It's VLAD "the impaler" not VLAD "the undead"!

Of course actor Charlie Hunnam's"Vlad" script isn't about vampires, even if it is being funded by vampire cash (New Moon) over at Summit Entertainment. If The Hollywood Reporter, and all those who re-churned out their original story (that includes you Drew, tut tut!) had actually thought about what a movie centered around Vlad the Impaler would have been about in the first place, then it would have been obvious from the get-go. And while I'm on the subject, can we just make it clear once and for all that Vlad the Impaler, the infamous ruler of Wallachia between 1456 and 1462 - a cruel tryant who executed tens of thousands of men in the most gruesome ways imaginable and left their impaled corpses on spikes around the forest surrounding his castle for intimidation, has at the end of the day, very little to do with the undead villain Bram Stoker created in the late 19th century.

Vlad the Impaler. The only loose connection between Vlad the Impaler and Dracula, is that Stoker researched early Romanian history when he wrote THE FICTIONAL NOVEL that he is most famous for and took the name Dracul (meaning "son of the devil") from Vlad Dracul, but of course Stoker meticulously researched many periods in history when he came up with his novel, so to even say the character of Dracula is based on Vlad, is grossly inaccurate. Stoker just took the name. Any kind of recent artist re-imaginings in literature or filmic depictions attempting to blend truth and myth, have no basis in any kind of fact. Right, are we all clear now? The opening of Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 adaptation of Dracula begins with Gary Oldman as the Romanian ruler, who is cursed to live forever as "The Undead". Onto this Vlad movie then, and Hunnam says he became fascinated with Vlad during the five months filming 2003's Cold Mountain and traveled around Romania during the downtime from shooting. It took him three years to complete the script, which Summit have had in their possession for a while now before finally deciding to put money into it with the help of Brad Pitt's production company Plan B and the New Moon fortune that has recently transferred into their bank balance. Hunnam says "it€™s a very big and sweeping story. The majority of time focuses on him as a young man assuming his rule as a prince, but we actually go all the way through his life".The Hollywood Reporter said this week that music video and photographer Andy Mandler was in talks to direct Vlad as his first feature after impressing Summit with his video reel, which included music videos with artists such as Eminem and Rhianna. Mander's reel, likened to 300 by execs at Summit, led to some speculation that Zack Snyder's movie might be the visual inspiration for Hunnam's film, which is likely to include many big cast bloody battles...

My hope when writing it was for the end result to be more Braveheart than 300, and I think that as it€™s evolved, we€™ve got a pretty good mixture of both. I labor a little bit more over the history than 300 did. I was really interested in the reality of how this man turned into the myth, and because of some of his behaviors, it€™s actually very easy to weave that mythology in, in a true way. As a writer, you have your idea of what it€™s going to be, and now I have to release it. It€™s Mandler€™s film. But I have a lot of faith in him, and I like him tremendously as a human being, so I feel in safe hands turning my baby over to him.

Hunnam also mentioned that there was little chance of Pitt returning to his Interview with the Vampire days of putting on the fangs and pale make-up...

As I was writing it, I vacillated between thinking about myself playing the role as a fantasy [laughs], and Colin Farrell and Christian Bale. Particularly Farrell. There€™s something very roguish and bad boy about Vlad, and I know Colin a little bit, and I think he has some of the characteristics that would be essential for playing this guy. I love Ryan Gosling, I think he€™s just incredible, but I never really thought he would be 100 percent right. The thing about Vlad is, he wasn€™t a conventional ruler. When he took his throne back after his father had been murdered, he did that using a contingent of gypsies, murderers, and thieves that he found in the forest; he didn€™t hire mercenaries. He had a real affinity for the darker side of society. I think he felt like he was an outcast, too, in a lot of ways. I think Farrell would be fantastic.

Sadly, it has been a dream of his from when he wrote the script that he could play Vlad himself (he partly wrote the script because of his disappointment with the lack of good roles that were offered to him) but Hunnam is well aware of the odds against a studio putting big money into him starring, as he just isn't a bankable name. So... really cool sounding movie, and one that will hopefully faithfully translate what a bloody but smart, opportunist ruler Vlad "The Impaler" Dracul really was. In a world that has been saturated with so many vampire tales and Bram Stoker adpatations, there hasn't been many movies dealing with the factual figure, so this should be a breath of fresh air. And hopefully, it will help distinguish that Vlad and Dracula, strictly weren't the same person.