Talk about the question on everyone’s mind this holiday season! Deadline Kaluga reports that Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov will answer that very question – sort of, in a way, considering he’s already answered it twice already. Bekmambetov is now set to team up with Chinese filmmaker Eva Jin to launch a Russian and Chinese remake of Russia’s own wildly popular anthology film, Yolki. Bekmambetov previously directed his own segments in both Yolki (also know as the more appropriate Six Degrees of Separation) and its very successful sequel, Yolki 2. Yolki 2 was recently a big winner in its native Russia, pulling in a stunning $7.8m gross over its opening weekend. The original Yolki was “Russia’s most successful local movie in the past three years.” The first film “tells the stories of eight different Russians – from eight different time zones – and how their destinies intersect one New Years Eve.” The new version will “be framed around the Chinese New Year. There will be eight stories connected by a young orphan girl who must deliver a message to the President and whose only hope is to use the theory of ‘six degrees of separation’ – that all people on Earth, from the lowliest migrant worker to government leaders, are connected by six handshakes.” Gross. But also somewhat sweet. Bekmambetov and Jin are each set to direct one of the different vignettes of the film. Of course, the major question is not who will write or direct the other sections of [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Updated with correction: We posted this rumor earlier, but according to a representative at Lionsgate that we asked for comment, Gillespie is still on board the project. Regarding the rumor, the representative said, “This is not true. [Gillespie] is still set to direct.” We apologize for the error, but the situation doesn’t at all change Kate’s feelings on the project that can be found below: News from our pals at Twitch reports that director Craig Gillespie has left the troubled film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith‘s novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, that reimagines the Jane Austen classic as a story not just about the emotional battles of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, but those battles as set against a countryside overrun with zombies. If Gillespie is off the project, he joins two other directors who previously jumped ship on the film - David O. Russell and Mike White. Besides not having a director, the film is also sorely lacking for a leading lady, with Mila Kunis, Emma Stone, Rooney Mara, and Olivia Wilde all reportedly considered for the role or straight out offered it in the past, with none of them ever signing on. Buzz continues to turn back to Natalie Portman, however, as Portman’s production company is co-producing the project and the actress has an open schedule after the recent birth of her son. As of now, Dominic Cooper is apparently set to play Mr. Darcy, making him the only person with a firm commitment at this point. But, considering the revolving [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

The cast for Timur Bekmambetov’s upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter keeps filling out. Already we’ve been told about Benjamin Walker as Lincoln himself, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln, Robin McLeavy as Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Jimmi Simpson as Joshua Speed, Anthony Mackie as William Seward, and Dominic Cooper as Henry Sturgess. Well, now you can add to that Alan Tudyk as Stephen Douglas. Everybody knows Stephen Douglas as the other half of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates. But what most people don’t know is that in addition to being a political adversary to Lincoln, Stephen Douglas was also an ally of the dangerous vampire clans of the mid 1800s. With this film a hidden, shameful part of Douglas’ past will finally be brought to light. Some people may vaguely recognize Tudyk as that funny character actor guy that they kind of know. And then there are the rabid fans of Firefly who would berate those people for saying such an ignorant thing because Alan Tudyk is Wash and you need to show some respect. Either way, I imagine that everyone who knows Tudyk as an actor is probably a fan. I’m especially excited to see him further explore his villainous side, as I really enjoyed him as a psychopathic sleaze ball in the short lived and otherwise unspectacular show Dollhouse. Could we be looking at a new direction for Tudyk’s career with him playing villains? Whatever keeps him up on the big screen is fine by me. Source: Cinema Blend

What do you do after you win an Academy Award? If you’re Three 6 Mafia, it’s go on to make great music that’s under-appreciated. If you’re Trent Reznor, it’s apparently killing the mother of an iconic historical figure. According to those ever-elusive sources whispering sensually in the ear of Team Bad Ass Digest, Reznor will be scoring Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (which is fantastic news), and he’ll also be playing a small but important role as a vampire that sets Lincoln’s killing ways in motion when he kills the one person in his life that means anything to him. The project is really starting to heat up, which is absolutely ridiculous considering the premise. Two years ago, this thing would have been relegated to some random genre director who wanted to be slightly funny and over-the-top. Now, it’s a serious studio project with a decently well-known action director (who’s tackled vampires before) and Indie Spirit Award nominees and Oscar winners hopping into the cast. It’s sort of incredible, and the prospect of Reznor getting a chance to go dark and wear an old timey top hat is equally exciting. We’ll get to hear his work sooner than that, of course, because he’s set to re-team with David Fincher to score The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which hits theaters in December.

