James Franco (“127 Hours,” “The Interview”) will play Jake Epping, the English teacher who tumbles into a portal that takes him back to Sept. 9, 1958. Once there, Epping decides he wants to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (No one ever goes back in time to save James Garfield or William McKinley.)
Writer-producer Bridget Carpenter (“Dead Like Me,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Parenthood”) scripted the Hulu project, based on Stephen King’s popular 2011 novel.
It has not yet been determined whether or not the series will eventually continue beyond its first nine episodes.
A very loose adaptation of King's “Under The Dome” was the top scripted summer show two years ago, but the series lost a lot of its audience when it returned the following summer.
J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production concern, which is behind “11/22/63,” also produced (or is producing) “Alias,” “Lost,” “What About Brian?” “Six Degrees,” “Fringe,” “Undercovers,” “Person of Interest,” “Alcatraz,” “Revolution,” “Almost Human,” “Believe,” “Cloverfield,” “Morning Glory,” “Super 8,” three “Mission: Impossible” movies, three “Star Trek” movies, and a bunch of “Star Wars” sequels.
Franco, who rose to TV prominence via Judd Apatow’s short-lived NBC series “Freaks and Geeks,” includes among his big-screen credits three “Spider-Man” movies, “Knocked Up,” “Pineapple Express,” “Milk,” “Date Night,” “The Green Hornet,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “The Iceman,” “Spring Breakers,” “Oz The Great and Powerful,” and “This is The End.”
