Timur

From NY  Film Academy

Timur Bekmambetov Talks Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and Vampire Hunting

Published on December 3, 2012

Director/producer Timur Bekmambetov, who has been called “the Russian Steven Spielberg,” recently visited students at New York Film Academy, following a screening of his film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Born in present-day Kazakhstan, Bekmambetov made his mark with Hollywood studios and U.S. audiences with Night Watch, one of the highest-grossing Russian films of all time.
He made his Hollywood directorial debut with 2008’s Wanted, an action blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. Of his stars, he said, “Morgan is very simple to work with, and always jokes around on set. Angelina is very different. She is very serious, very focused. She’s a genius. She’s very powerful. You have to surround yourself with actors you trust.”
Following the success of Wanted, Timur Bekmambetov teamed up with producers Tim Burton and Jim Lemley for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. When asked how he decided to take on a film based on a vampire/action/historical/period piece novel, Bekmambetov said, “It’s a challenge. It’s important to fall in love with he material. You need to be brave and forget about the rules. There’s no way to [know] how the audience will respond.” The audience responded well, with the film bringing in over $114 million worldwide. Bekmambetov is currently hard at work on preproduction for Wanted 2.
Timur is also at work on a startup related to the film, and we are proud that he chose NYFA students to work with him on developing it further.

Wanted 2 talk

Wanted Director says Sequel will be shocking

by: Paul Shirey Jun. 18, 2012
 

Director Timur Bekmambetov has been doing the press rounds for his upcoming ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER and disclosed some details on his upcoming slate, including a sequel to WANTED, an historical tale, entitled THE CURRENT WAR, and a long-gestating adaptation of Herman Mellville's MOBY DICK.

It seems the sequel to WANTED was having some major issues in the development process until Bekmambetov cracked the code.

"An unbelievable thing happened three weeks ago," Bekmambetov said. "Because we stopped, we didn't know what to do for three or four years. Three weeks ago I came up with a great idea and I pitched this idea and everybody fell in love with it. And now I think we're on track. Right now the writer is working on the script, and it will be shocking."

"It's a continuation of the story, with Wesley Gibson," he confirms. "Other people are dead, you know, we can't bring them back. The story is the same character, same mythology, but it's got a great twist."

I'm wondering if his statement that "other people are dead" and "we can't bring them back" is meant to quash the rumors of them resurrecting Angelina Jolie's character somehow for the sequel, but Bekmambetov wasn't so specific.  I though WANTED was pretty kick ass and loved his stylish take on the comic, even if it deviated greatly from the source material.

It's unclear what Bekmambetov will put before the lens first, but he's definitely got a full plate of projects to devour.  Which would you like to see come to fruition first?

Bekmambetov's ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER opens this Friday, June 22, 2012.


Wanted 2 Is On Track, Won't Bring Anyone Back From The Dead 
published: 2012-06-18 11:15:35 Author: Katey Rich

If you've been waiting all this time for a sequel to Wanted, you're clearly a more patient soul than I. There's been talk of the project basically since the first film came out, and even with Angelina Jolie declining to participate, producer Jim Lemley has continued making noise about it, and the film's writers were hired last September to write a script for the sequel. Now it's director Timur Bekmambetov's turn to fan the flames of anticipation, taking the opportunity of the press tour for his next film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to make some vague promises about where the Wanted sequel would take things. Here's what he said to The Playlist:

"An unbelievable thing happened three weeks ago. Because we stopped, we didn't know what to do for three or four years. Three weeks ago I came up with a great idea and I pitched this idea and everybody fell in love with it. And now I think we're on track. Right now the writer is working on the script, and it will be shocking."

Now it's up to us to figure out how this fits into last fall's news about Derek Haas and Michael Brandt writing the script, since A) there are two of them and not just "the writer" as Bekmambetov says, and B) if he came up with this idea a few weeks ago, what have they been working on for the last 9 months? Bekmambetov also went on to say that "other people are dead, you know, we can't bring them back," which suggests that-- SPOILER-- Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman won't somehow be bringing their characters back from the dead. That leaves it to James McAvoy, who starred in the first film as Wesley Gibson, to shoulder the franchise on his own-- though in the 4 years since Wanted came out, does anyone actually remember the first one?

Chalk me up as one of the skeptics, since I honestly don't think Wanted 2 will ever happen. But if you're one of the faithful, Timur Bekmambetov is right there with you-- and you can probably increase the odds of the movie happening by seeing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter this weekend, so take action now while you still can!