Mr Mercedes – Tony's Horror Corner

IT’S “CASTLE ROCK” WEEK!!!

It’s finally here. “Castle Rock” will be available to stream Wednesday July 25^thon Hulu. I personally am extremely excited, and I know almost every constant reader is too.

John Anderson, writer for The Wall Street Journal, wrote an excellent review for “Castle Rock,” one I hope to emulate when I finish the show. All reviews out there are saying similar things, very good things, which only heightens my excitement.

Andre Holland and Bill Skarsgard reportedly run the show. I can’t wait to see Bill in action again, especially after watching him terrify audiences as Pennywise in the 2017 adaptation of “IT.”

Speaking of “IT,” filming for “IT: Chapter Two” is underway and set to release September 6th, 2019. The cast and crew look to be doing an amazing job.

Let’s run through a little casting call to get everyone up to speed and be sure to check out shaunwatson87 on Instagram. He’s made some amazing pictures featuring cast members from the adult and young Losers’ Club.

The Losers’ Club: James McAvoy ⇒ adult Bill Denborough. Jessica Chastain ⇒ adult Beverly Marsh. Andy Bean ⇒ adult Stanley Uris. James Ransone ⇒ adult Eddie Kaspbrak. Jay Ryan ⇒ adult Ben Hanscom. Isaiah Mufasa ⇒ adult Mike Hanlon (hopefully he’s ready to make some calls), and last but definitely not least, Bill Hader ⇒ adult Richie Tozier.

The cast who portrayed the young Losers’ Club will be reprising their roles in “Chapter Two” in flashbacks. Stephen Bogaert is returning as Beverly’s father, and Ari Cohen is returning as Stanley’s father. Two other major members reprising their roles: Jackson Robert Scott ⇒ Georgie Denborough and of course, Bill Skarsgard ⇒ Pennywise.

Other notable casting info: Teach Grant ⇒ adult Henry Bowers. Yeah, Henry isn’t dead. Jess Weixler ⇒ Audra Phillips, Bill’s wife. Will Beinbrink ⇒ Tom Rogan, Beverly’s abusive husband. Xavier Dolan ⇒ Adrian Mellon and Taylor Frey ⇒ Don Hagarty. Adrian and Don are a young gay couple who get harassed by a group of bullies and then attacked by Pennywise.

All the set photos and promos that have been circulating seem to be shaping this film into something spectacular (as expected). I am pumped.

Speaking of pumped, studios aren’t pumping their breaks on Stephen King adaptations, and why would they? “Mr. Mercedes” Season 2 has wrapped up filming and airs August 22^nd on the Audience Network.

Season 1 was a major hit and Season 2 looks to be just as good. All the major characters will be reprising their roles, yes even Harry Treadaway is returning as Brady Hartsfield.

The first season of “Mr. Mercedes” followed Stephen King’s novel of the same name to a T. The second season, however, will follow the events of the third book in the Hodges Trilogy, “End of Watch,” said producer/director Jack Bender.

Wait a second… season two follows book three not book two? Yep, I was confused and a little disappointed too, but Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson don’t really factor into “Finders Keepers,” (book two), until about halfway through.

With these three characters being such a major part of the first book and first season, fans don’t want to watch a show and have to wait for the halfway point to see the heroes.

I personally really enjoyed “Finders Keepers,” and hope it gets an adaptation, but unfortunately it is doubtful. “End of Watch” is a very dark book and a great finale for King’s trilogy, so season two of “Mr. Mercedes,” should be excellent.

As I mentioned in my last post, the producers of “Mr. Mercedes,” Jack Bender and Marty Bowen have been tapped to work on a 10-episode TV series adaptation of King’s newest novel “The Outsider.” The novel has some Hodges Trilogy ties, so they’re the perfect guys to work on it.

Before I go, here are a couple more updates for you:

John Lithgow poses for a portrait at The Collective and Gibson Lounge Powered by CEG, during the Sundance Film Festival, on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

The new “Pet Sematary” adaptation is set to release on April 5^th, 2019. Last time I updated you on this one, Jason Clarke and John Lithgow had been cast as Louis Creed and Jud Crandall, respectively. Since then, filming has begun, Amy Seimetz has been cast as Louis’ wife, Rachel Creed, Jeté Laurence will portray the Creed’s daughter Ellie while twins Hugo and Lucas Lavoie are set to play the Creed’s young son Gage. This adaptation is shaping up to be amazing.

Stephen King and Maryland author Richard Chizmar have teamed up again. They co-wrote the novella Gwendy’s Button Box, but this time they have co-written a script for a film titled “Trapped.” Filming recently began, so stay tuned for more updates.

Ewan McGregor has been cast as Danny Torrance in the upcoming adaptation of “Doctor Sleep,” the sequel to “The Shining” and Rebecca Ferguson has been cast as the antagonist, Rose the Hat. This is very exciting news for constant readers. McGregor may not have the exact look I had in mind for Danny, but he is an excellent actor and I know he will crush the role.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, writers of the hit 2018 horror film “A Quiet Place,” have been chosen to write a film adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, “The Boogeyman” from the collection “Night Shift.” With the success of “A Quiet Place,” (it was awesome, trust me), we should expect something great from this adaptation.

