Castlevania movie gets "stomped"
- June 14, 2007 17:22 PM PST
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Fans may find themselves very surprised to discover just who's directing the movie version of Konami's long-running hit series Castlevania.
By Jason Coffee
For all those die hard Castlevania fans out there worried about the director of the Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil movies holding the whip on bringing their favorite franchise to the silver screen, how does the director of Stomp the Yard sound?
Variety recently alerted gamers and movie buffs to the fact this morning that Sylvain White, the director of the rhythm-dancing-at-an-African-American-college-hit Stomp the Yard, has just signed on to direct the live action feature film adaptation of Konami's vampire hunting Castlevania game series. The movie is being co-produced by Rogue Pictures and Crystal Sky Entertainment, and will be released by Focus Features, a division of Universal Studios.
The feature was originally set to be helmed by Paul W.S. Anderson, who was also responsible for Alien Vs. Predator. However, Anderson committed to directing a remake of the violent vehicular mayhem movie Death Race 2000 this fall, and is also attached to skipper another long-delayed video game adaptation, Spy Hunter.
Even though he has bowed out of the production, Anderson's script for the movie will still be used, although it might undergo rewrites. The story focuses on a Transylvanian knight who leads his men into a Gothic castle to seek refuge from the Turkish army, but soon discovers that the castle is controlled by none other than Vlad the Impaler, known by some as the original Dracula. This establishes a generational clash between the Belmot clan and an army of vampires, as they feel it is their responsibility to defeat the monster that they have unleashed.
White says he grew up on the game and also is looking forward to making a vampire movie. White also adds that, "Most of the vampire films have been present or set in the future, from Blade to Underworld, and I was attracted by the chance to make a dark, epic period movie that almost has an anime feel to it".
This will be the director's next movie, even though he is also concurrently developing an adaptation of Frank Miller's samurai noir graphic novel Ronin. Filming for Castlevania is slated to begin late this fall in South Africa and Romania, with a late 2008 release date staked out.
