Benjamin Walker Is Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter!

The actor beat out some big names to play the Great Emancipator re-imagined as a vamp slayer.

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Complex Original

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Benjamin Walker has just signed on to play the legendary Illinois state legislator in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The horror-thriller finds the 16th president emanicipating the world of blood-sucking nightstalkers. The Flags of Our Fathers actor's light turned to dust the aspirations of Adrien Brody, Josh Lucas, James D'Arcy, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who were also in contention for the role.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night WatchDay Watch), the film will begin shooting in 3D in March with Tim Burton and Jim Lemley serving as executive producers. Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote the novel, will also handle screenwriting duties. In the novel, President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, fueling his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers, a cause that becomes a hidden motivation for the Civil War.

Fox is hoping to bring Honest Abe Helsing's adventures to theaters for a June 22, 2012 release.

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