Some cool new pics from ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER have started walking amongst us, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. The pics feature mostly an axe-wielding Abe Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) in various stages of his life, from a youthful entrepreneur/attorney/vampire hunter to the 16th President of the United States/vampire hunter.
Produced by Tim Burton and directed by Timur Bekmambetov (WANTED) from the historical horror mash-up novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, the story follows the life of Abe Lincoln from childhood to adulthood as he attempts to make his way in the world, only to be plagued by vampires throughout every passage. After a tragic loss, Abe vows revenge, which later morphs into a desire to free the slaves of the nation.
“It’s told through the structure of Lincoln’s actual life. You not only see these huge fight scenes and great moments of drama, but you get sort of the greatest hits of Lincoln’s life, from the mysterious death of his mother through the Gettysburg address,” says Benjamin Walker. “You get a portrait of this man, as well as a thriller.”
I read the book by Grahame-Smith and found it to be entertaining enough, but after a while I was just trying to get through it. It sorely needed the visual component, in my opinion, and I think Bekmambetov is a great choice to really bring some style and visual punch to the story. The early buzz is that he’s brought just that.
As for Lincoln being portrayed as either a spoof or a realistic, historical hybrid, it’s hard to say. I think some people may view it as either or and others may very easily be able to go along with it.
“When he was a lawyer, going on the road, staying up late nights with legislators and businessmen in taverns, he was the life of the party; a very exciting and entertaining man in his own right,” Benjamin Walker says. “I think he’d love our movie.”
Let’s hope we do, too.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, along with Walker as Abe, stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln, Dominic Cooper as Henry Sturgess, Anthony Mackie as William Johnson, Rufus Sewell as Adam, a vampire, and supermodel Erin Wasson (uh, see below) and starts stakin’ claims and takin’ names on June 22nd, 2012.