'It' Director Andy Muschietti Potentially Helming 'Dracula' Prequel

Director Andy Muschietti could be the next big name in horror, with Deadline reporting that the filmmaker behind the latest adaptation of Stephen King's It could potentially direct the upcoming Dracula prequel, Dracul.

The project is still in its early stages, with Paramount Pictures having only recently acquired the rights to Dracul, the first prequel to officially be authorized by the estate of Bram Stoker.

"The tale is set in 1868, where a 21-year old Bram Stoker meets with an ungodly evil that he traps in an ancient tower all the while scribbling the events that led him there," Deadline reports.

It producers Barbara Muschietti and Roy Lee are also attached to the project.

Were Muschietti to direct the project, it could potentially throw a wrench into the works of his plans for a follow-up to It. The story revolves around kids who band together to take down a monstrous entity that targets children in the small town of Derry, Maine, only to learn 27 years later that they must finish the task they started as teens for the town to truly be safe.

The original story and previous 1990 adaptation intertwined the timelines of the kids and the adults, but the upcoming film will focus solely on the kids and their timelines. Currently, there are no plans for when a follow-up film would take place, but Muschietti is eager to get to work.

During a recent interview, Muschietti claimed that his next theatrical priority is the second chapter in the It story. However, the screenwriters of the first installment, Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg, claim there is currently no timeline of when production could start on the second film.

The upcoming Dracul, whether it be directed by Muschietti or not, is only the latest in a string of up-and-coming directors taking a crack at vampire tales. Earlier this year, it was announced that director of The Witch, Robert Eggers, would helm a remake of Nosferatu.

With the Twilight series becoming the most prominent vampires in modern cinema, we look forward to the monsters getting the attention of the genre's most promising directors.