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Exclusive: Filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov has signed with Artist International Group for management.

Bekmambetov, who remains repped by WME, most recently wrapped the Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson starring sci-fi feature Mercy for Amazon MGM Studios. Produced by Oscar-nominated producer Charles Roven (Oppenheimer), Mercy is set in the near future when capital crime has increased. The pic follows a detective (Pratt) who is accused of a violent crime and forced to prove his innocence. 

The filmmaker broke through with his supernatural action-adventure feature Night Watch which spawned the sequel Day Watch. His first big Hollywood project was the blockbuster Wanted for Universal. That film starred James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, and it grossed $342 million worldwide. He had become smitten with the Screenlife film format by then, and set a five-picture deal for Universal to make films in that low cost format.

That lead to Screenlife film successes including Searching,...

"Isn't that Wörmer's signature?" Shudder has revealed the official US trailer for the Danish horror mystery sequel Nightwatch 2, known as Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever, from the same Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal. Not to be confused with the two Russian movies Night Watch and Day Watch, this is not related - it's a new sequel to Bornedal's 1994 movie Nightwatch, which was remade into Nightwatch in 1997 with Ewan McGregor. The original also starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who has become considerably more famous after "Game of Thrones". In this sequel, Martin's daughter, Emma, takes up a night watch job to find out what happened to her parents almost thirty years ago. A meeting with Wörmer in his cell pulls the serial killer out of his coma and sets in motion a chain of fateful events. Starring Fanny Leander Bornedal, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kim Bodnia, Sonja Richter, Ulf Pilgaard, Casper Kjær Jensen, Paprika Steen, and Nina Rask.

Sixteen years after working together on Wanted, director Timur Bekmambetov and actor Chris Pratt are re-teaming for a sci-fi thriller called Mercy, which just started filming this week – and Bekmambetov has celebrated the start of filming by sharing a picture from the set! You can check it out right here:

Day 1 pic.twitter.com/MZ4AwbIzBp

— Timur Bekmambetov (@Bekmambetov) April 16, 2024

This image reveals that the film is taking advantage of the virtual production method known as The Volume, which uses LED panels as backdrops.

Sporting a screenplay written by Marco Van Belle (Arthur & Merlin), Mercy will be telling a story that is “set in the near future when capital crime has increased” and follows “a detective (Pratt] who is accused of a violent crime and forced to prove his innocence.”

Pratt is joined in the cast by Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), Annabelle Wallis (Malignant), and World Boxing Council middleweight champ Kali Reis,...

Timur Bekmambetov, the prolific Kazakh director, screenwriter, and producer, knows what he wants and knows how to go about getting it.   He blew into Western genre awareness with a howl and a bang in the early aughts with his epic blockbuster Nightwatch Prior to that, he had already done documentaries, television and various other media in Russia. Bekmambetov even made a Soviet prison break feature a decade prior to crossing the ocean, a mere blink of the eye, after the collapse of the U.S.S.R.    Since then he has directed big-budget American action pictures, such as the James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie starring Wanted, and a remake of Ben-Hur for...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

It can’t be understated what a big deal Night Watch was in Russia. It was the highest-grossing Russian film ever produced and changed the game there when it was released in 2004. With a small budget by Hollywood standards, director Timur Bekmambetov created an ambitious and morally ambiguous horror-fantasy film for adults. The sequel, Day Watch, expanded […]

The post Timur Bekmambetov Wants to Make a ‘Night Watch’ Sequel Using the Screenlife Format appeared first on /Film.

Man In Love becomes Taiwan’s sixth highest-grossing local language film of all time via Sony.

‘Mortal Kombat’ drops in fourth international session

Updated: A lack of major new openings for New Line/Warner Bros’ Mortal Kombat saw the franchise reboot slide to a confirmed $3m weekend takings in international markets for its fourth session, a fall of 54%. International total is $32.8m.

Top international territory remained Australia, with estimated takings of $1.3m. Next best markets Russia and Spain were far behind.

In North America, the videogame spin-off was toppled from the top of the box office by Japanese anime Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,...

Timur Bekmambetov, the producer of Searching and director of films including Night Watch, Day Watch, Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is headed back to the world of “ScreenLife” with his new thriller Profile, which has been acquired by Focus Features. Focus will release Profile in theaters on May 14. Find the tense trailer below. The “Screenlife” sub-genre refers to films, like Searching and the horror […]...

