EXCLUSIVE: Russell Hornsby (The Hate U Give) has been tapped as the title character in NBC’s Lincoln (fka The Bone Collector), a drama pilot based on the bestselling book series by Jeffery Deaver that adapted into the 1999 movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.

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For Hornsby, the casting is in second position to freshman Fox legal drama Proven Innocent. Hornsby plays the male lead in that series, which recently launched on Fridays to so-so ratings.

Written by VJ Boyd and Mark Bianculli and directed by Seth Gordon, Lincoln follows legendary forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme (Hornsby), who was seriously injured during his hunt for the diabolic serial killer known as the Bone Collector. Called back into action when the killer re-emerges, Rhyme forms a unique partnership with Amelia Sachs, a young beat cop who helps him hunt the deadly mastermind while also taking on the most high-profile cases in the NYPD. Lincoln Rhyme is a New York City police detective and maverick obsessed with taking down the serial killer known as the Bone Collector.

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Hornsby is taking on the role played by Washington in the 1999 movie. Hornsby co-starred opposite Washington in the 2016 feature Fences, which Washington also directed.

Boyd and Bianculli executive produce Lincoln with Keshet’s Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott and Rachel Kaplan. Sony Pictures TV and Universal TV produce in association with Keshet Studios.

This marks Hornsby’s return to NBC where he starred on genre crime drama Grimm for six seasons. He most recently starred as Maverick “Mav” Carter in the praised feature The Hate U Give, directed and produced by George Tillman Jr., and as Buddy Marcelle in Creed II. He also co-starred on Netflix’s Seven Seconds and recurred on Showtime’s The Affair.

Hornsby is repped by ICM Partners, Cohn/Torgan Management and Hansen Jacobson.