Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov

Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov (Kazakh: Тем?р Нұрыахытұлы Бекмәмбетов, Temir Nurıaxıtulı Bekmambetov; Russian: Тимур Нуруахитович Бекмамбетов, Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov; born 25 June 1961) is a Kazakh-born director, producer and screenwriter who has worked on films and commercials. He is mostly popular for the Russian film Night Watch (2004) and its sequel Day Watch (2006), and the American film Wanted (2008).
Bekmambetov was born on June 25, 1961 in the city of Guryev, Kazakhstan. At the age of 19, he moved to Tashkent, in the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, to study at the A. N. Ostrovsky Theatrical and Artistic Institute with a degree in theater and cinema set designing, which he graduated from in 1987.

Film and television career

Between 1992 and 1997, Bekmambetov was one of the directors of Bank Imperial's popular World History commercials. In 1994 he founded Bazelevs Group, an advertising and film production, distribution and marketing company.

Bekmambetov's first feature, Peshavar Vals (1994) aka Escape from Afghanistan (English title) was a violent and realistic look at the war between Russia and Afghanistan. The film was dubbed in English and released direct-to-video by Roger Corman in 2002.

Bekmambetov next produced and directed an eight-part miniseries for television entitled Our '90s. Bekmambetov then returned to directing features, with the Roger Corman-produced The Arena (2001), which starred Karen McDougal and Lisa Dergan. The film was a remake of the 1974 film of the same name. In 2002, Bekmambetov directed and co-produced (with Bahyt Kilibayev) the film GAZ--Russian Cars.

In 2004, Bekmambetov wrote and directed Night Watch (2004), a popular Russian fantasy film based on the book by Sergey Lukyanenko. The film was extremely successful in Russia, and at the time became its highest-grossing release ever, making US$16.7 million in Russia alone, more money than The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The sequel to Night Watch, Day Watch (2006), was likewise written and directed by Bekmambetov. The two films attracted the attention of Fox Searchlight Pictures, which paid $4 million to acquire worldwide distribution rights (excluding Russia and the Baltic states).

Bekmambetov followed up Day Watch with the smash hit The Irony of Fate-2 (2007). This sequel to the famous Soviet film is one of the most successful in Russian history, second only to Avatar for total box office receipts.

Bekmambetov's Hollywood directorial debut, Wanted (2008), an action blockbuster about a secret society of assassins, was based on a comic-book miniseries of the same name written by Mark Millar.

Bekmambetov has also produced a number of films in the US and Russia. 9 (2009), the story of a rag doll in a post-apocalyptic world, was directed by Shane Acker and produced by Bekmambetov, Tim Burton and Jim Lemley. Bekmmbetov also produced the Russian language action movie Black Lightning (2009) with Universal Pictures.

In 2010, Bekmambetov produced and was one of the directors of Yolki a.k.a. "The Six Degrees to Celebration" (English title) which became the second highest grossing Russian movie in Russian box office history. In February 2011 Bazelevs will release the Bekmambetov-produced Vykryutasi (a.k.a. "Lucky Trouble" (English title) starring Milla Jovovich and Konstantin Khabensky.

Bekmambetov is also producing Apollo 18, along with The Weinstein Company, a found footage science fiction thriller set for release in Spring 2011 and The Darkest Hour, a science fiction film set in Moscow and produced by New Regency.

Bekmambetov is currently directing and producing the live action adaption of the Seth Grahame-Smith novel Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, also produced by Tim Burton and Jim Lemley.

Filmography

1994 Peshavar Waltz
2001 The Arena
2004 Night Watch
2006 Day Watch
2007 The Irony of Fate 2
2008 Wanted
2009 9
2009 Black Lightning
2010 Six Degrees of Celebration
2011 Lucky Trouble
2011 Apollo 18
2011 The Darkest Hour
2012 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

On the basis of material from http://en.wikipedia.org