''11.22.63'' is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

thriller miniseries based on the 2011 novel ''

11/22/63 ''11/22/63'' is a novel by Stephen King about a time traveller who attempts to prevent the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy, which occurred on November 22, 1963 (the novel's titular date). It is the 60th book published b ...

'' by Stephen King, and consisting of eight episodes, in which a

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

er attempts to stop the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

. The series is executive-produced by

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

, King,

Bridget Carpenter Bridget Carpenter (born in New York City) is a television writer and playwright. Biography She received an M.F.A. from Brown University in 1995.Rodriguez, Bill"Bridget Carpenter swings into Trinity" providencephoenix.com, May 11–18, 2000 Her ...

, and

Bryan Burk Bryan Burk (born December 30, 1968) is an American film and television producer. He is mostly known for producing movies in collaboration with J. J. Abrams, including the ''Star Trek'' reboot series, the ''Mission: Impossible'' films '' Gh ...

, and produced by

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...

, who also starred in the main role. It premiered on Hulu on February 15, 2016, and was received positively by critics.

Premise

Jake Epping (

), a recently divorced English teacher from

Lisbon, Maine Lisbon is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine. The population was 9,711 at the 2020 census. It is included in both the Lewiston- Auburn, Maine metropolitan statistical area and the Lewiston–Auburn, Maine Metropolitan New England city and tow ...

, is presented with the chance to travel back in time to 1960 by his long-time friend Al Templeton (

Chris Cooper Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), ''October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' Ca ...

). He is persuaded into going in an attempt to prevent the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963; however, he becomes attached to the life he makes in the past, which could be the mission's undoing. He must find a way to secretly gather information about people and events leading up to the assassination while also creating and maintaining a new life to avoid suspicion.

Cast and characters

Main

as Jake Epping / George Amberson *

as Al Templeton *

Sarah Gadon Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as '' Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...

as Sadie Dunhill *

Lucy Fry Lucy Elizabeth Fry (born 13 March 1992) is an Australian actress. She is known for portraying Zoey in '' Lightning Point'', Lyla in '' Mako: Island of Secrets'', and Lissa Dragomir in the film '' Vampire Academy''. Fry was also cast in Hulu's e ...

Marina Oswald Marina Nikolayevna Oswald Porter ( Prusakova; russian: Марина Николаевна Прусакова; born July 17, 1941) is the Russian-American widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of US President John F. Kennedy. Early life Port ...

* George MacKay as Bill Turcotte * Daniel Webber as

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

Recurring and guest

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress known for her roles on screen and stage. She has received various accolades for her performances in television and theatre including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, th ...

as Marguerite Oswald * Kevin J. O'Connor as the Yellow Card Man *

T. R. Knight Theodore Raymond Knight (born March 26, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. George O'Malley on the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–2009, 2020), which earned him a nomination for the P ...

as Johnny Clayton *

Josh Duhamel Joshua David Duhamel (; born November 14, 1972) is an American actor and former fashion model. After various modeling work, he made his acting debut as Leo du Pres on the ABC daytime soap opera '' All My Children'' and later starred as Danny M ...

as Frank Dunning * Joanna Douglas as Doris Dunning *

Nick Searcy Nicholas Alan Searcy (born March 7, 1959) is an American character actor best known for portraying Chief Deputy United States Marshal Art Mullen on FX's '' Justified''. He also had a major role in the Tom Hanks–produced miniseries ''From the ...

as Deke Simmons *

Jonny Coyne Jonathan "Jonny" Coyne (born 1 January 1953) is an English actor known for playing Warden Edwin James on Fox's short-lived series, ''Alcatraz'' (2012). He also appeared as Dr. Lydgate in '' Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'' and '' Once Upon a T ...

George de Mohrenschildt George Sergius de Mohrenschildt ( ru , Георгий Сергеевич де Мореншильд; April 17, 1911 – March 29, 1977) was an American petroleum geologist, professor, and known CIA informant. De Mohrenschildt is best known for havi ...

Tonya Pinkins Tonya Pinkins (born May 30, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Her award-winning debut feature film ''RED PILL'' was an official selection at the 2021 Pan African Film Festival, won the Best Black Lives Matter Feature and Best First Fea ...

as Mimi Corcoran *

Brooklyn Sudano Brooklyn Sudano is an American actress and director. She starred as Vanessa Scott in the ABC comedy series ''My Wife and Kids'' and later played the leading role in the 2006 drama film ''Rain''. Sudano has appeared in films such as '' Alone in t ...

as Christy Epping *

Leon Rippy Leon Rippy (born October 30, 1949, Rock Hill, South Carolina) is an American character actor. Active on screen since 1983, Rippy has appeared in numerous films and recurring roles on television. He is best known for his roles as Earl the Angel o ...

as Harry Dunning * Juliette Angelo as Bobbi Jill Allnut *

Braeden Lemasters Braeden Matthew Lemasters (born January 27, 1996) is an American actor, musician, and singer. He is best known for his role as Albert Tranelli in the TNT comedy-drama series ''Men of a Certain Age''. He has made guest appearances in several telev ...

as Mike Coslaw * Anthony Colonello as Clifford * Gregory North as General

Edwin Walker Edwin Anderson Walker (November 10, 1909 – October 31, 1993) was the only U.S. Army general officer to resign his commission amid his tour of duty in the 20th century. After serving in World War II and the Korean War Walker became better know ...

