Net gets rights to book debunking JFK conspiracies

Sixteen years after Oliver Stone's "JFK" gave voice to conspiracy theories about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, HBO is readying its own epic take on the case -- and coming down emphatically on the other side.

The cable network has acquired the rights to Vincent Bugliosi's book "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy," which aims to debunk any and all theories that some shadowy cabal plotted Kennedy's death in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

HBO will turn the book into a 10-part miniseries to be executive produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Bill Paxton, the "Big Love" star who brought the book to Goetzman and Hanks. The two are executive producers of Paxton's show, as well as the upcoming HBO miniseries "John Adams" and "The Pacific."

"We are delighted that Tom, Gary and Bill brought this amazing project to HBO," HBO Films president Colin Callender says. "The successful creative partnership we have enjoyed with them over the years imbues us with a confidence, an excitement and the knowledge that Bugliosi's riveting book will make a very powerful transition to the screen."

Bugliosi's door-stopping, 1,600-page book systematically takes apart the various conspiracy theories around the JFK assassination and re-argues the case that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. The former L.A. deputy district attorney is known for his prosecution of Charles Manson and his subsequent book about the case, "Helter Skelter."

As an 8-year-old, Paxton witnessed Kennedy's appearance in Fort Worth, Texas, earlier on the day of his murder. He calls Bugliosi's book "the greatest story that's never been told."

"With the 50th anniversaries of President Kennedy's inaugural address [2011] and assassination [2013] looming in the next few years," Paxton says, "we felt it was the right time to pursue this project."