Archive for December 8th, 2009

Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is arguably the most stylized retelling of the Dracula story to date

With vampire craze still in full swing due to the enormous hit that has been New Moon, the same production studio that financed that film has let it be known that it will now finance a remake of the story of Dracula. The project is called Vlad, written by Charlie Hunnam (actor on FX’s Sons of Anarchy), and is focused on Dracula as a young prince (with Vlad the Impaler of course being the inspiration for the character). Music video director Anthony Mandler (Rhianna, The Killers, Eminem) will be helming the project, with Brad Pitt producing. Reportedly, the film is set to have the same degree of stylization as 2006′s 300, which executives at Summit are excited about. The casting of the role of Vlad is expected to be an unknown.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Quick Opinion: As it turns out, we at Movie-Thoughts got our wish for a remake of Dracula, although having it made by Summit, starring an unknown, and captained by a music video director wasn’t exactly what we had in mind. However, here’s the silver lining: Summit is still small enough to not fall under the pressure of big studio-type paranoia (i.e. they can financially afford to be bolder and more daring with their creativity), unknown actors like Brandon Routh have proven that a no-name can indeed carry the weight of an iconic role, and Spike Jonze has proven that a music video director is capable of telling wonderful stories very skillfully. The odds that Vlad will have the same level of performances and direction as the names just listed can only be speculated, but it’s good to think positive.