Friday, May 30, 2008

1776 Coming to HBO

With the success of their first miniseries on the life of John Adams, Tom Hanks, HBO, and David McCullough are slated to begin yet another collaboration. McCullough's book, 1776, which deals with the struggles Washington and the Continental Army faced during the first year of the war, is said to be the latest HBO project in the works. A spokesmen for HBO and Playtone had the following press release:

The pay channel and Tom Hanks & Gary Goetzman's Playtone banner are set to team for a new multi-part mini-series based on David McCullough's recently published book "1776." Said project, which Hanks and Goetzman will executive produce, will track George Washington's military campaign against the British. The news marks HBO and Playtone's second small screen adaptation of a McCullough novel, the first being the upcoming 11-hour project "John Adams." Kirk Ellis, who spearheaded "Adams" (writing nine of the 11 hours), is understood to be in talks to do the same for "1776." Production on "Adams" is set to begin in the fall while no timetable was given for "1776."

In light of the success of Band of Brothers and John Adams, this film is likely to continue HBO's trend for success in historical miniseries.

20 comments:

Rachel said...

It makes me so happy to see more mainstream stuff involving the Revolutionary War. Even though it's what formed this country , it seems to be the least talked about war.

Rachel

David Mabry said...

There are two other major wars which receive less attention, the War of 1812 and the Korean War. Although, the War of 1812 has been getting some attention lately in scholarship.

Brian Tubbs said...

I absolutely canNOT wait until this comes out. I am salivating.

Brian Tubbs said...

David, Hollywood tried to give the Korean War some time. Remember Inchon?

RecruitingFly Guy said...

This is the best news Ive heard since, well, the John Adams series. Thank god somebody has the guts to make this into a reality. Long live 1776!

Anonymous said...

This. is. awesome. Though, I would sometime like to see a series about the Korean War, especially since Korea is still technically at war.

Anonymous said...

I'm so excited to hear that they're going to produce one of my all-time favorite books! Thanks to everyone, in making one of my all-time dreams into reality. 1776 will ROCK!, just like John Adams did.

evan said...

Planned date for release has been changed to 2011 (225th ann.). Playtone and Tom Hanks are doing this. Another note is that Warner Brothers has purchased the rights to a film on NAthan Hale based on M.William Phelps book. Stay tuned...

Unknown said...

This is one of my favorite books and I cannot wait for this to be on HBO. I even wrote to the actor, Jeff Daniels, who would be a perfect Gen. Washington. Same height, same features as GGW.

Unknown said...

Looking forward to this. David Morse who was Washington in the the John Adams series was the perfect Washington. Hope they get him again.

1812 really is the forgotten war in terms of Hollywood.

Korea got a lot of attention with M.A.S.H. Also MacArthur and Pork Chop Hill were good ones.

Anonymous said...

I am looking forward to 1776 being made into a movie, HBO or otherwise. Jeff Daniels should play George Washington. He is an excellent actor and I think he would do a great portrayal of Washington. He has the height & facial features much like G. Washington.

TJBogar said...

Any word when this will be released? I see HBO is going to make a civil war series (8 hrs) called To Appomatox (www:toappomatox.com).

Unknown said...

I'd also like to know when they're going to light the candle on this too. If it's half as good as John Adams, it should be great.

Anonymous said...

Any updates?

Marty said...

I sent an email to HBO this morning. Will post again if I receive any feedback. The IMDB, however, still has it listed as "In Production" but the date is listed as ????.

Anonymous said...

Well apparently the reports of a 1776 miniseries have been greatly exaggerated.

Unknown said...

I guess this project is dead. Such a shame because The John Adams series is so terrific, and they had their chance to dovetail that right into 1776 (using the same sets, wardrobes and actors) David Morse was an amazing intriguing Washington. I always felt that HBO didn't want to add any fuel to the Tea Party crowd by producing a 1776 film. It is pure conjecture, but I really feel that the Tea Party (Glen beck, etc..) used too many symbols and quotations from the Founders, and that made HBO disinterested. Such a same.

Unknown said...

If the existence of the Tea Party is HBO's excuse for not producing and airing 1776 it is ma feeble one! It also shows their partisanship.

So the vulgar left winger Bill Maher is okay, but a miniseries about our revolution is out of bounds. What a sad state of affairs.

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Anonymous said...

What has happened to this project??
Will it ever come to the screen?