After 17 years, ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ may finally float closer to reality. After formerly being based at Phoenix Pictures and Millennium Films, the project has shifted over to Amblin Partners, and ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’s André Øvredal is attached to helm. ‘Altered Carbon’ and ‘Black Swan’s Bradley J. Fischer, Mike Medavoy, and Arnold Messer are producing. Fischer worked as a producer on Amblin’s ‘The House with a Clock in its Walls’, and is reportedly the one responsible for introducing ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ to Øvredal.
Øvredal first gained notice for the pseudo-documentary ‘Trollhunter’, followed by the acclaimed horror film ‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe’. That drew the attention of Guillermo del Toro, who enlisted him to helm the recent horror movie ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’, which del Toro produced.
Øvredal is attached to helm the Stephen King adaptation ‘The Long Walk’, and is expected to make that before turning his attention to ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’.
The Demeter was the name of the ship that transported Dracula, hidden in a coffin, from Transylvania to London. If you are familiar with the Bram Stoker novel, or the several adaptations of it, you know the ship arrived completely unmanned. The only person still alive was Renfield, who appeared to have been driven mad. This portion of the Dracula story is sort of a footnote, so it should be interesting to see it embellished. Reportedly, the story will show the crew members being killed off one-by-one by the mysterious menace Dracula, who they did not realize was aboard.
This film has been in the works since 2002, when Bragi Schut completed the first draft. At times, Robert Schwentke and Marcus Nispel were both attached to direct. In 2011, David Slade was announced as directing, with Noomi Rapace, Jude Law, and Ben Kingsley attached to star. Then, in 2012, Neil Marshall signed on to direct, with Rapace and Kingsley expected to remain, but with Viggo Mortensen replacing Law in the role of Henry Clemens. Rapace’s character was named Anna Billington, and though unnamed, Kingsley was to play the captain of the Demeter.
Here’s hoping that at long last, the Demeter will reach its destination.
Does this sound like an interesting horror movie to you?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
