Legendary Pictures, the studio behind the likes of The Dark Knight, The Hangover, Pacific Rim, The Town, and the upcoming Godzilla remake, recently signed a new distribution deal with Universal Pictures. And as part of that deal, Legendary has the right to pick through the moribund projects its new partners haven't yet found a way to bring to the screen.
Among the first to catch its eye was Dracula: Year Zero, a movie announced amid last year's horde of monster movies. Everyone's favorite bloodsucker was going to get an origin story, somewhat of a novelty in Hollywood these days, with Sam Worthington staring as Dracula and Alex Proyas (Dark City) in the director's chair. (The Year Zero refers to Dracula's beginnings as a vampire, incidentally, not a story in which Dracula goes back in time to the year zero and tries to bite Baby Jesus in the manger. Although. that might be interesting too)
Instead, Universal killed it, as the film was going to cost too much money. But like some sort of thing that won't stay buried (A weed? A water main? There must be a good metaphor out there somewhere), the movie has sprung back to life under the simplified, familiar title Dracula, with The Hobbit's Luke Evans wearing the fangs and first-time director Gary Shore presumably saving the studio some money.
Dracula is already in production and will hit theaters in August 2014.