Tom Hanks’ acclaimed historical drama series John Adams is becoming a hit all over again thanks to a streaming resurgence. Paul Giamatti played the title character — one of America’s founding fathers and second president — in the 2008 HBO series.
Per FlixPatrol, John Adams has rocketed back into Max’s top 10 streaming shows as of Sunday, July 6. While the sudden streaming surge may have been sparked by the July 4 holiday weekend, it’s still an impressive feat considering John Adams is 17 years old.
Hanks executive produced John Adams along with his long-time Playtone partner Gary Goetzman. The pair enlisted screenwriter Kirk Ellis (Anne Frank: The Whole Story) to adapt author David McCullough’s 2001 biography John Adams, which won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
Director Tom Hooper also had his international breakthrough on the series, after getting his start working in British TV. He would later win a Best Director Oscar for The King’s Speech in 2011, and has since had hits with Les Misérables and the His Dark Materials TV adaptation.
Tom Hanks Executive Produces HBO's Emmy-Winning Historical Drama Miniseries
John Adams follows the founding father’s journey from skilled lawyer in 1770 to one of the most important figures in the American revolution following the Boston Massacre. Adams is enlisted by friends Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) and Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) to help shape the young country’s government following its conflict with England in the Revolutionary War.
«It is no small thing to build a new world,» Benjamin Franklin warns Adams as they embark on their mission.
The seven-episode show also examines the political intrigue of the time, including Adams and Jefferson’s rivalry with George Washington’s right-hand-man Alexander Hamilton. Fans of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical Hamilton will be familiar with the feud, though the HBO series takes a much more sympathetic view of Adams and Jefferson.
John Adams features a memorable early performance from Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the politician’s son (and sixth U.S. president) John Quincy Adams, many years before his two-time Emmy-winning depiction of Richie Jerimovich in The Bear. Moss-Bachrach is next playing Ben Grimm / The Thing in Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Following its premiere in the spring of 2008, John Adams won an impressive 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries for Hanks and Goetzman, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Giamatti and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special for Ellis.
It is no small thing to build a new world.
Giamatti took home the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, while John Adams was chosen as the Best Miniseries or Television Film. John Adams maintains an impressive 82% Fresh Score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics highlighting that the show is «bursting with one surprise after another» and as «intense and moody as the man himself.» Audiences were even more impressed, as the miniseries has an 87% Audience Score.
Hanks fans have several other exciting streaming options this summer, as The Da Vinci Code was recently released for free on Tubi and his World War II movie Greyhound resurfaced on Apple TV+’s top content chart five years after its release. Greyhound has a sequel on the way — with Hanks reprising his role as U.S. Navy Commander Ernie Krause — to explore more heroic stories of the Allied forces in their battles with the Axis at sea.
John Adams is available to stream now via Max.
John Adams
History
The life of one of the USA's Founding Fathers, its second President, and his role in the nation's first 50 years.
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