First Teaser for Stephen King/J.J. Abrams Series Castle Rock Released

The first teaser references Misery, Shawshank Redemption, and more.

By Jonathon Dornbush

Bad Robot Productions has released a mysterious teaser trailer for a new Hulu original series that reteams J.J. Abrams and Stephen King called Castle Rock.

The Bad Robot Twitter account posted a photo featuring Abrams' stationary bearing a handwritten note that included a YouTube link, which leads to this Castle Rock teaser:

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Castle Rock will be an anthology series that brings together the characters and themes of King's works that involve Castle Rock. If multiple seasons are made, the show will center on different groups of characters each season while also introducing elements from prior seasons.

Castle Rock is the name of a fictional location in Maine that has been the site of a number of King's stories, including The Dead Zone and Cujo, and also referenced in a number of other King stories like It and Pet Semetary. The trailer itself also makes references to a number of other King works, including The Shawshank Redemption, Misery, The Shining, and more, so it remains unclear how far-reaching Castle Rock will be in its connections to King's novels and short stories. The trailer ends on a map of the United States, with a bright light shining out of Maine.

All of the King references are shown along a series of red veins, which are then revealed to link up on a map of Maine and point to that light, which is presumably the town of Castle Rock.

Bad Robot's photo, in addition to the YouTube link, also included the mysterious sentence, "What is the hoax in the forest?"

No other details, including a release date, have been revealed so far, though King himself tweeted that "J.J. Abrams and I want to invite you to take a trip to Castle Rock. Soon. Be afraid."

King and Abrams previously collaborated on the Hulu adaptation of King's novel 11/22/63, which starred James Franco. For more on that series, which aired last year, check out IGN's review of the entire 11/22/63 miniseries.

If Castle Rock does indeed provide connections among a number of King's projects, it wouldn't be the only work to do so this year — an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, which brings together a number of the author's characters and worlds, is set for release on July 28.

Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

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