11/22/63, the Hulu event series from executive producers J.J. Abrams, Stephen King and Bridget Carpenter (Parenthood, Friday Night Lights), will premiere in select European territories this spring exclusively on Fox networks, Fox Networks Group Europe said Monday.
The Fox deal for the thriller with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution covers the exclusive first-run linear and non-linear rights in 18 European markets, including the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Bulgaria, Flemish-speaking Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and Sweden.
Hulu has set a mid-February premiere for 11/22/63, marking its first big, bold bet on original drama.
Based on King’s best-selling 2011 novel, the nine-hour event series is directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), who also serves as executive producer for the two-hour premiere. The show is executive produced by Abrams, King, Carpenter and Bryan Burk (Person of Interest, Star Wars: The Force Awakens).
James Franco stars as Jake Epping, a high school teacher at a loss with his life who wants to make a difference and do something meaningful. Encouraged by his ailing friend, played by Chris Cooper, he travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The show also stars Daniel Webber as Lee Harvey Oswald and Sarah Gadon as a librarian Epping falls in love with.
The cast also includes Josh Duhamel (Transformers), Cherry Jones (24), Lucy Fry (Vampire Academy), George MacKay (Defiance), Leon Rippy (Deadwood), Kevin J. O’Connor (There Will Be Blood), T.R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy), Jonny Coyne (Manhattan), Brooklyn Sudano (My Wife and Kids) and Tonya Pinkins (24).
“With this major acquisition, Fox continues to lead the way in pay TV, once again delivering absolutely unmissable event television to our audiences across Europe,” said the unit of 21st Century Fox.
Fox executive vp distribution Caleb Weinstein said: “The golden age of television is being driven by serialized drama. And in 2016, Fox channels across Europe are at the forefront: delivering on-demand access to the best content in the world, whenever and wherever our pay TV subscribers want to watch.”
Fox senior vp global acquisitions Jason Simms added: “With its epic and suspenseful story complemented by an absolutely incredible array of talent, both behind and in front of the camera, we are confident our audiences will love what promises to be one of 2016’s hottest shows, first on Fox.”
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