Stephen King and J.J. Abrams Tease New Hulu Project 'Castle Rock'

Watch a teaser for Stephen King and J.J. Abrams’ new series ‘Castle Rock.’

View this video on YouTube

youtu.be

Netflix's Stranger Things was an absolute phenomenon for the streaming service in 2016, so it's no surprise their competitors are trying to tap into the same vein with upcoming programming. Hulu is banking on Stephen King and J.J. Abrams, who previously linked up for the mini-series 11.22.63, to capture some of the same magic with their new project, Castle Rock.

As you can see in the above trailer, there's not yet a whole lot of information available on the upcoming series. The teaser brings a number of famous King characters and locations into focus, from Salem's Lot to Shawshank State Prison, but otherwise relies heavily on ambiguity to build hype for the collaboration. The Hollywood Reporterindicates the series will have different characters and storylines each season, à la American Horror Story, but retain overarching themes as they move from one season to the next. 

King's own promotion of the teaser on Twitter comes with one simple message -- "Be Afraid".

Abrams' production company, Bad Robot, got a little more specific, but they too raised more questions than answers with the image you see below:

For those not well-versed in King, Castle Rock derives its name from a fictional town in Maine that provided the setting for a number of King's books over the years, perhaps most famous for its appearance in Cujo, King's thriller about a rabid dog. The town's name is in itself derivative, which is taken from a famous location in the 1954 literary classic, Lord of the Flies. 

It only seems right that King factors into the aftermath of the success of Stranger Things. The co-creators for the Netflix hit revealed in an interview last year they were only able to do Stranger Things because their request to direct the upcoming remake of King's It for Warner Bros. Their own work was clearly inspired by the dark tones of King's work.

Now they'll get to see what the master of the genre can do with an extended series to flesh out his creations. ​There's no release date yet, but Hulu has to be over-the-moon to have King and Abrams work on this project together. You'll have to stay tuned for more info on what's to come.

Latest in Pop Culture