Dracula Year Zero Rises at Universal

[ROBOCOP CPU001]

Dracula IS old.

not if its a prequel..come on kevin.

 

[Jackasscoley15]

Jesus Christ on a cracker, I'm getting sick of this horses**t. Will an adaptation never be made?

 

[CrimsonMist]

And have an interesting and true-to-the-book story? Why on Earth would they want that?

i know. What was i thinking?

 

[jaguarr]

Sounds like a total rehash of the ground Coppola already covered. Lame.

jag

 

[Sam Fisher]

Proyas Helming Dracula Year Zero
Source: Variety
July 11, 2007



Alex Proyas will direct Dracula Year Zero, Universal's origins tale about Vlad the Impaler, reports Variety.

The film, being produced by Michael De Luca, is one of several in the works about the Romanian royal who inspired Bram Stoker's vampire tale.

The trade says that Proyas (I, Robot) was attracted to the script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, enthusing over their "fresh take on the legend."

He said the project manages to play off the horror and the sympathy you have for a character that "sells his soul to the Devil to save his kingdom and family."

The writers, who set up the project a year ago, said the goal was to show Vlad when he was still vital and to explore the fact that he's considered a hero in Romania for fending off the Turks.

"Usually when you see him, he's past his prime and 100 years old," Sazama said.

"In our movie, he's at the height of his powers," Sharpless added.

Dueling Dracula projects set up around town include The Historian, a contemporary book about the search for Vlad the Impaler's grave that Brad Caleb Kane is adapting for Sony's Red Wagon, and Castlevania, an adaptation of the popular video game for which Rogue recently signed up director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard).
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=21854

 

[Hunter Rider]

Now my interest is piqued

 

[Catman]

Now my interest is piqued

Same here!

 

[Mr. Credible]

cool. i love alex proyas' work.

 

[Venom]

Have they canned the sequel and went prequel instead?

Anyway, either of which are cool directions to go with Dracula.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Wait...is this movie about Dracula or Vlad the Impaler? Or are they one in the same in this movie.

 

[jaguarr]

Okay, NOW they're doing something interesting with this project AND they've got a great director attached. This could turn out good.

jag

 

[chamber-music]

Ok wasn't excited at first but with the director of The Crow and Dark City this could turn out alright.

 

[The Lizard]

"One....one tired film concept! Ah-ha-ha-ha!"

 

[rdh007]

If they're essentially redoing what Coppola's already done (pretty well, if not perfectly, I might add) then I have only one requirement. More half-naked Bellucci!!!

 

[jaguarr]

If they're essentially redoing what Coppola's already done (pretty well, if not perfectly, I might add) then I have only one requirement. More half-naked Bellucci!!!

From the new synopsis, it sounds more like they're going to focus on Vlad and the events that lead up to his pact with the devil and how he used it to help fend off the Turks more than anything else. That sort of intrigues me as it's not something that's been explored in great detail on screen. And I do trust Proyas, so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Before, when it was truly just a rehash, I hated the idea of this film.

jag

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=22984

Alex Proyas On Dracula: Year Zero
Exclusive: director talks vampire plans


Alex Proyas – the Australian director of sci-fi epics like I, Robot and the vastly underrated Dark City – was on hand at Comic-Con today with his first project in five years, the Nicolas Cage thriller, Knowing.

But, when we came face-to-face with the Australian helmer, we were just as keen to find out more about his next project: the ambitious horror, Dracula: Year Zero.

As the title might suggest, the movie is a prequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the novel, not the Francis Ford Coppola flick), purporting to tell the story of how one Vlad Dracul became a vampire and, arguably, the greatest villain of all time.

“For me, the script is a very unique take on that legendary character that we think we all know so well,” Proyas told Empire, exclusively. “Creating an origin tale of that character seemed like a no-brainer, but I think it really works. It’s a really emotional journey that that character takes – it’s a wonderfully tragic tale.”

It’s very early days on Dracula: Year Zero for Proyas. Indeed, he’s only just embarked on the post-production period for Knowing, but he’s already beginning to look ahead to a film that should substantially raise the stakes for vampire movies. Ahem.

