The Hollywood Reporter say
Benjamin Walker has been cast as
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, in 20th Century Fox's 3D period horror/action movie that Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov shoots this March for a June 22nd, 2012 release. Two weeks ago
we reported that casting had come down to a few names - Eric Bana, Adrien Brody included - and in the end it was the guy who was the least experienced, the least well-known, who has chosen for a vampire staking Honest Abe. Personally, I'm thrilled by this casting. Bana and Brody never felt charismatically right for the movie and Walker, who remember last year was cast originally cast as Beast in X-Men: First Class before he was deemed to old for the role, has a great distinct look and has earned rave reviews from his Broadway work from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. He was also in Flags of our Fathers but we've kinda zoned that movie out of our brain. The only problem with Walker's casting might be his age. He is 28 and the role will require him to play Abe from his 20's to his 50's.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is written as a biography of Abraham Lincoln, based on secret diaries kept by the 16th President and given to the author by a vampire named Henry Sturges, a role in the movie that has been offered
to Tom Hardy but with a March date looming in preparation for a June 2012 release, one thinks itll be too much of a clash for Hardy with
The Dark Knight Rises. If not Hardy then, we imagine Fox will want to go after a big name to compensate for Walker's lack of star power in the title role. Seth Grahame-Smith has adapted his own novel for screen and the film is produced by Tim Burton. Could Burton's attachment maybe convince Johnny Depp for a brief cameo as Sturgess??