In anticipation of the upcoming television world premiere of Killing Lincoln in early 2013, National Geographic Channel will once again join forces with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions to produce a two-hour film based on Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot, Bill O’Reilly’s New York Times best-selling book with co-author Martin Dugard.
The two-hour factual drama will stay true to the narrative storytelling devices used by O’Reilly in the book, which recounts the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy — and how a sequence of gunshots in Dallas not only killed a beloved president, but also propelled the nation into the Vietnam War and a cultural change.
“The common parallels between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are astonishing, with both assassinations profoundly changing the nation during crucial moments in its history. It made perfect sense that my follow-up to Lincoln would naturally lead to Kennedy,’ said author Bill O’Reilly. “While Kennedy’s assassination continues to garner many conspiracy theories, our story is based on facts, some that haven’t been publicly known. And with National Geographic Channel and Scott Free once again at the helm, I have the utmost trust and faith that they will bring the story of Kennedy and Camelot to life.’
Production on the two-hour television event will begin during the American spring, combining rare historical insights and archives with dramatic and emotionally engaging storytelling in the signature style of Scott Free Productions. Casting news will be announced shortly.
The special will premiere globally on the National Geographic Channel in 171 countries and 38 languages.
“Collaborating with National Geographic on Bill O’Reilly’s follow-up was an easy decision. They share the same passion of storytelling, willing to take creative leaps and risks to keep viewers entertained to tell the provocative story of Kennedy’s last days, a pivotal and historic moment,’ said Ridley Scott.
In January 1961, as the Cold War escalates, John F. Kennedy struggles to contain the growth of Communism while he learns the hardships, solitude, and temptations of what it means to be president of the United States. Along the way he acquires a number of formidable enemies, among them Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and Alan Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition, powerful elements of organised crime have begun to talk about targeting the president and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
In the midst of a 1963 campaign trip to Texas, Kennedy is gunned down by an erratic young drifter named Lee Harvey Oswald. The former Marine Corps sharpshooter escapes the scene, only to be caught and shot dead while in police custody.
The events leading up to the most notorious crime of the 20th century are almost as shocking as the assassination itself. Killing Kennedy chronicles both the heroism and deceit of Camelot.
