Pennywise was the scariest part of the recent It movie—but some of the human characters were nearly as terrifying, like the older-kid bullies who menaced the Losers Club. Two of those actors are a part of the intriguing cast of It director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of cult comic Locke & Key.
Deadline reports that Owen Teague, who played eventual Pennywise victim Patrick Hockstetter in It, has just been cast in Muschietti’s Hulu pilot. The project also features It mean girl Megan Charpentier—the pharmacists’ daughter who writes “Loser” on Eddie’s cast (she also played one of the spooky little girls in Muschietti’s breakout movie, Mama)—as well as Jackson Robert Scott (It’s poor li’l boating enthusiast, Georgie Denbrough).
Locke & Key, of course, is based on Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s IDW horror fantasy comic. Hill wrote the script, which is about three siblings who move with their mother (The Conjuring 2's Frances O’Connor) to a sprawling New England house—a place they learn has portals to other dimensions that can be opened using magical keys, as well as a lurking demon who would very much like to get those keys—after their father is murdered. Teague plays a troubled kid who falls under the demon’s spell and does some very terrible things—even worse than his character in It.
The Locke & Key adaptation has been in the works since at least 2011, when a pilot was made but never aired. Hulu ordered this latest pilot in April, and it was originally going to be helmed by Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson. In June, he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with another TV-pilot adaptation he’s working on: TNT’s Snowpiercer project.
Even though Muschietti is similarly busy—he’s got the It sequel and a Robotech movie on his to-do list—it seems very hopeful that he’ll finally be the one to bring Locke & Key to the screen, and is probably the best chance yet at getting this adaptation made into an actual series. We already know he’s got kid-centric (but not kid-friendly) horror down pat.
[Deadline]