NBC has decided to bring the story of ‘Dracula’ to the small screen with a 10 episode series order.
The series was first brought to the peacock network back in January with a straight to series commitment. That meant that if the NBC brass decided the script was worthy, then it wouldn’t have to go through the usual “make-a-pilot then show it to the network to see if they’ll greenlight it to series” process. ‘Dracula’ went straight to series.
The series has been called ‘Dangerous Liaisons meets The Tudors’ and for good reason too. Casting has already begun as the network has signed on King Henry VIII himself, Jonathan Rhys Meyers from Showtime’s ‘The Tudors’ to play the iconic vampire.
At the Television Critics Association Press Tour, NBC boss Robert Greenblatt stated that ‘Dracula’ would be a “new version of the classic Bram Stoker” story adding, “In the world of ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’ and all the contemporized stories, we thought we’d go back to the original.”
In this revision of the story, ‘Dracula’ arrives in 1890’s London posing as an American entrepreneur who pretends to want to bring modern science to the Victorian society. (I can see this show being a steampunk fan’s dream!) In actuality, he wants to wreak havoc on the ancestors of the people who had ruined his life centuries earlier. The only thing that may get in the way of his plan is that the woman he falls in love with is almost a perfect reincarnation of his dead wife.
‘Dracula’ is not the only show that NBC green lit straight to series as the network did the same for ‘Hannibal’ and Neil Cross’ ‘Crossbones.’
The series is still in development but hopes to be in production sometime later this year.
Source: Deadline
