‘The Institute’: MGM+ Series Based On Stephen King Novel Adds 11 To Cast
EXCLUSIVE: The Institute, MGM+‘s thriller series based on the 2019 Stephen King novel, has added 11 to its cast, joining previously announced Mary-Louise Parker, Ben Barnes, Simone Miller and Jason Diaz. Joe Freeman (Doctors), Fionn Laird (Under the Banner of Heaven), Hannah Galway (Under the Banner of Heaven), Julian Richings (Beau Is Afraid), Robert Joy (Julia), Viggo Hanvelt (Our Christmas Mural), Arlen So (Something Rotten), Birva Pandya (The Umbrella Academy), Dan Beirne (Ginny & Georgia), Martin Roach (Suits) and Jane Luk (Streams Flow From A River) join as series regulars in the series from director/executive producer Jack Bender (Lost, Mr. Mercedes), writer/executive producer Benjamin Cavell (Justified, The Stand) and MGM+ Studios. Production will begin in Nova Scotia later this year.
In the eight-episode The Institute, when 12-year-old genius Luke Ellis (Freeman) 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.
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Freeman’s Luke is a 14-year-old genius who happens also to be mildly telekenetic, Luke finds himself
snatched from his bedroom and plunged into the depths of The Institute, a shadowy organization that has been kidnapping children with psychic ability and using them for some unknown purpose. The Institute doesn’t care at all about Luke’s intellect (or, for that matter, his gentle kindness and good humor), but it will be those qualities that help him survive.
Laird plays Nick, The Institute’s resident bad-boy rebel.
Galway portrays Wendy, police officer and lifelong resident in the town where Tim is night knocking.
Joy plays Hendricks, the Doctor in charge of The Institute’s scientific work.
Roach portrays Chief Ashworth, Tim’s boss, the small-town Chief of Police.
Hanvelt plays Avery, the youngest, most innocent, and by far the most powerful of The Institute’s inmates.
Richings portrays Stackhouse, The Institute’s calculating head of security.
Beirne plays Drew, a police officer in the department Tim works for.
So portrays George, The Institute’s class clown.
Pandya plays Iris, one of the first kids Luke meets when he arrives at The Institute.
Luke portrays Maureen, an Institute orderly with a tragic past.
Previously announced 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.
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.
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.
The Institute follows another series by MGM+ based on King’s literary work, Chapelwaite.
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