Stephen King’s 1980 novel “Firestarter” has been tapped for a new adaptation. Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions have brought on Akiva Goldsman and Jason Blum to produce, Fatih Akin to direct, and Scott Teems to write. The original 1984 film was actually decent, but with new technology, this movie could be something special.

The cult classic anthology film, “Creepshow” created by Stephen King and the late George A. Romero, will be remade into a TV series by Greg Nicotero of “The Walking Dead.” The series will air on Shudder. At the moment, information is light, but this seems very exciting.

Lastly, it was announced Monday that King’s 2002 novel “From a Buick 8” has been tapped for an adaptation. William Brent Bell will write and direct, while Addison Mehr and Priya Amritraj will be executive producers. I didn’t love this novel, but I feel like a film adaptation could be really interesting.

Sorry this post ended up a little long winded, but it had been a while since I updated you and, like I said earlier, a lot happened! Anyway, thanks for reading and again stay tuned and keep checking in for more updates.

Season two of the hit TV series “Mr. Mercedes” started filming on February 12, in Charleston, South Carolina. “Mr. Mercedes” is based on Stephen King’s murder mystery and suspense thriller series known as the “Bill Hodges Trilogy.”

Season one of “Mr. Mercedes” was adapted from the first novel (obviously) in the series, titled (you guessed it) “Mr. Mercedes.” The 10-episode series aired in 2017 on the Audience network, owned by AT&T.

Audience? Yes, I was confused at first too, but I found it and it was totally worth it! The show is not only one of the most accurate adaptations of a King novel, but everything about it was superb.

“Mr. Mercedes” garnered an 8.1/10 rating on IMDb and an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Those are both really good numbers in case you didn’t know.

The show is directed by Jack Bender who has worked on the shows “Lost” and “Game of Thrones” (yeah nothing big). David E. Kelley adapted the story for television, and Stephen King himself co-produced the show with Kelley and Bender. King even makes a little cameo in one episode.

“Mr. Mercedes” is a dark and twisted thrill ride. A psychopath drives a stolen Mercedes through a group of people waiting in line to get jobs, killing 8 of them and injuring countless others.

Retired Detective Bill Hodges played by the one and only Brendan Gleeson, decides to come out of retirement when he receives threatening emails from the “Mercedes Killer” aka Brady Hartsfield, played by Harry Treadaway. The emails contain the wacky smiley faces you have seen and will see.

Brady, clearly mentally unstable, but extremely smart, taunts Hodges into a manhunt. Hodges enlists the help of his young neighbor Jerome Robinson, played by Jharrel Jerome, and Holly Gibney, played by Justine Lupe. Holly is a relative of the women whose Mercedes Brady stole. Together, the three gather clues and attempt to find Brady before he can kill again.

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Book two of the Bill Hodges Trilogy, presumably what season 2 of the show will be based on, is titled “Finders Keepers.”

In “Finders Keepers,” another psychopath (see a theme?) named Morris Bellamy, kills a famous author he was obsessed with, (a little reminiscent of King’s famous novel and movie, “Misery.”), and steals money from the authors safe as well as notebooks of unpublished novels. Bellamy buries the money and notebooks in a chest underneath a tree but before he can reap the rewards of his heist, he gets arrested and placed in jail for a different crime.

Years later, Pete Saubers finds Bellamy’s chest and uses the money to help his family recover from the financial hole they were in after Pete’s father was injured during the Mercedes Massacre (from “Mr. Mercedes”).

Bellamy gets released from jail and returns to dig up his chest, only to find it missing (Obviously he’s not happy). Meanwhile, Hodges, Holly and Jerome have started a private investigation company called Finders Keepers. They are called upon to help protect Pete and his family from Morris, who wants the contents of his chest back.

As I said before, filming for season two just started, so it is not yet known who will portray the new characters. Gleeson, Jerome, Lupe, and Treadaway are all set to reprise their roles, and Bender, Kelley and King are all producing/directing/writing season two as well.

Book three, and the final novel of the “Bill Hodges Trilogy” is called “End Of Watch,” (maybe, hopefully, there is a season three in our future?).

In the previous two novels, King surprised fans with a lack of anything supernatural, opting instead to thrill the readers with suspense, amazing and deranged characters, and intense storytelling.

In “End Of Watch,” however, we see King comfortably and seamlessly insert supernatural aspects and marry them with what worked for the previous novels. Brady Hartsfield has developed the ability to transfer his consciousness into other humans and electronic objects.

The members of Finders Keepers; Hodges, Holly and Jerome, are back and investigating a series of suicides around the (fictional) city of Bridgton, Ohio (where the previous novels also took place). The trail leads the three to a final showdown that has readers on the edge of their seats throughout the entire novel.

The final novel in the “Bill Hodges Trilogy” has a different feel from the first two, because of the supernatural aspects, but King is still able to keep it as intense and believable as he did with the first two… and book three may even bring a few tears out of you.

Anyway, before I get into too many spoilers, read the books! There are only three, and they aren’t even big! You will tear through them, I promise. After you read them, watch Mr. Mercedes season one and then get yourself ready for season two, and hopefully season three in the future! Remember, “The books are almost always better than the movie.” Or in this case, show.