Tom Hanks Cast as Lincoln in Bardo Film Adaptation

Tom Hanks, the two-time Academy Award-winning actor, has been cast to portray Abraham Lincoln in an upcoming film adaptation of George Saunders' acclaimed 2017 novel "Lincoln in the Bardo." The project, a hybrid of live-action and stop-motion animation, is currently in production in London under the direction of Duke Johnson, known for co-directing the Oscar-nominated 2015 animated feature "Anomalisa."

The film centers on one of the most personal chapters of Lincoln's life: his grief over the death of his 11-year-old son, Willie, who succumbed to illness in 1862 during the Civil War. Drawing from Saunders' Booker Prize-winning book, the story unfolds over a single night in a transitional realm known as the bardo, blending historical figures with invented characters to explore themes of love, empathy, and the human response to loss. Hanks will appear as a live-action version of the 16th U.S. President, interacting with an ensemble that includes both living and spectral elements rendered through stop-motion techniques.

Production is led by Starburns Industries, marking the studio's first feature to enter production since announcing its film fund. Hanks and his longtime producing...