From the network that brought you John Adams — and the writers who brought you urban strife — comes this: HBO is developing a miniseries about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the hunt for his killer, to be written by David Simon of The Wire and Tom Fontana of Oz.
The miniseries is based on the best-selling book Manhunt, about the Lincoln shooting and the 12-day hunt for his assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Simon and Fontana are writing the script together.
Fontana is reportedly something of a Lincoln assassination buff, with "hundreds of books" about the shooting. Simon, too, is fascinated with the shooting. According to Broadcasting & Cable, they intend to explore it through the eyes of lesser-known players. The book was originally optioned for an action movie starring Harrison Ford, but the option expired and HBO snapped up the rights. Don't expect this miniseries to have the same tone a big-screen adaptation would have: "I don't do action," Simon told B&C.
Have any of you history/Lincoln buffs read this book? Do you think it's a story made for an HBO miniseries?
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I read and enjoyed the book, and I can't wait to see how this would translate to a miniseries. However, I'm going to have to wait for the DVDs, since I don't get HBO.