London [UK], February 24 : Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks is set to portray former US President Abraham Lincoln in the feature adaptation of George Saunders' best-selling 2017 novel Lincoln in the Bardo. The novel, which won the 2017 Booker Prize, explores Lincoln's grief over the death of his 11-year-old son, Willie Lincoln, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film, helmed by Duke Johnson, will be a hybrid of live-action and stop-motion animation and is currently in production in London. Johnson, known for co-directing the Oscar-nominated animated feature Anomalisa (2015), is directing the project from a script penned by Saunders himself.
Hanks will appear as the live-action version of the 16th US President. He is also producing the film alongside Gary Goetzman for Playtone, while Johnson, Paul Young, and Devon Young Rabinowitz are producing for Starburns Industries. Executive producers include Saunders, Steven Shareshian, and Aaron Mitchell.
Hanks' recent works include The Phoenician Scheme, Here, and Freaky Tales. He will also reprise his voice role as Woody in Pixar's upcoming Toy Story 5, set to release this summer, and stars in Aaron Schneider's forthcoming World War II drama Greyhound 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lincoln's legacy has remained prominent in popular culture in recent years. Actor Hamish Linklater portrayed the president in the 2024 Apple TV+ series Manhunt, while the Broadway comedy Oh, Mary!, examining Lincoln's personal life, won multiple Tony Awards last year. Daniel Day-Lewis famously won the Best Actor Oscar for portraying Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's 2012 biopic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.