Timur Bekmambetov Will Direct Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; Offers Updates On Wanted 2, Moby Dick And More
We’ve wondered for quite some time what filmTimur Bekmambetovmight direct next. At one point, it seemed like he would follow his last movie,Wanted, with a direct sequel. But that is taking time to come together, and recently his prioritites have shifted to adapting the novelAbraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which he isalso producingwithTim Burton. Now the director confirms that as his next effort, while offering updates on quite a few other projects to which he’s been linked.
Speaking toEmpire, Bekmambetov said that he hopes to shoot theLincolnfilm in America this winter, adding,
That one 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.
I don’t know under what circumstance a fictional story counts as an “epic history lesson for teenagers,” but I guess he’s got to come up with a snappy way to describe the movie. I’d go with something else, but then I probably wouldn’t makeAbraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, either.
Bekmambetov also says that “we are discussingWanted 2every month. We are working on it now, but I think it will be afterLincolnbecauseJames(McAvoy) is working on theX-Men: First Class,” and he adds that studio oversight onWantedis part of what led him to developLincolnoutside the studio system.
He also specifies that20,000 Leagues Under the SeaandMoby Dickare still in development, and that each of those is in the script stage. He’d like to directLeagues, as well.
Other projects in development areThe Knights Templarand the English version ofBlack Lightning, neither of which he plans to direct. And there’sRed Asphalt, “a movieabout drunk driving… in 3D! 3D is the only way to recreate what you feel when you drink and drive.” (Just what we’ve been waiting for — an well-informed, educational movie about the drunk driving experience.)
Finally, fans ofNight WatchandDay Watch, don’t get your hopes up for the third film in that story any time soon. OfTwilight Watch, the director says,
I hope it happens. It’s like first love – we created this world and now I’m watching the Twilight movies, I feel like we missed something by not doing Twilight Watch. Because there are a lot of ideas in those films that we were going to use. But we didn’t finish the story. It would be good to get around to it one day.
(One more note: that filmThe Last Witchhunterwe once mentioned? It’s not happening, or at least not with Bekmambetov.)
