Things We Saw Today: We’re Getting a New Spin on Dracula With The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Fans of Bram Stoker’s original novel Dracula will recognize this title. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director André Øvredal is in negotiations to captain The Last Voyage of the Demeter, a project inspired by the classic vampire novel. The film will follow the ship that transports Dracula from Transylvania to England, and the murderous havoc he wreaks on the crew. The project has been stuck in development hell for a while, but now has found new life.

The section on the Demeter’s fateful journey, told via the captain’s log, is one of the creepiest parts of Stoker’s novel. The slow burn of tension and the lack of places to escape—after all, where do you run on the open ocean—all build towards a horrifying climax. By focusing on this part of the tale rather than trying to spin Dracula as a romantic hero or just adapting the novel in full, the story can stay fresh and deliver a one setting horror film. Think Alien but on an old timey ship.

This news is perfectly timed to catapult the Halloween season. Vampires need a good comeback, and this could be a chance to make a really scary Dracula project. I can’t wait to see how it develops, and if this time the film makes it past the troubled waters of development hell into the hopefully smoother sailing of production and release.

(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: Universal)

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  Okay, will do! pic.twitter.com/2bOeXqReKH

  — Wendy Molyneux (@WendyMolyneux) October 1, 2019

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Happy October 1st!

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Kate Gardner

Kate (they/them) says sorry a lot for someone who is not sorry about the amount of strongly held opinions they have. Raised on a steady diet of The West Wing and classic film, they are now a cosplayer who will fight you over issues of inclusion in media while also writing coffee shop AU fanfic for their favorite rare pairs.