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Mary-Louise Parker the Latest Addition to Stephen King’s “Mr. Mercedes”
It’s a pretty incredible time to be a Stephen King fan right about now. Feature adaptations of both The Dark Tower and IT are on their way, and Netflix is developing an adaptation of Gerald’s Game with Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Hush) in the director’s chair. But that’s not all. Also headed our way is a TV adaptation of King’s “Mr. Mercedes,“ which you’ll find on the Audience Network.
THR reports that Mary-Louise Parker (“Weeds”) has joined the cast of the small screen drama in a recurring role. She will be playing Janey Patterson, the younger sister of the late Olivia Trelawney. The site describes that Janey’s no-nonsense but charming attitude radiates, as does her physical beauty. She’s emotionally mature, strong-willed and totally winning.
Based on Stephen King’s 2014 novel of the same name, the series follows a demented killer (“Penny Dreadful” star Harry Treadaway) who taunts a retired police detective (Brendan Gleeson) with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he is able to strike again.
The cast also includes Jharrel Jerome, Holland Taylor, and Kelly Lynch.
David E. Kelley wrote the adaptation of Mr. Mercedes and will serve as showrunner on the Sonar Entertainment-produced series. Jack Bender (“Game of Thrones”) is set to direct, and the two will exec produce with Temple Hill Entertainment’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey.
“Mr. Mercedes” is set to debut in the fall on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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