Plan B & Summit Setting up Shop on ‘Vlad’ This Fall

Not much production news had been mentioned on the development of Vlad since a pair of mentions in winter of 09′ and early spring this year, but if we go by Princess Lia of Romania’s words who was present at the exhibition “Dracula – prince or vampire” hosted by the National Art Museum, then production will indeed begin sometime soon. Confirming that the outside shots of this movie will be filmed at Curtea de Arges, in Romania, and that the interiors, will be filmed in Bulgaria, we should expect some casting news to eventually make the rounds.

The name may not be familiar to most, but Vlad the Impaler is legend in his own right. Known by all Romanians as Vlad Țepeș or Vlad Drăculea, Vlad the Impaler was a cruel figure of 15th century — basically the Prince of Wallachia was a dude you didn’t want to mess with. The way he defended his country from the Ottoman Empire and the way he used to treat his enemies – the Turks, gave him the surname of Dracula. There have been lots of films that showed Dracula as a vampire, films that transformed Transylvania in a dark land perfect for all kind of horror movies, but the Plan B (Brad Pitt’s prod co.) project won’t be one more rehashing of that tale – actually expect this to be a vampire-less type of film. This was the vision that scribe Charlie Hunnam had for his screenplay which he brought to Summit Entertainment (ahem the Twilight Saga series). Hunnam (whom you might know from TV series Sons of Anarchy) wanted to show people the real Dracula, the man behind this name. The American actor became fascinated with Vlad during the time he spent in Romania, back in 2003, filming Cold Mountain, so he started to write his first screenplay.

But the one who will polish the Hunnam script for Summit Entertainment will be Scott Kosar. He previously wrote The Machinist, the 2003 remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Amityville and The Crazies. Kosar is mostly used as a horror writer and it makes me wonder exactly how the original screenplay may diverge from the type of Vlad Charlie Hunnam was thinking of.

For now, what we do know is Anthony Mandler is directing, while Brad Pitt along with Dede Gardner will be co-producing via their Plan B label. Vlad will be Mandler directorial debut, he is best known as a music video director with credits that include videos such as Rhianna’s as well as other videos for Killers, Eminem and Muse’s Neutron Star Collision, song that featured on this year Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack.

About the cast, there are only rumours. According to Hunnam interview for the Entertainment Weekly, Vlad’s role will be played either by Colin Farrell or Christian Bale. His choice would be Farrell, but let’s not forget that the last and only successful Kosar project – The Machinist – featured Bale. Other rumours also involved Brad Pitt in the race for the actor who will play Vlad the Impaler.