Locke & Key (TV pilot)

Last updated
Locke & Key
Lockeandkeylogo.jpg
Logo from the Locke & Key pilot
Genre
Based on
Written by Josh Friedman [1]
Directed by Mark Romanek
Starring
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes1
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Production locations Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
CinematographyJeff Cutter
EditorScott Gamzon
Production companies

Locke & Key is a television pilot of a TV series based on the comic book series written by Joe Hill and published by IDW Publishing. Expected to debut in 2011, Fox opted not to order Locke & Key to series. The plot focuses on adventure stories centered on three children who become the caretakers of a New England mansion, which is home to a bevy of secrets and magic.

Contents

Plot summary

The story focuses on the Locke family as they move into Keyhouse, after the tragic murder of patriarch Rendell (Mark Pellegrino). Nina (Miranda Otto) and her three children, Tyler (Jesse McCartney), Kinsey (Sarah Bolger), and Bode (Skylar Gaertner) meet up with Rendell's brother Duncan (Nick Stahl) and look to get a fresh start. Keyhouse has been home to the Lockes for hundreds of years. Rendell and Duncan lived there growing up, but Duncan has blocked out a lot of his memories of the place. After exploring the grounds a bit, Bode finds a key with a skull on it. When he steps through the door that the key unlocks, his body drops dead but his spirit is able to fly around the house. This catches the attention of an "echo" named Dodge (Ksenia Solo), who is trapped deep within the well on the grounds. Something is clearly dark about her and we find out that she's been manipulating Rendell's killer, Sam Lesser (Harrison Thomas). The Ghost Key that Bode found is one of many scattered around the area. Each one does something special. Dodge has her eyes set on the Anywhere Key, which can transport you wherever you want to go.

Production

Dimension Films acquired the film and television rights for Welcome to Lovecraft from IDW Publishing with the intent of developing the property as a feature with John Davis producing. [2] In February 2010, it was announced that Dimension had lost the adaptation rights to Dreamworks [3] with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci signed on to develop and produce the project. [4] In August 2010 Steven Spielberg also joined as a producer, and the production became a TV series rather than a film adaptation, with Josh Friedman writing episodes for the show and acting as showrunner. [5]

The TV series adaptation then landed at 20th Century Fox Television. The network greenlit a pilot, produced by Dreamworks TV and K.O. Paper Products through the latter's deal with 20th Century Fox TV. [6]

Miranda Otto played Nina Locke, Sarah Bolger was Kinsey Locke [7] [8] and Nick Stahl co-starred as Duncan Locke. [9] Skylar Gaertner played 6-year old Bode, and Harrison Thomas played a teenager manipulated by an evil spirit. [10] Actor and singer Jesse McCartney appeared as Ty Locke, the series' male lead [11] and Ksenia Solo was cast as Dodge. [12]

Mark Romanek directed the pilot episode, [13] which was filmed at the mansion in Hartwood Acres and in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania in February 2011. The pilot was also shot throughout Pittsburgh that same month. [14] In May 2011, Fox announced that the project would not be picked up to the series. [15] The studio attempted to sell the project to other networks but eventually ceased efforts due to rising costs. However, the show has been eyed by MTV, though no official talks have been had yet. The pilot was screened at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International, where it was well received. [16] In January 2020, the pilot was leaked by Bloody Disgusting , who later uploaded it to Vimeo. [17] [18]

Cast and characters

Locke & Key cast. Locke-and-key.jpg
Locke & Key cast.

Critical reception

James Ferguson of HorrorTalk gave Locke & Key four stars (out of five) and said, "The acting throughout the episode is fantastic. You really feel for the Locke family as they attempt to recover from this horrible event in their lives. McCartney and Bolger have great chemistry as brother and sister, playing off of one another very well. Unfortunately for them, young Skylar Gertner steals every scene he's in. In many ways, he is the star of the pilot as he's the catalyst for Dodge's release from her prison as well as the search for the keys. Sometimes it takes a child's imagination to look past the restrictions most of us place on our thoughts, especially when it comes to the supernatural. The story unfolds with subtlety. We're not shown the exact events regarding Rendell's death, but we're given hints as to what happened based on the character's actions and emotions. It isn't until much later that we're given the details as well as why one of the family members feels responsible. Obviously I don't know how faithful the pilot is to the original comic, but the setup that we get from this episode would have been great for a weekly program. There's a nice reveal at the very end that would create the basis for at least a full season". [19]

Related Research Articles

<i>Tales from the Darkside</i> 1980s American anthology horror TV series

Tales from the Darkside is an American anthology horror television series created by George A. Romero. A pilot episode was first broadcast on October 29, 1983. The series was picked up for syndication, and the first season premiered on September 30, 1984. The show would run for a total of four seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeline Zima</span> American actress (born 1985)

Madeline Zima is an American actress. She portrayed Grace Sheffield on the CBS sitcom The Nanny (1993–1999), Mia Lewis on the Showtime comedy drama series Californication (2007–2011), and Gretchen Berg on the NBC series Heroes (2009–2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Williamson (screenwriter)</span> American screenwriter, director, and producer (born 1965)

Kevin Meade Williamson is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is known for developing and writing the screenplay for the slasher film Scream (1996)—which launched the Scream franchise—along with those for Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 4 (2011). He is also known for creating the WB teen drama series Dawson's Creek (1998–2003), the CW supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017), the Fox crime thriller series The Following (2013–2015) and the CBS All Access thriller series Tell Me a Story (2018–2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Benz</span> American actress (born 1972)

Julie Benz is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (1997–2004), and as Rita Bennett on Dexter (2006–2010), for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress and the 2009 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Bolger</span> Irish actress

Sarah Bolger is an Irish actress. She starred in the films In America (2003), Stormbreaker (2006), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), The Moth Diaries (2011), The Lazarus Effect (2015), Emelie (2015), and A Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019). On television, she portrayed Princess Mary Tudor in The Tudors (2008–2010), for which she won an IFTA award, and Princess Aurora in Once Upon a Time (2012–2015). Bolger also appeared on the series Into the Badlands (2015–2017) and starred on Mayans M.C. (2018–2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Gordon</span> American television writer and producer (born 1961)

Howard Gordon is an American television writer and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton Cuse</span> American television producer and screenwriter (born 1959)

Arthur Carlton Cuse, known as Carlton Cuse, is an American screenwriter, showrunner, producer, and director, best known for the American television series Lost, for which he made the Time list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Kurtzman</span> American filmmaker

Alexander Hilary Kurtzman is an American filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing the scripts to Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) with his writing and producing partner Roberto Orci, and directing and co-writing The Mummy (2017). He made his directorial debut with People Like Us (2012), co-written alongside, Orci, and Jody Lambert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawn Levy</span> Canadian filmmaker (born 1968)

Shawn Adam Levy is a Canadian film director, film producer, screenwriter, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the Night at the Museum film franchise and primary producer of the Netflix series Stranger Things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Hill (writer)</span> American writer (born 1972)

Joseph Hillström King, better known by the pen name Joe Hill, is an American writer. His work includes the novels Heart-Shaped Box (2007), Horns (2010), NOS4A2 (2013), and The Fireman (2016); the short story collections 20th Century Ghosts (2005) and Strange Weather (2017); and the comic book series Locke & Key (2008–2013). He has won awards including Bram Stoker Awards, British Fantasy Awards, and an Eisner Award.

Love Bites is an American anthology comedy-drama television series originally planned for the 2010–11 television season on the NBC network that eventually aired as a summer replacement series. It premiered in its regular Thursday night time slot at 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central, on June 2, 2011. On July 11, 2011, NBC canceled the show and the series finale aired on July 21, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Alejandro</span> American actor

Kevin Michael Alejandro is an American actor and film director. He is known for his roles as Nate Moretta in the TNT crime drama Southland, Forklift Mike in the NBC series Parenthood, Jesús Velázquez in the HBO supernatural thriller True Blood, Sebastian Blood / Brother Blood in The CW superhero series Arrow and as detective Daniel Espinóza in the Fox/Netflix supernatural comedy-crime drama Lucifer.

<i>Locke & Key</i> American comic book series

Locke & Key is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, and published by IDW Publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ksenia Solo</span> Latvian-Canadian actress (born 1987)

Ksenia Solo is a Latvian-Canadian actress known for portraying Mackenzie "Kenzi" Malikov on Lost Girl. She portrayed Peggy Shippen on Turn: Washington's Spies. Solo also portrayed the character "Natasha" in the 2010 American television series Life Unexpected and Shay Davydov in Season 3 of Orphan Black. As of January 2023, her most recent work was in the main cast for the two seasons of the series Project Blue Book (2019–20).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvel Television</span> Television production company (2010–2019)

Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. Marvel Television was formed as a division of Marvel Entertainment in June 2010, with producer Jeph Loeb serving as its executive vice president and head of television to produce shows for Marvel. The division was based at affiliate ABC Studios' location, and collaborated with the broadcast network ABC, streaming services Netflix and Hulu, and cable channel Freeform to release many of their series as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, a shared universe created by the film studio Marvel Studios. Animated series from Marvel Television were produced through Marvel Animation, and the division also collaborated with 20th Century Fox to produce shows based on the X-Men franchise such as Legion and The Gifted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André Øvredal</span> Norwegian film director and screenwriter

André Øvredal is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Trollhunter (2010), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) and The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Griffin Gluck</span> American actor (born 2000)

Griffin Alexander Gluck is an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, Gluck began his career as a child actor in comedy films such as Just Go with It (2011) and Why Him? (2016). He had his first leading role as a comatosed teenager in the drama series Red Band Society (2014–2015) and gained acclaim for playing a young film prodigy in the Netflix mockumentary series American Vandal (2017–2018) and the main antagonist Gabe / Dodge in the Netflix horror series Locke & Key (2020–2022). He also had further leading roles in comedy films Big Time Adolescence (2019), Tall Girl (2019) and its 2022 sequel, and North Hollywood (2021), and appeared in the second and final season of the Freeform thriller anthology Cruel Summer (2023).

Skylar Gaertner is an American actor, best known for playing Jonah Byrde in the Netflix TV series Ozark from 2017 to 2022.

<i>Locke & Key</i> (TV series) 2020 American supernatural horror drama television series

Locke & Key is an American fantasy horror drama television series developed by Carlton Cuse, Meredith Averill, and Aron Eli Coleite, based on the comic book series of the same name by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez. It premiered on Netflix on February 7, 2020. The series stars Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott, Laysla De Oliveira, Petrice Jones, and Griffin Gluck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Robert Scott</span> American child actor (born 2008)

Jackson Robert Scott is an American actor known for playing Bode Locke in the Netflix series Locke & Key (2020–2022) and Georgie Denbrough in the films It Chapter One (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019).

References

  1. 1 2 "Locke & Key". Writers Guild of America West . July 25, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Dimension Loses Rights to Joe Hill's Awesome 'Locke & Key' Comic! - Bloody Disgusting". www.bloody-disgusting.com. 5 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Full Specs Fly in for The Raven - Dread Central". www.dreadcentral.com. 24 July 2012.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive: Kurtzman & Orci To Produce Locke & Key".
  5. ↑ "Locke & Key Adaptation Becomes TV Series - League of Comic Geeks". leagueofcomicgeeks.com.
  6. ↑ Schneider, Michael (2010-10-25). "Fox greenlights 'Locke and Key'". Variety . Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  7. ↑ Tady, Scott (2010-11-26). "Pilot for new TV show show in Pittsburgh". Beaver County Times . Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  8. ↑ Hayes, Cathy (2010-12-20). "Irish Sarah Bolger cast in Fox's 'Locke & Key'". IrishCentral. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  9. ↑ Wigler, Josh (2011-01-13). "Nick Stahl Joins 'Locke & Key,' FOX Targets Fall Premiere". MTV . Retrieved 2011-01-19.
  10. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (January 28, 2011). "'Bones' Spinoff 'The Finder' Finds Lead". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  11. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (February 3, 2011). "Jesse McCartney To Star In 'Locke & Key'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  12. ↑ Melrose, Kevin (February 21, 2011). "Fox's Locke & Key Finds Its Dodge" . Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  13. ↑ Leins, Jeff (November 23, 2010). "Mark Romanek to Direct 'Locke & Key' TV Pilot". News in Film. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  14. ↑ Owen, Rob (February 11, 2011). "Tuned In: Fox pilot 'Locke & Key' filming in Pittsburgh". post-gazette.com. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  15. ↑ Owen, Rob (11 May 2011). "Fox reportedly passes on 'Locke & Key'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  16. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (June 22, 2011). "Fox Pilot 'Locke & Key' To Screen At Comic-Con". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  17. ↑ Miska, Brad (January 9, 2020). "Watch FOX's "Locke & Key" Pilot Directed by Mark Romanek!". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  18. ↑ Miska, Brad (January 23, 2020). "Locke & Key (2011 FOX Pilot)". Vimeo . Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  19. ↑ Ferguson, James (23 October 2011). "Locke & Key Pilot Review". HorrorTalk. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.