Luke Evans is a talented actor who has so far been relegated to some empty historical action. According to Variety, he’s staying historical, but hopefully his turn as Dracula in Dracula: Year Zero will have a little more life to it than, say, The Three Musketeers or Immortals. The vampire project was once under Alex Proyas’ control with Sam Worthington in the lead role, but the budget got in the way of it moving forward. However, Universal was dedicated to bringing the Dracula/Vlad the Impaler hybrid to theaters.
Now, newcomer Gary Shore is making it his first feature (you can take a look at his commercial work here). He’s clearly got talent, but it’s always a little discouraging to see a young commercial director brought on for an iconic project for one reason: it’s done so that studios can maintain strict control over the project. Hopefully Shore will buck that trend by committing a fresh perspective while refusing to be coerced into being a director in name only. At the very least he’s got a lead performer with skills and a definite resemblance to the character. All he needs is a longer (flatter) mustache and a crazy bejeweled hat to make the transition. Enjoy bringing the crossword puzzle to work, make-up and costume departments.