‘11.22.63’ Trailer: The Past Pushes Back Against James Franco
There seems to be nothing thatJames Francocan’t do, and now we can add time traveler to his long list of achievements. Franco leads the new Hulu series11.22.63, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name about a high school history teacher who is sent back in time to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. So far we’ve only gotten brief glimpses of the series produced byJ.J. Abramsand his Bad Robot production banner, but now a full trailer shows us more of what we can expect.
Here’s the new11.22.63trailer fromHulu:
It’sChris Cooperwho sends Franco back in time, but we’re not sure what his motivation is beyond simply saving Kennedy, or why he is able to send Franco back in time. There’s definitely aBack to the Futurevibe here, but without the comedy to break the tension. Plus, the past seems a little more threatening to Franco than it was to Marty McFly as time seems to push back when it feels like something is about to be changed. This is a series I’m certainly looking forward to watching next month.
For some reason, Franco almost thought that he wouldn’t be able to star in an adaptation of the book that he fell in love with when he heard that J.J. Abrams was involved. In a post atVice, he wrote:
“I wanted the rights to the book, but J. J. Abrams has them and is adapting the novel into an online miniseries. I love J. J. Abrams as much as the next person (though I bet there are some pretty ardentLostfans that I’ll never match in fervor), but come on. That guy gets to doeverything.”
Not long after the post was written, Abrams got in contact with Franco about working on the project together. And the rest is history, literally. The rest of the cast includesJosh Duhamel, T.R. Knight, Cherry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Lucy Fry, George MacKayandDaniel WebberwithThe Last King of ScotlandandState of PlaydirectorKevin Macdonalddirecting and executive producing the first two hours of the eight-part series.
Hulu Original series 11.22.63 is a thriller in which high school English teacher Jake Epping (James Franco) travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — but his mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, falling in love and the past itself, which doesn’t want to be changed. Also starring Chris Cooper, Josh Duhamel, T.R. Knight, Cherry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Lucy Fry, George MacKay and Daniel Webber.
The eight-part event series based upon the New York Times best-selling 2011 novel written by Stephen King premieres Presidents Day, Jul 23, 2025, on Hulu. J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Bridget Carpenter and Bryan Burk serve as executive producers. Academy Award®-winning Director Kevin Macdonald (Last King of Scotland, State of Play, Black Sea) directs and executive produces the first two hours.
