Australian actor Eric Bana is set to meet with director Timur Bekmambetov about the lead role in the adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Wrap reports.

Published in March, Seth Grahame-Smith’s bestselling novel is purportedly based on the secret diaries of the ax-wielding 16th president, who waged a clandestine lifelong war against the bloodsuckers after one of them killed his mother. The mashup, which features among its cast Edgar Allan Poe and an undead John Wilkes Booth, imagines a Confederacy supported by vampires, who rely on the slave trade for food.

At 6'3", Bana (Star Trek, Hulk) comes within an inch of the president's height. However, at age 42 he may be too old for the part, which requires the same actor to play Lincoln from ages 20 to 56. A report circulated last month that Inception's Tom Hardy had been offered the role of Sturgess, a vampire who befriends and trains the young Lincoln.

The $69-million 20th Century Fox film, produced by Tim Burton, is set for release on June 22, 2012.