Apple TV on Thursday dropped the trailer for “Franklin,” an upcoming series about the life of Benjamin Franklin. It looks a little risky.
Michael Douglas has either landed the role of his lifetime or the flop of the decade in the upcoming biopic series where he portrays Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s greatest Founding Fathers. The series is set in 1776, when Franklin “is world famous for his electrical experiments,” the official description notes.
“But his passion and power are put to the test when he embarks on a secret mission to France — with the fate of American independence hanging in the balance,” it continues. The trailer plays like something out of a BBC adaptation of a Jane Austen novel. But it could be the next “Napoleon,” so don’t get your hopes up too soon.
The show is based on Stacy Schiff’s “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.” (RELATED: Your Jaw Will Stay On The Floor Throughout The Trailer For ‘Monkey Man’)
Douglas plays alongside Noah Jupe, best known for “A Quiet Place.” Eddie Marsan will play John Adams, so that’ll be interesting to see. Daniel Mays, an incredibly famous actor to any British viewer, also joined the show as Edward Bancroft. He’s not exactly known out here in the states yet, but if this series goes well, he’ll probably become a household name.
The series premieres April 12 on Apple TV.