A little earlier today, CB wrote a story (which she took down) about Brad Pitt maybe working on an action-oriented Dracula remake called Vlad, as in “Vlad the Impaler.” Vlad was the cruel 15th century Romanian prince on whom Bram Stocker’s “Count Dracula” was based. As it turns out, Brad wouldn’t be starring as Vlad/Dracula, he would only be producing (through his production company Plan B), jointly with Summit.
CB has really strong feeling about Summit, and how they’re run by douches. Summit is the home of the Twilight series, and they’re rolling in money right now, even though they’ve made some particularly crushing decisions in the Twilight franchise.
Here’s CB’s take on Summit: “After all the controversies with Summit and their only hit Twilight I have to think they’ll screw this up somehow. They unceremoniously dumped actress Rachael Lefevre from the next film, Eclipse, and replaced her with another actress. When she protested that the recasting came as a surprise Summit issued a snotty self-righteous statement about how she was wrong and they were right. They even mocked her choice of words. When Summit was criticized for inadequate security for Robert Pattinson on the NY set of Remember Me, which resulted in Pattinson being clipped by a cab, they issued a dismissive statement that didn’t express concern for Pattinson’s safety at all. There’s a different director for each one of the Twilight sequels and it seems like they don’t know how to keep a solid director happy and/or aren’t satisfied with decent work.”
After exploring the romantic angst of vampires in “Twilight,” Summit is developing an action-oriented take on the most famous of the fanged: Dracula.
This one already comes with its own heartthrob in the form of Brad Pitt.
The company has picked up “Vlad,” a script by actor Charlie Hunnam, and is in negotiations with music video and photographer Anthony Mandler to direct the project. Pitt is producing with Dede Gardner via the duo’s Plan B Entertainment production shingle.
“Vlad” centers on Dracula as a young prince; he is known to history as Vlad the Impaler, the man behind the Dracula myth.
Summit picked up “Vlad” awhile ago, developing it quietly, but when execs saw Mandler’s reel, the project got a shot in the arm.
Mandler is a music-video director who has worked with Rhianna (helming 10 of her videos), the Killers and Eminem. Execs were wowed by the reel he prepared, which drew comparisons to Zack Snyder and his work on “300”; Summit tried to land the latter project before it ultimately was made at Warner Bros.
With “Vlad,” Summit hopes to make a visually edgy and radical period movie that also will break a new talent.
[From Heat Vision Blog via We Smirch]
I seriously doubt Brad will star as Vlad, but I suppose it’s possible. Brad is, however, capable of producing high-profile projects without casting himself. Off the top of my head, I can think of a great example: The Time Traveler’s Wife. There were early discussions about Brad maybe taking the role, but he ended up giving it to his Troy buddy, Eric Bana. Personally, I think he’ll end up passing off the Vlad role to another actor. He has more than twenty other projects in various stages of development – including The Lost City of Z, the film which I suspect he’s growing out that awful beard thing. Also, if Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes does well this season, they’re already talking sequel – with Brad as Prof. Moriarty.
