Hey reddit. We're Timur Bekmambetov (producer) & Ronan Corigan (writer-director), the filmmaking team behind LIFEHACK. It premiered at SXSW to great reviews in 2025 (currently 100% on Rotten Tomatoes) and is out in theaters on 5/15.
Timur has also directed films such as WANTED, BEN-HUR, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, NIGHT WATCH, MERCY, DAY WATCH and produced films including SEARCHING, MISSING, HARDCORE HENRY, APOLLO 18, WAR OF THE WORLDS, UNFRIENDED, THE CURRENT WAR, UNFRIENDED 2.
This is Ronan's directorial debut.
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAbzB8e58zk
Synopsis:
Kyle and his friends hack for fun, pranking online scammers. Seeking a bigger thrill, they target billionaire Don Heard through his daughter Lindsey's social media, stealing his cryptocurrency.
Ask us anything! We will be back at 12 PM ET tomorrow Thursday 5/7 to answer questions!
by RonanAndTimurAMA
16 Comments
Fun stuff!
Good morning gentlemen. My kids and I are big fans of the Night Watch/Day Watch films. The story telling was great and the visuals outstanding.
Will there be any more adaptations of these films in the future?
Keep up the great work!
What’s one filmmaking lesson both of you learned the hard way?
Is there a chance you will make the third Night Watch movie? Those movies were awesome.
Loved the fun ridiculousness of Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter which I’ve described to my friends as Antebellum Matrix. How did you get involved in that? If I remember correctly, the movie rights were sold before the book was even published. And any fun stories on making it?
Not a question, I just wanted to let you guys know Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was awesome. Really fun movie. Wanted was also really good!
I saw Nightwatch in the theaters in the US and one thing that always stuck with me was how the subtitles were red a like blood during I think the opening sequence. It was a design decision and I wanted to thank whoever was involved. Often times small little things like this can really make a movie a lot more impressive. I’m not even sure if this was in the original film or if it was added during the localization. Either way, amazing touch.
Hello, Timur! Thank you for doing this. Would you ever consider revisiting *Wanted*, and how difficult was it to shift from low budget films to Hollywood blockbusters? Thanks again!
Hi Timur and Ronan, thanks for joining us 🙂
What was the SXSW premiere experience like? Any cool moments/highlights from that?
And Timur, if you didn’t go, what’s your favorite film festival to attend in person?
Hey Ronan, how many rewrites did you have to go through to feel like your script was “finished?” I can’t seem to ever get to a point where I think a project is done enough to try to get it made. Would love to know your take on it. (And Timur, was actually planning on introducing my son to “Wanted” this week. Funny coincidence.
You both used paper in your ama proof pics, but do y’all use them day to day? I know there are index card organization and planning systems, and the spiral book has to be full of sketches based on that doodle.
Hi, Timur.
Is there a way to get 4K releases of Night and Day Watch? Either original Russian or even International versions?
Hi **Timur**! Your adaptation of *Ben-Hur* is one of the few 3D films that never got a 3D Blu-ray release. Can you get together with German distributor Turbine Medien to finally make it happen? They have been releasing a bunch of Paramount films on 3D Blu-ray lately so it should be possible and I would love to see the film in 3D again!
As for an actual question: *Mercy* has been criticized by some as being a “pro AI” movie. What are your thoughts on this?
**Ronan**, you are making your feature debut with this film and you seem to come from the world of music videos. Film essayist Patrick Willems recently released a video talking about how the landscape has changed for the worst for music video directors transitioning to film directing since the 1990s and 2000s. Do you have thoughts on this? And what drew you to a ScreenLife project? As the writer of the film, did you always envision it that way?
Thank you for your replies and have a good day!
PS: Seriously Timur. Ben-Hur 3D Blu-ray from Turbine Medien. Please. 😄
Will we ever see the completion of the Nightwatch movies??
War of the Worlds – why?
The Russian DVD release of Night Watch had a poster in the van that was not included in the global/western release, similarly there was a scene, I believe it was Anton in a stairwell, that dubbed in a russian word for the global that was then captioned as “fuck.”
Was it difficult managing regional standards and legal restraints, were these social standards as the momentary nudity would likely have been classified different, or simply decisions of translation aesthetics?