In the wake of Sam Worthington's phenomenal success in both Terminator Salvation and Avatar, the Aussie actor found himself attached to a number of films in the following months. One of the first was a somewhat promising sounding vampire film, Dracula Year Zero. Directed by Alex Proyas(Knowing), Worthington would have starred as Vlad the Impaler, whose reputation for cruelty ultimately led Bram Stoker to base Dracula on him. The project seemed to be permanently shelved when Proyas left to pursue the now defunct Paradise Lost, and Worthington quietly faded from view. Now Universal seems amped to make another run at it, but with some major changes.
Originally set to cost well over $100M, that figure simply isn't going to work nowadays. In fact, the budget was a major reason why the film died last time, so expect a smaller scale production. Plus, without the veteran Proyas to direct, Universal has decided on Gary Shore to be behind the camera. Shore is an unknown in most circles, but he's become a quick favorite to studios after his samurai short film, The Cup of Tears, became an internet hit and was picked up to be made into a feature film.
After being optimistic about it, this sounds like a much less interesting film now. Is there a chance Worthington could come back? It's possible, but I wouldn't count on it. [Deadline]
