Jan De Bont to helm DRACULA: THE UN-DEAD

Bram Stoker's great grand-nephew Dacre Stoker and award winning historian Ian Holt have teamed together on a sequel to the classic original 1897 vampire novel DRACULA, which has just been picked up for release in the U.S. next October. Shock Till You Drop also report that a film adaptation is on the cards with SPEED director Jan De Bont expected to shoot the movie next summer from a script by co-author Ian Holt and first time studio scribe Alexander Galant.

"Our story," Stoker said, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago."

The title refers to the original 1897 Stoker novel which was to be called THE UN-DEAD until just a few weeks before publication when Stoker became obsessed with the Romanian name Dracul, and changed the title of his book accordingly. Set in London, 1912, the sequel will follow the heroes who defeated DRACULA from the original tale being stalked by a mysterious enemy. The infamous characters of Jack The Ripper and Madame Bathory could also make an appearance as both were cut out of Stoker's original novel. Mark me down as being more excited for the book rather than the film. I've read DRACULA three times, I love the novel and I'm intrigued to see what they have gathered from Stoker's original writings to put into this sequel. And well if nothing else, the film will at least attempt to be something new and not the same old adaptation we have seen at least a hundred times by now. Though the fact that director Jan De Bont's only previous horror was 1999's THE HAUNTING, I'm reserving my judgement on whether he is the right man for this. Alex Proyas' DRACULA: YEAR ONE, I have more hope in.