Released last year, Stephen King’s The Outsider is getting a small screen adaptation from HBO, with Ben Mendelsohn (Ready Player One) set to star and Jason Bateman on board to direct the first two episodes as well as executive produce and star. Deadline reports today that Derek Cecil (“House of Cards”) and Max Beesley (“Jamestown”) have also joined the cast.
Cecil will play Andy Katcavage, with Beesley as Seale Bolton.
In the series, a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a local boy leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe to be real, as an insidious supernatural force edges its way into the case.
The cast also includes Cynthia Erivo (Bad Times at the El Royale), Bill Camp (The Looming Tower), Mare Winningham (George Wallace), Paddy Considine (The Ferryman), Julianne Nicholson (Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders), Yul Vázquez (I Am The Night), Jeremy Bobb (The Knick), Marc Menchaca (Ozark), Hettienne Park (Hannibal) and Michael Esper (Trust).
In the 576-page novel…
“An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.
An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.
As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face?.”
