A couple weeks ago it was announced that little known Broadway star Ben Walker had got the lead role in Timur Bemambetov’s adaptation of Seth Grahame Smith’s novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Now it appears he’s got a couple of castmates, as Deadline reports that Anthony Mackie is in talks for the flick, while Variety broke the news that Dominic Cooper should also sign on.
Cooper is up for the role of Henry Sturgess, a part that was reportedly previously offered to both Tom Hardy (who couldn’t do it due to scheduling issues with Dark Knight Rises) and more recently to Joaquin Phoenix. Mackie meanwhile would be Will, Lincoln’s best friend.
The story reimagines the American president as an axe-wielding, highly trained vampire hunter, giving new context to Lincoln’s rise to the presidency as well as the American Civil War (which was fought because the vampires were in league with the slave owners), suggesting these events were a lot more paranormal than history tells us, and stemmed from Lincoln’s mother’s murder by a vampire when he was a child.
Henry Sturgess is a vampire who befriends a young Lincoln and trains him in the ways of killing the undead. Then over the years he sends Abe the names of evil bloodsuckers to be dispatched. Will meanwhile is Lincoln’s friend, who gets to be at the centre of the vampire slaying.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter should hit cinemas June 22nd 2012.