Thanks to films like The Rider and Nomadland, horror fans were already looking forward to what filmmaker Chloé Zhao had in store for her take on Dracula, with her recent Oscar win and the upcoming Marvel Studios film Eternals surely building even more excitement for her take on the iconic vampire. Her new film won’t merely be an adaptation of the source material, however, as the new film has been teased as a “sci-fi Western” approach to the material, with Zhao recently hinting at what fans can expect from the project. The new Dracula film does not yet have a release date.
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“I love that you have the question mark at the end — a ‘sci-fi Western’?” Zhao joked with Variety when addressing the unconventional description for the new film. “No, I like that. It’s just like looking at Jessica Bruder’s book [Nomadland], and to really see behind the pages, to discover the meanings behind each page and the essence of it. I’m a huge fan of the book. And I wanted to see what essence I can find [in Dracula], and then be able to reimagine this really beloved character I love so much.”
Given his penchant for sucking the blood of his victims, Zhao then addressed what she meant by calling the figure “beloved.”
“I like complicated characters,” the filmmaker admitted. “That was a very important book for me. Immortality is something that I started exploring on Eternals, but is something I want to question and understand.”
Dating back to the earliest days of cinema, Dracula has been brought to life countless times over the years, with 1922’s Nosferatu and 1931’s Dracula helping define the lore of vampires. Despite the timeless nature of the figure, recent years have seen Dracula, as well as many other Universal Monsters, fail to make a major impact among audiences.
This all changed with the release of last year’s The Invisible Man, with writer/director Leigh Whannell reimagining the concept in compelling new ways. In the wake of that film’s critical acclaim, a number of monster-movie reboots were announced, including The Wolf Man, Van Helsing, and two different Dracula adaptations.
Stay tuned for details on Chloé Zhao’s take on Dracula. Fans can see Eternals when it hits theaters on November 5th.
Are you looking forward to this unconventional approach to the character? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
