In a contest that included Eric Bana, Adrian Brody and Timothy Olyphant, Variety is reporting that Benjamin Walker has won out the titular role in Timur Bekmambetov’s “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”. No doubt this announcement is followed with the question, “Who the hell is Benjamin Walker?”
Walker is an American actor who just came off a successful run as Andrew Jackson in the On/Off Broadway show Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, a role he turned down playing Hank McCoy/Beast in the upcoming X-Men First Class to take; clearly he didn’t piss Fox off too much, as they are distributing “Vampire Hunter”. His other notable film credits are 2004’s Kinsey and 2006’s Flags of our Fathers.
“Vampire Hunter” will have Walker in the younger shoes and hat (no doubt) of the famed U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln, who plays politics during the day and systematically hunts vampires by night, searching for the suspected vamp that killed his mother (you’re buying this, right?). Given that Grahame-Smith is adapting the screenplay adaptation of his own novel, you can expect plenty of humor and violence.
With the lead now set, it looks like production of this 3D project is slated for March, aiming at a June 22nd release date next year.
