The Institute: Stephen King series will leave the door open for a second season
Stephen King‘s novel The Institute (which can be purchased HERE) reached store shelves on September 10, 2019 – and that same day, it was announced that David Kelley and Jack Bender, the duo behind the King series adaptation Mr. Mercedes, were working on a limited series adaptation of The Institute. Almost six years have gone since then and Kelley has dropped off the project along the way, but The Institute is moving forward at MGM+ – and now, we finally know when the show is going to premiere! The Institute is set to premiere on July 13th at 9pm ET/PT on MGM+ (we have a review that you can read at THIS LINK)… and before we even reach that date, creator / executive producer Benjamin Cavell has already let it be known that he’s hoping for a second season.
Set to run for eight episodes, The Institute will tell the following story: When young 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 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. King is an executive producer on the series. Bender remains a director and executive producer on the show.
The series stars Mary-Louise Parker of Weeds (and Mr. Mercedes), Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone), Simone Miller (Detention Adventure), Jason Diaz (The 100), Julian Richings (Supernatural), Fionn Laird (Under the Banner of Heaven), Hannah Galway (Sex/Life), Robert Joy (Land of the Dead), Viggo Hanvelt (Our Christmas Mural), Arlen So (Something Rotten), Birva Pandya (The Umbrella Academy), Dan Beirne (Ginny & Georgia), Martin Roach (Suits), Jane Luk (Streams Flow from a River), and – in the lead role of Luke Ellis – Joe Freeman. This is the first screen acting role for Freeman, who is 18 years old, six years older than Luke was in the book.
Speaking with Variety, Cavell said that the possibility of a second season has “always been on our minds from the beginning. The book is clearly designed to have more. It ends with this sense that there’s a much larger conspiracy and larger world outside of what we’ve seen, so we wanted to preserve that ending for our season. Obviously, we don’t end exactly the same way, but we wanted to preserve that scene, that there is much more to be explored. We’ve certainly talked a lot and thought a lot about where it would go, and I have talked a bunch to Stephen about what he thinks about it and where he sees it going. So if there is a demand for more, we would love to make more.“
Are you glad to hear that the makers of The Institute want to keep the story going for a second season? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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