Samantha Barks, the young actress who played Eponine in last year’s Les Miserables, will next sink her teeth into the tragic role of a beautiful woman from Eastern European folklore who becomes a vicious witch known as a “baba yaga,” in Universal’s upcoming Dracula adaptation.
Barks joins a rapidly growing cast led by Immortals‘ Luke Evans, who will portray the titular Prince of Darkness. Other stars attached include The Devil’s Double‘s Dominic Cooper, A Dangerous Method‘s Sarah Gadon, Icelandic actor Thor Kristjansson, Game of Thrones‘ Art Parkinson, and Boardwalk Empire‘s Charlie Cox. Out of those, only Kristjansson and Parkinson’s roles have been announced – Kristjansson will play an Ottoman assassin named Bright Eyes, while Parkinson will portray Dracula’s young son Ingeras.
The Universal film will trace the origins of Dracula, portraying him as a mortal Transylvanian prince desperately searching for ways to protect his family from the invading Turkish army. From what little we’ve heard thus far, the movie looks like a fresh take on the Dracula legend, more of a full-blooded historical epic than a toothless Twilight romance, which is good news for those who like their vampire tales dark and gory.
Dracula will be directed by Gary Shore, a newcomer with only a short horror film called The Draft to his name. It’s a pretty huge project for such an untested director, but Universal has shown a tremendous amount of confidence in Shore by handing him the reins on this film, which gives me hope.
Dracula is set for release on August 8, 2014, which means we should be hearing lots more news about the project very soon.
What do you think about Dracula? Has the vampire fad been entirely bled dry by shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, or are you (blood)thirsty for more? Let us know in the comments section.