Dracula Year Zero Rises at Universal

[Heretic]

The trailer is back online...

Just watched it and man...it looks kind of crappy. Definitely a Netflix for me.

 

[redhawk23]

When does this come out? The trailer wasn't overly exciting. For the most part it seemed more or less on level with something like game of thrones as far as production values go. Might be interesting. I like Evans a lot.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I just think having the title show up awkwardly at the beginning of the trailer is really jarring. It makes you question the whole thing because it's like the trailer was put together by someone who has never seen a movie trailer before.

 

[mclay18]

When does this come out? The trailer wasn't overly exciting. For the most part it seemed more or less on level with something like game of thrones as far as production values go. Might be interesting. I like Evans a lot.

October 17. Essentially switched places with Get On Up.

 

[Heretic]

I just think having the title show up awkwardly at the beginning of the trailer is really jarring. It makes you question the whole thing because it's like the trailer was put together by someone who has never seen a movie trailer before.

Right. It could have been a slighter cooler trailer for people watching for the first time in a theater if they didnt know that the family man was going to become Dracula until near the end of the trailer.

 

[LordofhouseEl]

I thought this looked bad ass and cant wait to watch it, certain parts reminded me of Lord of shadows 2 which wasn't a bad thing. I just pray this movie doesn't suck (no pun intended).

 

[redhawk23]

I think it's interesting and actually kind of funny that this version of Dracula can do with bats what Imhotep could do with sand, making giant fist clouds and such.

 

[Lord]

Sand makes a bit more sence though, bats are just gonna become crashed skuls, while sand could be hardened together in order to becomes as strong as rocks.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

That bat-fist thing is cheesy and this movie looks quite...bad.

For me, this'll be Dracula Unseen.

 

[Octoberist]

It looks like a Redbox rental for me too.

 

[#root]

Wouldn't that bat-fist thing just result in a giant pile of mangled bat corpses? Also, the title showing up at the beginning of the trailer was just awkward. Doesn't really look that good IMO.

 

[godisawesome]

Anybody else getting a Castlevania: Lords of Shadow vibe from the trailer? Especially since the scene with the bat-fist seems like a part of the second games cinematic trailer. And the overall idea of Dracula being a former hero who dresses in a red suit and fights whole armies from his castle above is pretty much identical.

And as a reader of the book, I appreciated the ancient temple-like cave that seems like a stand in for the Scholomance where Dracula got his powers under Stoker, and the historian in me appreciates the use of the Ottoman Empire as the antagonists. I initially though Dominic Cooper was playing Radu the Handsome, Vlad Tepes' brother and commander of the Empire's Jannisaries, but unfortunately it seems Universal didn't like the idea of seeing the "blood brothers" in the same movie.

If the movie can successfully show Dracula becoming a true monster and villain, and not just an anti-hero or Byronic Hero, by the end of the film, it has a lot of potential. Since they'll almost certainly include his wife's suicide (I even think you can see it in the trailer), maybe that will serve as a final severing of his ties to his former life. I do hope he doesn't just become a mopey heart-broken man as his excuse for everything (it looks like they're showing him cheating on her after his transformation anyway); it would be better if Dracula's growing monstrosity and inhumanity were his wife's motivation for jumping into her river.

The delivery of that line about Dracula saving his people by selling his soul is a good sign for me. It sounds the right amount of enraged and arrogant to be a prelude to Vlad becoming the solitary misanthrope we see in the book.

 

[Roose Bolton]

It even has a Stark brother playing Dracula's son like in Lords of Shadow!

 

[slumcat]

Anybody else getting a Castlevania: Lords of Shadow vibe from the trailer? Especially since the scene with the bat-fist seems like a part of the second games cinematic trailer. And the overall idea of Dracula being a former hero who dresses in a red suit and fights whole armies from his castle above is pretty much identical.

And as a reader of the book, I appreciated the ancient temple-like cave that seems like a stand in for the Scholomance where Dracula got his powers under Stoker, and the historian in me appreciates the use of the Ottoman Empire as the antagonists. I initially though Dominic Cooper was playing Radu the Handsome, Vlad Tepes' brother and commander of the Empire's Jannisaries, but unfortunately it seems Universal didn't like the idea of seeing the "blood brothers" in the same movie.

If the movie can successfully show Dracula becoming a true monster and villain, and not just an anti-hero or Byronic Hero, by the end of the film, it has a lot of potential. Since they'll almost certainly include his wife's suicide (I even think you can see it in the trailer), maybe that will serve as a final severing of his ties to his former life. I do hope he doesn't just become a mopey heart-broken man as his excuse for everything (it looks like they're showing him cheating on her after his transformation anyway); it would be better if Dracula's growing monstrosity and inhumanity were his wife's motivation for jumping into her river.

The delivery of that line about Dracula saving his people by selling his soul is a good sign for me. It sounds the right amount of enraged and arrogant to be a prelude to Vlad becoming the solitary misanthrope we see in the book.

Some unsolicited spoilers from me since I have read the script.

