TV's One Flew Over The Cuckoo-niverse is expanding again
Five years after Ryan Murphy's Ratched brought Ken Kesey's Cuckoo's Nest to television, a new series may be in the works.
(Photo by United Artists/Getty Images)
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is again trying to break into television. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, producer Paul Zaentz, nephew of the original film’s producer Saul Zaentz, says that a new television series based on Ken Kesey’s book may be in the works. According to Zaentz, who “just made an arrangement with Ken Kesey’s family to possibly do a TV series,” the show would be much more faithful to the book than the Oscar-winning film. “It’s based on the book, and the book was told through the eyes of Chief Bromden,” he said, “so the television series would be through his eyes.” Famously, the reason for the season, Miloš Forman’s 1975 film hews more closely to Jack Nicholson’s character, McMurphy. However, Zaentz imagines a different direction for the show, suggesting that McMurphy would die at the end of the first season, and the second season would focus on “what happens to the Chief after he escapes.”