Stephen King's anthology series Castle Rock has been canceled.
With fans awaiting news of a potential third season, The Hollywood Reporter revealed today that the show has been canceled at Hulu. The show wrapped its second season, which delved into the story of Misery, last year. While a specific reason for the cancellation wasn't given, THR notes that Warner Bros. TV and J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot, the production teams behind the show, are currently working on Overlook for HBO Max, a rival to Hulu.
Castle Rock takes place within the great multiverse of Stephen King properties. While the most recent season explored King's story Misery, Season 1 of the anthology horror show focused on an original tale in the titular town. It joins fellow King adaptation 11.22.63 in cancellation at Hulu. In fact, the streamer has canceled a number of shows recently, aiming to own more original content rather than air shows produced by outside companies.
Hulu, which Disney owns a majority stake in, isn't entirely out of the Warner Bros. business. It will soon air the Animaniacs reboot produced by Warner Bros. TV. Outside of that, however, it seems Hulu is keen to move away from the studio and WB is likely eager to provide more original content for its streaming arm, HBO Max.
Season 1 of Castle Rock ended with a tease hinting that a Shining-centric story was in the works for a future installment. In all likelihood, that was abandoned when Abrams and his wife and producing partner, Katie McGrath, signed on to helm Overlook. Announced as part of an overall deal with HBO Max, which also involves a Justice League Dark series, the Shining prequel will dive deeper into the iconic hotel.
Regardless of the reasons behind the end of Castle Rock, fans of Hulu originals have lost a number of shows recently. High Fidelity, Harlots and Future Man all ended their runs at the streamer. Even the Marvel series Runaways was canceled as the comic giant moves towards MCU-canon content for Disney+. Those decisions also likely ended the talks of a Ghost Rider series on Hulu, and though Helstrom made it to air, it noticeably did so without a trace of Marvel branding behind it.
Castle Rock Season 2 stars Lizzy Caplan, Tim Robbins, Elsie Fisher, Paul Sparks, Barkhad Abdi, Yusra Warsama and Matthew Alan. Both seasons are currently streaming on Hulu.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter