‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ TV Spin-Off in Development

The 1975 classic, directed by Milos Forman, is getting the small screen treatment via Paul Zaentz, nephew of Saul Zaentz, who produced the original movie.

Jack Nicholson in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. Photo: United Artists.

Preview:

A ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ TV adaptation is in development.
It’ll focus on the character of the Chief from the 1975 Oscar winner.
Producer Paul Zaentz, one of the rights holders, is behind the new project.

There are always concerns when a spin-off of a classic movie is announced. Will it tarnish the legacy of the original? Will it go off in some random direction and end up far less entertaining than the movie from which it derives?

In the case of 1975’s multiple Oscar-winning drama ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, there is plenty of reason to worry. But with the rights in the hands of producer Paul Zaentz –– nephew of ‘Cuckoo’ producer Saul Zaentz –– it appears the forward movement on a TV take on the story is proceeding with all due caution and respect.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"If he's crazy, what does that make you?"

R2 hr 13 minNov 19th, 1975

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Talking on indie filmmaking podcast CK Café, Zaentz revealed that he’s made a deal to put a ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ TV series into development.

What was the story of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’?

Jack Nicholson in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. Photo: United Artists.

The movie, directed by Milos Forman, was written by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, and adapted both Ken Kesey’s book and the play created from it by Dale Wasserman.

It follows a unruly convict Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), who is sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation in 1963 Oregon, and encourages his docile companions to take more control of their lives and defy the tyrannical head nurse.

Chief Bromden (played in the movie by Will Sampson) is the towering half-Native American patient who pretends to be deaf and mute. Over time, the antics of protagonist McMurphy coax him out of his disguise and he becomes a symbol of powerful resistance and emancipation. The book focuses more on Bromden.

‘Cuckoo’s cast also includes Danny DeVito, Scatman Crothers, Brad Dourif, Nathan George, Christopher Lloyd and Vincent Schiavelli, with Louise Fletcher memorably playing the tyrannical Nurse Ratched, who rules the wards with an iron grip.

Kesey famously didn’t like the film, feeling that it deviated too far from the source.

While he might not have approved of the adaptation, audiences and critics certainly did; it earned $109 million worldwide on a $3 million budget, and won five Academy Awards from eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Nicholson, Best Actress for Fletcher and Best Director for Forman.

What will the ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ TV series focus on?

(L to R) Will Sampson and Jack Nicholson in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. Photo: United Artists.

Here’s what Paul Zaentz told the podcast about the show:

“I’ve signed an agreement with Ken Kesey’s widow to develop a TV series which we’ll make through the point of view of the Chief for the first season. Following the first season, we’ll see what happens to the Chief after he escapes [from the psychiatric hospital].”

Beyond that, details are scarce on this one –– Zaentz has yet to reveal who might be writing the show, or whether he has a studio involved.

And it’s not the first time someone has approached him and the other rights holders about a remake or spin-off.

Michael Douglas, who was also among the producers on the original, told Deadline as part of a retrospective earlier this year, that the team has been careful in what they agree to:

“[Paul] has been very selective and I think that was the only time they’ve done one, which is good because so much gets remade these days…as for the series, it was ok, just ok. I wasn’t very much involved, to be honest.”

The “series” in question was 2020’s Ryan Murphy-produced Netflix series ‘Ratched,’ which charted the earlier days of the title character.

With Sarah Paulson in the lead, ‘Ratched’ is set in in 1947, when Mildred Ratched begins working as a nurse at a leading psychiatric hospital. But beneath her stylish exterior lurks a growing darkness.

The show received mixed-positive reviews but hasn’t progressed past its original season. Paul Zaentz was involved as a producer.

In the podcast interview, he’s clear that he doesn’t think that targeting classic movies for remakes in the traditional theatrical sense is worth it, but that TV can be a place for more nuance and character development, offering the chance to do something fresh.

When will the ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ TV series be on screens?

With no creative team, cast or even production company/network or streamer involved yet, it’s far too early to guess when this might arrive.

Still, Netflix –– which backed ‘Ratched’ and has also been behind TV adaptations of movies such as ‘Ripley’ –– might well be a leading candidate to take this on.