Iconic feature film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest gets spin-off TV series

The rights holders behind the legendary film One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest are working on a new series adaptation for television. Producer Paul Zaentz, nephew of original producer Saul Zaentz, announced the news on the podcast CK Café. Zaentz said he just signed a deal with the widow of writer Ken Kesey to develop a series.


De cast van One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, met vooraan Jack Nicholson en achteraan op de foto Will Sampson's Chief

The first season will be told from the perspective of Chief Bromden (the "Chief"), the half-Native American patient played by Will Sampson in the original film. After this season, the story will follow what happens to the Chief after he escapes from the psychiatric institution.

Kesey’s novel, on which the film is based, was originally told from the Chief’s perspective. Kesey criticized director Milos Forman’s 1975 film version for emphasizing the character of McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) rather than the Chief.

Nothing is known at this time about who will write the new series or which studio is involved.

In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, rebellious criminal McMurphy is sent to a psychiatric hospital for observation. There, he encourages his fellow patients to take more control of their own lives and rebel against the authoritarian nurse Ratched. Chief Bromden, who has pretended to be deaf and dumb for years, becomes visible again thanks to McMurphy’s influence and ultimately a symbol of liberation.

Zaentz also noted in the podcast that he’s generally been reluctant to approve remakes or spinoffs, despite a lot of interest. Until now, the only approved television spinoff was Ratched (the 2020 Netflix prequel series), but it was canceled after one season.

The podcast also confirmed that Fathom Entertainment is re-releasing a restored 4K version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in more than 1,000 U.S. theaters this month to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary.

Zaentz said he’s skeptical about remakes of classic titles (“don’t remake Psycho,” he said), but he does see potential in television series, which offer more character development. Still, he found recent series like The Mosquito Coast (Apple TV+) and Ripley (Netflix) to be less successful than the original films.

In 2023, Paul Zaentz’s production company, Teatro della Pace Films, acquired the iconic Saul Zaentz Company’s entire film library, including Oscar winners One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, The English Patient and Amadeus. Paul Zaentz previously worked on several of his uncle’s films, including Amadeus, The Mosquito Coast, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, The English Patient and Goya’s Ghosts.