On Saturday, January 9 at the Television Critics Association, Hulu unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming series 11/22/63. The series is an adaptation of Stephen King’s best selling novel by the same name about a high school teacher who goes back in time to prevent John F. Kennedy’s assassination. 11/22/63 is set to premiere on Hulu on February 15.
James Franco stars in 11/22/63 as Jake Epping, the time-traveling teacher. In the trailer we see him go back in time with the aid Chris Cooper’s deranged scientist character. (Is anyone else getting a Doc Brown vibe?) The list of actors also includes Daniel Webber, Sarah Gadon, Josh Duhamel, and Cherry Jones. Bridget Carpenter is the show-runner for the series and executive produces alongside J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, and Bryan Burk.
Everyone at the at the TCA panel said they had read the book, and Franco revealed he had tried to get the rights to King’s novel after reading it only to discover Abrams had beaten him to it. King and Abrams had become friends during Abrams’ Lost days, and the author had approached The Force Awakens director personally to ask him to adapt 11/22/63 for television. So how did Franco get involved? By a crazy turn of events, Abrams offered Franco the lead role after reading a piece Franco had written on the novel for Vice.
One major item addressed at the panel was how the series would differ from the book. There were changes made to the script in order to adapt it for TV, such as expanding a minor character to avoid having to do a voiceover. “The people who have read and loved the book will be deeply satisfied,” said Carpenter, according to Variety. Even King is pleased with the changes. Abrams said King knew “They were necessary and he saw that.”