Dracula Untold producer Michael De Luca (The Social Network, Ghost Rider, Moneyball, Captain Phillips) talks about what brought him to the journey of uncovering the monster’s origins: “As a kid, I always wanted to know who turned Dracula into a vampire. I wondered, ‘Was he the first? Were there others?’ It was a delicious, unanswered question that’s not been covered, even in Bram Stoker’s novel.”
When a script by the writing team of Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless landed on De Luca’s desk, it ignited the filmmaker’s imagination. “I thought it was ingenious,” he says, adding, “the untold origin story and an unknown chapter of an archetypal character we all know.”
The next step in the process for De Luca was to find a home for the film and explore financing and production options. Historically, Universal Pictures was the first studio to adapt the character for screen in 1931, and De Luca explains that this Dracula would finally be coming home: “Universal just seemed like a natural fit. The studio has this storied pedigree with monster movies, and Dracula Untold pays homage to all the beloved films that have come before.”
A desire to take the character of Dracula to unexplored territory became the hallmark of the production. Director Gary Shore says: “We wanted to find new ways of exploring vampire mythology that wasn’t slavish to its roots. This is an adventure story; we see how the character of Vlad reacts to certain situations based on decisions he makes at that time. We are observing Vlad having to make difficult decisions that affect his wife and son, while trying to maintain his family and his people. For this movie to work, you have to care about Vlad’s inner life, as well as his emotional ties to his son and his wife.”
De Luca offers: “There’s a lot of humanity in this story, which you wouldn’t expect from a story about Dracula; emotion drives him. From the second you meet Vlad, you see an emotional human being, a man with care and love as well as violence and power. There’s a lot driving him, and he has to use all of this in equal measure throughout the film.”
Dracula Untold is available starting Feb. 3 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.
© 2014 Universal Pictures Credit: Jasin Boland
