5. JJ Abrams To Adapt Stephen King's 11/22/63 For Hulu
JJ Abrams' production company Bad Robot optioned the rights to Stephen King's 2011 bestselling novel 11/22/63 over a year ago, and have finally found a home for the ambitious project. According to
Deadline, Abrams has teamed with Bridget Carpenter (The Red Road), Stephen King, and Bryan Burk (Lost) to develop 11/22/63 as an "event series" exclusively for Hulu. The story centers on Jake, an average English teacher who discovers a strange portal that takes him back in time to September 9th, 1958. He then sets out to stop the assassination of JFK (which occurs, of course, on 11/22/63). Things of course aren't as simple as they'd seem, and Jake soon discovers that time itself does not like being altered. Hulu will present the show as a nine-episode event series, but if it proves successful the streaming service may consider ordering additional seasons that would focus on other historical events. Abrams released the following statement 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."
King himself seems excited for the project as well, adding:
"If I ever wrote a book that cries out for long-form, event TV programming, 11/22/63 is it."