Sam Worthington ("Avatar", "Terminator Salvation") has apparantly been cast to play Vlad the Impaler, the Transylvanian warlord who is perhaps better known as Vlad Dracul or Dracula these days. The movie in question is "Dracula: Year Zero", and origin story that will apparantly be based on the historical Vlad, turning him into the iconic vampire in the process.
Word on the internet has been generally negative about this, but I'm actually somewhat hopeful about this. The argument is that Worthington is more of an action lead than the sinister, slender pseudo-european type we usually see as the transylvanian vampire.
If you got the idea that I hate Worthington (perhaps in some of my earlier posts about "Avatar") I have to say that is not the case. He seems like a competent action lead, and though I didn't find him to be stellar in "Avatar", I am actually looking forward to seeing him in this years "Clash of the Titans", a remake of the old Ray Harryhausen-fueled classic.
As for him not fitting people's concept of Dracula, I can only point to another Victorian litterary character that was recently given a radically different treatment: Sherlock Holmes.
Some characters, like Holmes and Dracula, simply have roots and forms so deep and iconic that no re-imagining can overshadow them. If anything this will will be an oppurtunity to give Dracula a new treatment, and an action star might just be the right way to do this.
Plus, if this movie becomes the franchise the titles suggests that the studio is hoping for, we might actually get to see Worthington play a villain - which might just be the oppurtunity he needs to prove whether or not he has really got some acting chops.
What are your thoughts on Sam Worthington as Dracula?
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