CASTLE ROCK is an enigma.
The teaser trailer mentions titles and characters from such Stephen King books as: It, Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, 'Salem's Lot, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Dreamcatcher, Night Shift, The Green Mile, Misery, Hearts In Atlantis, The Shining, The Mangler, Four past Midnight, Different Seasons, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, and The Night Flier.
Yet from that list only Needful Things and The Shawshank Redemption actually take place in the town of Castle Rock. Other King tales not included in that line-up, but do take place in Castle Rock include: The Dead Zone, Cujo, Stand by Me, Uncle Otto's Truck, Mrs. Todd's Shortcut, The Dark Half, The Sun Dog, Needful Things, It Grows on You, Premium Harmony, and the new Gwendy's Button Box.
J.J. Abrams was on Jimmy Fallon the other night and talked a (tiny) bit about the series.
J.J. Abrams on CASTLE ROCK:
These two writers Dustin Thomas and Sam Shaw came up with this incredibly cool, terrifying, weird, funny idea of this series, new story, that takes place in this town. All these characters from Stephen King's books are sort of peripherally involved. We pitched it to Stephen King, he went nuts for it, so we're doing it for Hulu.
Abrams then goes on to tell a funny story about going to see Neil Marshall's THE DESCENT with Stephen King, where every time a gory death happened, King would scream "That's awesome!"
Good story. Go figure J.J. Abrams is a good storyteller. You can check out the whole snippet of his interview below.
CASTLE ROCK is written by Dustin Thomason and Sam Shaw, and it is said the series "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."
The 10-episode first season has no yet been cast or given a release date, but production is expected to begin in August.