Gary Shore talks ‘Dracula Untold,’ Universal Monsters and Bram Stoker’s vampire
The most famous vampire is back in Dracula Untold and director Gary Shore previewed his inspiration behind the character and how the
“I didn’t grow up on the 1930 classic monster movies. I think when you are a kid and you see these black and white monster movies you tend to think they’re hokey. It was only when you get a little bit older you have more of an appreciation for it and its cinema history,” Shore says of the Bela Legosi classics in a Movie Viral interview.
So, fast forward to 2014 and Shore has a big burden in the handling of the character.
“So the responsibility on a cinematic level or historical level within the studio. But the biggest responsibility for me was to try and take this character, bring him into the current period, and what I think an audience may want. What would an audience find entertaining. This isn’t the Dracula of Bram Stoker’s novels. The beginning seeds to be able to get there. It sets itself in the 1460s and made a bridge to what would eventually be Bram Stoker’s Dracula 400 years later.”
Fans want to know how Luke Evans’ Dracula will fit into the Universal Monster franchise, but Shore offered little insight to Movie Viral.
“I was just focused on Dracula Untold, its origins story of one guy, the legend aspect, who was this guy before he became Dracula, that was the only thing that I was focused on and was important to me. I brought in about three and a half years ago, and this wasn’t being moved as being a part of a universe, the universe came in in the last year or so, and they announced a couple of months ago, and that was being talked about behind the scenes.”
That said, expect more: “People’s appetite to see these stories played out in long form, like Marvel and their universe. I think they will be in pre-production for the next 20 years. Honestly, they are giant architectural designs they have. I think every studio is looking at what their foundations are to create those same media brands and structures. Marvel has their own, Warner Bros. has DC, and Universal has this back catalog of monsters. How they go about and do it – the big challenge there is to create anti-heros or having all these anti-heroes work out in the same place, but for me I was focused on telling the story as best I can.”
The film also stars Sarah Gadon (as Vlad’s wife Mirena), Dominic Cooper (as Sultan Mehmed), Samantha Barks (as the witch Baba Yaga), Art Parkinson (as Vlad’s son Ingeras), and Charles Dance (as the ancient evil force) along with Charlie Cox, Will Houston, Ferdinand Kingsley, Noah Huntley, Dilan Gwyn, Zach McGowan, Ronan Vibert, Diarmaid Murtagh, Thor Kristjansson, and Joseph Long.
Check out our exclusive interview Noah Huntley on the film and his other projects HERE
Dracula Untold opens in theaters tomorrow, October 10.
