The Fifth Element director Luc Besson has confirmed his Dracula movie has begun filming in Finland with stars Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz.
The adaptation, which Besson revealed was on his slate only recently, will closely follow Bram Stoker’s classic tale.
Besson’s Dracula to Focus on Romantic Side of Classic Tale
Besson was speaking to Collider for his current movie DogMan, which also stars Landry-Jones, and revealed Dracula was not only his next project, but that he’s already in the shooting stage in Finland.
“I’ve started already. I’m gonna make another movie with Mr. Caleb Landry Jones and Mr. Christoph Waltz — Dracula. I started a few days ago in Lapland in the north. We’ll probably finish at the end of July.”
Besson is focusing on the tragic romance side of the book for his adaptation
”[I was drawn to] the love story. When you read the book, for me the most interesting part is this man who’s gonna wait for centuries and centuries because he wants to see his wife again. So, for me, it’s the ultimate love story.”
There was praise for the commitment Caleb Landry Jones has given to his role as the titular vampire, with weight loss and accent coaching among the prep on the actor’s list, but Besson says he won’t be on set for a month yet.
In case somehow you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about 15th-century Prince Vladimir, who cursed God following the death of his beloved wife and is turned into a vampire. Later, in 19th-century London, he discovers his wife’s doppelgänger and dooms himself by pursuing her.
Dracula is one of the most adapted horror stories of all time with notable iterations including Tod Browning’s 1931 Universal Monsters launchpad starring the iconic Bela Lugosi, and Francis Ford-Coppola’s divisive take starring Gary Oldman. Over the years, the titular character has also been played by Christopher Lee, Rutger Hauer, Nicolas Cage, Frank Langella, and Jack Palance.