Luke Evans is finishing his run as Bard the Bowman in this year's “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies,” the third entry in that series, and he is definitely interested in being an integral part of another franchise. He has a chance at that with this week's “Dracula Untold.”
Directed by Gary Shore, this new tale of the world's most famous vampire is an origin story, with Evans starring as the Transylvanian Prince, Vlad III. Taking place in the 15th Century, the movie offers the story of how Vlad, (in this version) a kind and just ruler with a questionable past winds up becoming the monster we know as Dracula.
Evans spent a few minutes with us earlier this week to talk about the movie and whether he'll ever wear fangs again. Short answer, he hopes to.
“I'd love to go wherever he's going to go,” Evans said. “Let's hope that this movie is a success and everybody loves it enough to want to see where he could go, he could go many places.”
As for those places and other films, Evans only said, “We have spoken about it.” He would not divulge any other information.
What we do know is that Universal is working on putting together a monster universe. The Dracula we meet in “Untold” seems to fit into that universe in some way.
On the same day we spoke to Evans, director Gary Shore told us the Universal has, “grand ambitions to set up this sort of monster universe,” and that “there is some DNA within this film that will tie it into… that future architecture.” He also noted that when he directed “Untold,” at least in his mind, it was “a standalone piece that then… had a little bit of DNA to tie it together.”
Looking specifically at this film, “Dracula Untold” is far less about the ending, than about the journey. Everyone knows what is going to become of Vlad, the trick is making you still care, and perhaps forget where it's going while you're watching.
Evans believes that the audience won't spend the whole time thinking about what is to come, “Even when you're watching it, I don't think you're thinking 'Oh yeah, cause he turns into Gary Oldman.'” He further explained, “It's such an immersive storyline… you're so caught up in his journey.”
That journey features Sarah Gadon (“Belle”) as Vlad's wife, Mirena; Dominic Cooper (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) as Vlad's former friend turned enemy and Sultan, Mehmed; and Charles Dance (“Game of Thrones”) as a powerful old Vampire.
Whether or not you can forget where Vlad the Impaler is headed during the film is something you'll have to see for yourself. “Dracula Untold” opens this Friday, October 17th.