Focus Features has taken global rights to Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov’s thriller Profile, which made its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2018 and won the Audience Award there. A theatrical release date of May 14 has been set. Universal Pictures will distribute internationally, excluding Cis/Russia.

Profile follows an undercover British journalist in her quest to bait and expose a terrorist recruiter through social media, while trying not to be sucked in by her recruiter and lured into becoming a militant extremist herself. Profile stars Valene Kane (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery) and is inspired by the 2015 nonfiction bestseller In the Skin of a Jihadist by a French journalist who now has round-the-clock police protection and has changed her name to Anna Érelle.

Profile plays out entirely on a computer screen in the Screenlife format, pioneered by Bekmambetov. It was written...

Stars: Aleksey Chadov, Pyotr Fyodorov, Svetlana Ivanova, Lukerya llyashenko | Written by llya Kulikov | Directed by Egor Baranov

Leave it to the bloody Russians to show everyone how to make an epic alien invasion flick… Over the years I have become aware of the fascinating knack that our friends over in Russia have of making just the most outlandish awesome epic movies. Night Watch and Day Watch are two of my favorite “vampire” movies (I’m still not sure they are vampires) out there. Earlier this year Why Don’t you Just Die came out which was a hell of a good time and I refuse to apologies for getting some guilty pleasure from that semi super hero flick Guardians.

I think the reason they are so good at making these epic movies so well is because they either don’t care about budget or they are just amazing at stretching their budget…...

Filmmakers and the public invited to submit footage and scripts.

Kazahk-Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, whose credits include Night Watch, Day Watch, and the English-language Wanted, has launched a contest to crowdsource stories from the global lockdown with which to produce an anthology film.

He is inviting submissions of short videos and script pitches that offer real stories and fictional takes on the coronavirus pandemic that has seen more than a third of the world’s population placed under some form of lockdown.

The resulting short films will be told in Bekmambetov’s Screenlife format, where the video is framed inside the screen of a computer,...

Fairy

Armenian-Russian director Anna Melikyan should have Fairy, her sixth narrative feature, ready for 2020. Produced by Melikyan and Natalya Poklad (who produced Melikyan’s 2017 comedy About Love. For Adults Only), it will serve as the first feature for Dp Andrey Maika and composer Kirill Rikhter. Her cast is headlined by Konstantin Khabenskiy, the lead from Timur Bekmambetov’s Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006), joined by Ingeborga Dapkunaite (Seven Years in Tibet; Hannibal) and Tinatin Dalakishvili. Melikyan is still best known for her 2007 sophomore film Mermaid, which won her the Directing Award in the World Dramatic competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Fipresci Prize out of the Panorama sidebar in Berlin the same year.…...

Back in 2004, Russian science fiction film Night Watch took the genre film world by storm, introducing a new and exciting voice to the international crowd. Based on the work of novelist Sergei Lukianenko, Night Watch was no dour, pensive mood piece, it was an exciting, action packed film that became one of the decade's biggest international hits. It was followed up with the equally well received Day Watch in 2006. Both films were directed by the then unknown Timur Bekmambetov, who has gone on to be one of the most reliable science fiction filmmakers/producers in Hollywood, producing pulpy hits like Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and the current festival hit Profile. Sadly, the proposed Night Watch trilogy never got its concluding chapter, but Lukianenko's...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

”Now we have found a way to use computers to create poetry.”

Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov is developing a project to be partly directed by a computer using artificial intelligence.

The AI film is one of two separate projects inspired by neuro-psychologist Alexander Luria’s non-fiction book ’The Man With A Shattered World: The History Of A Brain Wound’, about the author’s work with a Soviet-era soldier who suffered severe head trauma, that Bekmambetov has long been trying to adapt for the screen through his prolific Bazelevs production company.

“Luria invented neuro-psychology in the 1940s,” explained Bekmambetov, whose many...