“It’s a hugely epic canvas,” says Proyas. And with early drafts of the script boasting, for example, vampire armies, he’s not wrong. “But right now with my work, I’m in a process of trying to ground it. I’m getting away from stylisation and trying to make things as realistic as possible. I wanna approach Dracula in the same way. I want to make it a very authentic-feeling piece. It does require less emphasis on CGI, more emphasis on actually creating a world that we can move in.”

There are some, of course, who might suggest that explaining the origin and motivation of a truly great monster only goes to defang it – look at Hannibal Rising and Rob Zombie’s Halloween for proof. But Dracula: Year Zero has immense promise, not least because of Proyas’ ability to conjure astonishing visuals. This could be one to keep a very close eye on.
James Dyer

 

[Wolfman]

Blah... Alex proyas can't change the fact that Dracula has risen from his grave too many times. As is the "emotional journey and a tragic hero". And how exactly are they going to make the audience feel for the poor bstard? "Oh, look, he impales and mutilates his enemies to express his own broken heart. How sweet, how tragic, how romantic.."

 

[Dark Donnie]

News: Alex Proyas talks Dracula: Year Zero “We want lots and lots of blood!”
28 Aug 2008 10:21am


Now that he’s finished up work on Knowing, director Alex Proyas has thrown himself into pre-production for his next effort, origin story Dracula: Year Zero.

Chatting to MTV, Proyas reveals that he wants the movie to hold true to a Dark Knight style aesthetic of realism, which is kind of strange given that his central figure is a neck-biting vampire. But according to the director, he’s going for a “sort of the origin tale that mixes the historical Prince Vlad of Transylvania with sort of fictionalized Bram Stoker take.” Oh, and “we have lots and lots of blood!” Click the link for more.

And if you’re in the mood for extra Proyas quoteage, why not check out the reasons he won’t touch The Silver Surfer with a barge pole.

http://www.totalfilm.com/movie_news/news_alex_proyas_talks_dracula_year_zero

 

[Prison Mike]

wow another movie inspired by TDK...

 

[Leto Atrides]

They do realize that Dracula is explicitly not supposed to be Vlad the Impaler, right? Bram Stoker was inspired by him, obviously, but he purposely gave him his own backstory so it was his own character. Also, he was never supposed to be some grand evil undead king in his own time, he become a satanic sorcerer in his old age because he wanted more power (no dead wife or anything) and turned himself into a vampire. There's nothing tragic about him at all, and Stoker knowingly wrote him that way. In fact, it kind of ruins a lot of the themes of the book to treat it that way.

Don't get me wrong, some epic movie about a medieval vampire king could be badass, ala the Vampire Counts in Warhammer or something. But this
1. Doesn't make sense, whether using the book or Universal's own version, and
2. is going to end up like the Scorpion King. Having it be like Van Helsing would be a best case scenario.

 

[Leto Atrides]

wow another movie inspired by TDK...

I want to find whoever the hell decided stylization was a bad idea and beat the tar out of him. YOU'RE MAKING A PERIOD FANTASY MOVIE ABOUT A VAMPIRE. If they try to scifi it up and make vampirism a disease or something I'm burning someone's house down.

 

[TheFuture]

I like my vampire films but this sounds an awful lot like that docu-film made years ago that was more about Vlad than Dracula.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Uhy...this just sounds horrible. Universal's got their new Wolfman film coming out soon. Why not get Dracula up off the ground as well? Do an adaptation of the novel, a faithful one: gothic horror at it's absolute finest. Hell, i'd be happy if they just do a new kind of story based on the book like the Lugosi film/Broadway play.

I'm sick of long haired, existential "woe is me", leather pant wearing pretty boys writing silly emo poems that don't rhyme and lack any understanding of pentameter kind of vampires. They're not monsters. Vampires are, the last time i checked, monsters. Bloodsucking fiends who feed babies to their undead kin. Creatures who both fear the cross, yet spit in the face of God.

Adapt the novel. It's not that hard.

 

[Dark Victory]

...

 

[Brian Braddock]

With Proyas on board, my interest-o-meter needle has officially moved from 'meh' to 'hmmmmm'.