Wait until “Chester W. Nimitz and the Sea Monsters.”
Everett missed its brush with Hollywood fame when the USS Abraham Lincoln on Tuesday hosted the cast of the new summer movie “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”
In the publicity stunt of the year, the film’s director, writer, producer and three actors, including star Benjamin Walker, boarded the Lincoln to mingle and watch the film with the sailors.
“We just premiered the movie in the hangar bay,” public affairs officer Lt. Cmdr. Steven Curry said on Tuesday. “It was just awesome.”
The Lincoln was based in Everett for 15 years until December. It’s currently located somewhere at the north end of the Indian Ocean near the Persian Gulf. Later this year, the warship will head to the Hampton Roads shipyard in Virginia, where it will undergo refueling of its nuclear power reactors.
“We miss being in Everett,” Curry said. “Trust me.”
Fox Studios planned the publicity stunt on board the carrier, but it was the ship’s crew who benefited, Curry said. Capt. John D. Alexander, commander of the Lincoln, said a sneak preview of a new movie is something the crew had never experienced before on the ship.
The people from the movie studio arrived in a delivery aircraft and planned to depart today, Curry said.
In the movie, Lincoln, played by Walker, is not just the beloved 16th president; he’s also the United States’ greatest hunter of the “undead.” Walker introduced the special screening and was joined by co-stars Anthony Mackie and Erin Wasson, as well as director Timur Bekmambetov, screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith and producer Jim Lemley.
“The cast and everyone from the studio had a great time,” Curry said. “Our crew really enjoyed meeting them. It was a great opportunity to bring Hollywood to us and for them to spend some time with our sailors.”
The sailors were set to receive copies of some graphic novels conceived by Bekmambetov to go with the movie. At the screening, the ship’s crew wore either Lincoln top hats or fangs, depending on whether they wanted to be on the side of the patriots or the vampires, a studio news release said.
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” opens in theaters here at home on June 22.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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