A new version of Bram Stoker’s DRACULA has been announced by the BBC, starring HELLRAISER: DEADER’s Marc Warren, best known to British audiences for the TV series HUSTLE, in the title role. Sophia (UNDERWORLD) Myles will play Lucy and Stephanie (MIRRORMASK) Leonidas will play Mina, with Rafe (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) Spall as Jonathan Harker and Dan (FRANKENSTEIN) Stevens as Arthur Holmwood. Veteran actor David Suchet takes on the role of Van Helsing.
The script by Stewart Harcourt was originally commissioned four years ago by rival broadcaster ITV, with Martin (EMBRACE OF THE VAMPIRE) Kemp attached to star. That production was cancelled, however, when it was discovered that the BBC was planning its own Stoker adaptation, written by horror novelist Stephan Gallagher. Now the BBC has the rights to Harcourt’s version and plans to make the two-hour TV movie one of the centerpieces of its Christmas schedule. Director Bill Eagles, whose recent credits include episodes of INVASION and C.S.I., is set to shoot the film in England next month.
Producer Trevor Hopkins tells London’s Guardian newspaper: “Stewart Harcourt’s script paints a compelling and intelligent new adaptation of this classic story. Riddled with syphilis and sex, it penetrates the surface of Victorian society and plunges us into the dark heart of Dracula. This is my personal take on the classic Bram Stoker novel. And I hope its scenes of sex, horror and disease will blow the cobwebs off traditional period drama, and provide a classic literary chiller perfect for a dark winter night.”
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