Wow, this caught me off guard. With no hint of a cast yet, Timur Bekmambetov’s ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER is still poised to get underway next month in New Orleans, according to NOLA.com, which is based in the city. Similarly, PIRANHA 3DD, also cast-less (unless Ving Rhames turns up in it, will soon begin shooting in Louisiana.
Production on ABE LINCOLN is expected to begin January 24th, although the length of the shoot is unknown. According to NOLA, which obviously has more knowledge of the Seth Grahame-Smith’s book than I do, an early scene in the novel re-creates Lincoln’s trip down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where he witnessed slaves being sold at auction. However, it turns out these slaves are being fed to nefarious blood-suckers, launching Lincoln’s crusade against slavery… and vampires.
That’s all too bizarre – and I love it. I still can’t believe that a major studio (20th Century Fox) is making a mega-budget movie out of this crazy curio, but god bless them for it; the only project with guts Fox has tackled in a long time. (Not counting flicks coming out of their independent shingle.)
Produced by Tim Burton and with a screenplay written by Grahame-Smith, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER will come out on JUNE 22, 2012.
Meanwhile, PIRANHA 3DD will evidently shoot from JANUARY 17th to FEBRUARY 18th in Baton Rouge. Interesting, as the first installment shot in Arizona. Maybe the heat got to them… The John Gulager-directed flick will open on SEPTEMBER 16, 2011.
PIRANHA star Elisabeth Shue