With titles like The Dark Tower and The Long Walk already in the works, Stephen King adaptations are truly the gift that keeps on giving to both horror lovers and the studios that back them. Along with these two projects and others like The Life of Chuck and The Monkey, another production centered around one of the author’s books is also chugging along. Today, MGM+ has shared the first still to come from its upcoming thriller series, The Institute, which is based on King’s 2019 novel of the same name. The debut image, shared by Variety, was on display during a panel at Content London earlier on Thursday, during which the streamer’s head, Michael Wright, was in attendance alongside the show’s director and executive producer, Jack Bender, and the creator and executive producer, Benjamin Cavell. In addition, guests were lucky enough to set their eyes on the debut trailer which has not yet been made public, but we’re still beyond thrilled to get up close and personal with the photo.
The shot is a solid tease of the horror to come when The Institute arrives on MGM+ 2025. In it, we catch our first look at Joe Freeman’s Luke, a young man doing whatever he can to survive the terrors that go on inside the walls of the titular building. In a white tee shirt with light red stripes, Luke is hooked up to a machine that’s monitoring his vitals, but the look on his face is that of panic and terror. Meanwhile, a member of the staff can be seen behind him, running down some information in the lab. The dark and somber tone of the image tells us everything we need to know about the building that Luke and the other patients are being housed in — it’s certainly not a place one would want to end up.
The vibes are rather on point, too, because The Institute isn’t somewhere that anyone would want to turn up. With Freeman’s Luke as its main character, the story centers around the young man’s life after his parents are brutally murdered, and he’s kidnapped by the lethal intruders. When he comes to, he discovers that he’s being held prisoner in an undisclosed location where others like him — kids who have telepathic or telekinetic abilities – are being studied through brutal means.
Who Else Will Be Housed In ‘The Institute’?
Along with Freeman, the lengthy call sheet for the latest King adaptation includes Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone), Jason Diaz (The Handmaid’s Tale), Simone Miller (Detention Adventure), Fionn Laird (Under the Banner of Heaven), Robert Joy (Julia), Julian Richings (Beau Is Afraid), Hannah Galway (Sex/Life), Viggo Hanvelt (Single All the Way), Martin Roach (Believer), Birva Pandya (The Umbrella Academy), and more.
Check out the first look at The Institute above and stay tuned to Collider for further updates.
