UPDATE: Netflix has now officially ordered a 10-episode first season order. Finally, some closure!
Bringing the adaptation of writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez' graphic novel Locke & Key to screens has been a horror story in itself. It has bounced between screens big and small, never quite finding a home. Following its latest disappointment, at US streaming service Hulu, Deadline reports that the stories will now head to rivals Netflix.
Locke & Key, which debuted via IDW Publishing in 2008 written by Hill and illustrated by Rodriguez, is a complex, sprawling tale that has a history going back to the American Revolution. But the focus is on Nina Locke and her children Tyler, Kinsey and Bode, who are trying to start a new life after surviving an unspeakable horror. Trying to rebuild, they move to the family home known as Keyhouse in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. There, they discover magical keys that can open portals that are also being sought by a terrifying, hate-filled creature who has his own designs on the portals.
After other attempts had failed, Hill and Lost/Colony veteran Carlton Cuse set up a pilot at Hulu, with Frances O'Connor as Nina and It's Andy Muschietti directing.
Now it appears that Netflix will re-develop the idea, ditching that produced pilot and re-casting some of the roles. Muschietti is busy with the It sequel (he'll still be an executive producer on any series), so someone else will be brought in to direct. It's a smart move, though – Hulu had initially been so confident in the idea that it had funded a writers room led by Cuse and Hill to work on additional scripts and sets were being built. So Netflix would be able to pick and choose what it wants to keep, with a chunk of the work already done. Now we're keeping our fingers crossed that the Locke family has finally found a proper home.
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