Hulu is expanding its Stephen King universe.
The streaming service announced Tuesday that Castle Rock will return for a second season. According to Hulu’s press release, the psychological horror series, which premiered on July 25 immediately became the most successful first season Hulu Original when considering consumption and reach.
Craig Erwich, Hulu’s senior vice president and head of content told Variety, “It was a deeply original idea from two of the world’s greatest storytellers, and it was centered around something that’s been beloved and familiar to many of Stephen King’s legion of fans, which is the town of Castle Rock. So expectations were high to begin with, but it exceeded them,” he says. “The reaction from the variety of audiences has been overwhelming and it seems to be one of the most talked about shows of the summer.”
Anthologies are a new territory for Hulu and the decision to continue with a second installment doesn’t mean that similar content in Hulu’s the future, “Quite frankly it’s less about a strategy around anthologies and more about, that’s what this story demanded to be,” Erwich told the outlet. “The beauty of Hulu is that we’re not tied to any kind of shape or form. The creative can live in its best version, and the best version of ‘Castle Rock’ was this.”
The horror series is Hulu’s second King-inspired series, the first, titled 11.22.63 premiered February 2016. Castle Rock stars André Holland, Bill Skarsgärd, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Lynskey, and Jane Levy. It was created by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason. The two also serve as executive producers alongside JJ Abrams and King himself.
