Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element, Anna) is venturing into gothic territory with Dracula, a romantic revamping of Bram Stoker’s enduring myth. Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out, Antiviral) takes the title role opposite Christoph Waltz – fresh from Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein – with Zoë Bleu, Matilda de Angelis, Guillaume de Tonquedec, Ewens Abid, and Raphael Luce rounding out the ensemble.
For Besson, the film was never just about Dracula himself. It began with a desire to work again with Jones, following their collaboration on Dogman. In exploring roles that might suit him, Besson found himself drawn to Stoker’s creation – but through a lens he describes as “totally romantic.” The film shifts focus to a story often overlooked: a man fated to endure four centuries in search of his wife reborn.
Set in the 15th century, Dracula frames its titular prince as a tragic, immortal figure, transformed by grief and obsession. Jones’ Dracula is pursued by a priest, played by Waltz, as the film leans into gothic romance and melancholic fantasy rather than conventional horror.
Ahead of the film’s U.S. release on February 6, CinemaChords spoke with Zoë Bleu and Caleb Landry Jones about inhabiting a Dracula defined by love, loss, and longing, navigating the weight of the character’s legendary legacy, and giving form to the melancholy of immortality.
