New Stephen King sci-fi drama The Institute has been renewed for season 2 ahead of its season finale - and the author himself couldn't be happier

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Co-showrunner Jack Bender says he and Benjamin Cavell already have "good ideas to keep these stories alive"

Joe Freeman as Luke Ellis in The Institute
(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

The Institute, based on the 2019 Stephen King novel of the same name, has been renewed at Amazon and MGM Plus for a second season ahead of its season finale.

King shared a video of him sitting in his office next to his adorable dog, Molly, Thing of Evil, and a giant promo poster for The Institute. After urging fans to tune in for the season finale this coming Sunday, King added that he had some exciting news to share later in the day. A few hours later, King posted, "Sometimes you win just by showing them you're still willing to fight. #TheInstitute will return for Season 2 on @MGMplus" alongside an eight-second promotional video. We would add the rest of King's statement here...but it's kind of a massive spoiler. You can check out the (spoiler-free) video below.

The series stars Joe Freeman (rather impressively in his first lead television role) as Luke, a young genius who is kidnapped in the middle of the night and wakes up in a mysterious building known as The Institute. He's one of several kidnapped kids who have telepathic and telekinetic powers, and are put through a series of torturous, near-fatal tests – all organized by a woman named Julia Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker) who swears that it's all for the greater good. Elsewhere, Tim (Ben Barnes) is a new-to-town police officer who begins his own investigation into the mysterious Institute.

The cast includes Simone Miller, Jason Diaz, Brendan Beiser, Fionn Laird, Birva Pandya, Jordan Alexander, Viggo Hanvelt, Mary Walsh, Robert Joy, Julian Richings, Jane Luk, and Dan Beirne.

The Institute is airing now on MGM Plus, which can be accessed through Prime Video. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2025 and beyond, or, check out our ranking of the best Stephen King adaptations to add to your streaming queue right now.

Lauren Milici
Lauren Milici
Senior Entertainment Writer

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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