Timur Bekmambetov
Birthdate: Jun 25, 1961
Birthplace: Guryev, Kazakh SSR, USSR [now Atyrau, Kazakhstan]
Timur Bekmambetov (birthname: Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov) is the rare case of a Soviet-Kazakh-born filmmaker who has successfully worked in the commercial Hollywood system for several years and innovated the “screenlife” film style, debuting as co-director/co-writer of the Afghan war-set Peshavar Waltz (1994), retitled in its English-language video release as Escape from Afghanistan, co-directed and co-written by Gennadi Kayumov, co-starring Barry Kushner, Viktor Verzhbitsky, and Aleksey Shemes, and premiering at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (where Bekmambetov won the directing prize).
Bekmambetov, after directing The Arena (2001), a straight-to-video gladiator movie produced by Roger Corman and starring former Playboy Playmates, had his international breakthrough as director/co-writer of the Russian urban fantasy, Night Watch (2004), based on Sergei Lukyanenko’s first 1998 novel in a trilogy, co-starring Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov and Valeri Zolotukhin and grossing over $50 million for Fox Searchlight Pictures (International)/Gemini Film (Russia, Baltics) and submitted as Russia’s official Oscar entry for Best Foreign-Language Film; Bekmambetov directed and co-wrote the sequel, Day Watch (2006), based on the Lukyanenko’s second and third novels in the trilogy, with new co-stars Mariya Poroshina and Aleksei Chadov and grossing $43 million for distributors Fox Searchlight and Gemini Film.
Bekmambetov shifted into rom-com mode as director/co-writer of the hit sequel, The Irony of Fate 2 (2007), co-starring Konstantin Khabensky, Elizaveta Boyarskaya, and Sergey Bezrukov, earning a potent $55.6 million (based on estimated costs) for Mosfilm/Russia Channel One/Bazelevs Company. Bekmambetov directed his first Hollywood movie with the thriller, Wanted (2008), produced by lead producer Marc Platt (with Relativity Media and Spyglass Entertainment), co-starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann, Common, and Angelina Jolie, and returning $342.5 million for distributor Universal Pictures.
Timur Bekmambetov was director/producer of the New Year-themed Russian anthology movie, Yolki (2010), produced by Bazelevs, and then Bekmambetov wrote and produced the sequels, Yolki 2 (2011), Yolki 1914 (2014, as co-director/producer), and Yolki 5 (2016, as co-director/producer), all co-starring Ivan Urgant and Sergey Svetlakov and grossing a cumulative $79 million. Bekmambetov directed and produced his second Hollywood studio movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), based on screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2010 novel, with head producer Tim Burton, co-starring Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell and Marton Csokas, and proving to be one of Bekmambetov’s few box-office disappointments (based on estimated costs) with a $116 million worldwide gross for 20th Century Fox.
Bekmambetov directed the poorly received historical epic, Ben-Hur (2016), the fifth movie version of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel (adapted by John Ridley and Keith Clarke), starring Jack Huston in the title role, with Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro and Morgan Freeman, produced by Paramount Pictures/MGM/The Sean Daniel Company/Lightworkers Media and released by Paramount to a disappointing $94 million worldwide return (based on estimated costs). Bekmambetov took on his first project as director/co-writer/producer of the “screenlife”-style thriller, Profile (2018), based on Anna Erelle’s non-fiction book, The Skin of a Jihadist, starring Valene Kane, Shazad Latiff, and Christine Adams, and which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival before a Focus Features release.
Timur Bekmambetov returned to Russian filmmaking as co-director/producer of the WWII biopic, V2. Escape from Hell/Devyatayev (2021), based on Soviet war hero Mikhail Devyatayev’s autobiography and the first feature made in the large-scale vertical format co-starring Thure Riefenstein and Pavel Priluchny, produced by Bazelevs Company/Original Film/Village Roadshow Pictures/Regency Enterprises/Columbia Pictures and released by Sony Pictures Releasing. Bekmambetov was director/producer of the American sci-fi movie set in 2029 Los Angeles, Mercy (2025), starring Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Annabelle Wallis, and Kylie Rogers, produced by MGM/Atlas Entertainment/Bazelevs Company and released widely by Amazon MGM Studios (U.S.)/Sony Pictures Releasing International (International).
Bekmambetov was director/co-writer/producer of his first animated adventure-comedy, Hodja Nasreddin (date to be announced), funded by Bekmambetov’s own Bazelevs Company and Yerli Film via Russia/Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan/Turkey production money. Timur Bekmambetov has been producer only of 9 (2009), Black Lightning (2009), Lucky Trouble (2011), Apollo 18 (2011), The Darkest Hour (2011), KikoRiki: Team Invincible (2011), The Snow Queen (2012), Yolki 3 (2013), Alisa Knows What to Do! (2013), Gorko! (2013), Hardcore Henry (2015), The Snow Queen 2: The Snow King (2015), Unfriended (2015), Paws, Bones & Rock’n’roll (2015), Hack the Bloggers (2016), Yolki 6 (2017), The Age of Pioneers (2017), He’s a Dragon (2017), The Current War (2017), Searching (2018), Unfriended: Dark Web (2018), Persian Lessons (2020), R#J (2021), Missing (2023), CTRL (2024) and War of the Worlds (2025).
Personal life
Timur Bekmambetov was born and raised in the Kazakhstan city of Atyrau (formerly known as Guryev in former Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic) by his father Nuruakhit (energy company manager) and mother Mira (journalist). Timur Bekmambetov attended and then dropped out of Moscow Energy Institute to then study painting in Tashkent at the Alexander Ostrovsky Theatrical and Artistic Institute, from which he graduated with a degree as Artist of Theatre and Film specializing in set design. Bekmambetov did compulsory military service in the Soviet Red Army in 1987 and 1988 as an artillery man in Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan, after which he began his professional career as a theater and film studio set designer, soon followed by TV commercial directing in 1989. Bekmambetov is married to Natalia Fishman-Bekmambetova (urban social scientist). Timur Bekmambetov’s height is 5’ 6”. Timur Bekmambetov’s estimated net worth is $30 million.
Known For
Timur Bekmambetov Movies
director
Previous (5)
- 2026 |
- 2021 |
- 2016 |
- 2012 |
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them.
- 2008 |
actor
Previous (40)
producer
Previous (6)
- 2020 |
Persian Lessons
A young Jewish man in a concentration camp has his life saved when executioners realize he owns a Persian book. Brought before a camp officer who wants to learn Farsi, Gilles agrees to teach him despite not knowing a word of the l...
- 2018 |
- 2018 |
Unfriended: Dark Web
A teen comes into possession of a new laptop and soon discovers that the previous owner is not only watching him but will also do anything to get it back.
- 2016 |
Hardcore Henry
Henry is resurrected from death with no memory, and he must save his wife from a telekinetic warlord with a plan to bio-engineer soldiers.
- 2015 |
Unfriended
A group of online chat room friends find themselves haunted by a mysterious, supernatural force using the account of their dead friend.
- 2011 |
The Darkest Hour
In Moscow, five young people lead the charge against an alien race who have attacked Earth via our power supply.
Facts About Timur Bekmambetov
Homeowner: Timur Bekmambetov owns Walt Disney’s former mansion in Los Angeles.
Shingle: Bekmambetov formed and owns his own movie production company, Bazelevs Company, which has produced features in the U.S. and Russia.
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