Ben Barnes' next TV role after Shadow and Bone is set at MGM+ (What's the actor's next project?)

Ben Barnes has his newest project lined up after Shadow and Bone and it’s a Stephen King adaptation! Find out more here!

Since breaking out in the title role of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Ben Barnes has been on a good and successful career. It included some movies but mostly TV, playing Logan in Westworld, Jigsaw in The Punisher and, most recently, General Kirigan in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone.

While the fantasy series attained a cult audience, it was sadly canceled by the streamer after just two seasons. Thankfully for fans, Barnes is going to be back on screens for MGM+ in the adaptation of a work by horror novelist icon Stephen King. That he’s backed by a good leading lady also helps. 

What is The Institute about?

As reported by Deadline, Barnes will star in The Institute, based on the 2019 novel by King. It’s both written and produced by Jack Bender and Benjamin Cavell, who adapted King’s classic novel The Stand for Paramount+ in 2020. 

The eight-episode series focuses on 12-year-old genius Luke Ellis, who is kidnapped and taken to The Institute, a facility full of children who possess unusual abilities. Barnes will play Tim Jamieson, a former cop who comes seeking a quiet life and stumbles onto Luke’s plight and tries to help him. That has the pair hunted by the mysterious owners of the Institute.

Mary-Louise Parker also stars as Ms. Sigsby, “the charming but iron-willed director of the Institute and a true believer in its awful mission.” King himself spoke with pride on seeing another great adaptation of his work. 

"I’m delighted and excited at the prospect of The Institute, with its high-intensity suspense, being filmed as a series. The combination of Jack Bender and Ben Cavell guarantees that the results will be terrific."

Michael Wright, head of MGM+ shared his own thoughts. 

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work again with Stephen King. And The Institute, based on his critically acclaimed novel, is an exciting addition to the MGM+ original series slate. There is no creative team I would trust more to bring the book to life than Jack and Ben, whose creative vision and love of Mr. King’s voice, will bring this thought-provoking and gut-wrenching story to life, in the engaging, cinematic, and thrilling style MGM+ viewers expect."

The network does have experience with King’s works, having adapted his Chapelwhite. Bender also produced Mr. Mercedes, a King adaptation for Audience that co-starred Parker. The show is expected to premiere in 2025 and the combination of Barnes, Parker, and King promises a wicked thriller when it does hit MGM+.