Apple TV+ today officially announced a new limited series project about Benjamin Franklin. Michael Douglas will take up the lead role as the American polymath. The show is based off the book ‘A Great Improvisation’.
The Benjamin Franklin series is the latest project to hail from ex-HBO chief Richard Plepler’s overall deal with Apple, under his Eden Productions banner. It is being developed as a co-production between ITV Studios America and Apple Studios.
The show is produced by Kirk Ellis and Tim Van Patten (who worked on Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos). Ellis previously worked with Plepler on the John Adams miniseries.
Casting for other characters is currently underway. The show will dramatise Franklin’s daring manoeuvre to form the Franco-American alliance in the 1700s.
From Apple’s description:
The drama will explore the thrilling story of one of the greatest gambles of Benjamin Franklin’s career. At age 70, without any diplomatic training, Franklin convinced France – an absolute monarchy – to underwrite America’s experiment in democracy. By virtue of his fame, charisma and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers and hostile colleagues, all while engineering the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the final peace treaty with England of l783. The eight-year French mission stands as Franklin’s most vital service to his country, without which America would not have won the Revolution.
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