Washington – National Geographic Channel announced that actor, producer, writer and director Tom Hanks is joining the two-hour television event Killing Lincoln from executive producers Ridley Scott and the late Tony Scott’s Scott Free Productions.

Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner known for his roles in Saving Private Ryan, Forest Gump, Apollo 13, The Green Mile, and The Da Vinci Code, among many others, will serve as the on-camera host, historical commentator and narrator.

Hanks joins director Adrian Moat (Gettysburg), Emmy Award-winning writer/executive producer Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers) and producer Mark Herzog’s Herzog & Co. (Gettysburg) on the film, which is based on Bill O’Reilly’s New York Times best-selling book Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, written with co-author Martin Dugard. 

Production on the historical thriller combines the stunning drama with CGI, in the signature style of the Scott brothers, with rare historical archives.  The film is set to air globally on NGC in early 2013 in 171 countries and 38 languages. 

Actor Billy Campbell plays Abraham Lincoln, actor Jesse Johnson plays John Wilkes Booth in the film which also stars Geraldine Hughes as Mary Todd Lincoln.  Graham Beckel appears as Edwin Stanton (who served as secretary of war under the Lincoln administration) and Shawn Pyfrom portrays Private John W. Nichols.