Sarah Snook Leads HBO’s The Birds Limited Series — SkimNews
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- HBO has taken The Birds limited series from Universal Global Television for development, with Universal Global Television serving as co-studio; the project has been at UGT and predecessor UIS for more than a year.
- Sarah Snook stars as Myra Massey, the new female protagonist, and executive produces. After escaping a bitter custody battle, Myra returns home with her young daughter, secretly probes a childhood friend’s suspicious disappearance, and faces both a killer and deadly bird attacks tied to the crime.
- Tom Spezialy wrote the pilot, described as a visceral, present-day murder-mystery reimagining of Hitchcock, and serves as an executive producer; he previously executive produced HBO’s Watchmen and The Leftovers.
- David Heyman serves as an executive producer through Heyday Television, his joint venture with UGT, and also executive produces HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series.
- Universal Pictures produced the 1963 feature and owns rights to The Birds alongside the Du Maurier Estate.
- BBC announced a 2017 series written by Conor McPherson, but it never came to fruition; a 2007 feature remake with Naomi Watts and Martin Campbell also failed to materialize.
Why it matters: HBO is adding a star-led murder mystery from Watchmen and Harry Potter producers Tom Spezialy and David Heyman, with Universal Global Television as co-studio. For Universal, the development already underway for more than a year brings HBO and Snook to a title shared with the Du Maurier Estate; the 2007 and 2017 versions never materialized.
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