CinemaCon honors Bekmambetov

CinemaCon has tapped Timur Bekmambetov as the recipient of its International Filmmaker of the Year award. Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon, made the announcement Friday. The kudo will be presented on April 23, the opening day of the four-day event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Bekmambetov is currently directing and producing the live action adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," slated for a June 22 release from Fox. Born in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Bekmambetov began his career as one of the directors of Bank Imperial's "World History" commercials before founding the Bazelevs Group in 1994. He made his feature film debut with "Peshavar Vals" and directed "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" before making with Hollywood directorial debut with "Wanted." Bekmambetov also is a producer on "The Darkest Hour," which will be released Dec. 25. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com