EXCLUSIVE: Here’s some more intriguing casting for Luc Besson‘s big-budget reimagining of the Dracula story, Dracula – A Love Tale.
Zoë Bleu (Gonzo Girl), daughter of actress Rosanna Arquette, is joining as Elisabeta/Mina, while rising Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, who plays the lead in AGBO and Amazon’s upcoming Citadel: Diana, will play Mina’s friend Maria. These are the roles played by Winona Ryder and Sadie Frost, respectively, in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 version (though Mina’s friend in that film and the book is called Lucy).
As we revealed in February, Caleb Landry Jones (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri) is playing Dracula and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) is understood to be playing the role of a priest.
Lucy and Leon filmmaker and Taken creator Besson is in pre-production on the movie, which will shoot next month in France. Additional casting is underway.
Based on Bram Stoker’s iconic novel, the project will see visionary filmmaker Besson spin his own take on the vampire classic about the dark Prince who is condemned to eternal life. Besson’s version has an origin story element to it exploring the gothic romance between Prince Vladimir and his wife whose loss turns him to forsake God and become a vampire. Buyers familiar with the writer-director’s script tell us there are some epic and potentially spectacular set pieces.
The project has a big budget for a European movie but is nowhere near Valerian levels. Luc Besson Productions is producing with EuropaCorp co-producing. The source of the financing has yet to be disclosed but Paris-based seller Kinology is handling sales.
Emerging American actress and model Bleu’s credits to date include The Institute, Signs Of Love and Gonzo Girl. She is part of the famous Arquette family: the daughter of actress Rosanna Arquette, and the niece of actors David Arquette and Patricia.
Italian actress and singer De Angelis is known for HBO miniseries The Undoing, Netflix original film Rose Island — for which she scored a David Di Donatello award for Best Supporting Actress — and she will next be seen as the lead in AGBO and Amazon’s action-sci-fi series Citadel: Diana.
Bleu is represented by 3 Arts, Greene Talent, and Gang, Tyre. De Angelis is repped by UTA and Volver Actor.