Back in September, Hulu announced an impressive deal with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television to produce an original series based on Stephen King’s award-winning 2011 novel 11/22/63. The news was big enough on its own, but now Hulu has found some star power to give the project an even higher profile.
Academy Award nominee James Franco (127 Hours, The Interview) will play the male lead in the project, which is planned as a 9-hour miniseries.
King’s original novel follows high-school English teacher Jake Epping (Franco), who discovers a way to travel back in time and decides to prevent the assassination of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. His efforts are sidetracked, though, by the persistence of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and a relationship he develops with someone from the past.
King’s novel spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller list, and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Mystery/Thriller.
Hulu is hoping to make 11/22/63 its first big win in original-programming projects after previous series failed to garner much attention or accolades. Abrams and King will serve as executive producers on the series, with Franco also co-producing the project.
There is no premiere date set for the series at this point.
