Тимур Бекмамбетов

Timur Bekmambetov was born in the city of Guryev, in the former Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. At the age of 19, Bekmambetov moved to Tashkent, in the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, where in 1987 he graduated from the A.N. Ostrovsky Theatrical and Artistic Institute with a degree in theater and cinema set designing.

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

Bekmambetov's first feature, 1994's Peshavarsky Vals (Escape From Afghanistan), 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 titled Our '90s. Bekmambetov then returned to directing features with the Corman-produced The Arena (2001). The film was a remake of the 1974 film of the same name. In 2002, Bekmambetov directed and co-produced (with Bakhyt Kilibayev) the film GAZ—Russian Cars.

In 2004, Bekmambetov wrote and directed Night Watch, 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 $16.7 million in Russia alone, it outearned The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which opened there earlier that year. 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.

Bekmambetov followed up Day Watch with the smash hit The Irony of Fate 2 (2007). This sequel to the famous Soviet film remains one of the most successful films in Russian history. His Hollywood directorial debut was Universal Pictures' Wanted (2008), an action blockbuster about a secret society of assassins, which was based on a comic-book miniseries of the same name written by Mark Millar and starred Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy.

In 2012, 20th Century Fox released Bekmambetov's U.S. film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which starred Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper and Anthony Mackie. Bekmambetov has also produced a number of films in the U.S. and Russia, including 9, Black Lightning, Apollo 18 and The Darkest Hour. His Russian film company, Bazelevs, is one of the leaders in the domestic market. In 2013, Bazelevs produced the third installment of its New Year franchise Yolki, which became the top-grossing comedy in Russia, as well as the comedy Kiss Them All!, which not only became Russia's most profitable film of 2013, but also received nine nominations at the Russian Film Academy Awards.

Universal Pictures