Tom Hanks will step into the shoes of former President Abraham Lincoln in the highly anticipated film “Lincoln In The Bardo.”
This is the first time the Oscar-winning actor will play the role of a president, Deadline reported.
The Starburns Industries period-film will reportedly be comprised of a combination of live-action and stop-motion animation, and it will be based on George Saunders’ bestselling book. Hanks will be on double duty as a producer through his Playtone label, according to the outlet.
5th February 1865: Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865), the 16th president of the United States in the year of his assassination. (Photo by Alexander Gardner/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Hanks is poised to play a live-action version of the 16th President of the United States in the hybrid movie, which is expected to be filmed in London.
“Lincoln in the Bardo” will explore the most intimate moments of Lincoln’s life and shine a spotlight on his deceased 11-year-old son, Deadline reported. The movie will explore love, compassion and human capacity while struggling through immense grief, and the tale will be told through a blend of characters that are both living and dead.
The characters in the film will be a combination of historical and fictional, according to the outlet.
US actor Tom Hanks attends the world premiere of “Billy Joel: And So It Goes” presented on the opening night of the Tribeca Festival, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on June 4, 2025. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Duke Johnson will adapt the novel to the big screen as director and producer.
Paul Young and Devon Young Rabinowitz are also producing for Starburns Industries.
Steven Shareshian and Aaron Mitchell are executive producing on the project alongside Saunders, Deadline reported.
US author George Saunders speaks after being annouced as the winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, at the Guildhall in central London on October 17, 2017. – US author George Saunders became on Tuesday only the second American writer to win Britain’s renowned Man Booker Prize, which was awarded for his first full-length novel “Lincoln in the Bardo”. Judges for the prestigious English-language literary award praised as “utterly original” the book that chronicles the death of Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son Willie using the accounts of hundreds of narrators. (Photo by Chris Jackson / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Saunders’ novel was a New York Times best seller, and it won the Booker Prize in 2017. (RELATED: Trump Supporters Rip On Tom Hanks’ ‘Doug’ Character In SNL Skit)
Additional casting information for “Lincoln In The Bardo” has not been disclosed as of publication.
Filming on the project has not yet begun, and no official release date has been set.
