Universal Studios Has Found its Actor to play Dracula!!!!!!!!!!

[Count_Zirock]

We definitely need another take on HARKER.

I'm not sure the character of Jonathan Harker would be in this, given its prequel/reboot take on the material. I'm guessing he'll be in NBC's upcoming "Dracula" series, though. And, if they ever make the graphic novel-based "Harker" film, which recasts the character as a Scotland Yard inspector investigating a serial killer (Dracula, of course).

[Haunted hearse]

I'm not sure the character of Jonathan Harker would be in this, given its prequel/reboot take on the material. I'm guessing he'll be in NBC's upcoming "Dracula" series, though. And, if they ever make the graphic novel-based "Harker" film, which recasts the character as a Scotland Yard inspector investigating a serial killer (Dracula, of course).

Oh, if they have their Harker using a telephone booth to travel through time when investigating crimes, then Bill S. Preston could join him!

[darkmonkeygod]

We definitely need another take on HARKER.

That's is the one element of this film that is so damning. All of it's other faults are honest choices in the making of a film. I personally love the stylization and design work, among other often panned pieces that make up the whole. But the casting of Reeves as Harker is just so tragic in relation to how good so much of the film is. The worst part? Coopola fought and fought with the studio to cast Winnona Ryder's then boyfriend, a relativly minor televison star at the time, in the role. The studio won out, with an unnamed exec stating that the actor was unbankable. So Johnny Depp didn't get the role.

Also, hey look! The new Universal Dracula film has a release date:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/universal-sets-release-date-dracula-446569

[Count_Zirock]

August 8, 2014? Notice they've dropped the "Year Zero" from the title, and it's just being called "Dracula" now. Yet, it's not another remake of the 1931 "Dracula." Yeah, that won't be confusing at all.

[aura of foreboding]

I can't imagine it just being called DRACULA.  That is so counterintuitive. 

[Count_Zirock]

I can't imagine it just being called DRACULA.  That is so counterintuitive.

Like the prequel to John Carpenter's "The Thing"..."The Thing"?

[aura of foreboding]

Like the prequel to John Carpenter's "The Thing"..."The Thing"?

Exactly.   

The problem here is that Dracula is a literary work which expands well beyond the film.  Any film simply entitled Dracula that does not relate back to the Stoker book would be doing a disservice to the author. 

[Count_Zirock]

Exactly.   

The problem here is that Dracula is a literary work which expands well beyond the film.  Any film simply entitled Dracula that does not relate back to the Stoker book would be doing a disservice to the author.

His own family did that, with the publication of "Dracula: The Un-Dead." Which had originally been intended as a movie, to be directed by Paul Verhoeven. When no studio bit, they novelized the screenplay. When the novel flopped, the film died a well-deserved death.

[aura of foreboding]

True, but at least they didn't simply release a book called "Dracula" and give it the new plot. 

[Count_Zirock]

Pretty darn close, though. The full title of Stoker's novel is "Dracula; or, The Un-Dead." The original working title was just "The Un-Dead," and the antagonist was named Count Wampyr. Then, Stoker stumbled across a mention of Vlad Dracula in a reproduction of a German woodcutting, and the rest, as they say, is history.

[aura of foreboding]

Pretty darn close, though. The full title of Stoker's novel is "Dracula; or, The Un-Dead." The original working title was just "The Un-Dead," and the antagonist was named Count Wampyr. Then, Stoker stumbled across a mention of Vlad Dracula in a reproduction of a German woodcutting, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.  Sounds like Bram knew he was on to something good. 

"Wampyr" is so lame.  When I first read that fact many years ago, I said, "Really?  Can we get any more obvious?"  Dracula adds the "foreignness" and class that was needed for the story.  Good choice, and the rest is history.   

[Count_Zirock]

From Dread Central:

It sounds as if the Prince of Darkness may just have found a leading lady to sink his fangs into as Sarah Gadon ("Cosmopolis," "A Dangerous Method") is now in talks for a meaty role in Universal's "Dracula" (formerly "Dracula Year Zero").

If signed, she'll star opposite Luke Evans (Dracula) in the flick. Look for "Dracula" in theatres on August 8, 2014. Universal's dramatic horror movie tells the origin story of the most famous of vampires. Michael De Luca is producing the project, and commercials helmer Gary Shore is making his directorial debut on the picture.

The script tells of a young prince who, when the lives of his wife and child are put in danger by a bloodthirsty sultan, risks his soul to save them and in the process becomes the first vampire. More as it comes.

[Count_Zirock]

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" actor Dominic Cooper joins the cast of Universal's new "Dracula."

[LP_Quagmire]

What a horrible title! 

[general gruesome]

I'd rather see a disgusting, viscous, and homicidal take on Dracula with an appearance similar to 'Nosferatu'. I could write a decent Dracula film or TV series.