Stephen King Wishes Castle Rock Got a Season 3

With the series based on characters, locations, and events he chronicled over the course of his career, it’s understandable that Stephen King was disappointed by the cancellation of Castle Rock by Hulu, with the author recently expressing his frustrations that the series was scrapped just as the filmmakers were establishing the series and discovering their own strengths. A number of King adaptations debut on screens both big and small every year, with some fans likely to assume that King wants every project be a huge hit, but having previously pointed out the ways in which The Dark Tower movie fell short of expectations, he has proven he has no problem addressing the adaptations that fail to meet their full potential.

“The people involved were big fans of those books, and I liked what they did quite a lot,” King shared with The New York Times. “In the second season, they really got their feet under them. I would have liked to have seen it go on and grow a little bit.”

Part of what made the series so compelling is possibly a reason why it struggled to find an audience.

While films like IT or Pet Sematary or the upcoming TV series The Stand have the benefit of being based on well-known works from the horror writer, yet Castle Rock was instead based on the town that connects a variety of the author’s stories. This meant a new narrative could be crafted, lifting elements from Misery and Salem’s Lot for Season Two, to craft a unique collision of familiar elements. However, by not being able to capitalize on the recognition of a title, it proved difficult to win over even the most devout of King fan.

Sadly, the cancellation of Castle Rock was only one disappointing blow dealt to King fans recently, as last month also saw the cancellation of HBO’s The Outsider.

“We enjoyed our collaboration with Richard [Price], Jason [Bateman], Andrew [Bernstein], and the MRC team, and we wish them well in continuing the world created by the brilliant Stephen King,” HBO shared in a statement about that series’ ending.

While The Outsider might have been cancelled, MRC is reportedly trying to find a new home for a sophomore season of the project.

Stay tuned for details on future Stephen King projects.

Are you disappointed that the series didn’t continue? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!