Chloe Zhao Teases her Western Dracula Reboot

Earlier this year it was announced that Eternals director Chloé Zhao had been tapped to write, direct, and produce a new take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Now, Zhao is taking to social media to tease the project, marking her return to the development of the film with a post on Instagram. The post features a vintage photo of what appears to be Nosferatu on horseback with Zhao captioning the photo simply with the glass of red wine emoji, though with Dracula being a vampire story, it’s probably a safe guess that it’s not red wine she’s teasing.

When the project was announced earlier this year, it was revealed that Zhao’s take on Dracula will be a “sci-fi Western” interpretation of the classic source material, one that will be very different from traditional and even modern versions of the story that have been told before. Details about the project remain few, but the project has been described as “an original, futuristic, sci-fi Western.”

“Chloé’s singular lens shines a light on stories of the overlooked and misunderstood,” Universal Pictures president, Peter Cramer, shared in a statement at the time. “We are thrilled to be working with her as she reimagines one of the most iconic outsider characters ever created.”

Zhao herself added, “I’ve always been fascinated by vampires and the concept of the Other they embody. I’m very excited to work with Donna, Peter, and the team at Universal to reimagine such a beloved character.”

Zhao later teased a bit more of what fans can expect from the project, talking about how she’s a fan of the book and how she likes exploring complex characters as well as the question of immortality.

“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.”

She added, “I like complicated characters. That was a very important book for me. Immortality is something that started exploring on Eternals, but is something I want to question and understand.”

Zhao’s Dracula adaptation does not currently have a release date.