One of the many joys that come with being a Constant Reader of Stephen King is picking up on the various details, locations and characters that reveal a shared universe in the author’s stories. Some are more overtly tied together (like the various tales set in Castle Rock, Maine) but other ties are a bit more sly (like the cameo of the Overlook Hotel in 2021’s Billy Summers). And that doesn’t even include the wide web of The Dark Tower. Sadly, and for a variety of reasons, these connections don’t often survive the adaptation process – but with new details revealed in the past week about the upcoming series IT: Welcome To Derry, I’m holding out hope that the show is planning something that would be very special for King fans: a link to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep.
That’s the main subject of this week’s new edition of The King Beat, but with the 40th anniversary of The Talisman approaching soon, I’ve also carved out space to question what is going on with the long-developing adaptations. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s dig in!
With Certain Details About IT: Welcome To Derry Confirmed, I’m Keeping Fingers Crossed For A Dick Halloran Appearance
In celebration of Halloween last week, IT: Welcome To Derry was the subject of a special preview in Entertainment Weekly, and while there are many notable things that we still don’t know about the 2025 HBO series, some important details have been confirmed. The primary setting will be in 1962 (27 years before the emergence of Pennywise in 1989, as featured in IT: Chapter One); Jovan Adepo will be playing a member of the Hanlon family (presumably William Hanlon, the father of Losers Club member Mike Hanlon); and the show will prominently feature the horrific story of the Black Spot from Stephen King’s novel.
Filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti described the prequel series in an email to the magazine, writing,
Twenty-seven years is the dormant period of Pennywise. It’s a different part of American history with a new set of fears for children, as well as adults having in mind the cost of the Cold War. Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past.... Every 27 years when It appears, It’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around.
If you’ve read Stephen King’s IT, mention of the Black Spot stands out for two main reasons: 1) it’s a terrifying and horrific chapter in the history of Derry, Maine that sees dozens of people burned to death as part of a hate crime, and 2) one of the key characters in the incident is none other than Dick Halloran, who is best known in King lore for being the head chef at The Overlook Hotel in The Shining when Jack Torrance is employed as winter caretaker (he’s memorably played by Scatman Crothers in the Stanley Kubrick film and Carl Lumbly in Doctor Sleep).
In IT, the story of the Black Spot is featured as an excerpt from the journals of Mike Hanlon, who recounts hearing his father talk about it in his hospital room shortly before he died of cancer. While he was in the military stationed in Derry, William Hanlon and his fellow black soldiers had to find their own place to drink and relax while off duty (the result of racial segregation in the community), and that conflict led to the creation of the Black Spot: a speakeasy that started as a shed and was eventually expanded to be a full-on club with live music and a kitchen.
The Black Spot became a popular hangout… but its popularity incensed white locals. William Hanlon and Dick Halloran – then a private and a mess cook – were friends and among the 200-plus people at the club the night that the local Legion of White Decency rode up in white robes and hoods to set the place on fire. Dick ends up saving the lives of both William and pal Trevor Dawson when instinct (likely an example of his “shining”) convinces him to steer them away from what turns out to be a jammed door as the flames grow and panic rises.
In the aftermath of the incident, William witnesses a man get plucked up by a giant bird held up by balloons – a revelation of the influence of Pennywise on the hate crime.
Given his prominent role in the book, Dick Halloran would be a natural inclusion in IT: Welcome To Derry – and I’ll further point out that using him to create a specific link between IT and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining/Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep wouldn’t be hampered by rights issues given that all of the King adaptations in question here are produced by Warner Bros. There is nothing obvious standing in the way of this happening.
To further add to the speculation, I’m already wondering if Dick is going to be the character portrayed by Gotham/Perry Mason’s Chris Chalk (whose role has not yet been revealed). Looking at the official still of him from the show that has been released (embedded below), I can’t help but notice that the nametape on his uniform is blank. Perhaps it’s an effort by the marketing team to save the reveal of the special connection closer to the series’ premiere next year? For what it’s worth, the actor would be a rough match age-wise, as Dick is in his late 60s/early 70s in the 1980-set The Shining/Doctor Sleep (based on the ages of Scatman Crothers and Carl Lumbly), and Chalk is currently 46.
In addition to the aforementioned Jovan Adepo and Chris Chalk, IT: Welcome To Derry also stars James Remar, Taylour Page, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, and Bill Skarsgård, who is reprising his role as Pennywise The Dancing Clown. Along with The Penguin and the upcoming Dune: Prophecy, the show is part of an initiative that sees worlds introduced on the big screen expanded on the small screen, and it will premiere for HBO and Max subscribers on a thus-far unspecified date in 2025.
The Talisman Is About To Turn 40. Where The Hell Is The Netflix Series?!
I recognize that now is not a particularly appropriate time to be bemoaning a lack of Stephen King adaptations. After all, a brand new one just premiered in October, and there is a possibility that as many as six new King projects will be released/debut in 2025. That being said, this month marks the 40th anniversary of The Talisman – co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub and originally published in November 1984 – and the milestone is inspiring me to wonder what is going on with the streaming series Constant Readers were promised two-and-a-half years ago.
For those who don’t recall, it was announced in March 2021 that Netflix was making a series adaptation of The Talisman with major Stranger Things talent on-board: namely creators Matt and Ross Duffer as producers and writer/executive producer Curtis Gwinn as showrunner. Since then, however, development has taken on molasses-like qualities. This can be at least somewhat attributed to the exceptionally slow process making Stranger Things Season 5 (now scheduled to premiere in 2025), but the total lack of new info has been frustrating nonetheless.
Part of the frustration does stem from the fact that Constant Readers have been waiting literal decades for Hollywood to do something with The Talisman. The novel is one of the few Stephen King books that has not yet inspired an adaptation, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment acquired the forever rights to the tome back when it was first published and while multiple different versions have been attempted (both for film and television), none have ever managed to get to the point where cameras started rolling.
The Talisman tells the story of Jack Sawyer – a young boy who discovers the existence of a fantastical parallel world call The Territories and goes on a perilous journey to try and acquire a powerful talisman that has the ability to cure his mother of a deadly cancer that is killing her. In 2001, Stephen King and Peter Straub reunited to write a sequel, Black House, and while sadly passed away at the age of 79 in 2022, King has recently teased a potential completion of the series as a trilogy. (Perhaps that book being published will end up being the pop culture kick in the pants that finally gets The Talisman adaptation made, with the goal of the Netflix show being to ultimately adapt all three novels).
That brings an end to this week’s edition of King Beat, but as always, I’ll be back here on CinemaBlend next Thursday with a brand new rundown of all the biggest headlines out of the world of Stephen King. While you wait for my next column, you can explore my series Adapting Stephen King – which does a deep dive into the full history of King books in film and television.
