Dracula Reboot Director Teases What to Expect From Her Film

With many of the adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula that we've seen over the decades, the figure [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

dracula bela lugosi 1931
(Photo: Universal Pictures)

With many of the adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula that we've seen over the decades, the figure is regularly portrayed as being motivated by romantic intentions, though director Karyn Kusama recently shared that her approach to the concept will likely deviate from other adaptations we've seen in hopes of delivering an experience more accurately reflecting the source material. Given the success earned by The Invisible Man earlier this year, thanks in large part to the ways in which it deviated from its predecessors, Kusama's comments make it seem quite clear that her vision of the project will offer a fresh take on the source material.

"It's a fairly faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel," Kusama 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."

While Stoker's novel helped inspire 1922's Nosferatu, it was 1931's Dracula that helped solidify the concept of the character. With the character himself being part of public domain, he's earned a number of adaptations over the past century, with another one of the more iconic entries being 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula, which once again leaned into the more romantic nature of the character.

One of the last major adaptations of the character came in 2014 with Dracula Untold, with Luke Evans starring as the titular character. The film was largely considered a disappointment, both financially and critically, with reports emerging around that time that the project was meant to launch a series of reboots of classic Universal Monsters. It wasn't until The Mummy was headed to theaters in 2017 that the studio officially announced its new shared "Dark Universe," but with that film also falling short of critical or financial expectations, it effectively killed the franchise before it could continue.

Thanks to the success of The Invisible Man, reports have also emerged that a new take on Bride of Frankenstein and The Wolf-Man are also being developed.

Stay tuned for details on the new Dracula.

Do these remarks have you excited about the project? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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