Hanks, History and HBO

The production company of Tom Hanks, the Oscar-winning actor who’s also an acclaimed television producer, plans to begin filming “John Adams” for HBO in and around Colonial Williamsburg in September.

The 11-part miniseries is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by David McCullough published in May 2001. Filming in Virginia will be extensive, continuing through April.

Colin Callender, president of HBO films, gushed about the project, saying, “The story celebrates the shared values upon which this great country was built.”

The film office said shooting locations for “John Adams” will include The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg and sites in central Virginia.

The Hanks-HBO partnership in the past produced epic, Emmy Award-winning television in the 10-part miniseries “Band of Brothers” in 2001 and the 12-episode “From the Earth to the Moon” in 1998.

No cast members were announced for “John Adams,” which is based on the first 50 years of U.S. history. Adams followed George Washington to the presidency in 1797, becoming the first president to occupy the White House.

There have been reports that Hanks will play Adams, but HBO would say only that Hanks is expected to direct an episode.

McCullough, familiar to PBS viewers from his years of hosting “American Experience,” first won the Pulitzer in 1992 for the biography “Truman.”

He told an interviewer in 2001 that he was surprised and delighted to learn that “John Adams” was on its way to becoming one of the fastest-selling non fiction books in history.

Cool. I'll check it out.

I just read McCullough's 1776 and am reading Cerami's Young Patriots and I've been thinking how cool it would be to do an HBO series that looks at the early years of the country -- say Bunker Hill through the Constitutional Convention. This sounds pretty cool, and I'll definitely be there for it.

Oh hell yeah.

das

Sounds great. It's been a pretty big year for the Virginia film industry with War of the Worlds, The New World, and now this.

what das said.

This is coming out next month.

Bringing back the old thread. Wow, how often do you suppose Tom Hanks and Paul Giamatti are up for the same parts? Anyway, this starts Sunday as a maxi-miniseries. Two episodes Sunday, then once a week for 12 weeks, like From The Earth To The Moon did. Having never embraced The Wire the way I should have, I've been waiting for something to watch on HBO since Big Love ended Season 2. Can't wait for this...

Are you for real? There will basically be 13 episodes? Wow.

I hate HBO and cancelled after ROME, I wont support them again.... but I saw the Trailers for this and I may buy the DVD.

Holy Cow, If I would have seen this thread back in 2005 I would have been waiting a long time for this; I'm glad it's coming out next month!

The HBO website (and many other places) state it is only 7 parts, not 11:
http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/

Two episodes this week, than one each week after for a total 6 week run.

I had never heard of this until I saw an ad in a magazine yesterday.

Sounds sweet. Love the casting of the John and Abigail.

He might not have been a great President, but he is possibly my favorite figure from that era.

Full Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CNbQOrxQ-g

Good bump. Saw the promo for it.

Note: If you have DirecTV, there is a HBO/MAX Freeview from Thursday 3/20 to Sunday 3/23, and there are re-airings of these first 2 episodes in that timeframe on HBO. I don't currently have HBO but was planning on flipping my Premiums around next week anyway (this miniseries being one reason), so I figure I might as well wait until after this Freeview to order HBO.

Thanks for the note, RD. I'll tell my dad.

Eagerly anticipating this.

Well, to be fair Rome wasn't cancelled so much as ended its run. I really enjoyed that show but it wasn't really a series with 5 or 6 seasons' worth of stories to tell.

Yep. I think that was ideal lifespan for Rome.

Now Deadwood on the other hand.....

Holy Shit this just made my day! This looks really good, now I just need to find somebody that has HBO.

Ummm, wow.

This looks like it could be one of the greatest programs of this sort of all time.

Paul Giamatti as John Adams? Laura Linney as Abigail Adams? Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin?

Yeah, I'll be watching.

One funny side note is that Massachusetts was apparently pissed that this was filmed in Virginia, so they enacted major tax breaks for productions, resulting in Richard Kelly's next film (which is apparently set in or around his native Richmond, Virginia) filming up in Massachusetts.

This looks like a great show. I'll definitely be checking this out. How come when HBO announces a project it seems to take like 3 freaking years though till we get to see it?

Bump

2 Hour premier tonight 3/16 8pm EST

Well I'll be the first to comment on the show.

I realy liked it last night

The acting was great, the actors they picked to fit the roles of the various founding fathers was exceptional.

George Washington's introduction kind of gave me goosebumps -

It is amazing that all these people agreed to declare independence from England.

New York government was inept from day one (I live in NY state)