Caleb Landry Jones' Dracula
Check out the first-look image (above) of visionary filmmaker Luc Besson’s muse, Cannes’ best actor winner, Caleb Landry Jones (Nitram, Get Out), in his next project Dracula: A Love Tale.
Although there is no shortage of upcoming Dracula films (Eggers’ Nosferatu, Coogler’s vampire film, the troubled Blade reboot), Besson’s Dracula origin story is sure to be unique.
Besson has framed Bram Stroker’s classic 1847 gothic horror novel as a love story following Dracula as he connects with a woman in Bell Epoque Paris who resembles his beloved wife Elisabeta, who died in mid-15th century Transylvania.
Besson describes his romantic approach to the monster story, saying:
“It’s a love story about a man who waits for 400 years for the reincarnation of his wife. That’s the true heart of the story, waiting an eternity for love, leaving it open on whether the woman that Dracula meets is a reincarnation or not.”
When discussing his inspiration, he credits Jones:
“It’s not Dracula, my fascination is Caleb. We were just chatting about other roles that could work for him. I said, ‘You’d be great as Dracula.’ Then, I thought, ‘You know what, I'm just going to write it. We got on so well on DogMan and since then I’ve only had one wish and that was to make another film with him. He’s crazily talented.”
The Fifth Element director grew close with Jones on their first collaboration Dogman (2023), which premiered in competition at last year’s Venice Film Festival.
