J.J. Abrams’ company Bad Robot has entered negotiations to option 11/22/63 from bestselling author Stephen King, according to a Friday report from Deadline .
The website noted that should the deal go through, as expected, it will happen through Warner Brothers TV, who would likely set it up as a series or mini-series .
(Of course, we would imagine that even a “series” would be limited at that.)
The novel was a time travel affair and chronicled the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In the book, Jake is an English teacher and divorcee, who stumbles upon a portal back to 1958, where he embarks on a journey to prevent that fateful day.
Whichever cable channel ends up landing the project, we can see how they might manage to eke more than one season out of it. King is known for his 1,000+ page capabilities, and given the lead character starts his journey in 1958, there’ll be some time to catch up to Lee Harvey Oswald.
Rumor has it that the series will air on cable, in contrast to Revolution , which Bad Robot has set up at NBC. The company is also in bed with CBS, where they have Person of Interest .
As for Stephen King, the author has never had trouble placing work. His IMDb resume features a staggering 161 projects that have been set up as TV or film projects with some repeats like Salem’s Lot , The Shining , Creepshow , and Carrie .
In the early days of his career, The Master of Suspense had a lot less say in who did what, so it has necessitated a few remakes along the way (or “corrections” rather). But even today, there are some things — like The Shining sequel — for which King’s not particularly thrilled .
Earlier this year, CBS gave the go-ahead to a drama series based on one of his most recent works, the massive Under the Dome , which is set for premiere this summer.
Here’s a bit more on what to expect:
Do you think 11/22/63 is in good hands with J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot? Which un-filmed project — or revisitation — from Stephen King would you like to see?
[Image via George Koroneos / Shutterstock.com ]
