WonderCon 2012: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
There’s a chapter missing from Abraham Lincoln’s life, as told in most American history books. According to Fox’s film, that chapter is full of vampires. Enter Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Read along as we live-blog the footage and panel at WonderCon!
1:26: Starts off with an amusing intro by “Tim Burton” from London. And by Tim Burton, I mean a mummified rubber figure shut up in a hospital room with stripper-esque nurses and a Russian Orthodox priest/doctor.
1:27: Oh no! Burton’s dead!
1:28: Seth Graham Smith, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter‘s creator, introduces director Timur Bekmambetov (The Darkest Hour) and actor Benjamin Walker, who plays our vamp-killing president.
1:30: It’s exciting that they’ll be showing one of the “big set pieces,” but disappointing that it’s only in 2D.
1:31: The footage shows Lincoln trying to get ammunition through to Gettysburg by train. A train that is teaming with vampires and speeding over a giant wooden bridge, which also happens to be set aflame. The use of slow-motion is a bit gratuitous, but the variety of methods vampires are dispatched is pretty amusing.
1:37: Ever wondered how the writer came up with the idea? Turns out, he got the idea on a book tour for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was always displayed next to Twilight.
1:40: Everyone promises that the material is being approached “unapologetically.” Don’t expect a great deal of tongue-in-cheek or knowing glances at the audience. It will be fun and smart but also commit to the concept of Abraham Lincoln as the nation’s first “superhero.”
1:43: One of the major changes made for the film was the addition of a “big bad,” which was absent from the book.
1:46: Fun fact — the film will be released on the shortest night of the year!
1:50: And we finish up with the first 3D trailer for the film! Really good trailer, but not great 3D.
