Locke & Key is an incredible horror comic from writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodríguez that just can’t seem to catch a break for an adaptation. The most recent television pilot has apparently been passed over by Hulu, but for fans of the Locke family drama, there’s still hope another streaming giant could pick it up.
Kinsey Locke as illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez. Image: Gabriel Rodríguez (IDW Publishing)
In an interview with Cultured Vultures during SXSW, actress Samantha Mathis was speaking about her upcoming projects when she revealed this tidbit about Locke & Key.
I did a pilot for Hulu called Locke & Key but it didn’t get picked up by Hulu. It’s getting shopped around to Amazon and Netflix and Apple and everyone right now. Who knows, maybe that will end up some place.
We reached out to Hill for comment but had not heard back at time of writing. Regardless, it’s incredibly frustrating to hear as a longtime fan of this series. You may remember Locke & Key was first adapted into a pilot for Fox back in 2011. It starred Miranda Otto, Jesse McCartney, Sarah Bolger and Skylar Gertner as the Locke clan, but never made it to the network (though a few folks got to see it). Skipping ahead to 2012, Roberto Orci confirmed a film trilogy was in the works from himself and Alex Kurtzman. It was still being reported on a year later, but nothing ever developed. In 2015, Audible gave us a very cool audio play of the series. It starred Orphan Black‘s Tatiana Maslany, Haley Joel Osment and Kate Mulgrew among others, but fans kept their fingers crossed for another TV series.
And then it happened. A statement from author Hill in 2016 detailed plans to try once more to get Locke & Key on TV. While producers didn’t have a network just yet, they did have IDW Entertainment and Circle of Confusion behind them. In 2017, Hulu ordered a pilot and Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson was attached to lead the team. He eventually had to exit over scheduling issues, but It director Andy Muschietti swooped in not too long after.
The cast for the Locke & Key pilot included Frances O’Connor (as mum Nina), Megan Charpentier (Kinsey), Jack Mulhern (Tyler) and Jackson Robert Scott (Bode), with Owen Teague (Sam Lesser), Danny Glover (Joe Ridgeway) and Nate Corddry (Duncan Locke) also rounding out the supporting roles. There’s no word on who Mathis was playing.
We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that Netflix, Amazon or Apple sees the potential in this Eisner Award-winning story.
[Cultured Vultures via SpoilerTV]