'Manhunt': Lincoln's Assassination Aftermath Series Gets Premiere on Apple TV+

Travel back to the days immediately following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln with Apple TV+'s new limited series Manhunt. The astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth, based on The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning non-fiction book from author James L. Swanson, premieres its first two episodes globally on Friday, March 15, 2024, with subsequent episodes premiering weekly on Fridays through April 19, 2024, the streamer announced Wednesday. 

The seven-part true crime limited series stars Emmy Award-winning actor Tobias Menzies (The Crown, Game of Thrones, Outlander), as well as Anthony Boyle (Tetris, The Plot Against America), Lovie Simone (Greenleaf), Will Harrison (Daisy Jones & The Six), Brandon Flynn (13 Reasons Why), Damian O'Hare (Hatfields & McCoys), Glenn Morshower (The Resident), Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio), Matt Walsh (Veep), and Hamish Linklater (The Big Short).

Manhunt was created by Emmy nominee Monica Beletsky (Fargo, The Leftovers, Friday Night Lights), who also serves as showrunner and executive producer. Emmy nominee Carl Franklin (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, One False Move, Devil in a Blue Dress) directed the first two episodes and is also an executive producer on the series.

Manhunt is based on Swanson's 2007 bestselling non-fiction book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer and is described as "a conspiracy thriller about 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 assassination," according to Apple TV+.

Manhunt is a long-awaited adaptation of Swanson's bestseller, as before the book was even published, Walden Media announced in 2002 that it would be making an adaptation set to star Harrison Ford. When Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer finally hit shelves five years later, it became an instant hit, with readers eagerly awaiting the big-screen adaptation that had been promised. The project never developed into anything, however, even after Variety reported in 2008 that The Wire creator David Simon and Oz creator Tom Fontana, planned to turn it into an HBO series. 

Years later, Beletsky pitched a show chronicling the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination to Apple TV+, she told Vanity Fair, merging her interest in Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War at the time of the historic murder, with the available rights for Swanson's book adaptation. The resulting project became Manhunt, which fans will be able to see when it debuts March 15, 2024, on Apple TV+.

Manhunt is 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. Beletsky, Franklin, Layne Eskridge, and Kate Barry executive produce. Swanson, author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer also serves as executive producer alongside Michael Rotenberg, Richard Abate, Frank Smith and Naia Cucukov.