Russian sci fi author Sergei Lukianenko created a global phenomenon with his series of Night Watch novels, books which are not only available all around the world but also provided the basis for Timur Bekmambetov's break out international hit films Night Watch and Day Watch. Lukianenko is far and away the biggest international name in Russian speculative fiction today - it's actually kind of baffling none of the global streamers have latched on to the Watch books as the basis of a series yet, there's Loads there to work from - and prolific far beyond his signature series. Case in point, upcoming Russian feature Rough Copy, a film based on another of Lukianenko's books and one in which he appears himself in a cameo. Details...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Netflix has confirmed that a slew of new original series will be debuting on the streaming service in February. There will also be new to Netflix seasons of some of your favorites from other networks. Likewise, there will be plenty of movies making their first Netflix appearances including Martin Scorsese‘s Oscar-winning “Goodfellas,” Quentin Tarantino‘s “Kill Bill” double feature, the “Oceans” trilogy, and all the films in the “American Pie” franchise.

Of the new Netflix originals, several stand out as particularly binge-worthy, including season 1 of the sci-fi series “Altered Carbon” and the sophomore edition of the teen drama “Greenhouse Academy.” And there are episodes of both the new David Letterman and Joel Hale talk shows.

Feb. 1

3000 Miles to Graceland

42 Grams

Aeon Flux

American Pie

American Pie 2

American Pie Presents: Band Camp

American Pie Presents: The Book of Love

American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile

Ella Enchanted

Extract

Goodfellas...

MaryAnn’s quick take…

It’s not great. It’s not terrible. It is bland manufactured entertainment product. It’s fine. Hollywood is not creatively bankrupt. Everything is fine. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

It’s fine. Everything is fine. This new Ben-Hur is fine. It’s not great. It’s not terrible. It is a piece of bland manufactured entertainment product. It exists. It’s fine.

It’s not great. It’s not terrible. It’s fine. Hollywood is not creatively bankrupt. Everything is fine.

It’s fine that major Hollywood studios that insist they are businesses first sunk $100 million into producing a movie that no one was demanding, and many more tens of millions in advertising and marketing trying to convince audiences they wanted to see it.

Walking into the home office of Timur Bekmambetov, the filmmaker behind Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and the upcoming Ben-Hur (Aug. 19), one wouldn't expect to find a shrine to Walt Disney. After all, the Kazakhstan-born filmmaker first made his mark with the creepy, visually inventive R-rated horror fantasy Night Watch, which became Russia's highest-grossing film in 2004. He followed that with the sequel Day Watch (which topped its predecessor) before his first American film — 2008's Angelina Jolie vehicle Wanted — earned $341.4 million worldwide. But today, the director-producer lives in Disney's former

read more...

It’s been a few years since we last heard about Dusk Watch. For a variety of reasons, we still haven’t seen the third installment in the Russian series, despite previous installments Night Watch and Day Watch being considerable box office hits overseas. Director Timur Bekmambetov is a rather busy man these days, but he hasn’t forgotten about Dusk Watch, and he says it will […]

The post Director Timur Bekmambetov Says ‘Dusk Watch’ Will Happen at Some Point appeared first on /Film.

New projects by Sergei Bodrov and Sergei Mokritsky awarded development funding by Russian Cinema Fund

New films by veteran Russian director Sergei Bodrov and DoP-director Sergei Mokritsky are among 10 projects each awarded up to $76,000 (RUB5m) by the Russian Cinema Fund (Fond Kino) in its new action line of funding at the development stage.

Bodrov (Mongol) has written a screenplay based on Alexey Ivanov’s historical drama Heart of Parma, to be produced by Vlad Ryashin’s Star Media Distribution, which promoted the project at the American Film Film (Afm) earlier this month.

Mokritsky - who had a box-office hit in Russia and Ukraine this year with his Second World War drama Battle For Sevastopol (aka Unbreakable) - is planning an adaptation of Russian fantasy writer Sergei Lukianenko’s novel Chernovik.

Previous novels by Lukianenko - Night Watch and Day Watch - were successfully adapted for the cinema both in Russia and in the Us.

Other supported...

Final Update, Monday 4:49 Pm Pt: Across the Top 10 major studio releases internationally there’s reason for some holiday cheer. This weekend’s figures are up 19.4% over last frame with The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies leading the pack at $89M, plus strong perfs from Exodus: Gods And Kings in new key markets and the Night At The Museum finale. Still, that result is down from last year, largely due to the impact that Frozen was having on the season with a $50.5M take in the comparable frame. Five Armies in the estimates is also about 9.3% off from Smaug’s performance last year, but there are those nasty currency fluctuations to take into account.

