'Les Miserables' Star Samantha Barks Joins 'Dracula' with Luke Evans

Vampire movies aren't going away any time soon, but there does seem to be an effort to make them interesting and thrilling again, and more than just fodder for teen romance movies. After kicking around in various stages of development for years, a film based on the origin of king vamp Dracula finally took a big step forward when Luke Evans came aboard, and now the latest addition if Samantha Barks, coming off her breakthrough performance in Les Miserables.

Barks is set to play Baba Yaga, which is a powerful witch from Eastern European folklore. Others joining the already announced duo of Dominic Cooper and Sarah Gadon are Art Parkinson (Game of Thrones) as Dracula's son, Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire) in an unknown role, and Icelandic actor Thor Kristjansson as a slave boy who grows into an assassin for the Ottoman Empire.

With Gary Shore directing, the film will chronicle how Transylvanian prince Vlad became Dracula by risking eternal damnation to save his family from a Turkish army's onslaught. Dracula hits theaters on August 8th 2014. [THR]