Watching the 2014 film The Guest was enough to convince me that Dan Stevens is one of the coolest actors around these days, so I consider it very good news that he has signed on to take a role in the Universal Monsters project that’s coming our way from Radio Silence, the filmmaking team that previously brought Ready or Not, Scream (2022), and Scream VI to the screen. Deadline reported the news of Stevens’ casting, but didn’t have any information on the character he’ll be playing.
Stevens joins previously announced cast members Alisha Weir, star of Matilda: The Musical, and Melissa Barrera, who worked with Radio Silence on both of their Scream movies.
Radio Silence members Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are going to be directing the film, while the third member of the trio, Chad Villella, will be producing. Their Scream movie collaborators William Sherak, Paul Neinstein, and James Vanderbilt of Project X Entertainment will also be producing the monster movie alongside their Ready or Not producer Tripp Vinson. Jay Polidoro, Holly Goline, Kelly Cannon, and Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for Universal. Stephen Shields wrote the initial screenplay for this take on Dracula’s Daughter, and Guy Busick (who co-wrote the two recent Scream movies with Vanderbilt) has since done some revisions.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story centers on a group of kidnappers who abduct a band of young people, one of whom ends up being Dracula’s daughter. Woe then betides the kidnappers. At one point, the project was going by the title Dracula’s Daughter, but as of right now it doesn’t have an official title. Barrera will be playing one of the kidnappers, while Weir plays Dracula’s daughter.
Whether he’s playing a kidnapper, a character not mentioned in the synopsis, or Dracula himself, Stevens is a great addition to the cast.
Universal indicated to The Hollywood Reporter that the project falls in the lane of such films as Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man and Renfield, Chris McKay’s take on a Dracula side character — movies that provide “a unique take on legendary monster lore and will represent a fresh, new direction for how to celebrate these classic characters.” Universal previously released a movie called Dracula’s Daughter in 1936, telling the story of “Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), the daughter of Count Dracula and herself a vampire. Following Dracula’s death, she believes that by destroying his body, she will be free of his influence and live normally. When this fails, she turns to a psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger). The Countess kidnaps Dr. Garth’s assistant, Janet (Marguerite Churchill), and takes her to Transylvania, leading to a battle between Dr. Garth and the Countess in an attempt by him to save Janet.”
Are you interested in seeing what Radio Silence does with this Dracula’s daughter story? What do you think of Dan Stevens joining the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Stevens recently wrapped work on Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which reunited him with The Guest director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett.
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