Stephen King’s "The Institute" in Works with Ben Barnes & Mary-Louise Parker to Star

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 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".

MGM+ boss Michael Wright 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 the 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.

Cavell is coming off adapting King’s novel The Stand into the 2020 Paramount+ miniseries of the same name.

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.

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".