 "...Count
Dracula, the great-granddaddy of vampires, is poised for a comeback...That
Transylvanian bloodsucker will return in a new novel..."Dracula:
The Un-Dead," by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt, a Dracula historian,
was acquired for United States publication by Dutton Books... October
2009 release...first Dracula project authorized by the Stoker estate
since the 1931 film that starred Lugosi..." More
from New York Times |
 "...As
a child, it was easy for Dacre
Stoker to pick a Halloween costume. Mr. Stoker said he knew
he was a blood descendant of Bram Stoker, author of the iconic Dracula,
as a boy growing up in Montreal. ...he got an e-mail from Ian
Holt...a New-York-based Dracula historian...'if we really want
to honour Bram, we should do it like a novel first. And it took
off like a rocket.'..." More
from Toronto Globe and Mail |
"...The new book...has provoked a storm in the
publishing world...
Stoker said that he had not got around to reading his great-grand-uncle's
novel until he went to college. "Word got out about my family connection
to the old vamp and I grew tired of being unable to answer people's
questions. So I chose to finally break down and read the novel...I
had seen so many film versions of Dracula...very few of the films
had any resemblance to Bram's original novel...I found it exceedingly
sad that all of the trash Hollywood had put out monumentally sullied
Bram's and my family's literary legacy."..." More
from  |
"Alright, I'm talking about the vampire...grandaddy
himself, Bram Stoker's legendary novel DRACULA. Apparently we've
got a sequel heading our way!...I found that a bit mindblowing....With
something this big you know we're not done yet!
There will also be a DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD film in the works, of course!
Holt penned the script alongside Alexander Grant. AEI's Ken Atchity,
Chi-Li Wong, Michael T. Kuciak and Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont are
all producing. They're hoping to get cameras rolling around June
2009....this is some pretty huge news..." More
from JoBlo |
| "...the first family-backed use of Bram's classic
vampire tale since Bela Lugosi donned the cape and fangs in the
1931..." More
from DreadCentral |
| "...Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood
descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian
and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing
rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic
novel DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD for well over mid - seven figures..."
More
from Bloody-Disgusting |
 "...Dacre...worked
with Holt on the novel, combing through Bram's actual hand-written
notes that intended to continue his iconic story..."Our story includes
characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher
from the original printing over a century ago"..." More
from First Showing |
| "...Dracula is one of the most recognized fictitious
characters in the world...according to historians’ best estimates,
has sold millions of copies-second only to the Bible...Lugosi's
appearance in Hamilton Deane’s and John Balderston's stage production
of the story on Broadway in New York, fifteen years after Bram Stoker's
death in 1927, sparked the original novel's bestselling popularity.
It has never been out of print since." More
from MovieWeb |
| "...AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael
T. Kuciak (Life or Something Like It, Joe Somebody) will produce
the film adaptation with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont (Speed), and are
expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09..." More
from Shock Till You Drop |
|
LONDON, 1912: Someone is stalking the brave
band of heroes who had defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century
ago . Could it be the vampire that was thought to be dead and buried
is yet the un-dead?
Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel for well over mid-seven figures U.S. to an alliance of Dutton U.S. (Brian Tart), Harper U.K. (Jane Johnson), and Penguin-Canada (Laura Shin) brokered by Ken Atchity, of Atchity Entertainment International the literary manager representing Stoker and Holt., and Danny Baror, of Baror International. The novel will appear in the U.S., U.K., and Canada in October 2009.
Laura Shin, senior editor of Penguin-Canada, who signed up for two additional sequels, commented, "I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters. Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal."
Dutton and Harper signed a single novel deal. Although other precedent-setting foreign deals are already closed by preempts, Baror is planning to sign the bulk of world territories at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.
Using Stoker family connections, the writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel - which, before an editor changed the title, was to have been called The Un-Dead. "Our story," said Stoker, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago."
Dracula is one of the most recognized fictitious characters in the
world, having spawned dozens of books and movies; the original novel,
according to historians’ best estimates, has sold millions of copies-second
only to the Bible, available in over fifty languages - and generated
hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Un-Dead is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full
support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring
Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's appearance in Hamilton Deane and John Balderston's
stage production of the story on Broadway in New York fifteen years
after Bram Stoker's death in 1927 sparked the original novel's bestselling
popularity. It has never been out of print since.
AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak ("Life or Something Like It," "Joe Somebody," "Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not!") will produce the film with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont ("Twister," "Speed,"
"Minority Report"), and are expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09. The script has been completed by Ian Holt and Alexander Galant, who are both managed by AEI and agented by Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner at Abrams Artists.
Both Stoker and Galant are Canadian, though Stoker now lives in the U.S. He coached the Canadian Olympic Pentathlon team. Holt, who has visited Dracula's Castle in Transylvania and is a member of The Transylvanian Society of Dracula, lives in Long Island, New York.
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