Stephen King's The Institute Kicks Off Season 2 Filming
Stephen King confirms cameras are rolling on season 2 of MGM+’s The Institute.
Remember when Stephen King dropped The Institute in 2019 and, that exact day, the Mr. Mercedes team said they were turning it into a series? That felt like it vanished into the ether for a while. It finally premiered on MGM+ last summer, and now King himself says season 2 is officially rolling cameras.
Quick refresher
Season 1 ran eight episodes and followed Luke Ellis, a scary-smart kid who gets abducted and wakes up inside a place called the Institute. It’s a secret facility full of other kids like him, all nabbed the same way, all with strange abilities. Not far away, a former cop named Tim Jamieson tries to reboot his life in a quiet town. Spoiler: those two stories are on a collision course. Stephen King executive produces the series, and Jack Bender is still in the trenches as both director and EP.
The cast you saw
- Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds, Mr. Mercedes)
- Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone)
- Simone Miller (Detention Adventure)
- Jason Diaz (The 100)
- Julian Richings (Supernatural)
- Fionn Laird (Under the Banner of Heaven)
- Hannah Galway (Sex/Life)
- Robert Joy (Land of the Dead)
- Viggo Hanvelt (Our Christmas Mural)
- Arlen So (Something Rotten)
- Birva Pandya (The Umbrella Academy)
- Dan Beirne (Ginny & Georgia)
- Martin Roach (Suits)
- Jane Luk (Streams Flow from a River)
- Joe Freeman as Luke Ellis — his first-ever screen role. He was 18 during filming, six years older than Luke is in the book.
How we got here
Back on September 10, 2019 — the day the novel hit shelves — David Kelley and Jack Bender, the duo behind the Mr. Mercedes TV adaptation, were announced for a limited series take on The Institute. Then... almost six years went by. Along the way, Kelley exited. Bender stuck around and kept shepherding the show, and King stayed on as an executive producer. Limited series plans gave way to an actual series once MGM+ rolled it out last summer.
So what is season 2?
Before season 1 even premiered, Cavell told Variety they were already thinking about a second season. The short version: the book hints at a bigger picture — a larger conspiracy and a wider world beyond what we saw in the first eight episodes — and the show wanted to keep that door open. They did not copy the book’s ending beat-for-beat, but the intent to explore more was baked in. Cavell also said he talked with King about where the story could go, and if there was an appetite for more, they were ready to make it.
It’s happening
'Production has begun on #TheInstitute Season 2! Coming soon to @mgmplus'
- Stephen King, February 2, 2026
Short version: after a long, winding road from 2019 to now, season 2 is officially filming. If you liked the first season’s kids-with-powers nightmare and that bigger-world tease, the team clearly planned for this next chapter.