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Luc Besson is set to adapt Bram Stoker's Dracula, Collider reported.
Two-time Academy Award-winner Christoph Walyz and Caleb Landry Jones are rumored to be in talk to star in the movie.
The Dracula remake will be Besson's and Europacorp's first major film in recent years. Europacorp is the French production company that made the Taken franchise.
The movie's story follows “15th century Prince Vladimir, who cursed God following the death of his beloved wife and is turned into a vampire. Later, in 19th century London, he discover's his wife's doppelgänger and dooms himself by pursuing her.”
Dracula 101
The novel Dracula was written by Bram Stoker and published in 1897. The story of the most famous vampire in the world has been adapted on the big screen several times. Most of the classic Dracula movies have been categorized in two: Universal and Hammer.
Universal's first Dracula film was released in 1931 starring Bela Lugosi. It was followed by 1936's Dracula's Daughter and 1943's Son of Dracula.
Hammer's first Dracula film was released in 1958 starring Christopher Lee. This was followed by eight more films, ending with 1974's The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires.
The most recent Dracula film was last year's Renfield starring Nicolas Hoult as the titular character and Nicolas Cage as the vampire. While the movie didn't resonate with the critics, earning a 58% critics score from Rotten Tomatoes, the audience seemed to feel different, having given it 79%. It also earned a modest $26.5 million worldwide against an $8 million budget.
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The most famous, at least after Lugosi's and Lee's, Dracula interpretation was Gary Oldman's in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula. The star-studded movie also included Sir Anthony Hopkins as Prof. Abraham Van Helsing, Winona Ryder as Mina Harker and Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker.
Will this be Luc Besson's big comeback?
Dracula may be Besson's big comeback film after 2014's Lucy and 2017's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets didn't impress the critics. Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson, got mixed reviews with 66% critics score and 47% audience score from Rotten Tomatoes. However, that didn't deter moviegoers from watching the film. From a reported budget of $40 million, the movie earned a worldwide box office gross of $469 million.
Valerian, on the other hand, was mauled by critics and earned a 48% critics' score. It didn't fare better with the audience who gave it 53%. Unlike Lucy, Valerian suffered at the box office due to its outsized price tag at $177 million and only making $226 million worldwide.
Besson's latest film Dogman received mix reviews at the Venice International Film Festival. Dracula will be a reunion for Besson and Landy Jones, who has the lead role in Dogman.
Besson is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed movies 1990's Nikita, 1994's Léon: The Professional and 1997's The Fifth Element.
