It's been on shelves for less than one month, but Stephen King's new novel The Outsider is already being adapted for the small screen, once again proving that we are truly living in the Golden Age of King.
Deadline reports that King's The Outsider has been optioned for the screen by Media Rights Capital (MRC). The adaptation is being planned as a 10-episode limited series with author and screenwriter Richard Price (The Wanderers, The Wire) set to write the script.
Jack Bender and Marty Bowen, who are already collaborating on the series adaptation of King's Mr. Mercedes for the AT&T AUDIENCE Network (which is entering its second season), are executive producing The Outsider along with MRC. Bender, who directed seven of the ten episodes in the first season of Mr. Mercedes, could potentially direct the pilot episode of The Outsider as well. While he isn't involved on the production side of the project yet, King has the ability to come on board as an executive producer.
The Outsider limited series currently does not have a network or streaming service to call home, so we'll have to wait and see where it lands after the pilot episode is filmed and shopped around to potential buyers.
As horror fans know, this is only the latest in a long line of new King adaptations, with other projects such as a new Pet Sematary movie and IT: Chapter Two moving forward. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on all of these adaptations, and for those unfamiliar, we have the synopsis and cover art for The Outsider:
Outsider synopsis (via StephenKing.com): "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? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can."
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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