'The Birds' Limited Series Starring Sarah Snook Lands At HBO For Development From Tom Spezialy, David Heyman & UGT
News Source
β’Tue, 27 Oct 2026 18:38:50 +0000
π° What Happened
HBO is developing "The Birds", a limited series starring Sarah Snook. The show is based on Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film and the Daphne du Maurier story behind it. Snook plays Myra Massey, a woman who leaves a bitter custody fight and returns to her Alaska hometown with her young daughter. She is secretly looking into why a childhood friend disappeared. A killer is on the loose, and the deadly bird attacks seem tied to the crime. Tom Spezialy wrote the pilot, and David Heyman is producing.
π The Backstory
Hitchcock's 1963 movie starred Tippi Hedren and became famous for scenes of birds attacking a small California town. It came from a 1952 novella by Daphne du Maurier. Universal Pictures made the original film and still shares the rights with the author's estate. Snook won an Emmy for "Succession" and has worked with HBO before. Spezialy worked on "Watchmen" and "The Leftovers", and Heyman produces HBO's new Harry Potter series. The project was offered to buyers in summer 2026.
π― Why It Matters
Remakes pull old stories back into the spotlight, so a new audience may pick up the 1963 film and the book behind it. They also show how streaming channels keep mining famous titles instead of taking a costly chance on scripts nobody has heard of. That habit shapes what gets made and what never does.
HBO is developing "The Birds", a limited series starring Sarah Snook. The show is based on Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film and the Daphne du Maurier story behind it. Snook plays Myra Massey, a woman who leaves a bitter custody fight and returns to her Alaska hometown with her young daughter. She is secretly looking into why a childhood friend disappeared. A killer is on the loose, and the deadly bird attacks seem tied to the crime. Tom Spezialy wrote the pilot, and David Heyman is producing.
Hitchcock's 1963 movie starred Tippi Hedren and became famous for scenes of birds attacking a small California town. It came from a 1952 novella by Daphne du Maurier. Universal Pictures made the original film and still shares the rights with the author's estate. Snook won an Emmy for "Succession" and has worked with HBO before. Spezialy worked on "Watchmen" and "The Leftovers", and Heyman produces HBO's new Harry Potter series. The project was offered to buyers in summer 2026.
Remakes pull old stories back into the spotlight, so a new audience may pick up the 1963 film and the book behind it. They also show how streaming channels keep mining famous titles instead of taking a costly chance on scripts nobody has heard of. That habit shapes what gets made and what never does.