This might be the most interesting news we hear all week. Bill Skarsgard, who is playing Pennywise the clown in the upcomingITmovie has officially boarded another Stephen King adaptation.Castle Rock, theHulu seriesthat is based on King’s multiverse, has brought Skarsgard on board as a series regular. The most interesting part? Bill Skarsgard is not playing Pennywise inCastle Rock. At least not as far as we know.
Varietybroke the news that Bill Skarsgard, son of actor Stellen Skarsgard, is making his way toCastle Rock. According to their report, he will be playing “a young man with an unusual legal problem.” That is pretty vague and doesn’t give us a whole lot to work with in terms of being able to speculate, but this is a fascinating story nonetheless. Given the fact that this is the second current Stephen King project thatBill Skarsgardis going to be taking part in, that is at least worth raising an eyebrow. Especially when you consider whatCastle Rockis.
Stephen King fans will recognize that thetown of Castle Rockhas been a major fixture in the author’s universe for a long time. The town first appeared in the 1979 novelThe Dead Zoneand has appeared in several other novels since, includingCujoandThe Body. The town also showed up in the storiesUncle Otto’s Truck,Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut,The Dark Half,The Sun DogandIt Grows on You. Point being,Castle Rockis a major fixture in the Stephen King multiverse. So bringing in the actor who is currently playing Pennywise is a big deal. Even if, as far as we know right now, he isn’t going to play theITcharacter on the show.
Hulu has not yet set a premiere date forCastle Rock, but the show is expected to debut on the streaming service sometime in 2018. The cast is starting to come together, alongside the creative team, which includesJ.J. Abramsas an Executive Producer on the series, with Sam Shaw (Manhattan) and Dustin Thomason (The Evidence) also on board as writers and producers. In addition to Bill Skarsgard, the cast for the series also includes Sissy Spacek, André Holland, Jane Levy and Melanie Lynskey.
Several months ago a mysterious teaser trailer forCastle Rockarrived online and referenced quite a few ofStephen King’s works and characters, such asCreepshow,The Shawshank Redemption,Salem’s Lot,Misery,CujoandIT. In fact, Pennywise was specifically name-dropped in the teaser. That really makes this casting something to keep an eye on. If Pennywise is going to appear in the series, it makes sense that the producers, especially when you have a guy like J.J. Abrams involved, would want to keep something like that under wraps until the time is right. It is totally possible that Bill Skarsgard is actually going to have nothing to do with Pennywise inCastle Rockand that he is actually playing an entirely new character, but still. This show just became much more intriguing.
