Romanian director Radu Jude, riding high off his acclaimed “Don’t Expect Too Much From the End of the World,” has already set up his next film.
Jude’s “Dracula Park” recently secured funding from ÖFI’s project committee. This will be the eccentric filmmaker’s unique take on the legendary character. Jude had previously teased the film, saying at Locarno Film Festival this year that it was about damn time that a Romanian made a Dracula film.
“It’s only Hollywood that has done it 1,000 times,” he said. “We shouldn’t let Hollywood dominate our Dracula.”
Jude has emerged as one of the more interesting international filmmakers in recent years. He won the coveted Golden Bear in 2021 for “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” The win came six years after Jude received the Silver Bear for the historical drama, “Aferim!”
No slouch in terms of controversy over the years, ‘Bad Luck,’ shot and set during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed what happens after secondary-school teacher Emi has a sex video uploaded online, and the backlash that ensues at work because of it.
Now, if you’re about to complain that we don’t need another Dracula movie being greenlit, and there are indeed upcoming projects from Chloe Zhao, Luc Besson and Robert Eggers, this might be an exception as I don’t expect Jude to make a token vampire film, in the least bit.
Jude could be eyeing a 2025 production start on “Dracula Park.”