A remake of Alfred Hitchcock‘s The Birds is finally flying into development, only this time as a limited series.
The high-profile package, which is being taken out to buyers, has Emmy winner Sarah Snook (Succession, Run Rabbit Run) starring and Tom Spezialy (The Leftovers, Watchmen) writing, reports Deadline.
The Birds limited series is described as a visceral, present-day reimagining of Hitchcock’s classic set in Spezialy’s home state of Alaska with a murder mystery at the center and new characters, led by a new female protagonist, Myra Massey (Snook).
Inspired by the film and Daphne du Maurier’s short story it was loosely based on, The Birds introduces traveling magistrate Myra Massey (Snook) as she returns to her isolated Alaskan hometown for a routine presumptive death hearing, expecting a simple cold case. Instead, she finds her childhood friend’s bullet-ridden body. When Myra is forced to step outside her role as judge to untangle the mystery, nature itself turns hostile with a wave of bird attacks. Now, Myra isn’t just trying to close a case, she’s fighting to survive in a place where death lurks in both the shadows and the skies.
It comes from Universal International Studios, whose sibling movie studio Universal Pictures produced the 1963 feature, and Heyday Television, producer David Heyman‘s joint venture with UIS.
After nearly two decades in development limbo, a remake of The Birds has passed through multiple studios, writers and formats without reaching production: Universal Pictures first announced a feature remake in 2007 with Naomi Watts attached to star and Martin Campbell set to direct from scripts by Stiles White, Juliet Snowden, Billy Ray and Peter Craig, while producer Michael Bay became involved through Platinum Dunes; that version stalled, then resurfaced in 2014 with Dutch filmmaker Diederik Van Rooijen and a new screenplay by Jonathan Herman, only to disappear again. By 2017–18, the project had effectively transformed into a planned BBC television adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s original story, with playwright Conor McPherson writing and producer David Heyman overseeing development, but that incarnation also failed to advance.
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