-willed director of the Institute and a real believer in its terrible mission. She’s sure historical past will come to see her as a hero.
“I’m delighted and excited on the prospect of The Institute, with its high-intensity suspense, being filmed as a collection,” King stated. “The mix of Jack Bender and Ben Cavell ensures that the outcomes can be terrific.”
The Institute follows one other collection by MGM+ based mostly on King’s literary work, Chapelwaite.
“We’re thrilled to have the chance to work once more with Stephen King. And The Institute, based mostly on his critically acclaimed novel, is an thrilling addition to the MGM+ authentic collection slate,” stated Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “There isn’t any artistic staff I might belief extra to deliver the e-book to life than Jack and Ben, whose artistic imaginative and prescient and love of Mr. King’s voice, will deliver this thought-provoking and gut-wrenching story to life, within the participating, cinematic, and thrilling model MGM+ viewers anticipate.”
Bender has intensive expertise in King collection variations, having government produced CBS’ Underneath The Dome; Viewers’s Mr. Mercedes, whose Season 1 forged included Parker; and HBO’s The Outsider. At MGM+, he’s additionally director/government producer on hit horror collection From, which counts King amongst its followers.
When The Institute was printed in 2019, it was initially acquired by Spyglass for the Mr. Mercedes staff of author/EP David E. Kelley and EP Bender. This can be a new incarnation of the venture with a brand new author and studio.
“I’m thrilled that Stephen King has entrusted me with one other of his good novels and persevering with the extraordinary artistic relationship with Michael Wright and MGM+,” Bender stated. “Working alongside Ben Cavell and a staff of outstanding writers, to inform the story of those uniquely gifted youngsters, will guarantee a suspenseful and engrossing collection.”
Cavell is coming off adapting King’s novel The Stand into the 2020 Paramount+ miniseries of the identical identify.
“It’s my nice honor to have one other probability to adapt Stephen King, who has been beneficiant and collaborative past my wildest imaginings,” he stated. “Additionally, the chance to work with Jack Bender, who has directed a few of my all-time favourite tv, is actually a dream come true. I couldn’t be extra grateful to Michael Wright and MGM for placing this staff collectively.”
Barnes starred as Common Kirigan in Netflix’s collection Shadow and Bone. He additionally visitor starred on two Netflix anthology collection, Black Mirror and Guillermo Del Toro’s Cupboard of Curiosities. In options, Barnes was most just lately in Anand Tucker’s crime drama The Critic reverse Mark Sturdy, Ian McKellen, and Gemma Arterton. He just lately signed with Gersh and can be repped by Luber Roklin.
Parker stars in Paramount World’s upcoming restricted collection The Grey Home. On the movie facet, she is in Bernardo Britto’s Omni Loop, which premiered at this 12 months’s SXSW pageant and was additionally seen in Seneca: On the Creation of Earthquakes. She is repped by CAA, Untitled Leisure and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Bender is repped by UTA and Lawyer Bob Myman. Cavell is repped by Larry Shuman at The Shuman Firm, CAA, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.