Remember the name Chloe Zhao. The director is fresh off a Golden Globe nomination for her sprawling drama “Nomadland” and is likely to be the first Asian woman nominated for a Best Director Academy Award.
She’s also slated to be the writer and director of the upcoming Marvel film, “Eternals.” The film will kick off Marvel’s highly anticipated Phase 4 and is expected to diverge from the films in the first three phases. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zhao will follow “Eternals” with a western sci-i Dracula remake.
Zhao will direct the film for Universal Studios, who previously produced Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man.” Originally, Universal envisioned a “monster-verse” in which monsters like Dracula and the Invisible Man would appear in the same film. However, they instead decided to produce stand-alone monster movies with a more auteur-driven focus, as seen in Wannell’s fantastic reimagination of “The Invisible Man.”
Zhao seems to be a filmmaker interested in the outsider. “Nomadland” is all about a drifter’s journey through the U.S. and the people she meets while living on the outskirts of society. “Dracula,” to some degree, is an outsider in his own right. Zhao addressed this in her statement to THR, stating “I’ve always been fascinated by vampires and the concept of the Other they embody.”
“Dracula,” based on Brian Stoker’s novel of the same name, has been adapted into films countless times. However, Zhao’s direction in “Nomadland” and the upcoming “Eternals” proves that she’s ready to revitalize the Vampire genre and bring a youthful exuberance to an already timeless story.
