Ryan Murphy’s “Ratched” series starring Sarah Paulson has landed a two-season, 18-episode order at Netflix.
The story is set in the 1940s and centers on the professional beginnings for a young version of the villainous Nurse Ratched, who originated in the 1962 Ken Kesey novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Michael Douglas and Murphy are executive producers on the prequel project that has a script from newcomer Evan Romansky.
Douglas was a producer of the classic 1975 Milos Forman-directed film of the same name that earned five Oscars, including one for Louise Fletcher as the heartless nurse.
This series comes from Fox 21 Television Studios, where Murphy has an overall deal.
“Ratched” continues a long professional relationship for Murphy and Paulson that includes “American Horror Story: Cult,” which is currently airing on FX. Paulson earned an Emmy for playing Marcia Clark in Murphy’s “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and will appear in the anthology series’ upcoming installment “Katrina.”