One of the better news stories this year was news that “Destroyer” and “The Invitation” director Karyn Kusama had settled on a deal with Blumhouse Productions on a new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” for the studio.
Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay are penning the script which, like Leigh Whannell’s recent “The Invisible Man,” is expected to be a stand-alone, modestly budgeted genre feature based on the literary classic.
Kusama recently spoke with the Stephen King podcast The Kingcast (via SYFY) and says her project is not only a loyal adaptation, but it will eliminate one aspect that has often been heavily emphasised in earlier adaptations but barely exists in the book – romanticism:
“It’s a fairly faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel. I think something that gets overlooked in the adaptations of Dracula in the past is the idea of multiple voices. In fact, the book is filled with different points of view. And the one point of view we don’t get access to, and all most adaptations give access to, is Dracula himself. So I would just say in some respect, this is going to be an adaptation called Dracula, but it’s perhaps not the same kind of romantic hero that we’ve seen in the past… in past interpretations of Dracula.”
It’s not clear when production on the new film will commence. Sebastian Stan, who has worked with Kusama before and is Romanian by birth, has been already publicly put his hand up for the lead role.
