We’ll be honest, we’re still getting over Trent Reznor being an Oscar-winning composer — he deserved it, we just never figured the Academy would be that progressive — but it looks like the Nine Inch Nails frontman has found himself a very lucrative and prestigious gig scoring movies and what the hell, why not start taking roles in the them too?
EW reports that industrial rocker is in negotiations to not only score the Timur Bekmambetov directed film but also take a role in it as well. Starring Benjamin Walker, Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jimmi Simpson, the film is based on the book by Seth Grahame-Smith which itself is based on the faux diaries of the president (Walker) given to the author by a vampire named Henry Sturgess (Cooper). Sturgess saved Lincoln’s life when he battles a vampire as a teenager, and the two become fast friends. Sturgess teaches Lincoln about the history of vampirism, trains him in combat, and sends the president to hunt and kill evil vampires. Mackie will play the president’s best friend, Will, with Winstead playing Mary Todd. No word yet on Simpson’s role. As for Reznor, should everything pan out, he’ll play Jack Barts who kills Lincoln’s mother and sets the story in motion.
While it’s an intriguing bit of stunt casting — Reznor killing a former president’s Mom, ha ha — there’s a part of us that feels that it could only be totally distracting in a film that is already gonna be at the height of being somewhat over-the-top. However, on the musical side, it’s an exciting prospect and it will be interesting to see what Reznor comes up for a film that’s operating in a totally different sphere than “The Social Network.” Scheduling shouldn’t be too much of an issue — while Reznor is working on David Fincher‘s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” which is due in December, ‘Vampire Hunter’ isn’t hitting theaters until June 22nd next year so he should have plenty of time to get both in.
Trent Reznor: Oscar winner and vampire hunter? Guess we’ll soon see.