Locke & Key TV Show Heads to Netflix With Big Changes
The Locke & Key TV project has had a rough time! Back in July 2016, THR revealed that Hulu gave the show adaptation of writer Joe Hill’s IDW horror comic book series a pilot order, with Carlton Cuse (Lost) set to serve as showrunner. While Andy Muschietti (It, Mama) was on tap to direct the pilot after Doctor Strange‘s Scott Derrickson had to withdraw, more changes appear to be afoot on this project’s long road to a series order.
Third time’s the charm? Try fourth time, since the latest attempt arrives after Hulu passed on the project! However, Cuse is still involved and odds seem better than ever that this beloved comic will be done justice.
Locke & Key News
After a recent unfortunate setback, Locke & Key fans can finally rest easy knowing that it’s about to close in on a home with Netflix. – Except that there’s a major catch!
While the project’s once-promising prospects with Hulu suddenly evaporated two months ago when the streaming platform passed on a pickup, it appears that a much-bigger fish, Netflix, has shown interest. Consequently, the streaming giant, according to THR, is finalizing negotiations for a series order deal that will see Locke & Key join the murderer’s row that is the Netflix original content lineup.
However, Netflix’s prospective pickup of Locke & Key will reportedly require crucial caveats that will bring the project back to the drawing board. Along with expectations to license the rights for the IP (from Joe Hill’s IDW comic book,) and redevelop the drama with IDW Entertainment, Netflix wants to scrap the Hulu pilot entirely, including the cast, headlined by Frances O’Connor, and its director, Andy Muschietti, who is no longer available, since he’s hard at work on It Chapter 2 (but will be credited as an executive producer on the series). – So, that’s huge.
Therefore, should the Netflix deal for Locke & Key get completed, it’s going to be a long while before the project finally surfaces.
Locke & Key TV Show Cast
Here’s the main cast of Locke & Key, as gathered for the now-nixed Hulu pilot. It will be interesting to see if Netflix keeps anyone around.
Frances O’Connor was to play Nina Locke. The story would have centered on O’Connor’s Nina, who, after her husband’s gruesome murder, takes her three children to move into their ancestral home in Maine, the Keyhouse. However, the Keyhouse has centuries of connections to the supernatural, serving as a dimensional portal through which malevolent demons wish to cross. Moreover, the magical keys connected to the house – forged from the metallic remains of demons who’ve tried to cross the portal – contain powers beyond comprehension.
O’Connor, an English actress, is known from roles in films such as The Conjuring 2, The Hunter, Bedazzled and, notably, in Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence as the mother figure to Haley Joel Osment’s proverbial Pinocchio. She’s also fielded numerous TV runs, most recently on Cleverman, as well as The Missing, Mr. Selfridge and Cashmere Mafia.
Sam Robards (Twisted, Gossip Girl) was to play Nina’s ill-fated husband, Rendell Locke. Interestingly, this casting would have been an A.I. reunion, since Robards played the husband of O’Connor’s character in that film.
Jack Mulhern (Walking to the Waterline) was to play Tyler Locke, the teenage son of Nina and Rendell. As the oldest of the young Locke siblings, Tyler finds himself as the man of the house, by default. This, of course, complicates his already-complicated adolescent existence enough. However, once his family moves into the supernatural-phenomena-plagued Keyhouse, his problems will exponentially increase.
Megan Charpentier (It, Mama) was to play Kinsey Locke, the middle child.
Jackson Robert Scott (It, Fear the Walking Dead) was to play Bode Locke, the youngest member of the Locke family. Bode is an optimistic, imaginative eight-year-old who is especially tuned into and vulnerable to the supernatural possibilities of the Keyhouse.
Nate Corddry (The Circle, The Marvelous Ms. Maisel) was to play Duncan Locke, Rendell’s younger brother and uncle to the trio of children. The actor also happens to be a younger brother to actor/comedian Rob Corddry.
Owen Teague (It, Bloodline) was to play Sam Lesser, a young man who’s suffered abuse, who is influenced by a spirit to carry out a murder that’s crucial to the story.
Danny Glover was to play a cameo role as Joe Ridgeway, an English teacher, described as “eccentric,” who works at Matheson Academy. There, he becomes a mentor to the Locke children and friend to their recently-widowed mother, Nina (Frances O’Connor). Yet, Joe knew Nina’s (brutally murdered) late husband, Rendell Locke, and is also aware of some of the tragic secrets that he withheld; secrets that are connected to his mysterious ancestral home, the Keyhouse, in which Nina and kids have now taken up residence.
Locke & Key Details
In 2016, IDW Entertainment released news that Locke & Key writer Joe Hill (he wrote the story for the comics, with art by Gabriel Rodriguez) was on board to write the pilot and executive produce the TV show adaptation as a straight-to-series project. It’s unclear how Hulu and Cuse’s involvement might change that plan, but Hill had previously said in a statement:
I love this story. The seven years I spent working on Locke & Key was the happiest creative experience of my life, and there still isn’t a day when I don’t think about those characters and miss visiting with them. The six books of the series are very like six seasons of a cable TV series, and so it feels only natural to bring that world to the little screen and to see if we can’t scare the pants off viewers everywhere.
Locke & Key begins with the story of three siblings returning to their family’s ancestral home following the brutal and mysterious murder of their father. As they explore the house and its surroundings, it becomes clear that there are wonderful and terrible things lurking on the grounds. It is a comic book horror classic.
Previously, a TV show adaptation made it all the way to the pilot stage, but never garnered a pick-up. The episode was screened at Comic Con in 2011 and, as someone who was there for said screening, I can vouch for its awesomeness — a character-driven exercise in horror that deserved to continue its story.
The TV adaptation had Josh Friedman as a showrunner (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Avatar 2) and an all-star cast that included Miranda Otto, Sarah Bolger, and Ksenia Solo. Check out the trailer…
Sadly, this version of Locke & Key never made it past a pilot, but the pop culture world seems better poised to embrace an on-screen version of this horror comic now. Not only are there way more comic book adaptations on TV and film, but Joe Hill has become more of a household name, especially with the recent film adaptaion of Horns. Hopefully, this adaptation is good and garners enough of an audience to ensure its continuation. Universe, you owe us this.