Still, it a big weekend for local titles. Last frame’s Indian release Pk added Bollywood flair to the international box office with an offshore haul of $14.3M for a global cume of $61.46M.

Birdman, Fury and Leviathan among main competition titles; Roland Joffé to preside over main jury.

Alejandro G Ińárritu, Yimou Zhang, Mike Leigh and Jean-Marc Vallée are among the directors with films screening in competition at the 22nd Camerimage (Nov 15-22), the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography.

The main competition at the festival, held in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz, comprises:

Alejandro G Ińárritu’s Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance); USA, 2014; Cinematographer: Emmanuel Lubezki

Yimou Zhang’s Coming Home (Gui lai); China, 2014; Cinematographer: Zhao Xiaoding

Richard Raymond’s Desert Dancer; UK, 2014; Cinematographer: Carlos Catalán Alucha

Lech J. Majewski’s Field of Dogs - Onirica (Onirica - Psie pole); Poland, 2014; Cinematographers: Paweł Tybora and Lech J. Majewski

Krzysztof Zanussi’s Foreign Body (Obce cialo); Poland, Italy, Russia, 2014; Cinematographer: Piotr Niemyjski

David Ayer’s Fury; USA, 2014; Cinematographer: Roman Vasyanov

Tate Taylor’s Get on Up; USA, 2014; Cinematographer: Stephen Goldblatt

Łukasz Palkowski’s Gods (Bogowie); Poland, 2014; Cinematographer:...

Polish film festival sets competition juries; Roland Joffe to preside over main competition.

Camerimage (Nov 15-22), the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, has set an impressive roster of jurors for its various competition categories.

The Killing Fields director Roland Joffe will preside over the main competition jury, which incldues cinematographers Christian Berger and Manuel Alberto Claro.

Caleb Deschanel has been appointed president of the Polish Films Competition.

The full list of jurors is below.

Main Competition

Roland Joffé – Jury President (director, producer; The Killing Fields, The Mission, Vatel)

Christian Berger (cinematographer; The Piano Teacher, Hidden, The White Ribbon)

Ryszard Bugajski (director, screenwriter; Interrogation, General Nil, The Closed Circuit)

Ryszard Horowitz (photographer)

David Gropman (cinematographer; The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, Life of Pi)

Arthur Reinhart (cinematographer, producer; Crows, Tristan + Isolde, Venice)

Oliver Stapleton (cinematographer; The Cider House Rules, Pay It Forward, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark)

Manuel Alberto Claro (cinematographer; Reconstruction, Melancholia, Nymphomaniac...

Not a lot to say in the pre-amble to this week’s selection of titles. Should probably apologise for the negativity in advance because a lot of the below is dreck this week across any content provider apart from the occasional bright spot and a new Netflix exclusive. Hopefully you will be able to at least find something worth a look that floats your boat.

This week’s titles of note are as follows:

Gravity (2013)

There really isn’t anymore praise that I can heap on Alfonso Cuaron’s outer space thrill ride that hasn’t been heaped upon it already. Upon repeat viewing what impresses more and more is the technical marvel that this film represents with Gravity being a massive leap forward in the use of virtual sets as well as animation that looks like real people.

There are apparently whole entire scenes here featuring Sandra Bullock and...

Here's something to add to your Father's Day watch-list... A film covered on S&A in 2009 (the first year of the site's existence, before we joined the Indiewire network) titled "Black Nation," which I only just found out is streaming online at SnagFilms.com (parent company of Indiewire). As seen through the lenses of Swedish filmmaker, Mats Hjelm, the Detroit-set "Black Nation" is a documentary feature that takes an uncompromising look at the state of Black men in America today set within the framework of a Father’s day service at the city’s *controversial* Church Shrine of the Black Madonna. The Church strives to promote and develop community led programs and...

Dum Dum Girls' Video For "Rimbaud Eyes" Is the Sexiest Cartoon of the Day Watch frontwoman Dee Dee Penny traipse through a psychedelic red-light district. by Liam Mathews  The Dum Dum Girls perfected their brand of '60s-girl-group-meets-'80s-new-wave a while ago, and now they just keep cranking out sparkly art-goth pop songs like "Rimbaud Eyes" like even sexier Strokes. In this new video, the Batman theme song composers get a cartoon of their own. Dazed Digital accurately compared the video to James Bond title sequences and Jem and the Holograms, but it's sexier and more alluring than those comparisons let on. The video was directed by musician and artist Tamaryn and animated by VFX whiz Gooby Herms. "Rimbaud Eyes" is from Dum Dum Girls' album Too True. Images via Sub [...]...

