James Franco is taking a breather from his multi-hyphenate role on every movie he ever makes for a leading role in Hulu’s 11.22.63. The eight-part event series kicks off early next year, and follows the storyline of Stephen King’s bestselling 2011 novel. It’s horrific in parts, yes, but not a straight-up horror like King is typically tied to. Instead, the plot revolves around a secret pathway into the past, which becomes an object of fascination for Franco’s high school teacher Jake Epping.
The novel and the series share the same story beats: Epping decides to journey into history in an attempt to stop the J.F.K. assassination. Anyone who’s ever seen a movie, read a book or watched a show about time travel knows that dabbling with the tiniest of things causes major ripples into the future (The Butterfly Effect, for example). So, imagine the catastrophic changes that await the planet if Epping somehow makes good on his plan. This little teaser gives a glint of his life back in the late fifties and early sixties, and by the looks of it, the past doesn’t want him around.
Produced by J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Bridget Carpenter and Stephen King, 11.22.63 debuts on Hulu February 15, 2016. The Last King Of Scotland‘s Kevin McDonald executive produces and is set to direct the first two episodes. Chris Cooper, Josh Duhamel, Sarah Gadon, Cherry Jones, Lucy Fry and Kristian Bruun co-star.
Hulu Original series 11.22.63 is a thriller in which high school English teacher Jake Epping (James Franco) travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — but his mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, falling in love and the past itself, which doesn’t want to be changed. Also starring Chris Cooper, Josh Duhamel, T.R. Knight, Cherry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Lucy Fry, George MacKay and Daniel Webber.