Before Seth Grahame-Smith’s groundbreaking biography “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” became all of the rage, the world was tragically clueless about the undead-destroying exploits of our 16th president. American school children are taught about the Emancipation Proclamation, they memorize lines from the Gettysburg Address; but they tragically never understand why. Just like elementary classrooms are reticent to include Chomsky in their standard curriculums, they have also shown to be reluctant to reveal to grade-schoolers the unfortunate reality that vampires are real, and that their blood sucking atrocities had a profound effect on the development and presidency of one of our greatest leaders. Fortunately, Hollywood is not as chained to the whims of conservative fundamentalist groups as our nation’s textbook makers are. So, Russian director Timur Bekmambetov has been tapped to direct a big screen adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. You may know Bekmambetov as the director of the Night Watch and Day Watch vampire franchise already, and if you don’t then clearly you haven’t been paying enough attention to vampires. It’s a wonder you still have all of your blood. Long have they searched for the perfect actor to portray Lincoln in this epic tale; one that spans the president’s life from ages 20 to 55. Many have tested, and many have failed. In the end, all of their efforts have come down to one man: some guy. That guy is actor Benjamin Walker. You may recognize him from such films as Flags of Our Fathers and Kinsey, but chances [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Now that Fox has officially retracted its position that Vampires Suck, it finds itself free to do business with the second-most famous vampire hunter of all time. As all school-aged children know, Abraham Lincoln was not only a great president, he was also a cold killer when it came to the blood-fueled undead. Now, that story will finally see the big screen. Fox would do well to check out my dreamcasting for the project in a recent Print to Projector entry, but with Tim Burton producing, 3 or 4 of the roles have probably already been mentally cast. I’ll give you a few guesses.

Gareth Edwards, who you might get to know better after the release of his ultra-low budget film Monsters in October, has already found a next project that continues the science fiction slant. He’s teaming with Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov (who will produce) on a project with no title or plot synopsis except the vague statement that it will be: “an epic human story, set in a futuristic world without humanity.” Clearly, they’re making Wall-E 2. [Deadline Pluto]

As the only literate Reject, it’s my duty to find the latest, the greatest and the untouched classics that would make great source material for film adaptations. I read so you don’t have to. This week, Print to Projector presents: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith “The boy had been crouched so long that his legs had fallen asleep beneath him – but he dared not move now.” Synopsis A young boy named Abraham suffers the grizzly frontier life of the early 19th century and is devastated by the loss of his mother. After finding out that she was killed by a vampire, he makes it his life’s work to hunt down the blood-thirsty monsters and cut off their giant-canine-tooth-stuffed heads with his axe. And to become President at some point. And free the slaves. And keep the union together.

Disney and Fox are both developing their own takes. Let’s look at each and see who will come out on top.

Matthew Vaughn might be the top choice for Fox, but they’ve got a list of talent a mile long. And by a mile, I mean there are six names on it.

A movie that (I swear to you) wasn’t directed by Tim Burton explores the limits of ragdoll action sequences with a gorgeously envisioned post-robot-devastated world where the population is sparse and so is the story line.

9, the CG-animated film from up and coming director Shane Acker and producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, doesn’t hit theaters until September 9th. These photos, however, are hitting your computer screen right now.

We have no doubt that 9 is a desperate fight for survival, packed with amazing visuals, as evidence by this cool new featurette that Focus Features has released this week.

If your favorite character died in Wanted, don’t worry, because apparently there is a pretty good chance they’ll be back in the sequel.

Another week gone by and another round of $35 DVD purchases await with the Blu-ray Report. Last week was a soft one, but the Blu-ray format comes roaring back this week with a few cool releases and some others with potential.

‘Tis true, the man who brought us the bullet-bending visual brilliance that was Wanted will now begin work at Universal Pictures on a reimagining (Hollywood’s favorite new term) of Herman Mellville’s whale tale Moby Dick.

One of the latest trends in movie marketing is to release big, long clips that show us more and more of a film before it is released. In the case of Wanted, we are okay with that…

When it comes to a movie like Wanted, I say let the bullets fly and let the scantily clad, hooker-looking Angelina Jolie waltz around in the nude.

As if we needed any more inclinations as to whether or not the upcoming graphic novel adaptation Wanted is going to kick serious ass…

We all know that Wanted is going to rock (I think), but as you will see in this new international trailer, this film brings the heat when translated to Russian.