It dream team Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Roy Lee are attached to a develop a new horror prequel movie centering on the infamous Count Dracula.
Deadline has the scoop, confirming that Paramount Pictures has acquired screen rights to Dracul, a spinoff prequel authorized by the estate of legendary author Bram Stoker. Word is that Paramount is angling the horror flick as a potential vehicle for Andy Muschietti to direct, with his sister Barbara Muschietti and Roy Lee each holding a producing role. Paramount’s Vanessa Joyce will oversee development.
Set in 1868 and written by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker, Dracul orbits around a “21-year old named Bram Stoker, who meets with an ungodly evil, which he traps in an ancient tower all the while scribbling the events that led him there.” It’s an origin movie, essentially, and Deadline notes that five parties originally expressed an interest in the monster flick before Paramount ultimately swooped in to land the rights.
And considering that It Part 1 – The Losers Club is currently the talk of the town, it’s not all that surprising to hear the Muschiettis lining up a future project. The prequel has seemingly been placed on the back-burner, though, which will surely lend Andy and Barbara enough time to compose the second, conclusive chapter of New Line’s Pennywise saga.
Dracul, on the other hand, is without a release window at this early stage in the game, but we’ll be keeping you posted as more information begins to creep out of the shadows.
Lifted from the pages of Stephen King’s horror tome, It Part 1 – The Losers Club is expected to haunt theaters on Friday, September 8th. Positive buzz and lofty box office forecasts have imbued New Line with a sense of confidence going into the film’s launch, and we understand the Powers That Be are already lining up a sequel that would delve deep into Pennywise the Dancing Clown.