Tom Hanks To Play Abraham Lincoln

Oscar winner Tom Hanks will both produce and play former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in the film adaptation of George Saunders’ bestselling novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” at Starburns Industries.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Duke Johnson (“Anomalisa”) will direct and produce the project, which Hanks’ Playtone label and his regular collaborator Gary Goetzman will produce.

The story centers on Lincoln’s relationship with his recently deceased 11-year-old son, rather than focusing on the more typical aspects of Lincoln’s life usually seen in adaptations such as the Civil War, the abolition of slavery, and his assassination.

To capture this, the production will blend stop-motion animation and live-action to explore “themes of love, empathy and human capacity in the face of unimaginable grief” via a group of characters that are “both living and dead, historical and invented.”

Hanks narrated and hosted the 2013 docudrama “Killing Lincoln,” but this marks his first time playing the man.

Johnson, Paul Young and Devon Young Rabinowitz are also producing the project which will film in London.

Source: THR