Are You Ready to See Tom Hanks Play Abe Lincoln?

Tom Hanks is set to play Abraham Lincoln in an upcoming film adaptation of Lincoln at the Bardo, the multi-award-winning novel by George Saunders. According to Deadline, Hanks will also produce the drama, with director Duke Johnson, best known for Anomalisa, behind the camera.

Lincoln in the Bardo is a very odd novel, an experimental fantasy drama about the President exploring a liminal space between life and rebirth following the death of his son, Willie. A bardo is the Tibetan Buddhist term for that state between death and reincarnation where one’s consciousness has not yet connected to a body. It’s a fascinating book, one that, like many of Saunders’ stories, is ambitious and tough to pin down. The audiobook had dozens of actors taking on its vast cast of characters, including Nick Offerman, Ben Stiller, Julianne Moore, and Saunders’ own kids.

So, an adaptation like this will require a very weird movie. According to the Deadline report, the movie will ‘employ a unique blend of stop-motion animation and live action to explore one of the most intimate moments of Lincoln’s life.’ Hell yes. This sounds like it could be absolutely fascinating.

And, frankly, it’s kind of a surprise that America’s uncle hasn’t played Honest Abe yet. It just seems thematically right, if not necessarily historically so. Hanks was so incredible as Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, but it’s been a while since he’s had a role worthy of his range. I’m glad he’s part of Wes Anderson’s ensemble now, and I’m perhaps the only critic who loved his performance in Elvis, but he was stuck in Robert Zemeckis’s uncanny valley stranglehold for a while, thanks to the remake of Disney’s Pinocchio and Here. Remember Here?! It was the Ella McCay of its day!

Hopefully, Johnson and Hanks pull this one off. The book certainly deserves it.