Robert Pattinson as Dracula in Chloe Zhao? Negotiations are ongoing

About the preparations for the film “Dracula” directed by the winner Oscar for “Nomadland” Chloe Zhao has been known since 2021. The director has just finished work on the script, which is to be part of the studio’s new strategy of reinventing the canon of its on-screen “monsters”. Zhao will be both the writer, producer and director of the film.

Pattinson, who has ostentatiously emphasized for years that he “hates” the vampire Edward, whom he played in as many as five films of the “Twilight” saga, has a chance to redeem the role nominated for the Golden Raspberry several times, as a “classic” vampire, in an ambitious cinema.

For now, nothing is known about the rest of the cast of the project.

– I’ve always been fascinated by vampires and the idea of ​​the Other they embody. I am thrilled to offer a completely new version of such a beloved character – admitted some time ago Oscar winner Chloé Zhao. And that’s all the director herself revealed.

Peter Cramer, head of the Universal Pictures studio responsible for the project, emphasizes that “Chloé always turns her lens to the stories of the overlooked and misunderstood.” And adds: “We’re excited to work with her to reinvent one of the most iconic outsiders ever created.”

From the information leaked to the media, we only know that the new film about the iconic vampire will be a modern version of the classic story. Zhao’s Dracula is described as “an original, futuristic sci-fi western about a character on the fringes of society.”

The latter theme is present in all of Zhao’s films.

In a famous interview with “Variety” in 2011, talking about his role in the next films of the “Twilight” saga. the actor admitted: “It’s strange to be part of a project that you don’t particularly like.” What’s even weirder is that after this confession, he appeared in two more films in the series. Since then, however, he has come a long way, starring in high-profile films by renowned artists.

Following the massive success of the latest bat-man story, Matt Reeves’ Batman, Pattinson is among the highest-paid and most-in-demand stars Hollywood.

The actor does not hide that the choice of roles depends on the fact who is their director. Over the past 10 years, Pattinson has collaborated with James Gray, David Cronenberg, Claire Denis, Robert Eggers, Christopher Nolan, the aforementioned Matt Reeves, and finally with the creator of the Oscar-winning “Parasite” Bong Joon-ho.

The latter’s project is a science-fiction drama already in post-production, in which Pattinson played the title role. Other big productions in which we will see the actor are the second part of “Batman” and Adam McKay’s dark satire “Average Height, Average Build”.

The character of Dracula – the real king of vampires – was invented by Bram Stoker, who in 1897 introduced him to the world in his gothic novel simply entitled “Dracula”. He was probably inspired by the biography of Vlad the Impaler, a 15th-century prince of Wallachia, famous for his cruelty and strange customs.

Among the whole series of films devoted to the character of Dracula, two are the most famous: the first is the picture “Dracula”, made in 1931, which created the image of a vampire aristocrat known from pop culture. Although it was not faithful to the book original, the character played by Bela Lugosi entered the history of cinema for good.

After many more or less successful attempts to transfer the story of a tragic vampire to the screen, in 1992 the great Francis Ford Coppola returned to this character, shooting “Dracula” with the excellent Gary Oldman in the lead role.

In the film, a Wallachian prince goes to war with the Turks and leaves his beloved behind in the castle. Thinking that the prince has fallen in battle, she commits suicide. When a few hundred years later he recognizes it in another woman, he decides to do everything to win her back.

In the film, alongside Oldman, a whole galaxy of stars played: Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves and Tom Waits. The visually stunning film received three Oscars for make-up, costumes and sound editing. The music for it was written by Wojciech Kilar.