The new NBC drama series Chicago Fire, from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Dick Wolf (the Law & Order franchise) and creators/writing partners Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, follows the lives of everyday heroes committed to one of America’s noblest professions. The job is both exhilarating and highly stressful for the firefighters, rescue squad and paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51, who save lives by running headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way. The series stars Jesse Spencer, Taylor Kinney, Eamonn Walker, David Eigenberg, Charlie Barnett, Monica Raymund and Lauren German.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas talked about how they got involved with Dick Wolf and came to be working in television, how spending time with real firefighters influenced what they wanted the show to be, what they like about getting to tell an open-ended story in the long-term, what a luxury it is to see what they’ve written make it to the screen so quickly, how it was to see the ensemble cast come together and bring their characters to life, and how they will be able to balance their work on the show with feature films. They also talked about how they’re currently working on the second draft of the Wanted sequel, how Overdrive (starring Karl Urban) came about, what led them to adapt Billionaire’s Vinegar for the screen, and why their partnership works so well. Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Opening this weekend is director Timur Bekmambetov‘s (Wanted) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Based on the book of the same name from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies author Seth Grahame-Smith and produced by Tim Burton, the film imagines that Lincoln’s mother and grandfather were killed by a vampire and that the president’s resolve to end slavery was due in part to the “fact” that vampires were involved with the slave trade.  Playing Lincoln is newcomer Benjamin Walker and he stars alongside Rufus Sewell, Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. For more on the film, here’s all our previous coverageand three clips with twenty minutes of behind-the-scenes footage.

A few days ago I got to speak with Timur Bekmambetov and Seth Grahame-Smith in New York City.  We talked about making Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, what historical events from Lincoln’s life they felt needed to be included, what was cut due to budgetary reasons, their favorite movies, and Bekmambetov gave a Wanted 2 update.  Hit the jump to watch.