Twilight Watch is the third book in Sergei Lukyanenko’s Night Watch series. It is being released today in the Us by HarperCollins and they’ve given us an excerpt to share with Daily Dead readers:

“Night Watch and Day Watch revealed the “Others,” an ancient race of supernatural beings—magicians, shape-shifters, vampires, and healers—who live among us and swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. For a millennium, these opponents have coexisted in an uneasy truce, guarding each other and tottering on the brink of war.

In Twilight Watch, the Others face their greatest threat yet. An ancient book of spells with the power to turn ordinary humans into Others has fallen into the wrong hands, threatening to destroy the precarious balance between the forces of Darkness and Light. Now the Night Watch and the Day Watch must cooperate to stop the culprit. Anton, the hero from Night Watch,...

Emma Roberts Sells Porn in Her New Movie, Out on Valentine's Day Watch the trailer of 'Adult World' here. by wesley bonner The new movie Adult World centers around young poet Amy (Emma Roberts), whose drowning in debt because, well, she "writes" poetry for living. After some forceful motivation from her parents, she lands a job at an adult erotica shop in Syracuse, New York. Amy still has dreams of making it big as a writer, so with a story-line pulled right out of an episode of Girls, Amy decides a wild sexcapade is just the right break from reality for her to write about. The film is out this Valentine's Day and costars John Cusack and Emma's real-life fiancé and American Horry Story co-star Evan Peters.  Welcome to the adult world, Emma.  [h/t [...]...

Hunger Games DoP Tom Stern and 12 Years a Slave cinematographer Sean Bobbitt among those chosen for jury duty.

The 21st Camerimage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography (Nov 16-23), has revealed the competition jurors who will judge entries at this year’s event in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Jury members of the main competition jury are:

Tom Stern, cinematographer (Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, The Hunger Games);Ed Lachman, cinematographer (Erin Brockovich, The Virgin Suicides, I’m Not There);Todd McCarthy, journalist and film critic;Denis Lenoir, cinematographer (Paris, je t’aime, Righteous Kill, 88 Minutes);Adam Holender, cinematographer (Midnight Cowboy, Smoke, Fresh);Timo Salminen, cinematographer (The Man Without a Past, La Havre, The Match Factory Girl);Franz Lustig, cinematographer (Don’t Come Knocking, Land of Plenty, Palermo Shooting);Jeffrey Kimball, cinematographer (Top Gun, Mission: Impossible II, The Expendables).Polish Films Competition

Jost Vacano, the cinematographer behind several Paul Verhoeven films including Total Recall, RoboCop and [link...

Director Timur Bekmambetov is venturing into television with "Warriors of Oz," a mini-series project from Syfy that reimagines The Wizard of Oz. Bekmambetov will create "Warriors of Oz" based on his own idea.

Per Deadline, the premise is a fantasy-action reimagining of the classic story in which a warrior from present day Earth is transported to a post-apocalyptic future Oz, where he must team up with three other warriors - Heartless, Brainless, and Coward - in order to defeat the evil Wizard who has enslaved the land.

Bekmambetov (Night Watch/Day Watch, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) is set to executive produce and possibly direct. The search is on for a writer, and the project will be produced by Universal Cable Productions.

Look for more soon!

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Riley gives her friends ‘Something To Talk About’ in this clip from Sunday’s all-new ‘Client List.’ Watch!

As the world waits patiently for Jennifer Love Hewitt to release another album — “BareNaked” still lives an active lifestyle on my iPod — this new clip from the April 14 episode of Lifetime’s The Client List will have to tide us over. In the video, obtained exclusively by HollywoodLife.com, Riley steps away from The Rub of Sugarland and gets to use her hands for a different purpose: holding a microphone!

But while Riley’s rousing rendition of Bonnie Raitt‘s timeless classic is obviously the main attraction, there are a few sideshows going on in the audience — like Derek (Rob Mayes) and Selena (Alicia Lagano), who already start planning a secret, sexy rendezvous before Riley even belts out her last note.

