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 went by and Kelley has dropped off the project along the way, but The Institute finally made its way out into the world on MGM+ last summer… and now, King has confirmed that season 2 is filming!
Refresher
The first season of The Institute ran for eight episodes and told 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 was the first screen acting role for Freeman, who was 18 years old, six years older than Luke was in the book.
Season 2
Speaking with Variety before the premiere of the first season, Cavell said that the possibility of a second season had “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.“
King confirmed the start of production on season 2 by sharing an image on social media:
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