This may come as news to some of you. In addition to being President during one of the most tumultuous times in US history, Abraham Lincoln was secretly also a vampire hunter.

Well, at least that’s how history goes in the upcoming film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Produced by Tim Burton and directed by Timur Bekmambetov, the film is an adaptation of the Seth Grahame-Smith book about Lincoln and his quest to destroy the undead after his mother is killed by bloodsucking vampires.

We’ve got the first trailer for the film to share with you today. To be honest, we weren’t expecting much from this but it’s nice to be pleasantly surprised once in awhile. The pic, at least from this trailer, actually looks pretty good. You will, of course, have to judge for yourselves.

Check out the trailer after the break. Look for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which stars Benjamin Walker, Rufus Sewell, and Dominic Cooper to hit theaters on June 22.

Continue Reading →

Timur Bekmambetov is a visionary. Most people in America don’t register that name, but in his home land of Russia he is responsible for two of the most successful and visually stunning movies ever made in that country. He made the leap to American cinema with the fantastic adaptation of Wanted, and is currently in post on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Bekmambetov’s visual flair is his hallmark and anything he decides is worth his or his production company’s time promises to be pretty to look at in the very least. Variety is reporting that he has picked up the novel “One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy.” For those unfamiliar with the book, here is a synopsis:

Set 2000 years in the future, novel’s protag is 16-year-old Hieronymus Rexaphin, who lives on the now-colonized moon, where he meets a girl from Earth who is inexplicably drawn to him because of his special — some say dangerous — condition, which gives him the ability to see the future path of time and matter. 

It is unknown if Bekmambetov plans on directing, or if he will just produce. All we do know at this time is that the rights have been secured and a writer has been brought on to adapt. Either way this project sounds right up his alley, and should provide cinema goers with a visually exciting adventure film in the near future.

We’ve been following this one for quite some time, mostly because it looks pretty darn cool. With that, we bought you the new poster for the upcoming Sci-Fi film Apollo 18 as well as the first teaser trailer.

Now, there’s a new trailer to get you even more interested in this film. Once you watch it, I’m sure you will agree it does look cool.

In case you’re not familiar with Apollo 18, it deals with two American astronauts who travel to the moon on a secret government mission one year after the last “official” moon landing. Why they went and what happened to them once they arrived has been a secret. . . until now. The film, which is made up of “actual footage shot by the astronauts while on their mission,” shows what happened.

Take a look at the new trailer after the jump. Apollo 18, produced by Timur Bekmambetov and directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego, comes to theaters on April 22nd from Dimension Films.

Continue Reading →

Welcome to another edition of  On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

Let’s get started!

• Just when you thought women were finally being portrayed equal to men in films, a supercut that shows just the opposite comes along.

• Will Ferrell’s new dramatic comedy Everything Must Go gets a trailer. We’re still trying to figure out what’s so funny about it.

• Amber Heard recently posted a picture of her on set of the new series The Playboy Club. That sound? That’s the sound of a million teenage boys’ heads exploding.

• Monsters Inc. is officially getting a prequel, titled Monsters Universtiy. Pixar has even hired a director.

• Timur Bekmambetov is working on a brand new spec zombie film about a little girl that slowly becomes a member of the living dead after over 6 months. We’re rooting for Rebecca Black to play the lead.

• Kevin Smith is auctioning off a bunch of his old props from several films in order to fun his newest film, Red State. Who’s got dibs on Shannon Elizabeth’s career?

Continue Reading →

A few days ago, we bought you the new poster for the upcoming Sci-Fi film Apollo 18. Now, we can bring you the brand new trailer for the film which should help even more to peak your interest in this film.

However, in case you’re not familiar with Apollo 18, it deals with two American astronauts who travel to the moon on a secret government mission one year after the last “official” moon landing. Why they went and what happened to them once they arrived has been a secret. . . until now.

The film, which is made up of “actual footage shot by the astronauts while on their mission,” shows what happened. The trailer looks pretty cool so can’t wait to check out more and eventually the full movie.

In the meantime, take a look at the trailer after the jump. Apollo 18, produced by Timur Bekmambetov and directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego, comes to theaters on April 22nd from Dimension Films.

Continue Reading →

She already won the hearts of geeks everywhere with her portrayal of Ramona Flowers in Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Now, she’s targeting the rapidly growing horror audience with the upcoming film adaptation of the novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Winstead will the joining the film as Lincoln’s wife, who fights alongside the former president as he takes on the legion of the dead. Not long ago it was announced that the titular role of Lincoln was to be played by Kinsey’s Benjamin Walker. From THR:

Timur Bekmambetov is directing Vampire Hunter, based on the book by Seth Grahame-Smith. It’s Bekmambetov’s first movie since the 2008 hit Wanted, and tells the story of how Lincoln fought vampires during the Civil War. Dominic Cooper and Anthony Mackie also star in Vampire Hunter.

The novel by Seth Grahame-Smith was written as Lincoln’s “secret diary” that was discovered decades later, and plays in with actual historical events to add authenticity. Fox is currently working on pre-production of the film and should have a shoot date set by the end of the month with a release date sure to follow.

