EXCLUSIVE: Emmy winner Succession star Sarah Snook returns to HBO as star of The birdsa limited series inspired by the film by Alfred Hitchcock and the short story by Daphné du Maurier. HBO selected the high-profile project, which was picked up by Universal Global Television last summer, for development. It comes from two other key creative auspices linked to HBO: Tom Spezialy, who produced the channel’s film Guardians And The leftoversand David Heyman, who is producing his next film Harry Potter series.
As Deadline reported in May, The birds The limited series, whose pilot is written by Spezialy, is described as a visceral and timely reimagining of the Hitchcock classic with a murder mystery at the center and new characters, led by a new female protagonist, Myra Massey (Snook).
Escaping a bitter custody battle, Myra (Snook) returns home with her young daughter, secretly investigating the suspicious disappearance of a childhood friend. With a killer on the loose and growing personal threats, she fights to protect her daughter from a terrifying new threat: vicious and deadly bird attacks inexplicably linked to the crime.
Spezialy and Snook produce alongside Heyman and Danny Samit through Heyday Television, Heyman’s joint venture with UGT, and Jennifer Gabler Rawlings of Omni Artists. Universal Global Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, will serve as a co-studio with HBO. Its sister film studio, Universal Pictures, produced the 1963 feature film and owns the rights to the title alongside the Du Maurier estate. And Universal Television, UGT’s sister company, produces the hit HBO drama series. The golden age.
The birds, which had been in development at UGT and its predecessor ISU for over a year, marks the latest attempt to revisit The birds, which included a feature film remake announced in 2007 with Naomi Watts attached to star and Martin Campbell to direct, and a BBC series announced in 2017 written by Irish playwright Conor McPherson, neither of which came to fruition.
Snook, who received three Emmy nominations for his role as Shiv Roy in the HBO series Succession, winner in 2023, just finished her starring role in UGT’s hit limited series Peacock All his fault, which earned him another Emmy nomination. Snook, who won a Tony Award last year for The photo of Dorian Gray and a 2025 AACTA Best Actress Award for the Academy Award-nominated animated feature film. Memory of a snail, is covered by UTA, Omni Artists, Hansen Jacobson Teller as well as Shanahan Management in his native Australia.
As executive producer of HBO Guardians, Spezialy won the show’s 2020 Outstanding Limited Series Emmy Award. Most recently, Spezialy executive produced the upcoming Prime Video series. Blade Runner 2099, a television sequel to another cinema classic, that of Ridley Scott Blade runner. He is repped by WME, Management and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Heyman is repped by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson and Christopher.
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