Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter scores Wanted director

Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) is lined up to direct the film adaptation of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. He is also co-producing the feature with Tim Burton.

Bekmambetov spoke to Empire about his intentions with Seth Grahame-Smith’s fictionalised biography of America’s legendary 16th President, in which he is depicted as (you guessed it) a vampire hunter.

“I’m prepping to direct myself. It is not a comedy at all – it is a very entertaining, epic history lesson for millions and millions of teenagers. If you remember Nightwatch, it is maybe in the vein of that kind of movie..We are keeping the traditional look of Lincoln – the big hat and the beard. He has to be historically correct, but with a few special weapons. There is only one book, but there will be many opportunities to develop and explore this world if we get to do sequels. I hope we will start this winter. We are shooting in America.”

You can read more of Bekmambetov’s updates on projects such as Wanted 2, Moby Dick, Red Asphalt and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea over at Empire.

Discuss: Is Bekmambetov the right man for the job? I personally found the humour in Wanted to be pretty lame, but the thought of Bekmambetov approaching this film without any comedy is fairly unexciting. I think this is the kind of project that requires a sharp satirical bite to work.