SPOILERS FOLLOW READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

"And as a reader of the book, I appreciated the ancient temple-like cave that seems like a stand in for the Scholomance where Dracula got his powers under Stoker"
[BLACKOUT]That is a Roman ruin where Vlad has his first encounter with an ancient vampire from who he gets his powers. In the first draft, he was Caligula, yes that Caligula, but apparently they reshot those scene to make him some other ancient monster - Nero or apparently something like that.[/BLACKOUT]

the historian in me appreciates the use of the Ottoman Empire as the antagonists. I initially though Dominic Cooper was playing Radu the Handsome, Vlad Tepes' brother and commander of the Empire's Jannisaries, but unfortunately it seems Universal didn't like the idea of seeing the "blood brothers" in the same movie.
The Ottoman Empire is indeed the villain. It is their quest for world domination that brings them to Vlad's doorstep. Dominic Cooper is playing Mehmed the Conqueror or Sultan Mehmed II, who is also a real historical figure and the actual antagonist to Vlap Tepes. The Jannisaries are in the movie and as the trailer implies, the triggering conflict is infact Mehmed II's demand of 1000 boys to join the Jannisaries which Vlad refuses setting off the chain of events in the movies. None of this is a spoiler because this is in the trailer.

If the movie can successfully show Dracula becoming a true monster and villain, and not just an anti-hero or Byronic Hero, by the end of the film, it has a lot of potential.
[BLACKOUT]I am mixed about this. He's a monster for sure, he does a lot of horrible things in the film but still for the higher good. He's more like a anti-hero or misguided hero rather than a full out true monster. All his horrible deeds have some logic behind them, however tenuous or misjudged.[/BLACKOUT]

Since they'll almost certainly include his wife's suicide (I even think you can see it in the trailer), maybe that will serve as a final severing of his ties to his former life.
[BLACKOUT]Yes his wife does commit suicide, after she sees the monster he has become. And yes it is one of the final cathartic events to happen to him but there's more![/BLACKOUT]

I do hope he doesn't just become a mopey heart-broken man as his excuse for everything
[BLACKOUT]His central struggle and dilemma is actually higher and nobler. He wants to retain his son and retain his humanity. He always has in his mind that if he can keep his bad deeds as a one off, as just to ward of his enemies, he might yet reclaim his soul and be a good man. It is the tension with this thought and how increasingly impossible it is once he has made the bargain. He knows he might be fighting a winning battle against his enemies but fights a losing battle against the devil for his soul.[/BLACKOUT]

it looks like they're showing him cheating on her after his transformation anyway
[BLACKOUT]Atleast in the script he only sleeps wife his wife. His sexual side is not explored at all, only his spiritual struggle with the devil is portrayed and is the central thrust of the movie.[/BLACKOUT]

 

[Boom]

 

[Orb]

Despite the hate it seems to be getting around here, I'll see this cause it looks fun.

 

[Octoberist]

I didn't hate myself, but you know those movies where you know something's off. An initiation that tells ya the movie's more of a rental? That's the vibes I'm getting from this movie.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I didn't hate myself, but you know those movies where you know something's off. An initiation that tells ya the movie's more of a rental? That's the vibes I'm getting from this movie.

Yeah, it looks like one of those movies that I'll DVR when it comes on HBO in a year and watch sometime when I'm putting together an Ikea coffee table.

 

[Drz]

@Slumcat: the Charles Dance character from 1st draft sounds really awesome. I hope they keep it in the final version.

 

[Teelie]

I saw the trailer with the Transformers movie yesterday and my first thought was, "why are they on this misunderstood villians kick?" I like villians with depth and reasoning but this almost seems like they want to make him an antihero instead of just a villian with dark motives.

 

[The Guard]

The music in the trailer is kind of annoying, but this looks solid.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I saw the trailer with the Transformers movie yesterday and my first thought was, "why are they on this misunderstood villians kick?" I like villians with depth and reasoning but this almost seems like they want to make him an antihero instead of just a villian with dark motives.

Yeah, seriously. Once they run out of classic monsters they'll probably move on to trying to redeem serial killers.

This summer... Before he was a monster... Before he was Dahmer...

He was... JEFFREY.

 

[godisawesome]

I saw the trailer with the Transformers movie yesterday and my first thought was, "why are they on this misunderstood villians kick?" I like villians with depth and reasoning but this almost seems like they want to make him an antihero instead of just a villian with dark motives.

That's the real challenge. If the filmmakers have the cajones to portray a complete transformation of a man from hero to mythical monster and don't pull their punches with his final evolution, this could be really good. If the idea of Dracula winning his earthly battles but losing his soul is executed, you have a perfect protagonistic villain you could have appear in other films as the main antagonist.

But if we go Maleficent or Wicked on this thing. It really won't work. The ending needs to be sad and terrifying with a thought provoking edge or else were just watching another version of Underworld.

 

[Young Superman]

The trailer was underwhelming, but I'll still probably seen this film. Mainly because I like Luke Evans as an actor, and I love the character of Dracula.

 

[Warhammer]

Who shows the title card in the first third of a trailer?