• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 14, 2012

National Geographic Channel said Tom Hanks will serve as the host and narrator for the two-hour special “Killing Lincoln.” Scott Free Productions, founded by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, is behind the production.

The show, billed as a “historical thriller,” is based on Bill O’Reilly’s book about the Lincoln assassination.

"It's odd to say the killing of Abraham Lincoln is an unknown story, but it may as well be," Hanks stated. "The depth of the intrigue, the breadth of the conspiracy and the bare-naked exposure of human nature is so timeless, it's a wonder how that seminal tragedy in our history could ever be explained in a few sentences: 'Ford's Theater… John Wilkes Booth,' etc. 

"The murder of Lincoln is not a passage of our history — it was a signpost of our American character, then, now and forever," he notes.

Nat Geo, with a heavy presence globally, will air the film next year in 38 languages in 171 countries reaching 440 million homes.

Nat Geo competitor the History channel had enormous success with the historical adaption of the Hatfields and McCoys war featuring Kevin Costner in May.