At any given time, there are a handful of various different Dracula projects in the works around all corners of Hollywood. Nic Cage’s Renfield recently wrapped production, and Chloe Zhao is set to write and direct a vampiric feature for Universal. Karyn Kusama was even going to helm another reimagining called Mina Harker, though that project has now been shelved. Monday afternoon, reports surfaced suggesting producers informed those associated with the project they’re no longer going to be filming it.
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According to a report from Deadline, a creative divide grew between executives at Blumhouse and Miramax, leading to the film’s shelving. The project was set to begin filming next month prior to Miramax’s exit from the project.
The film was going to be set in present-day Los Angeles with Blindspotting star Jasmine Cephas in the lead role. Dracula would have also appeared in the film, given that the script from Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi used Bram Stoker’s Dracula as its primary inspiration.
Kusama has become a highly-sought-after filmmaker in Tinsel Town given her recent work on Showtime’s breakout hit Yellowjackets. She was also producing the project alongside Jason Blum, Hay, Manfredi, and Miramax’s Bill Block.
“It’s a fairly faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel,” Kusama previously revealed to The Kingcast. “I think something that gets overlooked in the adaptations of Dracula in the past is the idea of multiple voices. In fact, the book is filled with different points of view. And the one point of view we don’t get access to, and all most adaptations give access to, is Dracula himself. So I would just say in some respect, this is going to be an adaptation called ‘Dracula,’ but it’s perhaps not the same kind of romantic hero that we’ve seen in the past… in past interpretations of Dracula.”
For fans hoping to see more Dracula, it looks like Zhao’s version is still in the works.
“I love that you have the question mark at the end – a ‘sci-fi Western’?” Zhao previously 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.”
Cover photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Free The Work