Plus, there’s Evan (Colin Egglesfield) can’t take his eyes off Riley.

It's Thursday. Friday's still quite a few hours away, and you're looking for something to help you pass your time. We totally hear you. The Internet has become a veritable theme park of time-killing activities, and the following one is a treat for sure!

As per the Pajiba website...

"Are you familiar with the movie and television trope in which someone is unexpectedly hit by a bus or other large vehicle? I’m sure that two or three instances of it immediately come to mind (and they’re assuredly in the video). We see it all the time (and it’s almost always effective), but I had no idea just how often it is employed until the noted video editor behind Harry Hanrahan compiled practically every instance ever of the trope into this supercut. It’s one of those brilliant video edits that blows up the trope, exposes it for...

Timur Bekmambetov, director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Wanted, and the Night Watch and Day Watch films out of Russia, is reportedly on board to direct Heatseekers, an aerial action film produced by Michael Bay. Andrew Formand Brad Fuller from Platinum Dunes banner, known mostly for producing horror reboots and Chris Morgan, writer of four of the Fast and Furious movies and Wanted, are also producing. We can all agree on some things. It will be pretty to look at; Timur has already proven he can deliver strong visuals. It will be loud and stuff will blow up real good; cause hey, its Michael Bay. Where I am at a loss is in the brief description of the film... Plot details are scarce but it is known to center...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

From visionary filmmakers Tim Burton (Dark Shadows, Alice In wonderland, BeetleJuice) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch, Day Watch) comes the terrifying tale of the 16th President’s hidden past…

Hunt it down on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD from 22nd October

We have three copies of the Blu-ray to give away to our readers.

Featuring a killer performance from rising star Benjamin Walker in the film’s lead role, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’s blood-pumping action and sensational special effects are available to own on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-Ray and DVD for the first time from 22nd October 2012.

Based on the best-selling novel by Seth Grahame-Smith and combining director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and producer Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter spectacularly reinvents the time-honoured vampire genre for Real vampire fans in this fiercely visceral account of Lincoln’s secret lifelong battle with the undead.

Action is a universal language. Unlike comedy and drama, which can be heavily dependent on cultural factors to speak to an audience, everybody everywhere understands the message of someone getting punched in the face. It's a simple fact but that makes it no less true. Action films are popular all around the globe, which is why director Timur Bekmambetov - no slouch when it comes to cinematic face-punching - has made action the core of his very own film festival.Though widely assumed to be Russian by audiences around the globe thanks to his success with The Night Watch and The Day Watch, the director of Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is actually Kazakh and the Bekmambetov founded Astana International Action Film Festival, now...

Once again Prometheus stands atop of the box office mountain this week, still some way above Men In Black 3 back in second place. Out of last week’s crop, predictably the highest entry was hair-metal musical Rock of Ages, though that only came in at fourth spot, which may disappoint Warner Bros slightly as they may have hoped for a better opening weekend for one of their major summer offerings. Red Lights did decent business finishing up in sixth place, while special mention should go to Brit Flick Fast Girls which came in at a very credible eighth.

So to this week’s movies, and while there’s nothing out which will challenge the big hitters for the Box Office crown, Timur Bekmambetov’s fantasy horror mash-up Abraham Lincoln Vampire Killer should do a fair bit of business. Based on the novel by the same name, it looks set...

by Vadim Rizov

Given the bestselling success of Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice with Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, film adaptations were only a matter of time. The latter's premise is fundamentally offensive, trivializing both sides of the Mason-Dixon line: the South becomes the province of vampiric misdirection, with no messy lingering racial repercussions anywhere. Director Timur Bekmambetov's primary task is to deliver a product that's outrageous rather than merely ill-advised. Through sheer bombast and relentlessness, he succeeds.

As he demonstrated in his Russian blockbusters Night Watch/Day Watch and Hollywood debut Wanted, Bekmambetov's instincts are more American than most Americans. Scorning pro forma scenes of heroes agonizing over the right thing or any form of dramatic nuance, Bekmambetov prefers relentless speed and has notable contempt for the laws of physics. A car drove across a building's facade perpendicular to the ground in Day Watch, a plunging...

Critics says Benjamin Walker brings 'backbone' to an otherwise 'fake and cartoony' retelling of the Civil War.

