The Birds Limited Series Starring Sarah Snook in Development at HBO
Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds is being developed as a limited series for HBO. It is the latest example of what’s become a common move for streaming services: remaking classic movies as miniseries.
This year alone saw Apple TV’s Cape Fear, Prime Video’s Carrie, and more. Now, the previously-announced The Birds series is moving ahead and has been acquired by HBO per an exclusive report by Deadline.
The Birds is set to star Sarah Snook (Succession) as the lead heroine, Myra Massey, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Like the Hitchcock film, The Birds will adapt the original 1952 novella by Daphne du Maurier. Hitchcock’s film kept only the core premise, of birds in the sky randomly attacking people.
The Birds, starring Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels, did not adapt the novel’s characters. It also moved the setting from England to Bodega Bay, California.
The reported story of HBO’s The Birds suggests another loose adaptation. Snook’s Massey is described as a divorcee who returns to her Alaska hometown with her daughter during a custody battle. Once there, she investigates a childhood friend’s disappearance.
“With a killer on the loose and personal threats mounting, she fights to protect her daughter against a terrifying new menace: vicious, deadly bird attacks inexplicably tied to the crime,” the show’s official description continues.
The Birds was first reported by Deadline to be in development in May 2026. The project is being developed at Universal Global Television.
The project comes courtesy of Tom Spezialy and David Heyman, who have strong ties to HBO. Spezialy served as an executive producer on HBO series Watchmen and The Leftovers, while Heyman is an executive producer on the network’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series.
Snook, Spezialy and Heyman will serve as executive producers on The Birds. Spezialy is also reported to be writing the pilot. They will be joined by Danny Samit, head of Heyday Television, and Jennifer Gabler Rawlings of Omni Artists.
The Birds does not have a release date at this time.
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Devin Meenan
Devin Meenan is a freelance entertainment writer, with bylines at outlets including IGN, /Film, Polygon and more. His first love was movies but he found himself writing more passionately about TV, hence him joining the Tell-Tale TV team. His favorite types of TV to sink into include prestige dramas, mystery box thrillers, sci-fi/fantasy, and anime. He can be reached on Twitter @ DevinM626.