Forget any thoughts you may have had of Josh Lucas, Adrien Brody, Timothy Olyphant or Oliver Jackson-Cohen slaying members of the fang club in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Because producers Timur Bekmambetov and Tim Burton have found their man, locking down Benjamin Walker for the role.
Walker was one of the far lesser known names on the list of actors rumoured to be in contention for the role. But that’s also likely part of his appeal – he’s a fresh face with few connections to other movies.
Despite that, he’s appeared in a fair variety of material, including Flags of Our Fathers, Kinsey and stage musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. So he’s got some experience as US presidents. He also cropped up as a likely younger Beast for X-Men: First Class, but lost that role to Nicholas Hoult after scheduling issues saw him pick his stage role over the film job.
Now, though, he’s the man for Abe, and will play him from the age of 20 to 55 as the President cuts a swathe through the vampire population during the Civil War in revenge for the murder of his mother.
With Bekmambetov in the director’s seat and a script from the original novel’s writer, Seth Grahame-Smith, this take on Lincoln is coming together quickly. The filmmakers still need to find someone to play Henry Sturges, who trains the young Abe into a fighting machine, so maybe there’s a shot for one of the others on the list to still get a look-in. The movie should be released on June 22 next year.