Perhaps the most prolifically adapted author of the modern era, Stephen King’s mutually beneficial relationship with both the big and small screens has been going on since his very first novel – Carrie – was adapted into an acclaimed feature film by Brian De Palma back in 1976. Since then, dozens of films and TV series have been adapted from King’s ever-growing oeuvre, with the author even occasionally writing original work for the screen. In recent years though, King’s TV contributions have shifted away from the formerly popular miniseries format, and into full-fledged episodic series.
Some of these King-based TV series – such as Syfy’s Haven and CBS’ Under the Dome – have used the author’s writing as a jumping-off point, and kept things going for multiple seasons. Others – such as Hulu’s recent 8-episode adaptation of King’s best-selling time travel tale 11/22/63 – are designed to only run for a limited time, sort of serving as a cross between an old-school miniseries and an ongoing show like Haven.
The latest entrant into the Stephen King TV show arena is Castle Rock, the existence of which came utterly out of nowhere last Friday, when a mysterious teaser trailer was released promoting the series. That teaser has since been viewed over a million times, suggesting that the combination of the names Stephen King and J.J. Abrams was in itself enough to make many sit up and take notice. Now, Deadline reports that Hulu has granted Castle Rock a 10-episode series order, with production set to begin later this year.
As for what exactly Castle Rock – named for the small town setting of many of King’s novels and short stories – will be about, Hulu and the series’ producers released the following info:
A psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse, Castle Rock combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland. Castle Rock is an original suspense/thriller — a reimagining that explores the themes and worlds uniting the entire King canon, while brushing up against some of his most iconic and beloved stories.
While that’s still pretty vague, it does sound like Castle Rock will be a new story, featuring original characters, albeit within the established King multiverse. Whether this means that famous characters and locations from other King works will also make an appearance remains to be seen. Writing the project is the duo of Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason (Manhattan), with Abrams producing. It’s unclear how much King will be involved creatively, beyond the use of his name and signature themes.
