As one of the two most frequently adapted fictional characters in history alongside Sherlock Holmes, it feels as though there’s always a new Dracula project in the works, which is probably because there is. Ironically, the Count’s last live-action appearance came in the 2019 miniseries from Sherlock creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, but there are already another four movies in development that feature the world’s most famous vampire in some capacity as Universal once again double down on their classic monsters.
Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher is developing the modern day comedic spinoff Renfield in which Dracula will exist on the fringes of the story, music video and short film veteran Matt Stawksi will make his feature debut with the musical Monster Mash, and Karyn Kusama was announced to be tackling a relatively straightforward adaptation of Bram Stoker’s source novel for Universal and Blumhouse last year.
The fourth and most recent Dracula project sounds like the craziest of them all, though, with Eternals‘ Chloe Zhao signing on to write and direct what’s been described as an original futuristic sci-fi Western, one that just happens to have Vlad the Impaler at the heart of the pitch.
Zhao’s blockbuster debut may have been delayed by a year after the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s entire Phase Four underwent a reshuffle, but we’ve been hearing nothing but good things about the cosmic blockbuster. She’s also in the thick of this year’s awards season race with the acclaimed Nomadland, which just yesterday picked up Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The 38 year-old has a rocket strapped to the back of her career at the moment, then, and you can’t deny that as insane as it sounds, a dystopian sci-fi Western spin on Dracula could be awesome if handled correctly.