The 1975 classic film comedy-drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is being turned into a TV show, with a spin-off series currently in the works.
What do we know about the One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest TV show?
Speaking during an appearance on the indie filmmaking podcast CK Café (via Deadline), producer Paul Zaentz — the nephew of producer Saul Zaentz, who produced the original film — revealed that a spin-off series was in the works.
Zaentz said that he had recently been in contact with author Ken Kesey’s widow, and that the series would be told through the view of Chief, one of the characters in the film.
“Just now, I’ve signed an agreement with Ken Kesey’s widow to develop a TV series which we’ll make through the point of view of the Chief for the first season,” said Zaentz. “Following the first season, we’ll see what happens to the Chief after he escapes [from the psychiatric hospital].”
Kesey’s original 1962 novel is told from the perspective of Chief Bromden, a towering half-Native American patient at the film’s mental institution. Although he’s a pivotal figure in the film, Kesey infamously was not a fan of Miloš Forman’s 1975 film due to it deviating from the book’s POV.
In the original film, Bromden was played by Will Sampson. Since the film’s release in 1975, talks of a spin-off or remake have been floated for some time. In 2020, a prequel series, Ratched, aired on Netflix for one season, but no other official projects from the source have come out.
(Source: Deadline)
