Tom Hanks To Play U.S. President in New Biopic

Hollywood star Tom Hanks has been cast to play the role of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in an upcoming adaptation of George Saunders' acclaimed novel, Lincoln in the Bardo.

The two-time Oscar winner will reportedly step into Lincoln's shoes later this year to film the movie, which comes from Anomalisa director Duke Johnson.

Hanks Will Play A Live-Action Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln in the Bardo will blend live-action and stop-motion filmmaking, with Hanks playing the live-action version of Lincoln, according to Deadline. The film centers around a specific moment in Lincoln's life, as he grieves the recent loss of his 11-year-old son.

'Bardo' refers to an old Buddhist term for a "state of existence between death and rebirth, varying in length according to a person's conduct in life and manner of, or age at, death." Johnson's film will reportedly be a very grounded, character-driven drama that explores themes of loss, grief, and family through the lens of this iconic figure.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States; he's widely remembered as the President who finally abolished slavery in the U.S. and led the country through a bloody civil war.

Lincoln had four children, three of whom died before reaching adulthood. William Wallace Lincoln, the child on which this story will reportedly focus, died at the age of eleven in 1862. This was less than a year after the start of the U.S. Civil War, which is sure to play an important role in the background.

One of the last on-screen adaptations of Lincoln's life was brought to audiences by Steven Spielberg in 2012, but Johnson's movie will reportedly be very different. Where Lincoln was a very political, historically accurate film about the President's pursuit to abolish slavery, Lincoln in the Bardo will be a more experimental, creatively liberal story that centers on human emotions and character development.

Johnson, Paul Young and Devon Young Rabinowitz will serve as producers on the project, alongside Hanks and his partner Gary Goetzman for Playstone. Steven Shareshian, Aaron Mitchell and George Saunders are set to be executive producers.