By Kevin P. Sullivan

Erin Wasson and Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Photo:

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" reimagines the Civil War as a struggle between the living and the undead with our 16th president as a slayer of the bloodsuckers. It sounds like a fun premise, but critics certainly wish the filmmakers had stuck to the history books.Here is our roundup of what the critics are saying about "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

The Story

"The story opens with young Abe witnessing the murder of his mother by a vampire. He swears vengeance, and some years later is lucky to be getting drunk while standing at a bar next to Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), who coaches him on vampire-killing and explains that it is a high calling, requiring great dedication and avoiding distractions like marriage.

Critics says Benjamin Walker brings 'backbone' to an otherwise 'fake and cartoony' retelling of the Civil War.

By Kevin P. Sullivan

Erin Wasson and Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Photo:

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" reimagines the Civil War as a struggle between the living and the undead with our 16th president as a slayer of the bloodsuckers. It sounds like a fun premise, but critics certainly wish the filmmakers had stuck to the history books.Here is our roundup of what the critics are saying about "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

The Story

"The story opens with young Abe witnessing the murder of his mother by a vampire. He swears vengeance, and some years later is lucky to be getting drunk while standing at a bar next to Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), who coaches him on vampire-killing and explains that it is a high calling, requiring great dedication and avoiding distractions like marriage.

Timur Bekmambetov, originally known as the director of the visually-striking Russian smash hits Night Watch and Day Watch, made his mark in a big, international way with Wanted, the Angelina Jolie-led action-thriller which gathered over $340 million worldwide. Seth Grahame-Smith's name lit up three years ago with the publication of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, a mash-up of Jane Austin's proper 19th Century novel and a flesh-gnawing zombie tale. Combined, with the guidance of producer...

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” is not the most cinematic of books. If Seth Grahame-Smith‘s novel was a completely faithful adaptation, it’d make for a ten-hour movie. In its translation to the big screen, the story has been stripped down to a two-hour, atmospheric, and violent 3D actioner. The director who took on the challenge of bringing Smith’s tonally tricky novel is Timur Bekmambetov, the filmmaker behind Night Watch, Day Watch, and Wanted. Like his previous films, Bekmambetov once again blends both fantasy and reality with his Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. He plays with more than a few fantastical and silly ideas, but always keeps them attached to the real world. This time around, though, Bekmambetov gets to capture that style of his with 3D. Here is what Timur Bekmambetov had to say about the power of 3D, how free dreaming and character informs his visuals, and why Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is his Dusk...

The trio down to 1

Graphic novels turned into films are an incredible opportunity to add personal flare to an already visually popular story and extend the number of followers.  That is if a smart project is chosen and if the pitch for a sequel makes enough sense to grab the audience a second time, especially if not many were impressed the first time around.

It's happened.  Director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Day Watch), the center of attention this month with his rendition of the print to screen release of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, has made a tiny announcement.

So many things about Abraham Lincoln they did not tell us in school! His mother was in fact killed by a vampire when he was a child, and then he dedicated his life to bringing vengeance down upon her undead murderer. He studied the huntery of bloodsuckers with at least as much zeal as he studied the law. And boy oh boy, are there things about the Civil War that have been kept secret from us! It’s gotta be the greatest conspiracy theory in history. Except for the one about aliens building the pyramids. The best thing about this pile-on of pulpy historical pseudo revisionism: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter works. I’m stunned beyond words, because it shouldn’t work and I expected it wouldn’t. I haven’t read the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon Canada] [Amazon U.K.] (who also wrote the screenplay), but if it’s anything like his Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Though presently in the thick of post-production on his latest effort, the big-budget, horror-infused historical fiction Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, director Timur Bekmambetov is already eying a curious script for his next effort. Variety reveals Bekmambetov's production company Bazelevs has purchased The Current War, which scored a spot on the 2011 Black List, as a directing vehicle for the celebrated genre-bender. Penned by first-time scribe Michael Mitnick, this seemingly spectacular spec script chronicles the fevered race between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to be the first inventor to manifest a sustainable electrical current. At first blush The Current War looks to be a pretty straightforward historical drama.without vampires or conspiracy theories.so it is an unexpected pick for Bekmambetov, who is best-known for crafting visually striking action features with a high-contrast aesthetic and a high-octane sensibility, like Night Watch, Day Watch and Wanted. However, rumor has it that envelope-pushing comedian...

Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov is no stranger to vampires and the supernatural, having first gotten acclaim here in the States for his Russian blockbusters Night Watch and Day Watch. After directing Universal's action hit Wanted a few years back, Bekmambetov is back this summer with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, and going by the title alone, this is clearly not the typical, traditional vampire movie anyone has come to expect over the last few years.

In fact, it's a movie that takes the actual history of our 16th President and extrapolates that a lot of the pivotal moments in his life could have involved an ongoing battle with the vampires that killed his mother. When you take that idea and cross it with Bekmambetov's penchant for crazy, kinetic action and also the movie being in 3D, you certainly have potential for a vampire movie like no other.

Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov is no stranger to vampires and the supernatural, having first gotten acclaim here in the States for his Russian blockbusters Night Watch and Day Watch . After directing Universal's action hit Wanted a few years back, Bekmambetov is back this summer with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter , based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, and going by the title alone, this is clearly not the typical, traditional vampire movie anyone has come to expect over the last few years. In fact, it's a movie that takes the actual history of our 16th President and extrapolates that a lot of the pivotal moments in his life could have involved an ongoing battle with the vampires that killed his mother. When you take that idea and cross it with Bekmambetov's penchant...

A new, extended international trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has arrived, hailing from Russia where director Timur Bekmambetov fired up the box office with his Night Watch and Day Watch films.

The film explores the secret life of our greatest president, and the untold history that shaped our nation. As a young boy, Abraham Lincoln witnesses the shocking death of his mother, leading him on a path to an ongoing war - and ultimately to the presidency - he chronicles in a hidden diary. The journal reveals the incredible story of a clandestine warrior who never stopped fighting for the country he led and the people he loved.

Look for it in theaters June 22nd.  Head inside for the trailer.

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Before Wanted and before the forthcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, director Timur Bekmambetov hit the genre scene with the supernatural actioner Night Watch, a visually-stunning adventure that was followed by the sequel Day Watch.  

Based on the novels by Sergei Lukyanenko, the film series was envisioned by a trilogy that would wrap up with the rumored Twilight Watch, however, Bekmambetov is not so certain another film is going to happen.

Since Night Watch and Day Watch, the director has refocused his efforts.  He produced 9, Apollo 18 and The Darkest Hour and is currently in post-production on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Shock caught up to Bekmambetov recently and asked if Twilight Watch will ever become a reality.

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While the previous trailer was more stylistic and gave us very little in the way of story, the new trailer has a little more meat and lot more visual treat. Bekmambetov shows why he is one of the most unique visual stylists in the business today by creating absolutely an absolutely gorgeous visual landscape in which to drop his story. The momentum on this seems to be ramping up (there were even several Abe Lincoln’s with axes this past weekend at WonderCon). Frankly, I was a fan of the story and Bekmambatov instantly landed front and center on my radar with is breakout Russian vampire flicks Night Watch and Day Watch.

The second badass full trailer for Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was released online. Bekmambetov is best known for directing Wanted with Angelina Jolie in the U.S., but he also directed such films as the Night/Day Watch series and Irony of Fate 2. Vampire Hunter is an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel of the same name, but Grahame-Smith and Simon Kinberg (xXx: State of the Union, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men: The Last Stand, Jumper, This Means War).

Benjamin Walker plays the axe wielding President. The supporting cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell, and Anthony Mackie

Here's the sysnopsis:

The film explores the secret life of our greatest president, and the untold history that shaped our nation. As a young boy, Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) witnesses the shocking death of his mother, leading him on a path to an ongoing war – and...

When Seth Grahame-Smith's 2010 novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, debuted, it landed at number 4 on the New York Times Best-Sellers list and created quite a buzz for itself based on its concept alone: Abraham Lincoln hunting vampires. It was snatched up almost immediately for a film adaptation, and it attracted Director Timur Bekmambetov to bring it to life. Bekmambetov isn't new to the world of cinematic vampire action, thanks to his Night Watch and Day Watch films, but on top of that, Benjamin Walker, who will play the film's titular president, isn't new to the role of portraying a sensationalized take on presidency thanks to his lead in Broadway's Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. The film arrives in theaters June 22nd, but the first trailer for the film went live last week. Check it out below.

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