Pat Gruner February 17th, 2017 - 10:05 PM
The town featured in literary works by master of suspense Stephen King, including The Dead Zone and Cujo, is set for launch at Hulu. Castle Rock, J.J. Abrams’ newest television project, will adapt characters and themes from King’s novels into an expanded series. The anthology will use a floating plot model which follows different arcs from season to season.
Abrams’ latest forays into television have received high praise. In addition to fall hit Westworld from HBO, Abrams also captivated audiences with Hulu original 11.22.63. King’s involvement in the Hulu series, based on his 2011 novel, proved that the pairing is effective in terms of ratings and critical response. In that project, the two had the benefit of working with critical darling James Franco. It is unclear who will be filling the as of yet unknown roles in Castle Rock, but names as highly regarded as King’s are sure to draw recognizable talent.
If fans unfamiliar with the location of Castle Rock, Maine require further information about the location’s importance in King’s many works, this teaser should fill in some blanks. No physical characters appear, but the names listed will get your memory firing and your palms sweating.
Shawshank, Pennywise, and Salem’s Lot. Three entities from very different tales with one thing in common – Castle Rock. The narrator of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (later adapted into the Academy Award nominated film The Shawshank Redemption) was from Castle Rock prior to his incarceration. Indeed, over 30 of King’s written pieces have been either set or made mention of the New England town. Like Randall Flagg (the notorious Man in Black who has spread evil everywhere from corn fields to a post-Apocalyptic United States), Castle Rock is a fixture for both diehard and casual fans.
As one would expect from a series based on King’s work, all entities involved have maintained a certain degree of secrecy regarding the project. According to The Hollywood Reporter, neither Hulu nor Warner Bros. Television would comment on a timeline for the series. Warner Bros. is the studio affiliated with Abrams’ Bad-Robot Productions. The same report also mentions that Sam Shaw (Masters of Sex, Manhattan) and Dusty Thomason (Lie to Me) are attached to the project.
Stay tuned with mxdwn as we unravel the mysteries leading up to Hulu’s Castle Rock.
