The first look at French filmmaker Luc Besson’s gothic drama Dracula: A Love Tale is out and it’s unlike anything the audience has seen before. While Bram Stoker’s classic novel has inspired many filmmakers to present their own take on the character, from F. W. Murnau’s classic Nosferatu to Chris McKay’s Nicolas Cage starring Renfield, a few have chosen to elaborate on the romantic aspect of the character and Besson is doing just that with Caleb Landry Jones getting in the skin of the iconic character.

The first image sees the actor and director on a dimly lit set while Jones is covered in blood, another sees the director literally behind the camera, commanding his set. The images do not give away much but set an intriguing yet grizzly tone for the film. Principal photography on Dracula: A Love Tale began in June with exterior shots filmed in central Paris. It’ll be interesting to see Besson’s vision coming to life on the big screen, as his previous works like Léon: The Professional and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc left fans enchanted.

What’s ‘Dracula: A Love Tale’ About?

ブラム・ストーカー(Bram Stoker,1847-1912)の小説「ドラキュラ」に基づく、リュック・ベッソン監督、ケイレブ・ランドリー・ジョーンズ、クリストフ・ヴァルツ、Zoë Bleu、Matilda De Angelis共演の新作"Dracula – A Love Tale"の撮影現場からの写真が公開されたようだ。(Deadline) pic.twitter.com/TXJd1Mlndf

— cinepre (@cinepre) July 17, 2024

“It’s a totally romantic approach,” Besson says of his adaptation. “There’s a romantic side in Bram Stoker’s book that hasn’t been explored that much,” the director explains. Set in Belle Epoque Paris, Dracula: A Love Tale will follow its titular character as he meets a woman who resembles his beloved wife Elisabeta, who died in mid-15th century Transylvania. While Besson does not divulge whether the woman Dracula meets is a reincarnation of his deceased wife, he further explains, “It’s a love story about a man who waits for 400 years for the reincarnation of his wife. That’s the true heart of the story, waiting an eternity for the return of love,”

While fans have not seen the romantic side of Dracula in the movies, per legends, it was Elisabeta’s suicide that led the character’s real-life inspiration, the Romanian ruler Prince Vlad III to forsake God and embrace life as a vampire. Also starring alongside Jones as Dracula is Zoë Bleu Sidel, who plays Elisabeta and her 19th century alter ego Mina along with Christoph Waltz as a Priest, Matilda De Angelis as Maria, as Elisabeta/Mina and Haymon Maria Buttinger as Cardinal.

Currently no release date for Dracula: A Love Tale has been announced, stay tuned to Collider for further updates and check out the new images above.

via Collider