EXCLUSIVE: Sixty-three years after the release of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, one of the most recognizable horror titles in the history of cinema is getting a remake in the form of a limited series. The high-profile package, which is being taken out to buyers, has Emmy winner Sarah Snook (Succession, All Her Fault) starring and Tom Spezialy (The Leftovers, Watchmen) writing. It comes from Universal International Studios, whose sibling movie studio Universal Pictures produced the 1963 feature, and Heyday Television, producer David Heyman‘s joint venture with UIS.

The Birds limited series is described as a visceral, present-day reimagining of Hitchcock’s classic set in Spezialy’s home state of Alaska with a murder mystery at the center and new characters, led by a new female protagonist, Myra Massey (Snook).

Inspired by the film and Daphne du Maurier’s short story it was loosely based on, The Birds introduces traveling magistrate Myra Massey (Snook) as she returns to her isolated Alaskan hometown for a routine presumptive death hearing, expecting a simple cold case. Instead, she finds her childhood friend’s bullet-ridden body. When Myra is forced to step outside her role as judge to untangle the mystery, nature itself turns hostile with a wave of bird attacks. Now, Myra isn’t just trying to close a case, she’s fighting to survive in a place where death lurks in both the shadows and the skies.

Executive producing the series are Spezialy, Snook, Heyman via Heyday TV and Jennifer Gabler Rawlings of Omni Artists.

English writer Du Maurier’s 1952 short story was set in her home county of Cornwall; Hitchcock’s adaptation took place in Bodega Bay, California. In addition to the time and place, the series is changing the approach to the lead character, from the film’s damsel-in-distress Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) who has to be rescued, to Myra Massey (Snook) who has to rely on herself because no one is coming to her rescue.

The Birds had been in development at UIS for over a year.

During a discussion at SXSW London last June moderated by Beatrice Springborn, President of Universal Studio Group’s UCP and UIS, Sue Gibbs, Head of Development at Heyday Television, said that The Birds TV series is not adapting Hitchcock’s film.

“We’re going back to the source material, the Daphne du Maurier novella and using that as inspiration,” she said. “And at its heart, it’s looking at when nature turns on you. Obviously, with climate change that is very timely.”

There have been multiple attempts to revisit The Birds over the years, none of which had come to fruition. They include a feature remake announced in 2007, which had Naomi Watts attached to star and Martin Campbell to direct from a script by Stiles White and Juliet Snowden, and a BBC series announced in 2017 written by Irish playwright Conor McPherson that was going to feature the post-World War II era Cornwall setting of du Maurier’s novella.

The Birds reunites Snook with UIS. Snook most recently headlined the studio’s limited series All Her Fault which was a hit for Peacock and is bringing Snook back into Emmy contention for her role as a mom whose child is abducted. She previously received three Emmy nominations for her role as Shiv Roy on HBO’s Succession, winning in 2023. Snook, who won a Tony Award last year for The Picture of Dorian Gray and a 2025 AACTA Best Actress Award for the Oscar-nominated animated feature Memoir of a Snail, is repped by UTA, Omni Artists, Hansen Jacobson Teller as well as Shanahan Management in her native Australia.

Spezialy was an executive producer on Watchmen, sharing in its 2020 Outstanding Limited Series Emmy Award. It was one of two Damon Lindelof shows for HBO that Spezialy executive produced, along with The Leftovers. Most recently, Spezialy executive produced the upcoming Prime Video series Blade Runner 2099, a TV followup to another cinematic classic, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. He is repped by WME, Manage-ment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

Heyday Television and UIS produced together the successful 2024 Peacock limited series Apples Never Fall starring Annette Bening and Sam Neill. Heyman is executive producing HBO Max’s upcoming Harry Potter series having produced the blockbuster movie franchise. He is repped by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.