First Look At ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’

Described As A Cross Between D. W. Griffith’s ‘Abraham Lincoln’ & F. W. Murnau’s ‘Nosferatu’

While filming is currently underway, it looks like 20th Century Fox is getting the press machine rolling very early on this one, granting the New York Times an early set visit.

The paper has revealed a first look at the film, and yeah, it’s fairly bland but the premise is anything but. Starring Benjamin Walker (as the president, pictured above), Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Robin McLeavy, Jimmi Simpson, Alan Tudyk and Rufus Sewell the film is based on the faux diaries of the president given to the author by a vampire named Henry Sturgess (Cooper). Sturgess saved Lincoln’s life when he battled a vampire as a teenager, and the two become fast friends. Sturgess teaches Lincoln about the history of vampirism, trains him in combat, and sends the president to hunt and kill evil vampires. Mackie will play the president’s best friend, Will, with Winstead playing Mary Todd, McLeavy as Lincoln’s Mom, Sewell as the head vampire Adam, and Tudyk as Stephen A. Douglas, leader of the Southern vampires.

Director Timur Bekmambetov has big aspirations for the film, describing it as a cross between D. W. Griffith’s “Abraham Lincoln” and F. W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu.” And if you need more proof of the director’s hyperbole he also said that what Lincoln did “was like what Jesus did 2,000 years ago: he freed people.”

Ok then. Did Bekmambetov forget he was making a movie about a president who drives a wooden stake through the hearts of vampires? We hope not. Anyway, cameras are rolling right now and the movie will hit on June 22, 2012.