I’m sorry. I’m nervous. After Cowboys & Aliens pooped its rucksack, I’m not sure there’s an audience for something as far out as this. So let’s band together as a nation and watch it so Hollywood keeps giving money to clever and creative fare. I’m sick of England getting all the cool stuff.

And I saw. And Hell followed him.

In other words, vampires of the south have been put on notice because now we have the first action-packed trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Give it a watch. I dare you to find any scenes that don’t look incredibly awesome. Bravo to Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, and Seth Grahame-Smith.

With small appearances in Flags Of Our Fathers and Kinsey before freeing the slaves from vampire rule, this is a big role for Walker. Says Proyas of the film, “It’s not just armies battling in an epic war. This is an adventure about the origins of good and evil after Lucifer’s rebellion gets him cast out of Heaven and leads to a struggle with his brother archangel over the soul of mankind, starting with Adam and Eve. That is the scope of the narrative here, and we’ve tried to stay as faithful as possible to Milton’s text, particularly its focus on Lucifer’s evolution and the birth of evil. It’s a family saga, about a group on brothers, two in particular, who are on divergent paths, and Lucifer’s feelings of betrayal by his father and family that forge his descent into evil.”

Staying as faithful as possible to Milton’s text without switching the “s”‘s out for “f”‘s, of course. Man, history is a weird place. (Deadline)

We now have a clear idea of exactly whom Abraham Lincoln will be hunting in Timur Bekmambetov‘s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Rufus Sewell has signed on to play Adam, the leader of the Southern vampires.

Britain‘s version of Jeff Goldblum is best known for his starring role in the cult favorite Dark City, but you may have also not seen him in the recently ignored film The Tourist. In Lincoln, he joins the previously cast Benjamin Walker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper, Alan Tudyk, and Jimmi Simpson. The more I read about this film, the more excited I get. Sounds like a really awesome revisionist history story. I’d go out and read the book, but it’s a book. Yick! (Variety)

In Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Stephen Douglas is in league with the vampires of the South. It’s just the type of role that Tudyk can grab a hold of and chew the scenery. Hopefully, he’ll debate Benjamin Walker‘s Lincoln with kung fu. That would be memorable enough to hopefully help Tudyk pull ahead of Alan Thicke’s Google position. It won’t be easy, but we have to believe it’s within reach. (Variety)

The movie will also star Benjamin Walker, Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper and Jimmi Simpson. As for a plot synopsis, I think you’ve got pretty much all you need from the title. Abraham Lincoln hunts vampires. If you need anything more than this I’m not sure a website is going to solve your myriad of problems. (via The Playlist)

Latino Review reported earlier in the week that Australian actress McLeavy had won the role after following up on a tip. A very wrong tip.

Take all of my Lincoln‘s wife jokes from Monday and apply them to Winstead. Apologies for any confusion. Last thing I want to do is undercut the artistic merits of this super-gimmicky film. (THR)

Australian actress Robin McLeavy has been cast as Mary Todd in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the film that re-imagines the 16th President of the United States as kick-ass vampire slayer. It’s said that McLeavy was in the running for the part along with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but director Timur Bekmambetov opted to cast up and coming talent in the end. Which means less money spent on actors and more spent on decapitations and removing fake blood stains from stovepipe hats. (Latino Review)

UPDATE: Variety is also reporting that Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia, Captain America) has signed on to play the key role of Henry Sturgess, a role that Joaquin Phoenix had been in talks to play earlier.

While Pride and Prejudice and Zombies seems to be the pool in which all talent dips their toes, only to yell, “Heavens! That’s too cold for me!” (or whatever), the similar historical bastardization, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter seems to get its house in order more and more every day. Today’s news is that we are close to a best friend/sidekick casting for our protagonist, Honest Abe (played by Benjamin Walker). Anthony Mackie is in talks to play the role of Will, Lincoln‘s buddy and partner in vampire-slaying. The part is said to be a big one, with lots of bloodsuckers dying by his hands, which would probably put Mackie over the moon if he hasn’t had such a good run of luck already.

He is starring with Hugh Jackman in the actioner Real Steel, then next up is a role with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau. Further, he’s gracing the cover of Vanity Fair‘s Hollywood Issue this month. So yeah, you could say his star is on the rise. (Deadline)

Update: Variety is also reporting that Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia, Captain America) has signed on to play the key role of Henry Sturgess, a role that Joaquin Phoenix had been in talks to play earlier.

The actor-turned-rapper-turned-actor-once-again is the lead choice to play Honest Abe’s mentor in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith‘s goofvel (a novel that’s just a big ol’ goof). His first bit of advice for the President? Quit being President to start a career as a vampire hunter, then tell everyone it was just a weird joke.

Lincoln is set to be played by actor-elect Benjamin Walker and Tim Burton will produce. (Deadline)

The story might be about Abraham Lincol fighting vampires, but it was lesser known actor Walker (Flags of Our Fathers) who fought a bunch of high-profile, blood-sucking (okay, maybe not blood-sucking) celebrities to snag the role. Josh Lucas, Adrien Brody, and Timothy Olyphant were all in the running, but it’ll be Walker’s face on this universe’s Mt. Rushmore, along with George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Dracula, Prince of Darkness.

20th Century Fox has scheduled the film for a June 22, 2012 release. (Collider)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

For those not hip to the concept here, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was originally a novel with a revisionist take on Lincoln‘s presidency, and by “revisionist” I mean the author asked, “Hey! Wouldn’t it be cool if Lincoln killed vampires?” Author and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith has a pedigree in this type of mash-up, also having penned the sleeper best-seller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The man has a style, that’s for sure.

It goes without saying that AL:VH will be brought shot and shown in magnificent 3-D, which we can hope will be a more immersive experience than Burton’s last outing, Alice in Wonderland.

The casting decision is, of course, a big one, but let’s not give too much weight to the actor playing Lincoln. When you’ve got Abe Lincoln throwing axes at Dracula, you’ve clearly waved goodbye to realism a long time ago.