Stephen King's Shared Universe Series, Castle Rock, Gets Release Date And New Trailer

Many of Stephen King's novels take place in a shared universe, with the author leaving little clues throughout his stories. Now, King is working with J.J. Abrams to bring this idea to light on Hulu. The new series is Castle Rock, named after a town in Maine where King's novels Cujo, Needful Things, The Dead Zone, and The Dark Half are set.

Hulu revealed that the series will premiere on its service on July 25. The first three episodes will debut that day, and it's unclear at this time how Hulu will release the rest of the 10-episode season. It's likely that it will be weekly.

The new trailer for Castle Rock, which you can see above, doesn't give an exceptionally clear idea of what the show will be about, aside from the fact that something creepy is happening in this Maine town. Shawshank Prison seems to be a focal point for this and the first trailer for the series.

André Holland stars as Henry Deaver, and what's interesting is that plenty of Holland's co-stars have appeared or starred in previous works adapted from King's material. Melanie Lynskey--who plays Molly Strand--starred in 2002's TV miniseries Rose Red. Both Bill Skarsgard (Pennywise) and Chosen Jacobs appeared in 2017's remake of It, and they will be playing a Shawshank Prisoner and Wendell Deaver, respectively. Terry O'Quinn plays Dale Lacy, and he starred in 1985's Silver Bullet. However, the most noted actor in Castle Rock is Sissy Spacek who plays Ruth Deaver on the Hulu series; in 1976, she starred in the iconic horror film Carrie.

This isn't by accident, but will these actors have a connection to their previous roles? As of right now, there are a lot more questions than answers, but hopefully, the Shawshank Prisoner makes at least one reference to Pennywise the Clown.

This is the second time King and Abrams have collaborated for Hulu, with the first being 2016's 11.22.63, a series starring James Franco about a man who travels back in time to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Sam Shaw (Masters of Sex) and Dustin Thomason (Lie To Me) developed Castle Rock and will executive produce the series alongside J.J. Abrams, Ben Stephenson, and Liz Glotzer. The series comes from Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and is associated with Warner Bros. Television.