Bryce Dessner (The Two Popes, Bardo, The Kitchen, A Good Person, Irresistible) (of the rock band The National) has composed the original score for the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Manhunt. Singer/songwriter Danielle Ponder has contributed the theme song (entitled Egún) to the show created by Monica Beletsky based on James L. Swanson’s nonfiction book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer and starring Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle, Lovie Simone, Will Harrison, Brandon Flynn, Damian O’Hare, Glenn Morshower, Patton Oswalt, Matt Walsh and Hamish Linklater. The 7-part thriller tells the story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Beletsky also serves as the project’s showrunner and is executive producing the Apple Studios & Lionsgate Television production with Swanson, Layne Eskridge (She’s Gotta Have It), Kate Barry (Britney vs. Spears, Children of the Underground), Michael Rotenberg (Silicon Valley, Insecure), Richard Abate (From Scratch), Frank Smith & Naia Cucukov (The Baby-Sitters Club), as well as Carl Franklin (Out of Time, Devil in a Blue Dress) who also directed the first two episodes. Manhunt will premiere on March 15, 2024 exclusively on Apple TV+.
Dessner’s other recent projects include Thomas Napper’s Widow Clicquot, which premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and has been picked up by Vertical Entertainment for a release later this year, as well as Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, which also premiered at last year’s TIFF and will be released in theaters this year by A24. He also has Nicole Riegel’s Dandelion (co-scored with Aaron Dessner) coming up.
