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AppleTV+’s ‘Manhunt,’ about the search for John Wilkes Booth, is currently filming in Philadelphia

The show, about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, stars Tobias Menzies, Lili Taylor, Patton Oswalt, and Matt Walsh.

Rendering of John Wilkes Booth from the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer after the assassination of President Lincoln 150 years ago.
Rendering of John Wilkes Booth from the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer after the assassination of President Lincoln 150 years ago.Read more

Hollywood has once again come calling for Philadelphia, this time for a limited series dealing with the hunt for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin.

Crews for Apple TV+’s Manhunt, about the search for John Wilkes Booth, have been spotted filming the series around Philly this week, most recently at the Miller Theater, formerly the Merriam, on Broad Street. The show also used a historic house in Fairmount Park as a filming location, Greater Philadelphia Film Office executive director Sharon Pinkenson confirmed.

It’s not clear how long the production will be in town, but per Philly’s own gentleman paparazzo HughE Dillion, it looks like Manhunt will be in Philadelphia through Saturday. Most of the series is being filmed outside of Philadelphia, Pinkenson said.

The series is based on writer James Swanson’s book, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, and stars Tobias Menzies (The Crown), 13 Reasons Why’s Brandon Flynn, Get Out’s Betty Gabriel, Lili Taylor (Outer Range), Veep’s Matt Walsh, and comedian Patton Oswalt.

A true-crime style series, Manhunt will blend historical fiction with conspiracy thriller elements, Deadline reports.

As Swanson details in his book, following Lincoln’s assassination, Union cavalry troops pursued Booth for 12 days, from Washington, D.C., to Garret’s Farm near Port Royal, Virginia. It was there that Booth was shot and killed, bringing an end to the manhunt on April 26, 1865.

Manhunt will feature a number of portrayals of historical figures, including Lincoln himself (Hamish Linklater, Midnight Mass), first lady Mary Todd Lincoln (Taylor), Booth (Anthony Boyle of Tolkein), Lincoln’s War Secretary and leader of the Booth manhunt Edwin Stanton (Menzies), and Mary Simms (Greenleaf’s Lovie Simone), a former slave who treated Booth for a broken leg.

Historically, while Booth murdered Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and did not hide in Philadelphia following the assassination, Lincoln was in the city.

Prior to being laid to rest in Illinois, the slain president’s body laid in state briefly in Independence Hall as part of a funeral tour that allowed the nation to mourn. A funeral train carrying his body arrived at Broad Street and Washington Avenue (where a train station once stood) on April 22, 1865, transferring the president’s corpse to a hearse that traveled north to Walnut, passing by the spot that is now the Miller Theater.

Booth, meanwhile, has some Philly connections as well. His brother, Edwin Booth, bought the Walnut Street Theatre in October 1863, just two years before Lincoln’s assassination. And Booth himself performed in Philadelphia, honing his craft at places such as the old Arch Street Theatre, where he appeared in plays like Richard III and The Marble Heart. Members of his family, including his mother, Mary Ann Holmes Booth, and sister, Asia Booth Clarke, also lived in the city.

A release date for Manhunt has not been announced.