Who said vampires were on their way out? Warner Bros. believes there’s still more business to be wrung out of pop culture’s latest obsession and are quickly moving on a new spin of an old tale.
Deadline reports that WB is putting the finishing touches on a deal to acquire “Harker,” a spec script by Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy. The film is a reinvention of the familiar vampire that “focuses on Jonathan Harker as the Scotland Yard detective who is tracking Dracula, and the script sets up the sleuth as a potential new franchise character.” To direct the project, the studio is turning to Jaume Collet-Serra, the man behind “Oprhan” and the upcoming Liam Neeson thriller “Unknown. “Harker” is set up at Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Appian Way shingle though he will not be starring in the picture; the production company was also behind Collet-Serra’s “Orphan.”
No word yet on when this will go in front of cameras or what casting might be involved, but apparently the deal contains language to the tune of this one moving fast so don’t be surprised if it lenses this year. Hmmmm, a new take on the vampire genre? As long as it’s not like “Van Helsing,” we’ll give it a whirl.
