Adi Shankar producing an animated Castlevania mini-series

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

An adaptation of the horror video game series CASTLEVANIA has long been struggling to reach the screen. A feature film was in development for several years under the guidance of MORTAL KOMBAT/RESIDENT EVIL director Paul W.S. Anderson, with Anderson at first wanting to direct the film himself, but over the years handing the helm over to Sylvain White and later James Wan. That version of CASTLEVANIA never came to fruition, getting tangled up in rights issues and stuck in development hell. A few years ago, Fred Sibert and Kevin Kolde acquired the rights to make an animated CASTLEVANIA project through their studio Frederator, the company behind such shows as THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS and ADVENTURE TIME, and it's the animated CASTLEVANIA that's now moving forward, with Adi Shankar joining the project as a producer.

You may know Shankar for helping bring films like THE GREY and DREDD to the screen, and he's also well known for his "bootleg" shorts like THE PUNISHER: DIRTY LAUNDRY, VENOM: TRUTH IN JOURNALISM, and POWER/RANGERS. He announced his involvement with CASTLEVANIA on his Facebook page, saying

I’m producing a super violent Castlevania mini-series with my homies Fred Seibert and Kevin (Kolde). It’s going to be dark, satirical, and after a decade of propaganda it will flip the vampire sub-genre on its head.

Talking with Collider, Shankar dropped some more details, like the fact that the mini-series will be based on the 1990 game CASTLEVANIA III: DRACULA'S CURSE, which has the following description:

The year is 1476, and Count Dracula has started to ravage Europe with an army of monsters. The Belmont family of vampire hunters, once exiled from Wallachia, are called into action by the Church. They feared the Belmonts' "super-human" power, but with Dracula menacing to swallow Europe in darkness, they are left with no choice but to call Trevor Belmont, current wielder of the Vampire Killer Whip.

Joining Trevor Belmont in his mission to defeat Dracula are Sypha Belnades, a young sorceress with poor physical attack power but powerful elemental magic spells at her disposal; Grant Danasty, a pirate with the ability to climb on walls and change direction in mid-jump; and Alucard, Dracula's son, a dhampir with the ability to shoot fireballs and transform into a bat.

Shankar listed AKIRA, GHOST IN THE SHELL, NINJA SCROLL, and YOUNG JUSTICE as influences for the look and feel of the mini-series, which he promised will feature a lot of violence and gore. He also intends for the show to have a heavy metal score like the early games.

I don't think I've ever played a CASTLEVANIA game, but I've always been intrigued by the concept. I had been looking forward to seeing a live action film adaptation, although I had reservations about the involvement of Paul W.S. Anderson, but a violent animated series sounds like a fine replacement for now. I look forward to watching the aforementioned group of powerful heroes take on Dracula and his monsters.