Gil Bellows Gil Bellows (born June 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in the 1994 movie '' The Shawshank Redemption'', Billy Thomas in the Fox television series '' Ally McBeal'' (1997� ...

as Agent Hosty * Grantham Coleman as Bonnie Ray Williams * Michael O'Neill as Arliss Price * Annette O'Toole as Edna Price * Antoni Corone as Jack Ruby * Bob Stephenson as Silent Mike * Wilbur Fitzgerald as Captain Will Fritz *

Constance Towers Constance Mary Towers (born May 20, 1933) is an American film, stage, and television actress, and singer. She gained prominence for her appearances in several mainstream 1950s films before transitioning to theater, starring in numerous Broadway ...

as Old Sadie *

Kelly McCormack Kelly McCormack is a Canadian actor. She has worked in film, television, and on stage, and she runs her production company, Floyder Films. She is best known for her portraying Zeph in the Syfy science fiction television series ''Killjoys'' and ...

as Dawn

Episodes

Production

Development

In August 2011, before the novel's release, it was announced that Jonathan Demme had attached himself to write, produce, and direct a film adaptation of ''11/22/63'' with King serving as executive producer. However, in December 2012, Demme announced that he had withdrawn from the project, after disagreeing with King over what to include in the script. On April 26, 2013, it was reported that

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

and

Bad Robot Productions Bad Robot is an American film and television production company founded on May 27, 1999 and led by J. J. Abrams and Katie McGrath as Co-CEO. Under its Bad Robot Productions division, the company is responsible for the television series ''Alias' ...

were in negotiations for the rights to adapt the novel as a TV series or miniseries. On September 22, 2014, it was announced that a TV series based on the novel was picked up by Hulu. Carol Spier would be a production designer. The first trailer for the series was released on November 19, 2015. When asked about developing a sequel series, King stated, "I'd love to revisit Jake and Sadie, and also revisit the rabbit hole that dumps people into the past, but sometimes it's best not to go back for a second helping."

Casting

was chosen to star as the character of Jake Epping. After reading the novel, Franco contacted King about the rights to adapt it to film only to be told that Abrams had already acquired them. Franco wrote an essay about the book for ''Vice'', which was noticed by Abrams, and tweeted about his disappointment at not getting the film rights, which was noticed by Bridget Carpenter. Soon after, they offered him the lead role. He accepted the role under the condition that he would be able to direct part of the series.

was cast for the role of Sadie Dunhill. She was interested in the role in part because it gave her the opportunity to work with Abrams.

Filming

Filming began on June 9, 2015, in

Hespeler, Ontario Hespeler is a neighbourhood and former town within Cambridge, Ontario, located along the Speed River in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In 1973, Hespeler, Preston, Galt, and the hamlet of Blair were amalgamated to form t ...

. Filming during June 2015 also took place in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, Ontario, as well as in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

, Ontario, at the Queen's Tavern,

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

, and in Knowles Restaurant in Dunnville, Ontario during September 2015. In early October, the production moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

to film exterior locations at Dealey Plaza. During this time, the filming of various scenes during rush hour caused bumper to bumper traffic in the surrounding streets.

Reception

The show has garnered positive reviews from most critics. Based on 64 reviews, the show carries an 83% "certified fresh" rating, with an average percentage of 7.19/10, on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

where the consensus states: "Though the execution feels almost as dated as the period it represents, ''11.22.63'' gradually reveals a compelling, well-performed series of events." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the show has a rating of 69 out of 100, based on 35 reviews, signifying "generally positive reviews". Jack Moore of '' GQ'' commented that "the show is moody and supernatural, while somehow also remaining grounded and full of heart", and lauded Franco as the show's standout, saying "what Franco gives is a vanity-free, indulgence-free performance that feels like the work of an Old Hollywood legend. It's earnest and full-hearted." Alan Sepinwall also acclaimed Franco, stating "Franco's a revelation as Jake. He's an immensely talented actor and he's got the star quality you need to carry something this crazy, and this long." Vicki Hyman of the ''Newark Star-Ledger'' praised the performances of

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

and Gadon, writing: "Their stirring romance carries with it the same whiff of doom as Epping's visits to Dealey Plaza, and gives what could be merely an interesting and handsomely-made take on the conspiracy thriller genre more texture and depth, resonating across the ages." Hank Stuever of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote that "King's work doesn't always happily travel through the portal connecting the page to the TV screen, but Hulu scores with an impressively stout-hearted, eight-part adaptation of ''11/22/63''." On the other hand, Jeff Jensen of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' had a more mixed reaction and criticized Franco's performance, calling it "low-watt" and "disinterested". He wrote "''11.22.63'' reaches some thoughtful, moving conclusions, but oh, what could have been with a more engaged star. If only there were a time machine to fix that mistake." Caroline Framke of ''Vox'' describes

's performance as inconsistent from scene to scene, but also that the show itself creates even more ambiguity with his character. She wrote "While he's ''technically'' old enough to portray 37-year-old Jake, Franco certainly doesn't read as anywhere close to 37, or the world-weariness Jake's supposed to exhibit" ''Slate'' author Willa Paskin believes though Franco is well known and well accomplished, he can't seem to get the "average guy" act right for this series.

Accolades

Home media

''11.22.63'' was released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

on August 9, 2016 in Region 1. The release includes all eight episodes, as well as a special feature titled "When the Future Fights Back", where King, Abrams, Carpenter and Franco talk about elements of the production that turned King's novel into an event series.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2010s American drama television miniseries 2016 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings English-language television shows Hulu original programming Saturn Award-winning television series Television shows based on works by Stephen King Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television series by Bad Robot Productions American time travel television series Television series set in the 1960s Television series set in 1963 Television shows set in Kentucky Television shows set in Maine Television shows set in Texas Television shows filmed in Ontario Television shows filmed in Texas Television shows about the assassination of John F. Kennedy Cultural depictions of Lee Harvey Oswald Cultural depictions of Jack Ruby American thriller television series 2010s American mystery television series 2010s American science fiction television series Films about the assassination of John F. Kennedy 2010s American time travel television series