Yet another one of Stephen King’s works is making its way onto the screen. This time, though, it’s not coming to movie theaters. The Outsider has officially been signed by HBO with Ben Mendelsohn slated to star, according to a report from Variety .
Not only is Mendelsohn slated to appear in the show as the star, he’s also tabbed to be a producer on the upcoming series.
Mendelsohn is best known for his role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story where he played Orson Krennic, but he’s also appeared in Mississippi Grind , Slow West , and his Emmy-winning role in Netflix’s Bloodlines . He’s also slated to appear in the upcoming Captain Marvel film.
Ben Mendelsohn hasn’t appeared on TV in quite some time, as most of his recent roles have been on the big screen.
We’ve also learned that Jason Bateman will be in charge of directing the first two episodes of the series, and he will serve as an executive producer for the remainder of the episodes under his Aggregate Film banner.
Bateman is known more for his acting, as he was the main character of fan-favorite Arrested Development . However, he’s credited with directing six episodes of Ozark , along with films Bad Words and the The Family Fang .
Media Rights Capital is the studio who will be responsible for the new show, along with Bateman’s Aggregate Film and Temple Hill Entertainment groups.
Others involved include Richard Price as the writer and executive producer, Marty Bowen as an executive producer, and Michael Costigan also as an executive producer.
At this time, the show is still in the casting stages, so we expect more names to be announced in the near future. That also means it’ll be a while before the show actually premieres, so fans of the book who want to see it acted out before their eyes will have to wait.
The show will follow what starts out as a straightforward investigation into a gruesome murder of a local boy. However, not everything is as it seems, and as the plot unravels, things escalate. As is generally the case with Stephen King’s work, things get scary quickly, and the plot takes off from there.
Ben Mendelsohn to Star in HBO Series Adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Outsider,’ Jason Bateman to Direct https://t.co/OOQFF08fxJ
— Variety (@Variety) December 3, 2018
What makes this adaptation really interesting is how quickly after the release of the book things are in motion. The Outsider novel only released in May 2018, and just a few months later it’s already getting set to appear on the screen by a major network in HBO.
As of this writing, it’s not clear exactly what King’s involvement will be. Reports indicated that he was offered an executive producer spot, but he hasn’t accepted yet.
