Luke Evans will be the new Dracula

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that British actor Luke Evans will play the lead in a movie about Count Dracula's beginnings.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that British actor Luke Evans will play the lead in a movie about Count Dracula's beginnings.

Thirty-three-year-old Evans has stepped in to save this project, which started in the late 2000s under the working title Dracula Year Zero. Sam Worthington toyed with the lead role around the time Alex Proyas wanted to direct the movie.

The movie, now simply called Dracula, has the support of Universal. Gary Shore, a publicist who is moving into fiction, will direct the movie before the year is out. The story will center on the events that led to the Romanian prince Vlad Tepes's becoming the first vampire in the history of the 15th century.