Posted in: Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: adaptation, bad robot, billy summers, jj abrams, stephen king
Billy Summers: JJ Abrams's Bad Robot Adapting Stephen King Bestseller
Stephen King's Summer 2021 bestseller Billy Summers is about to be in the middle of a streamer and cable battle as JJ Abrams' Bad Robot looks to shop the limited series package very soon. Billy Summers is being introduced as a limited series by JJ Abrams' production company Bad Robot, which has had experience with past King adaptations such as Lisey's Story, Castle Rock, and 11.22.63.
With the names attached to this project, it makes sense that any period of it being shopped to streamers and high-end cable networks is sure to move fast. Personally, if I were other companies I'd be keeping an eye out for Hulu since previously mentioned projects ended up on there and may continue to do so. It'll be interesting to see who grabs the opportunity to host such an adaptation. Billy Summers will be adapted by Ed Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz, with Zwick directing what will likely be limited series running around six to ten episodes in total. Zwick and Herskovitz's past production work includes Thirtysomething and Nashville. The description of Billy Summers on King's website is as follows (with DH first reporting the news of the project):
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He's a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he'll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
How about everything.
This spectacular can't-put-it-down novel is part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there, and it features one of the most compelling and surprising duos in King fiction, who set out to avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. It's about love, luck, fate, and a complex hero with one last shot at redemption.