If you're a Stephen King fan, you've probably noticed that the author is having one hell of a 2025. His latest novel, Never Flinch, is a hit; multiple adaptations of King stories have earned widespread praise (including Osgood Perkins' The Monkey, Mike Flanagan's The Life Of Chuck, and the hyped upcoming release of The Long Walk from director Francis Lawrence); the Carrie limited series started production; and the first draft of The Talisman 3 has been completed. That's a lot of awesome jammed into just the first eight months of the year, but the good news just keeps coming: it has been announced today that a second season of The Institute has been given the green light ahead of the Season 1 finale that is set to debut this Sunday.
Stephen King posted the news personally on his Twitter account with an accompanying video that you can check out below:
Sometimes you win just by showing them you're still willing to fight. #TheInstitute will return for Season 2 on @MGMplus pic.twitter.com/WU5JsXzSVfAugust 22, 2025
Starring Ben Barnes, Mary Louise-Parker, and Joe Freeman, The Institute made its debut on July 13 with a two-episode premiere on MGM+, and during its run, it has ranked as the best premiere ever on the network. The show took a minute to develop, with producer/director Jack Bender having first acquired the rights to the novel on which its based when the tome was first published in 2019, but things have obviously worked out swimmingly as a result of his collaboration with MGM+ and writer/producer Benjamin Cavell.
Multiple TV shows have been made over the years based on Stephen King's books, but there has been a mixed history of success. The first on-going series was The Dead Zone, which aired 80 episodes across six seasons on USA prior to its cancellation, but other multi-season shows include Syfy's Haven (five seasons, 78 episodes), CBS' Under The Dome (three seasons, 39 episodes), Audiences' Mr. Mercedes (three seasons, 30 episodes), and Hulu's Castle Rock (two seasons, 20 episodes). In 2022, Chapelwaite starring Adrian Brody – and based on the short story "Jerusalem's Lot" – was given a renewal following its first season in 2021, but it ended up being cancelled in 2023 before new episodes could be shot.
Arguably the biggest question about The Institute Season 2 is how the story will proceed. Without giving away any spoilers for the upcoming finale, I can confirm that the first season of the show adapts the entirety of Stephen King's book, so a second run of episodes would be a wholly original creation not based on any pre-existing source material. That's an interesting challenge, and I wonder if Jack Bender and Benjamin Cavell will work with King to develop ideas for the future direction of the story.
Curiosity about the narrative direction will have to be put on pause for now, as we're still a couple days away from seeing how The Institute Season 1 will conclude. The finale, titled "Fight," is set to arrive on MGM+ this Sunday, and speculation will surely ramp up following its airing. Meanwhile, be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend, as we're always on the lookout for new and exciting updates about upcoming Stephen King movie and TV projects.
