Even though J.J. Abrams is currently busy in a galaxy far, far away, he’s still got time to turn back the clock to November 22, 1963 to explore what might happen if someone got the opportunity to go back in time and stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy because it was just announced that Hulu gave the adaptation of Stephen King’s 11/22/63 a direct-to-series order.
Bad Robot, King, executive producer-writer Bridget Carpenter and Warner Bros. Television will turn the book into a nine-hour event series. Hit the jump for more on 11/22/63.
Hulu made the announcement today, making this Hulu and WBTV’s very first original programming collaboration. Abrams, King, Carpenter and Bryan Burk will all executive produce. Here’s what Abrams had to say about the project:
“I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since I was in junior high school. The chance to work with him at all, let alone on a story so compelling, emotional and imaginative, is a dream. We are thrilled to be working with Hulu on this very special project.”
And here’s what King added:
“If I ever wrote a book that cries out for long-form, event TV programming, 11/22/63 is it. I’m excited that it’s going to happen, and am looking forward to working with J.J. Abrams and the whole Bad Robot team.”
There’s no word on when the series will go into production or when it will be released, but Hulu will handle domestic distribution while Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution unleashes it overseas.
Here’s the synopsis of 11/22/63:
Based upon the best-selling 2011 novel written by King and published by Scribner, 11/22/63 is a thriller in which high school English teacher Jake Epping travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. But his mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, his falling in love and the past itself … which doesn’t want to be changed.