Emmy award-winner Tobias Menzies joins the cast of Manhunt, the upcoming Apple TV + project revolving around the hunt for the Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. Menzies is set to bring to life the role of Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s War Secretary and loyal friend who goes to great lengths to catch the assassin.
By now, Menzies is no stranger to period pieces as he has previously starred in The Crown as Prince Phillip, not to forget his performance as Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall in STARZ’s Outlander (which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination), and his roles as Brutus in HBO’s Rome, and Edmure Tully in Game of Thrones.
From writer/producer Monica Beletsky (who was also the supervising producer for the critically-acclaimed TV series Fargo), Manhunt is a true-crime series that is part historical fiction, part conspiracy thriller. It is the first series out of the renewed deal between Apple TV+ and Beletsky. The series is set to take viewers into the aftermath of the first American Presidential assassination and also significantly portrays the fight to preserve and protect the ideals that formed the bedrock of Lincoln’s Reconstruction plans.
The series will also strongly Black historical figures whose lives intertwined with the escape, manhunt, and subsequent high-crimes investigation, including Mary Simms, a former slave of the doctor who treated Booth’s injury and gave him safe harbor after his crime, according to sources.
Manhunt draws its material from the Edgar award-winning best-selling book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, written by James Swanson, and will follow Edwin Stanton’s search for Booth out of loyalty to his friend (which nearly pushed him to the edge of madness), and the need to uphold the Lincoln legacy as his Reconstruction plan is underway in the country. All this, while trying to keep the former president’s ideals intact, ones that would subsequently make their way into the present-day United States.
The Apple TV+ project is in good hands with Beletsky, who has already been nominated for Emmy, Golden Globe, PGA, and WGA awards, respectively, for her outstanding work. The series will be directed by Emmy-nominated Carl Franklin.
Apple Studios and Lionsgate will co-produce Manhunt for Apple TV+ in association with POV Entertainment, Walden Media, and 3 Arts Entertainment. James Swanson, the author of the original book, will preside as the Executive Producer. Joining him in the position will be Franklin, Layne Eskridge, Michael Rotenberg, and Richard Abate for 3 Arts, and Frank Smith and Naia Cucukov for Walden Media.