Another long in development project has wrapped filming, this time Amblin Entertainment’s The Last Voyage of Demeter, a dark tale inspired by the captains log entries of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which detailed the fateful journey of the ship that brings the bloodthirsty Count to the shores of Whitby. As far as the history of the movie goes, this is currently one film that was stalled by much more than just the Covid pandemic shutdowns and has been in development hell for almost two decades from when it was first announced, and finally making it to the wrapped stage is something that many on board the project probably never expected to happen.
Cheers to director André Øvredal and his talented cast and hardy crew on the completion of principal photography for THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER. You are the lifeblood of this creative endeavor, and as we all know, the blood is the life… pic.twitter.com/JsC87T3Ruu
— Amblin (@amblin) September 30, 2021
The original script for the movie was written back in 2002 and was originally to be directed by Robert Schwentke, but as the years passed by with no real movement on the project Schwentke moved on from the movie and was replaced by Marcus Nispel, then Stefan Ruzowitsky, and then David Slade and Neil Marshall among a few others who made brief connections with the film. Finally in 2019, an announcement was made that Andre &Øvredal would be directing a new version of the script, written by Zak Olkewicz who would be taking over from original screenwriter Bragi Schut, and then of course we hit pandemic territory.
However, like the ship of the title, the film weathered that storm and has now come out the other side with principle photography in the can and the movie sailing towards a January 2023 release according to a Twitter post by Amblin Entertainment, which read:
“Cheers to director Andr&é &Øvredal and his talented cast and hardy crew on the completion of principal photography for THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER. You are the lifeblood of this creative endeavor, and as we all know, the blood is the life and our gratitude to Berlin and Malta for your hospitality and hosting our production. THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER sets sails, only in theaters, January 27, 2023.”
Based on the Captains Log chapters of Stoker’s highly inspirational novel, the film will feature Dracula himself, to be played by Javier Botet, whose six-foot seven inches stature is a good indication that the film will be delivering a classic depiction of the Count. Botet has often appeared in horror movies as an array of creatures, with prominent appearances in IT, The Conjuring 2, Crimson Peak and Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark, which was directed by &Øvredal. Joining Botet on the voyage will be Game of Thrones‘ Liam Cunningham as the ship’s captain, while The Suicide Squad‘s David Dastmalchian portrays the Demeter’s first mate .
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is one of a number of new Dracula inspired projects coming in the near future. Nicholas Hoult has recently been cast in Renfield, a modern take on the character that will have a light-hearted approach to the subject matter and focus on Dracula’s handyman realizing that he is in a “bad, co-dependant relationship”. Dracula will also feature in the Universal Studios Monster Mash musical movie, which was announced in 2020, and Blumhouse are reportedly putting a contemporary spin on the vampire myth in a new movie that was added to their heaving slate of upcoming horror projects. The Last Voyage of the Demeter will arrive in theaters on January 27th, 2023.