We have our Jud Crandall cast in the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary and the result could not be more satisfying!

John Lithgow (Dexter, Twilight Zone: The Movie) has been officially cast to play the role of the beloved, sage neighbor Jud Crandall. Lithgow’s acting career spans over 45 television and feature film roles giving us more than a fair share of memorable characters, both good and bad. It’s an incredibly smart choice for Lithgow to play Jud as he has both the right, familiar look and the appropriate experience.

If you think about it, John Lithgow is much like Fred Gwynne (The Munsters, My Cousin Vinny), who played Jud in Mary Lambert‘s 1989 film adaptation. In terms of their careers and relationships with film audiences, the timing is simply perfect. Lithgow, much like Gwynne at the time, is an actor we all pretty much grew up watching. He’s one of those actors who has “been in everything”. We have a sense of comfort and trust in him, knowing he will do a good job regardless of the role because we’ve seen him do it before. If John Lithgow sat me down and gave me life advice, I’d more than likely listen and follow every direction he gave me.

The familiarity and comfort we find in Lithgow equates perfectly with the role of Jud as someone we trust, someone we know will do things right- The kind, old man next door we’ve known our whole life. Again, this was a very smart casting choice over at Paramount Pictures.

Lithgow will join Jason Clarke (Winchester, Terminator Genisys) as Dr. Louis Creed in this adaptation directed by Kevin Kolsch and David Widmyer (Starry Eyes) and written by Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train, Insanitarium) and David Kajganich (True Story, The Invasion). Pet Sematary is set for release on April 19th, 2019.

Looks like there’s nothing sour about this ground… yet. Something tells me we will be getting news on the role of Zelda being cast very soon. That choice will certainly be the marker in the cemetery for this one. Let us know who you want to see cast as Zelda on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and in the Horror Fiends of Nightmare on Film Street Facebook group!