Nomadland filmmaker and rising star Chloé Zhao, whose first blockbuster Eternals is slated for a November 2021 release, has an exciting new project to look ahead to: Zhao is teaming up with Universal Pictures to write, direct and produce a futuristic, sci-fi Western adaptation of… Dracula. That’s not where we thought that sentence was going either.

The director’s works so far have tackled themes of being on society’s fringes, with Songs My Brothers Taught Me depicting the relationship between a Lakota Sioux brother and sister; The Rider centring on a young man who suffers brain damage in a rodeo accident that ends his riding career; and Zhao’s most recent critical success, Nomadland, exploring the lives of nomadic workers travelling the American West.

This same theme is what drew the filmmaker to Universal’s Dracula project, stating that “I’ve always been fascinated by vampires and the concept of the Other they embody.” Universal Pictures president Peter Cramer echoes this sentiment, referring to Dracula as “one of the most iconic outsider characters ever created.”

This spin on Dracula is part of Universal’s move to revisit its most iconic monster films in more filmmaker-driven projects. The critical and commercial success of The Invisible Man last year proved this approach to be a good one, with Zhao just the latest filmmaker to be tapped for such a project. Other talents currently working on developing old monster IP’s include comedy legends Paul Feig and Elizabeth Banks, and genre favourite James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious, Saw, Aquaman).

The campaign to cast Robert Pattinson as a space Dracula starts now.