It’s been over a year since we heard anything about DRACULA: YEAR ZERO, with the only solid information ever being that Sam Worthington (AVATAR) would star and Alex Proyas (THE CROW) would direct. That version was shelved due to budgetary concerns (lightning which also just struck Proyas’ PARADISE LOST), but the project has now been resuscitated with director Gary Shore at the helm. Shore currently only has commercials and one short film to his credit, but there must be something to his style if Universal is entrusting him with what is effectively a reboot of DRACULA.
Producer Michael De Luca has this to say about YEAR ZERO back when Proyas was still set to direct: “…these writers came up with the ingenious-what I think is ingenious-approach combining historical Dracula with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. So it chronicles the efforts of a young prince, Vlad of Transylvania trying to keep the Ottoman empire and the Turks of the time from using his small country as a stepping stone to invade Europe. So there’s a historical basis for all of that history that’s in the script.” I think I see where they’re going with this, and I think i’m interested, but I also know that historical reference did nothing to make BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA a better movie. So we’ll hopefully hear some more soon – the casting of Dracula himself will say a lot either way, and I sincerely hope that they use this second chance to cast someone with a whole lot more charisma, mystery, and simmering energy than Mr. Worthington.
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