EXCLUSIVE: Tom Hanks has played a number of characters in period movies, and real-life personalities including pilot Chesley Sullenberger and Walt Disney, but never a U.S. President, until now. The 2x Oscar winner is set to play the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in Starburns Industries’ live-action stop motion animation hybrid movie Lincoln in the Bardo based on George Saunders’ New York Times bestseller and 2017 Booker Prize-winner.
Hanks will also produce through his Playtone label with partner Gary Goetzman.
In the movie, Hanks’ will portray a live-action version of the President who made his mark in history by abolishing slavery and leading the U.S. through the Civil War. Production will take place in London.
As we told you first, Saunders is adapting his novel for the big screen with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Duke Johnson (Anomalisa) set to direct and produce. Lincoln in the Bardo is the first Starburns project to go into production since the studio announced its film fund.
Lincoln in the Bardo will employ a unique blend of stop-motion animation and live action to explore one of the most intimate moments of Lincoln’s life, centering on his relationship with his recently deceased 11-year-old son. The movie will explore themes of love, empathy, and human capacity in the face of grief as the story unfolds through an ensemble of characters, both living and dead, historical and invented.
Johnson, Paul Young and Devon Young Rabinowitz are producing for Starburns Industries. Steven Shareshian, Aaron Mitchell and Saunders will serve as EPs.
Hanks is repped by CAA and Greenberg Glusker.