After “Dogman”, released in September 2023, Luc Besson is back behind the camera with a new version of “Dracula”. Filming has just started in Finland.
After his legal setbacks which kept him away from the sets for a few years, Luc Besson returned in September 2023 with Dogman. Directed by Caleb Landry Jones, the film told the incredible story of a child, bruised by life, who finds salvation thanks to the love his dogs have for him.
The feature film, shot for an estimated budget of $20 million, was a commercial failure, grossing only $4 million internationally. In France, it only attracted 290,000 curious people. Despite this disappointment, Luc Besson has already started another project, a new version of Dracula, announced last February.
Dracula returns to haunt the cinema
In an interview given to Collider, the 65-year-old filmmaker revealed that filming had started in Finland. Caleb Landry Jones collaborates with Besson again after Dogman. He will portray the famous Transylvanian vampire. Christoph Waltz, Oscar winner for Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds, will also be there.
“I have already started filming Dracula with Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz. I started a few days ago in Lapland, in the north. We will probably finish at the end of July”confided Luc Besson.
“I was attracted by the love story. When you read the book, for me, the most interesting part is about this man who will wait for centuries and centuries because he wants to see his wife again. According to for me, it’s the ultimate love story”indicates the French director.
Caleb Landry Jones very committed
The latter also mentioned the unfailing involvement of Caleb Landry Jones for the role of Dracula. The actor will lose weight and work on a Romanian accent to slip into the costume of the most famous bloodsucker in popular culture. If all goes well the film could be released next year according to Luc Besson.
“Caleb is going to start his preparation. You have to have the Romanian accent, so you have to work on that a lot. He has to lose weight, then prepare, like we did for Dogman. It’s the same thing. But it’s not going to start right away. It will start in a month. We’re shooting everything in snowy landscapes.”underlines the director.
As a reminder, Dracula is the second most interpreted character in cinema, just behind Sherlock Holmes, with nearly 200 screen adaptations, all genres combined – and this since 1922 with the first adaptation of Bram Stoker’s work (and the first film dealing with the theme of the vampire), Nosferatu the Vampire by Friedrich Murnau.