The project, from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and author Stephen King, is based on King's best-selling 2011 novel and adapted for television by Bridget Carpenter.

"11/22/63" centers on Jake Epping (Franco), a divorced English teacher who stumbles upon a time portal that leads him to Sept. 9, 1958. He then goes on a quest to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which occurred Nov. 22, 1963.

King, Abrams, Carpenter and Bryan Burk will executive produce, and Franco will serve as a producer. Warner Bros. TV is the studio.

In other television news, Deadline reports that Tony Award nominee Vanessa Williams will star opposite Kevin Connolly in Fox's "Fantasy Life" pilot, written by Tim McAuliffe and based on the memoir by ESPN's Matthew Berry.

In "Fantasy Life," when Mitch (Connolly) lands his dream job hosting a fantasy football show, he must navigate office politics. Williams (Into the Woods) will play his boss.