Anthony Boyle and Lovie Simone are set as leads alongside Tobias Menzies in Manhunt, Apple TV+’s upcoming limited series about the President Lincoln’s assassination, from Friday Night Lights and Fargo writer-producer Monica Beletsky, Lionsgate and 3 Arts.
Manhunt is based on James Swanson’s bestselling book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer. Described as part historical fiction and part conspiracy thriller, the series will center on the aftermath of America’s first presidential assassination and the fight to preserve and protect the ideals that were the foundation of Lincoln’s Reconstruction plans — issues that reverberate into the present day.
The series features Black historical figures whose lives intertwined with the escape, manhunt and subsequent high-crimes investigation, including Mary Simms (Simone), a former slave of the doctor who treated assassin John Wilkes Booth’s (Boyle) injury and gave him safe harbor after his crime.
Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s War Secretary and friend, who was driven nearly to madness by the need to catch Booth and to carry out Lincoln’s legacy.
2022 Apple TV+ Pilots & Series Orders
The series is produced for Apple TV+ by Apple Studios and co-produced by Lionsgate in association with POV Entertainment, Walden Media, and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Beletsky will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Manhunt marks the first series order to hail from Beletsky’s overall deal with Apple TV+, which was recently renewed.
Layne Eskridge, a former creative executive at Apple, executive produces along with Swanson. Michael Rotenberg and Richard Abate executive produce for 3 Arts, and Frank Smith and Naia Cucukov executive produce for Walden Media.
Upcoming, Boyle will be seen co-starring in limited series Masters of the Air, Apple Studios’ follow-up of Band of Brothers. He also recently wrapped production on a lead role opposite Taron Edgerton in Apple Studios’ Tetris and was recently seen in HBO’s limited series The Plot Against America. Boyle is repped by UTA, Hamilton Hodell in the UK and Ziffren Brittenham.
Simone can be seen in Power Book III: Raising Kanan for Starz. She previously starred as Zora Greenleaf on OWN’s drama series Greenleaf. On the feature side, she recently wrapped production on the independent feature The Walk. Simone played the leading role of Tabby in the Blumhouse/Sony reboot of The Craft: Legacy and received critical praise for her performance as Selah in the Amazon feature Selah & The Spades. She is repped by Buchwald, Edge Talent and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
