HBO has officially ordered a new limited series called The Chain, bringing acclaimed showrunner Damon Lindelof back for his latest project. The show, based on a popular thriller novel, marks Lindelof’s first solo showrunning role since the celebrated 2019 series Watchmen and promises a tense story about a parent’s worst nightmare.
The network gave the series a straight-to-series order in late January 2026, confirming an eight-episode run. This project is the first to be greenlit under a new two-year overall deal Lindelof signed with HBO in September 2025, strengthening his long-standing partnership with the premium network.
The Story Behind The Chain
The Chain is based on the 2019 New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by author Adrian McKinty. The book’s premise taps into a deep, universal fear. The story follows Rachel Klein, a mother who gets a terrifying phone call after dropping her daughter off at the bus stop. A woman informs Rachel that she has kidnapped her daughter.
The ransom demand is where the chilling twist lies. To secure her own child’s release, Rachel must pay a sum of money and then kidnap another child. She is told that the caller is also a mother whose son has been taken, and if Rachel fails to follow the instructions, that boy will be killed. By complying, Rachel becomes a new link in a self-perpetuating criminal scheme known as “the chain”.
Author Stephen King praised the novel as “nightmarish, propulsive and original,” while fellow writer Don Winslow described it as “Jaws for parents”. The novel itself has an interesting origin story. McKinty had stopped writing and was working as a bartender and Uber driver before author Don Winslow helped connect him with an agent, who encouraged him to write The Chain.
Damon Lindelof’s Role and Vision
Damon Lindelof is not just attached as an executive producer; he will serve as the showrunner, writer, and executive producer for the series. This is a significant return to hands-on creative control for Lindelof, whose last showrunning credit was for HBO’s Emmy-winning Watchmen.
In a statement, Lindelof expressed his immediate reaction to the book’s concept: “From the moment I heard the wild and original premise of Adrian’s book, I was shocked, surprised and angry I hadn’t thought of it myself”. He added that he has always wanted to adapt a great thriller and found the “dark, weird, exhilarating touches” of McKinty’s story to be a perfect fit for his imagination.
While the series will be faithful to the core, high-stakes premise of the book, HBO has indicated that Lindelof will be “expanding the mythology” of the thriller for the television adaptation. This approach is similar to what he did with Watchmen, which used the original graphic novel as a springboard for a new, contemporary story. The exact nature of this expansion remains under wraps.
The Creative Team and Production Details
The series will be a co-production between HBO and Media Res, the production studio behind acclaimed series like The Morning Show and Pachinko. The pilot story was developed by Lindelof, Carly Wray, and Breannah Gibson. Lindelof and Wray then wrote the pilot script together.
The executive production team includes Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer from Media Res, as well as Shane Salerno. Author Adrian McKinty will serve as a co-executive producer on the series, providing a direct link to the source material.
Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President of HBO Programming, welcomed the new project, stating, “We are honored by our continued partnership with Damon Lindelof, one of the most singular and distinctive creators of our time”. She described The Chain as a series that promises to “continue his legacy of dropping us into the pit of the human brain and delivering in ways not only emotionally daring but, ultimately, transformative”.
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Lindelof’s History with HBO and What’s Next
Damon Lindelof has a storied history with HBO, making The Chain his fourth major project with the network. He first worked with HBO as the co-creator and showrunner of The Leftovers, which ran for three critically adored seasons from 2014 to 2017. He followed that with the groundbreaking limited series Watchmen in 2019, which earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series.
Lindelof is also currently a co-creator and executive producer on the upcoming HBO-DC series Lanterns, which is scheduled to debut later in 2026. The official order for The Chain confirms that Lindelof will be juggling multiple major projects under his new HBO deal.
No casting announcements, specific plot details beyond the book’s logline, or a target release date have been revealed for The Chain. Production timelines will likely depend on the completion of Lanterns. However, with a full series order already in place and a top-tier creative team assembled, the project is moving full speed ahead toward becoming HBO’s next major thriller event.
Also Read: Sophie Turner Explains Why She Signed On For The New Thriller Series ‘Steal’
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