'The Outsider' Trailer: Ben Mendelsohn Has To Solve An Inexplicable Murder

A spooky new trailer for The Outsider gives us a longer look at HBO's new Stephen King adaption. Based on King's novel of the same name, the drama series involves what first appears to be an open-and-shut murder case. But evidence slowly begins to come to light that makes this story anything but ordinary. Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, and Jason Bateman star in the show, which arrives in 2020. Watch The Outsider trailer below.

The previous Outsider trailer avoided revealing overly supernatural elements and instead focused on the mystery. This new trailer takes a different path, revealing that yes, something otherworldly is at play in this new Stephen King adaptation. The 10-episode series "follows police detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn), as he sets out to investigate the mutilated body of 11-year-old Frankie Peterson found in the Georgia woods. The mysterious circumstances surrounding this horrifying crime leads Ralph, still grieving the recent death of his own son, to bring in unorthodox private investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), whose uncanny abilities he hopes will help explain the unexplainable."

All the evidence strongly indicates that local, well-liked man Terry Maitland is responsible for the crime. In fact, there's a mountain of evidence pointing to Terry's guilt. And yet Terry has an air-tight alibi – one that checks out. So just what is going on here? A person can't be in two places at the same time...right? Needless to say, there's something scary going on here.

In addition to Mendelsohn, Erivo, and Bateman, the series stars Bill Camp as Howie Salomon; Mare Winningham as Ralph's wife Jeannie Anderson; Paddy Considine as Claude Bolton, manager of a local strip club; Julianne Nicholson as Glory Maitland; Yul Vázquez as Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective Yunis Sablo; Jeremy Bobb as Alec Pelley, a private investigator hired by Howie; and Marc Menchaca as detective Jack Hoskins.

The Outsider is produced by Mendelsohn and executive producer Bateman (who also directs the first two episodes). The series is written for television by Richard Price (The Wire, The Night Of), who also serves as executive producer. Executive producers include Andrew Bernstein, Marty Bowen for Temple Hill Entertainment, Jack Bender, Michael Costigan for Aggregate Films, and Dennis Lehane (episodes 105-110). The series is produced by Bateman's Aggregrate Films and Temple Hill Entertainment in association with Civic Center Media.

I read The Outsider, and I mostly enjoyed it. But I have to say, this looks better than the book, and I can't wait to check it out. The Outsider premieres January 12.