I remember when my kids bought ‘Pride & Prejudice and Zombies’ by Seth Grahame-Smith in 2009, I assumed it would be just a silly little parody with no depth or sense of quality … boy was I ever wrong! The great story from Jane Austen was respectfully handled and transformed into story of love and manners – and zombie killing on the English countryside. There have been numerous others since then that have varied in quality … but the next one to really capture everyone’s imagination was another book by Seth Grahame-Smith, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.
Now the book is being made into a movie, and it looks awesome! Timur Bekmambetov is the director, someone who most might know from the Angelina Jolie film Wanted, but who I know from the films from the Russian novels Night Watch and Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. His style shines through in these trailers as well … and the actors and scenes are at once ridiculous and compelling.
Here is the synopsis:
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 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.
Here is the first trailer from about a month ago:
And here is the newly released trailer:
The film is due out on June 22nd. I’m going – are you?
Michael, have you read the book? How is it?
Oooh! Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Marton Csokas, Rufus Sewell and Alan Tudyk! Cool!
I read the book. It was gorier than I expected, and has a great sense of the history of the civil war. The author does a remarkable job of rooting historical politics with fantasy elements.
It is one of my favorite books, and probably one of the few books where i read it on my phone, on a device, and through a cloud reader because I literally could not stop reading. I just read on whatever medium was handiest at the time.
Like Carly said … it is really good. If you browse Amazon you will find a bunch of these types of titles. Based on similar covers and style I grabbed ‘Sense & Sensibility and Sea Monsters’ … suffice to say that weaving classic literature with your own elements and making it at once faithful and intrguingly new isn’t trivial. IMO definitely worth checking out.
I read it after seeing the first trailer, and it is definitely a fab book that begged to be finished quickly. I can’t wait to see the movie. =)
Me too, didn’t see the book and honestly probably won’t. But throw Vampires in with some good old American History and you have my vote. Previews look killer and Abe looks like he gets things done. I see these types of movies anyway and in a flooded market I still think this looks promising.