Synopsis/Details
BOOTH is a tense, character-driven historical thriller that reimagines the final days of John Wilkes Booth—not as a footnote in history, but as a man convinced he has changed it.
On the night of April 14, 1865, Booth assassinates President Abraham Lincoln before a stunned nation. Injured but driven by conviction, he escapes Washington and begins a desperate journey south, believing he will be welcomed as a hero of the Confederacy.
Instead, Booth finds only silence… then pursuit.
Accompanied by the increasingly fearful David Herold, Booth seeks refuge among sympathizers, hiding in forests, crossing the Potomac, and clinging to a collapsing belief that his act will spark a Southern resurgence. But as newspapers brand him a murderer and the Union cavalry closes in, Booth’s certainty begins to fracture.
Hunted, wounded, and cut off from the world he thought he served, Booth is ultimately cornered in a Virginia barn by Union troops led by Lieutenant Doherty. What follows is not just a standoff—but a final reckoning between belief and reality, performance and truth.
As the barn burns around him, Booth must confront the one thing he never anticipated:
That history will not remember him the way he intended.
For producers:
Contained locations (woods, farms, barn, river)
Limited cast
Prestige historical drama
Strong lead role (awards potential)
True story with built-in recognition
