If there's one thing you can't accuse Alex Proyas of it's signing up for every project that flaps past his window. Since making his mark with The Crow in 1994, Proyas has directed a grand total of three films and one of those was about an Australian garage band. Sure, he managed to squeeze out a couple of music videos but it’s hardly what you’d call a truly outstanding work ethic. Not that we’re ones to judge. Still, given how carefully Proyas chooses his works, it’s all the more surprising that he’s signed up to direct Transylvanian origin tale Dracula Year Zero.
In no way connected to the dreary pop-horror outing that was Dracula 2001 (Or Dracula 2000 if you live Stateside and enjoy a rather more punctual release schedule), Year Zero aims to cast the bloodthirsty count in a more heroic light, taking him back to his roots in Eastern Europe before he got on the wrong side of Peter Cushing and all that nasty cross/stake business. Cast as a tragic figure who sold his soul to save a kingdom, this Vlad promises to be a different Dracula than prior cinematic counts (the closest probably being Francis Ford Coppola’s tragedy-rich interpretation) but given the hit-to-miss ratio of those tackling Bram Stoker's classic, Proyas may still find the whole thing a rather fangless task. Or something.