Whenever a new high-profile project gets going rumors pretty much instantly start to circulate concerning who is writing, directing or acting in a particular film or TV show. In the case of the upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, we already know some pieces of the puzzle.

For example, we already know Timor Bekmambetov is the director, Seth Grahame-Smith is the writer (based on his own novel) and that Bekmambetov, Jim Lemley and Tim Burton are producig. What we don’t know is who will be taking on the titular role of Abe — although we now have a few clues who it might be.

Over at Deadline (yes, again) they’ve got some exclusive scoop on who some of the actors, both known and unknown, who are in contention for the role. Some of the names being mentioned include Benjamin Walker, James D’Arcy, Adrien Brody, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Josh Lucas, and Timothy Olyphant.

You probably recognize some of those names and some you probably don’t. It’s an interesting mix of actors and from what we’ve seen pretty much any of them would probably make a fine Abe Lincoln.

However, if we had to pick, one our choice would be Timothy Olyphant. Even though one or two of us here at The Flickcast don’t understand or respect his talent, the rest of us do and think he would do a great job.

What do you think? Is Olyphant the right man for the gig? Well, whatever happens, we will know soon enough.

Look for the film to hit theaters on June 22, 2012.

I’ve been a fan of both director Gareth Edwards and his debut film Monsters since seeing it and interviewing him at SXSW earlier this year. The film is terrific and Edwards is definitely a talented writer/director whose star is on the rise.

Obviously, others agree with my assessment as Edwards has recently made a deal for his next project. He will team with Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov on a science fiction film that Edwards is writing and will direct. Bekmambetov will produce the film along with Jim Lemley.

The project is described as “an epic human story, set in a futuristic world without humanity.” Edwards will finish the script and then he and Bekmambetov will reportedly take it out to studios for financing.

With Edwards able to make so much out of Monsters with so little money to work with it will be very interesting to see what he will be able to do with a larger budget. Teaming with Bekmambetov seems like a great idea and I, for one, can’t wait to see what this partnership yields.

While Tim Burton is getting ready to unleash his interpretation of Alice in Wonderland onto the world this Friday, he’s already planning on sinking his producing teeth into another piece of historical fiction. Seth Grahame-Smith, the author behind the cult classic Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, got his newest historical/horror hybrid released yesterday, in the form of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

The premise is about as black and white as it sounds. In the time during Lincoln’s presidential term, he is forced to wage war against blood-sucking demons before they’re able to bring down the free world. According to Heat Vision, some gentlemen known in the genre have already taken interest.

Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, the producers behind last fall’s 9, will be producing the novel for a big screen adaptation. This fits right into the directors’ current resume, as Bekmambetov got his US popularity from his work on the Russain Night Watch films, and Burton is no stranger to the world of gothic vampire-like scenarios.

Continue Reading →

A few months back, we talked to Timur Bekmambetov about producing his latest film, 9. He had also mentioned that he was working on a new film in Russia called Black Lightning. We immediately thought of the African American Justice League member who could produce lightning, but it turns out it’s actually about a magical flying car.

Though the trailer is in Russian, we were able make out the fact that a young boy gets a new car, finds out it can do lots of super heroic stuff, and eventually uses it to fight a major crime boss. Sounds interesting.

Considering that it’s produced by Timur, who also worked on the Russian Night Watch films and the highly successful Wanted movie (which already has a sequel in the works) a sequel), this film is bound to make it’s way over to the states inside of a year, so expect to see a trailer that you could actually understand soon.

Until then, check out the first trailer for the film in full-blown Russian after the jump, which still looks pretty.

Continue Reading →

Last month, we brought you an exclusive interview with director/producer Timur Bekmambetov where he talked about his plans for a sequel to last year’s comic book adaptation of Wanted. We also got to speak to the director of such great horror films as Nightwatch and Daywatch about working as producer with Tim Burton on 9, which hits theaters today.

For those unaware, 9 started off as an award-winning animated short, which peaked the interest in a few agents. One of which, happened to be the agent of both Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, who were both eager to bring the project to the big screen as a full length feature.

Check out the video after the jump, as we discuss how 9 came to be, Timur’s journey along the way, and what his initial thoughts were on Shane Acker’s short. Be sure to keep it here in the coming weeks for more with director/producer Timur Bekmambetov.

Continue Reading →

We’ve been bringing you news of Shane Acker’s upcoming film 9 for some time now. Previously, we showed you the new poster, the film’s brand new website, some character posters, a brand new clip from the movie and much more. Now, we’ve got even more from the film to share with you, in the form of four brand new pictures depicting various scenes from the film.

These new images give us more insight into just how cool and interesting this film is going to be. They also show us some detail on two of the main characters in this fantasy world and a preview of a pretty scary monster as well. In case its been some time or you don’t actually know, the film concerns the character 9, who finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans are gone. It is only by chance he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth trying to destroy his kind.

9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must go on the offensive to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them. Be sure to click through for the large versions of these photos.

9, from Focus Features and featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John C. Reilly and Jennifer Connelly, hits theaters next week on September 9.

Continue Reading →