Netflix Picks Up ‘Locke & Key’ TV Series Based On The Famed Horror Comics
Netflix has announced that they have picked up the long-awaited series Locke & Key based on writer Joe Hill’s famed horror-fantasy comic of the same name, as announced by The Hollywood Reporter. Both a cinematic and a television adaptation of Locke & Key have been in the works for the past eight years, but it now looks like Netflix will be the platform to host the show. Initially, Locke & Key was going to be adapted to the small screen for a Fox television show that was executive produced by Steven Spielberg. After filming the pilot, the project was eventually canceled. Then Locke & Key was going to be a feature-length film, but that also fell through. In 2016, Hulu ordered a pilot, but surprisingly, they ultimately passed.
Now, fans can celebrate because Netflix has ordered a 10-episode series at an hour-long a piece. Horror and fantasy television series are very popular these days, so many people were confused when Hulu decided to pass on the show. Netflix has made a litany of successful Marvel series, and they host numerous shows from other networks based on comics as well, so Locke & Key should be a perfect fit for the streaming platform.
The Verge describes the plot and success of the horror comic.
“The IDW comic series was created by horror author Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez, and revolves around the Locke family, who relocates to their ancestral home in Lovecraft, Maine, after the murder of the family’s patriarch. The three children — Tyler, Kinsey and Bode — discover that the house is filled with numerous magical keys that impart its user with special powers, and that there are powerful dark forces trying to acquire them to unleash an evil presence on the world. The comic series ran in six big arcs from 2008 to 2013, and earned Hill an Eisner for his writing, and the British Fantasy Award for best comic or graphic novel.”
Hulu has ordered a pilot for an adaptation of Joe Hill’s horror comic Locke & Key https://t.co/fYiq9yNCAM pic.twitter.com/ZHly1A5xAU
— The Verge (@verge) April 21, 2017
The Netflix series will be a redevelopment of the Hulu pilot. Carlton Cuse (Lost, Amazon’s Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) and Joe Hill were the showrunners for the dropped Hulu show, and Cuse will remain the showrunner for the Netflix adaptation along with Meredith Averill (producer, The Good Wife, Jane the Virgin) as the co-showrunner. Writer Aron Eli Coleite (Heroes, Star Trek: Discovery) has joined the project, and he will rewrite the pilot episode alongside Hill.
The Hulu pilot was directed by Andy Muschietti (IT), and it starred Jack Mulhern, Megan Carpentier, and Jackson Robert Scott as the three siblings. Muschietti will not be returning to direct the Netflix series because he is currently filming IT 2. A new director for Locke & Key has not yet been announced, and the Netflix series will also be recast.
