Stephen King’s ‘11.22.63’ Event Series Premiere Date

VARIETY – Hulu will debut “11.22.63,” based on the time-travel novel by Stephen King about the JFK assassination, on Presidents Day, Feb. 15, 2016.

J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Bridget Carpenter and Bryan Burk serve as executive producers for “11.22.63.”

The nine-hour limited event series stars James Franco as a high-school history teacher who travels back in time to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “11.22.63” also stars Chris Cooper, Josh Duhamel, T.R. Knight, Cherry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Lucy Fry, George MacKay and Daniel Webber.

Scottish director Kevin Macdonald (“Last King of Scotland,” “State of Play”) directs and executive produces the first two hours.

Hulu will release episodes of “11.22.63” on a weekly basis, as it has done for its other original series. That’s in contrast to Netflix’s binge-friendly strategy of releasing the entire season of a show at once.

The series will be available exclusively to Hulu subscribers on either the $7.99 monthly plan with ads, or the $11.99 commercial-free option.

Hulu, owned by Disney, 21st Century Fox and NBCUniversal, has been steadily ramping up its slate of original series with big-name talent in a bid to win more paying customers — and compete more aggressively against Netflix and Amazon. Hulu’s recently debuted originals include “The Mindy Project” season 4 after Fox canceled the show, and Amy Poehler’s “Difficult People,” which will be returning for a second season.

Hulu had previously styled the name of the series as “11/22/63,” the same as King’s book, but now refers to it as “11.22.63.”