Corona | Coming Attractions

They all laughed when the movie was announced. Now the New York Times is covering it. (We have the action-packed book trailer here, too.)

There’s nothing like a nice article in the New York Times to quiet your naysayers. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter got theirs today, and in return they gave the NYT the first pic from the film. Two, if you count the behind-the-scenes pic of director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and star Benjamin Walker.

“There’s something in the American psyche, we want our presidents to be warriors,” said author/screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith. “We’re giving that to Abraham Lincoln, sort of posthumously in this case.” He certainly did that. The film follows Lincoln who, after his mother is killed by a vampire, becomes an undead-slaying machine. He goes after not only the creatures themselves but also the slave owners who aid them.

"Vampires," says axe-swinging Abe in the fun, live-action trailer for the novel. "I've been a slave to vampires for thirty years."

Director Bekmambetov’s views the film as a cross between D. W. Griffith’s Abraham Lincoln and F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. “What Lincoln did was like what Jesus did 2,000 years ago: he freed people,” Bekmambetov said.  

The production is working hard to stay historically accurate, if you don’t count the vampire slaying. They’re even consulting with Illinois state historian Thomas F. Schwartz, who said he’s trying to find ways to insert vampires in Lincoln’s life without sucking the real history dry. Although the real Lincoln may not have had a “fighting coat” that carried his axes and weaponry when he battled the undead.

Of course, everyone wants to know what the vampires are going to look like. “The one thing I’m not supposed to talk about is the look of the vampires,” said production designer François Audouy (who was art director for Green Lantern and Watchmen). He would only say that they will be something “unexpected.”

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter stars Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Mrs. Lincoln), Rufus Sewell (Adam), Jacqueline Fleming (Harriet Tubman) and Alan Tudyk (Stephen A. Douglas). 20th Fox will release the 3D film in June 2012.