With a June 2012 release date already set, Timur Bekmambetov is now getting busy casting the lead role in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on the book by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also penned the script.
Deadline has the list of actors who'll be testing for the lead role, which recasts the legendary Civil War president as a man whose entire life is really about dealing with the undead. Benjamin Walker, James D'Arcy, Adrien Brody, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Josh Lucas will all be screentesting for the part in the next couple of weeks, suggesting that Bekmambetov isn't that interested in getting a major a-list talent to anchor his flick, and will instead go for the right fit.Timothy Olyphant was apparently part of the original Deadline report, but his name now appears to have been removed.
And in case you don't know who they are, Benjamin Walker has had small roles in Flags Of Our Father but got major acclaim for the Broadway stage musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Oliver Jackson-Cohen is known in the UK for Lark Rise To Candleford and will soon be seen opposite Dwayne Johnson in Faster, while fellow Brit James D'Arcy has hung around the edges of fame for years in thhe likes of Master & Commander and Exorcist: The Beginning. We'll presume you've heard of Adrien Brody and Josh Lucas.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter reimagines the American president as an axe-wielding, highly trained vampire hunter. The book gives 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.
Expect to hear who's nabbed the title role in the next few weeks.