We're less than four months away from the February premiere of Hulu's event series adaptation of Stephen King's 11/22/63, and a new photo unveiled by EW offers fans their first look at James Franco as time traveling English teacher Jake Epping.

EW's first photo of Franco in 11/22/63 gives a glimpse into the event series that will follow an English teacher who attempts to stop President John F. Kennedy from being killed on that fateful day in Dallas over fifty years ago. The nine-hour event series premieres February 15th on Hulu.

The first two-hour chunk of the series will be directed by Kevin Macdonald (How I Live Now, The Last King of Scotland). In addition to Franco, the cast includes Chris Cooper as Al Templeton, Sarah Gadon as Sadie Dunhill, Cherry Jones as Marguerite Oswald, Daniel Webber as Lee Harvey Oswald, George MacKay as Bill Turcotte, Lucy Fry as Marina Oswald, and Leon Rippy as Harry Dunning. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates.

From the previously distributed press release: "On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy was killed, and the world changed. What if you could change it back?” Hulu is about to take viewers on a journey to find out in 11/22/63, a new Hulu 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 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.

Craig Erwich said: “J.J. Abrams and Stephen King are two of the most celebrated storytellers of our time, and we are excited to be working with them and Warner Bros. Television to bring this unique take on one of the most seminal historic events of the twentieth century to Hulu. 11/22/63 already resonated with audiences as a best-selling novel, and we are looking forward to bringing the riveting story to the screen.”

Stephen King said: “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.”

J.J. Abrams said: “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.”"

Image via EW:

Source: EW
  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.