“I was born with the chance to be somebody. I’m going to be the most famous man in the whole world.” So opens the Manhunt trailer as John Wilkes Booth (Anthony Boyle) steps in front of a mirror.
The Apple TV+ true crime limited series, based on James L. Swanson’s best-selling non-fiction book, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, and starring Tobias Menzies, premieres on Friday, March 15, with the first two episodes. The rest of the seven-part conspiracy thriller will drop weekly on Fridays, with the finale set for April 19.
Manhunt follows one of the best-known but least understood crimes in history, the astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s (Hamish Linklater) assassination. Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s war secretary and friend who was nearly driven to madness by his need to catch Booth. Starring alongside Menzies, Boyle, and Linklater is Lovie Simone as Mary Simms, a former slave of the doctor who treated Booth; Will Harrison as John Wilkes Booth’s accomplice David Herold; Brandon Flynn as war department clerk Eddie Stanton Jr.; Damian O’Hare as telegraph expert Thomas Eckert; Glenn Morshower; Patton Oswalt as war department investigator Detective Lafayette Baker; and Matt Walsh as Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated Booth’s broken leg and didn’t report him to the police.
The trailer, which you can watch above, offers a look at Lincoln’s assassination and the subsequent manhunt for John Wilkes Booth. The mystery: “How does a well-known actor commit murder in front of an audience of 1500 people and escape?”
Manhunt, produced by Apple Studios and co-produced by Lionsgate Television, in association with POV Entertainment, Walden Media, 3 Arts Entertainment, Dovetale Productions, and Monarch Pictures, is created by Monica Beletsky, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer. Joining her as executive producers are Carl Franklin, Layne Eskridge, Kate Barry, Swanson, Michael Rotenberg, Richard Abate, Frank Smith, and Naia Cucukov. Franklin also directed the first two episodes.
Manhunt, Series Premiere (two episodes), Friday, March 15, Apple TV+
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
