【Gina Wild - Jetzt wird es schmutzig 5 (2000)】

Hulu has already ventured into the realm of Stephen King with 11.22.63.,Gina Wild - Jetzt wird es schmutzig 5 (2000) but the streaming network's upcoming mystery series Castle Rockwill be unlike any King adaptation we've seen before -- mostly because the 10-episode series isn't an adaptation at all.

Speaking at the show's New York Comic Con panel, executive producer Dustin Thomason says that the creative team approached the project "wanting to tell a new story that felt fundamentally Kingian" rather than retread any of the author's previous tales.

"It wasn't a question of 'can we tell this particular thread of Pennywise or Carrie,' but 'how can we tell a story that honors the spirit of what Stephen King has been doing over and over again for 40 years' ... without a context for it except what people know and love about Stephen King," he says.

Instead, fellow EP Sam Shaw explains that the show is an original tale that "brushes against some of the best-loved characters and iconic locations" of King's multiverse, including Shawshank Prison, which will play an integral role in the first season, since it's located close to the titular town.

The story centers around Andre Holland's character, Henry, a death row attorney who is drawn into "an unusual case at Shawshank Prison" that involves Bill Skarsgard's character.

Skarsgard -- already familiar with King's universe thanks to his role as Pennywise in the recent reboot of IT-- says that West Virginia Penitentiary served as the shooting location for Shawshank, and, fittingly, it's regarded as one of the most haunted places in America.

SEE ALSO: 'IT: Chapter Two' gets a release date and it's sooner than you think

"There’s engravings and graffiti [on the walls] from actual prisoners," he reveals, detailing the time they spent shooting in the solitary wing of the prison. "So it really helps me get in character … it’s horrifying that people have spent years in those brutal conditions."

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Skarsgard may have earned a slew of new fans from his star turn in IT, but he admits that he almost turned down the role in Castle Rockbecause of his work in the film.

"I was a little bit hesitant going into the project because I just did ITand I didn’t want to be too familiarized with the world, but then I read the pilot and it was spectacular, and it captivated me," Skarsgard admits. "It’s just something completely different; obviously it’s the same genre and true to the themes of Stephen King, but the character couldn’t be further away from Pennywise. The character is mysterious and he’s dark and he’s sort of a fringe character, he’s very different from who I am."

Skarsgard isn't the only King alum in the series -- his co-stars include Carrieicon Sissy Spacek and Red Rose's Melanie Lynskey -- and Spacek admits, "I was afraid that I would never have the opportunity to do something this twisted again … it’s an homage to Stephen King and I certainly owe Stephen King a lot."

SEE ALSO: This deleted scene from 'IT' could hint at Pennywise's origin story

Spacek plays Ruth, Henry's mother, and the two have a strained relationship because of some "extenuating circumstances" that neither Spacek or Holland want to say more about before fans see the show.

"My character does have a complicated relationship -- not just with his mother but with a lot of people in the town -- because of these extenuating circumstances that have affected Henry," Holland teases. "What we see is a person trying to reconcile that."

One more fun fact about Ruth? She's in a relationship with another notable King character, Alan Pangborne (played by Scott Glenn), the legendary sheriff of Castle Rock. Needless to say, Pangborne isn't unaffected by the town's troubled past, and Thomason previews that the show will explore "what is it like for that guy to be a lion in winter looking back on the dark history of what he watched."

Since plenty of King stories dabble in the supernatural, it's safe to assume that the show might play in that sandbox too. Thomason wouldn't confirm that, since "even to answer that question might be to spoil your experience," but he did concede that "a lot of terrible things have happened to Castle Rock and the denizens of that town, [so] trying to figure out what is a supernatural event and what is dumb luck, who is a monster and who is a victim, is part of the fabric of the show. It's not lost on us that things tend to get pretty bonkers in Stephen King, and we like bonkers."

Castle Rockpremieres on Hulu in 2018.

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Topics Hulu Stephen King