James Franco to Lead Hulu's Adaptation of Stephen King's 11/22/63

According to Deadline, James Franco (Broadway's Of Mice and Men) has signed on to lead Hulu's 11/22/63, a new Original series from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions (Person of Interest, Fringe, Lost), acclaimed author Stephen King, executive producer/writer Bridget Carpenter(The Red Road, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights) and Warner Bros. Television. The announcement was made today by Craig Erwich, Senior Vice President and Head of Content, Hulu.

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 (Franco) 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.

A nine-hour event series, 11/22/63 has received a direct-to-series order from Hulu, and the project marks the first original programming collaboration between Hulu and WBTV. J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Bridget Carpenter and Bryan Burk are executive producers of 11/22/63. Carpenter will write the teleplay, based on the novel by King. Bad Robot's Kathy Lingg is co-executive producer, and Athena Wickham is producer.

Hulu will be the U.S. home for 11/22/63, and Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution will distribute 11/22/63 globally.

Stephen King is one of the world's most successful writers, having published more than 50 books in an illustrious career spanning 40 years, from the publication of his first novel, Carrie, in 1974, through to the upcoming November 11, 2014, release of his latest, Revival. 11/22/63 was named one of the 10 best books of 2011 by The New York Times, named one of 10 books we loved reading in 2011 by USA Today and honored as an example of notable fiction of 2011 by The Washington Post. King's works have been adapted for theatrical motion pictures and television more than 50 times, including projects such as Carrie, The Green Mile, Maximum Overdrive (which he directed himself), Misery, The Mist, Pet Sematary, The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining and Stand By Me, to name just a few. King is also currently an executive producer of the CBS series Under the Dome.

J.J. Abrams is currently at work writing, producing and directing the highly anticipated feature film Star Wars: Episode VII, and he is also producing the next installments of the Mission: Impossible and Star Trek movie franchises. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions is best known in television for its hit series Felicity, Alias, Lost, FRINGE and Person of Interest, among others.