20th Century Fox have tagged
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, a revisionist live-action horror that re-imagines the great U.S. President as an
ax-throwing, highly trained vampire assassin whose motivations in fighting slavery is to wipe out the undead - with a
June 22nd, 2012 release. Basically, that means... SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER. It pushes the $69 million budgeted 3D movie that shoots in the Winter into becoming one of Fox's biggest tentpoles of 2012. But then after the studio literally put down
a bloody red carpet for director
Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), producer
Tim Burton and writer
Seth Grahame-Smith to obtain the much fought-over rights, we shouldn't be surprised...
They were met with a huge banner at the gate. It had the title treatment of the script and was emblazoned, Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov present Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. At their parking spot were signs saying Parking For Vampire Hunters Only: park at your own risk, and so forth. There were bloody footprints lining the walkway and stairs leading from their cars to the meeting in Building 88 with images from the book and lines from the script. As if that were not enough, there also were bloody axes strewn about, and a bugle player in a Confederate uniform playing Taps as the filmmakers walked to the meeting.
Now that they are pushing it as a Summer movie, they of course need a film star to carry the gimmick concept on his shoulders. Everyone expects that they will give
Liam Neeson a call after his departure from the
far more serious Steven Spielberg biopic. In Fox's favour of him accepting is Neeson's years-long preparation to play Abe, the fact that Neeson these days doesn't turn seem to turn ANY offer down that's put his way (he did star in The A-Team for them after all) and, from what I hear, is a funny-as-hell book.
BUT, no matter how you gloss it - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is not the biopic of the 16th President of the United States that Neeson wanted to make, in a perfect world.