UK EXCLUSIVE
POWEARS THAT BE
SHOWRUNNER JACK BENDER TUNES INTO STEPHEN KING’S FREQUENCY FOR , A SERIES ABOUT KIDS WITH PSYCHIC ABILITIES
WORDS: JAMIE GRAHAM
Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) must undergo the Institute’s tests.
PICTURES: CHRIS REARDON / MGM+
OVER THE LAST DECADE, Mike Flanagan has become the go-to director for Stephen King adaptations, convincingly bringing Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep and The Life Of Chuck (in cinemas in August) to the screen.
But there’s another name that is becoming synonymous with King: Jack Bender, who worked as executive producer on the TV shows Under The Dome, Mr Mercedes and The Outsider. And while Flanagan currently has a Carrie series in development at Amazon, Bender has beaten him to the punch with his own adaptation of a King novel about kids with psychic powers, The Institute.
“Stephen sent me the galleys for [2019 novel] The Institute,” says Bender, who’s also directed episodes of The Sopranos, Lost and Game Of Thrones. “He loved, loved, loved Mr Mercedes. When we first discussed Mr Mercedes, he asked whether it should be a movie or a series. I said to him, ‘Stephen, this first book is 600 pages, chock-full of brilliant characters. We need to spend time [with them].’ It felt that way with The Institute, too, because I didn’t want to just do an X-kids movie.”