With today's release of the sixth of its ten episodes on the streaming service Hulu, the first season of the Stephen King / J.J. Abrams series Castle Rock is officially more than halfway over… But if you're a viewer who wants to spend even more time in this King-inspired world, here's some good news: Hulu has announced that they're renewing Castle Rock for a second season.
Hulu's senior vice president and head of content Craig Erwich confirmed to Variety that the anthology series will be back to tell another "wholly original" story.
The renewal makes sense, since Castle Rock has already become the most successful first season Hulu Original when it comes to consumption and reach. The show has also brought more viewers to Hulu's previous King / Abrams project, the mini-series 11.22.63, which was released in February of 2016. The mini-series adaptation of King's It has proven to be popular on the streaming service as well.
Produced by Bad Robot Prods. and Warner Bros. Television, Castle Rock is executive produced by Abrams, King, Mark Lafferty, Ben Stephenson, Liz Glotzer, and showrunners Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason.
Although set in the King universe, Castle Rock isn't directly based on any of the author's stories. It tells
an original story that combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King's best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland.
Melanie Lynskey, Jane Levy, Bill Skarsgård, Terry O'Quinn, Scott Glenn, André Holland, Sissy Spacek, and Chosen Jacobs star.
Thomason has told The Hollywood Reporter that
Each season is going to be its own self-contained story: beginning, middle and end."
I haven't watched Castle Rock yet myself, I'm waiting until all ten episodes are available before I dive into it, but I'm glad to hear that those ten episodes aren't all its fans are going to be getting.