HBO just added an impressive ensemble for one of their upcoming shows. Jason Bateman’s The Outsider, which previously announced its leading man \ Ben Mendelsohn, has rounded out the rest of the main cast with powerhouse performers Cynthia Erivo, Bill Camp, Paddy Considine, Mare Winningham, and Julianne Nicholson.
The series is based on the prolific author’s novel of the same name, which was published in May of last year. (In truest King fashion, that isn’t even his most recent novel — Elevation was published just five months later.) It follows the investigation of a crime against a young boy in a small Oklahoma town, only to find that things take on a King-like turn towards the otherworldly.
Erivo (fresh off her part in Bad Times at the El Royale and in the wake of one of the best Broadway performances in recent memory), Camp (newly freed from future seasons of “The First” after that show’s tragic premature cancellation), Considine (recently seen in the solid Amazon Prime Video drama “Informer” and currently on Broadway hit “The Ferryman”), Winningham, Yul Vázquez, Marc Menchaca, and Jeremy Bobb are all joining the cast as series regulars. Hettienne Park and Michael Esper are also joining for recurring roles.
Bateman is signed on to direct the first two episodes of the series and will serve as an executive producer. The show’s creative team also includes HBO writing vet and crime novelist extraordinaire Richard Price, as well as the EP trio of “Lost” alum Jack Bender, Marty Bowen, and Michael Costigan.
The Outsider is the latest in a recent string of HBO literary adaptations, from the impending “Watchmen” series from Damon Lindelof to the ongoing saga of “Big Little Lies” to “Lovecraft Country,” expected to debut with a Yann Demange-directed pilot later this year.
