New Details Emerge About Stephen King’s ‘Castle Rock’ Series

Stephen King fans who can’t get enough of the author earned some good news this week, as Stephen King fansite Lilja’s Library discovered that, when Castle Rock debuts on Hulu on July 25th, we’ll be getting three episodes instead of just one. Additionally, Entertainment Weekly shared details from their set visit of the series which revealed details about what to expect.

The series takes place in the fictional Maine town of Castle Rock, which features many connections to a variety of King stories. Of the approach to the show, co-creator Dustin Thomason shared, “Our intention was always to tell an original story in the tune of Stephen King…The germ of the idea was to think about the kinds of people who have the grit to stick it out in a place that’s been terrorized over and over again. Who stays in a place like that?”

The author is well-known for his tales of terror, though another one of his most memorable stories is Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was adapted into the film The Shawshank Redemption in 1994. The themes of imprisonment and justice will play an important part of Castle Rock.

“When we returned to his library, a lot of his stories about prison and justice were really compelling to us…They’re the closest things to true-life monster stories that we tell ourselves as a culture,” co-creator Sam Shaw pointed out. “How do we assign blame? How do we reckon with the idea of evil and whether we believe in it?”

The new series features some Stephen King veterans, such as Carrie‘s Sissy Spacek and IT‘s Bill Skarsgard. In the series, Skarsgard plays a character who is imprisoned.

“He’s a very traumatized creature..He’s very feral. He’s not normal,” the actor detailed of his character. “Everything is off and wounded in some way…A lot of what he’s been through has shaped who he is, and…I can’t say who he is without revealing what he’s been through.”

One would think King himself would be the harshest critic of projects inspired by his stories, though Shaw admitted he already received positive feedback from the author. King reportedly reached out to producer J.J. Abrams to share his kind words.

“It was a very, very cool moment, when J.J. forwarded us the email,” Shaw joked. “You want to be sure that when Stephen King watches your Stephen King show, he’s happy.”

Tune in to Castle Rock on July 25th.

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[H/T Entertainment Weekly]