HBO is about to close a deal with The Playtone Company regarding the adaptation of Vincent Bugliosi’s “Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.”

The said adaptation will air as a seven-part miniseries on HBO. The Playtone Company’s Gary Goetzman and Tom Hanks will serve as executive producers, along with Big Love star Bill Paxton.

The cable network, which airs the Big Love drama series, is also planning to make a documentary special as a supplement to the miniseries. The documentary will feature Bugliosi talking about a variety of conspiracy theories, including those involving the KGB, the Mafia and Fidel Castro in Kennedy’s assassination.

The idea for the miniseries came to Hanks, Paxton and Goetzman after they had a discussion about Kennedy’s shooting. They turned to Bugliosi’s book, which came out last month under the W.W. Norton publishing company, to see whether or not it would be a good basis for the project.

"I totally believed there was a conspiracy, but after you read the book, you are almost embarrassed that you ever believed it," Goetzman remarked. "To think that guys who grew up in the '60s would make a miniseries supporting the idea that (Lee Harvey) Oswald acted alone is something I certainly wouldn't have predicted. But time and evidence can change the way we view things."

Bugliosi felt compelled to write book after he prosecuted Oswald during a mock trial for a British television special. He became convinced that the Warren Commission had been right to say Oswald was the sole perpetrator of the assassination, and then spent the next twenty years collecting evidence to prove it.

In an interview with Daily Variety, Bugliosi said, "Many more people will see the miniseries than will read the book. With the integrity that Tom, Gary and Bill bring, I think that we will finally be able to make a substantial dent in the 75% of people in this country who still believe the conspiracy theorists."

Aside from developing Reclaiming History: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Playtone is also wrapping up its’ other HBO miniseries, John Adams. The drama series, Big Love, which The Playtone Company also produces, is currently in its’ second season.

-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist

Source: Variety

(Photo Courtesy of E! Online)