THE CROWN's Tobias Menzies to Play Friend of Abraham Lincoln in Assassination Limited Series MANHUNT at Apple TV+

British actor Tobias Menzies (Casino Royale, The Crown) has signed on to star in a limited series titled Manhunt at Apple TV+. The series will follow in the aftermath of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and Menzies will play the detective on the case, Edwin Stanton, “Lincoln’s War Secretary and friend, who was nearly driven to madness by the need to catch assassin John Wilkes Booth and to carry out Lincoln’s legacy.”

The series comes from Friday Night Lights and Fargo writer/producer Monica Beletsky, and it is based on James Swanson’s book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer. Beletsky will serve as showrunner and exec producer of the Apple limited series with Mindhunter’s Carl Franklin set as director and exec producer.

Deadline reports:

The Apple series is described as part historical fiction and part conspiracy thriller and will center on the aftermath of the first American presidential assassination and the fight to preserve and protect the ideals that were the foundation of Lincoln’s Reconstruction plans.

It also will feature 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.

This is a new story on the aftermath of Lincoln’s death, and I am pretty excited about it. This sounds like it’s going to be a really interesting series. Stay tuned for updates.