Another day, another Stephen King adaptation. Though we have to admit, this one looks different… and really, really good.
The latest Hollywood take on King’s work is The Outsider, an upcoming HBO supernatural crime series based on King’s 2018 novel of the same name. The series stars Rogue One‘s Ben Mendelsohn as a detective investigating the gruesome murder of an 11-year-old boy. Initially, the murder looks like an open and shut case, as numerous eyewitnesses and physical evidence put a local man (Jason Bateman) at the scene of the crime. The only problem is that the man has a rock-solid alibi, one that’s also backed up by multiple eyewitnesses and physical evidence. So how could the same man be in two places at the same time? That’s the mystery the detective is looking to solve in The Outsider, and readers of the book know the truth is stranger than anything he could have expected.
King himself is already singing the adaptation’s praises, claiming on Twitter that “The Outsider is one of the best adaptations of my work. Hope you’ll watch it.” King typically doesn’t come out and say he hates adaptations of his work (unless it’s The Shining), but he doesn’t typically go in for this kind of hyperbole, either. It sounds like The Outsider is probably just going to be really, really good.
The Outsider will hope to duplicate the success of other recent King adaptations when it premieres on HBO on Jan. 12.
