Dracula Untold 2: Will It Ever Happen? Our Writers Weigh In

After “Dracula Untold” was released in 2014 and made sizeable gains in the box office, many just expected Dracula Untold 2 to happen because Hollywood is a land of sequels, spin-off, remaking, and franchise. It will happen, they affirmed. 2015, it didn’t happen; 2016, it didn’t happen; 2017, not even an announcement. It began to dawn on many that it may never happen. Today, the 2022 movie season is upon us and not a word to the effect that the sequel will be on the screen.

There is no lack of interest. The fans are interested, the stars are interested. Luke Evans who played Dracula was vocal about his interest.

“I think it was a really enjoyable process for me,” he said. “I think it definitely had a few flaws in it but I’ve had a lot of good feedback from and I get people asking me will there be a sequel. We left it very wide open, you know, this is a character who could transcend many different times and different periods of history. Who knows. I’d love to bring him back in some concept or context, but honestly, you know as little as I do when it comes to what is going in on the dream rooms of Universal Studios. I really don’t know.”

The director, Gary Shore, has commented that there is so much story to be explored in the Dracula history, so much that the starting point is the problem. This goes to show that the material to work with is available.

How to handle it cannot be a big problem; in fact, this is not a problem. Universal doesn’t even need to re-hire Gary Shore for the show. They can get anyone of their choosing to direct the film and then get writers to do their thing.

So far, it hasn’t happened but will Dracula Untold 2 ever happen? This is not something I would want to do alone, I need as many opinions as can be had on this matter so I talked to the house and I asked everyone who has seen “Dracula Untold” to weigh in.

This is what they have to say.

Kingsley, lead editor: Dracula Untold 2 is definitely coming back

Dracula Untold 2 is definitely happening. The major concern with the movie happening is that the guys at Universal are interested in doing sequels for their monster franchises and putting them all in one world, and they want “The Mummy” to be the anchor movie.

This makes sense. “The Mummy” made 416 million dollars in 1999. Its 2017 reboot also made more than 400 million dollars. Universal has smelled blood and they are not about to just stop and start pursuing Dracula. For now.

And Tom Cruise is the star of the new Mummy. He is a far bigger and more bankable star than Luke Evans. There is no reason to ditch him for Evans. For now.

But I know how filmmakers think. Whenever they look at “Dracula Untold” they see black gold. Of course, they are yet to touch it but it is there for the taking when they are ready. Mark Zuckerberg owns Whatsapp which he purchased for 19 billion dollars. Years after, Whatsapp is still free and there is no ad or anything. But it is a great asset that would one day earn billions for Facebook Inc.

In the same way, it doesn’t matter how long it will take but someday, maybe under a new executive who will come to Universal and ask why TF is Dracula left lying in waste, and he would remake it. Greed is a powerful thing and it is not as if Hollywood is full of fresh ideas looking for someone to pick.

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood

What will be the story of the sequel of Dracula? Well, we saw Dracula when he was Vlad, then we saw him created and made a bloodthirsty monster so there can be no prequel. It is only in the future that we can see Dracula. And I suspect after the end it gave us, they will use a modern world. They can still use the medieval period and set the film between the time Vlad’s son, Îngeraș is crowned Prince and the time we see Vlad/Dracula meet the so-called Mina in today’s London. Hollywood’s imagination is sharpest when they are working on old ideas.

It is not a question of whether Dracula Untold 2 is coming back or not. It is a matter of when.

Lola Pedro, contributor: Dracula Untold 2 will happen with another title

I will not be drawn to engage with the politics of “Dracula Untold” outside of the movie. I have watched the movie and anyone can see by the way it ended that the producers intended to make a sequel.

At the end of the film, we see Dracula in the present-day world reunite with his wife who gives her name as Mina. When he leaves the stage with Mina, we see Tywin Lannister follow them and say, “Let the games begin.”

Shore intended this movie to have a sequel and he prepared the grounds for it with its ending. In fact, I didn’t know that Dracula Untold sequel hasn’t been made. I thought I missed it.

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Dracula Untold 2 will happen but it won’t be Dracula Untold 2. It will be anything, maybe “The Return of Dracula”, or “Dracula Reinvented”, or “Dracula The Superstar”, anything. I look forward to watching Dracula again. It would be entertaining watching him tear through buildings and people’s necks in Fleet Street, Downing Street, the London Bridge, Chelsea, everywhere.

I don’t know why they haven’t made the sequel but if they end up never making it then they have failed the people who loved “Dracula Untold” and who were made to believe another Dracula film is coming and have continued to anticipate.

KC, contributor: The film won’t return

Dracula Untold 2 is not coming back. I think if it were going to come back, it would have come back in 2016 or 2017. Seven years after a movie that explicitly told its audience it’s coming back and still hasn’t returned is not returning. Watching the movie and all its weaknesses, it is hard to see why it should come back.

Filmmakers are a smart bunch who are not cut for unnecessary risks and rebooting Dracula is an unnecessary risk. It came out in 2014 and fans and critics alike didn’t like it. The passage of time hasn’t softened the views of viewers, it has, in fact, only exposed how bad “Dracula Untold” was.

Today, we are approaching the peak of CGIs and to go back and watch “Dracula Untold” with its brave efforts but which now looks amateurish when put side by side CGIs masterpieces of late such as “The Irishman” (please don’t mention “Gemini Man“, don’t get me started, don’t make me mad).

The lack of goriness of “Dracula Untold” seeing that it is PG-13 cost the show. With horror films, when the plot, CGI virtuals, dialogues, subplots, and all literary and technical devices are removed, when horror is de-feathered to its very skin, only goriness is left. Gary Shore failed us in this aspect. Close your eyes for a long second and envision “Game of Thrones” as a PG-13 film.

Nonsense is the first word that comes to my mind.

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But, you will ask, seeing where they failed, can’t the producers make corrections and make a better movie? They can but the risk is too much. It cost them 70 million dollars to make Dracula in 2014 with its poor virtuals in a medieval world.

To achieve a stronger effect in a modern setting in 2021 or 2022 in which they have to destroy cars and blow up buildings, it will cost Universal as much as 200 million dollars. 160 million if they go all frugal and cut scenes. For a 160 million dollars movie to be deemed successful, it has to make double. Now, do you see Dracula Untold 2 making 350 to 400 million dollars in the box office in 2022?

I don’t and I believe many who sit at the desks where these decisions are made do not. The only way to find out is to make the movie.

Common sense will prevail.

Victor Umunna, guest contributor: I don’t care

I watched “Dracula Untold” when it first came out in 2014. After JC contacted me to write about its return or not, I downloaded the film and rewatched it. “Dracula Untold” was a bad movie in 2014, it is a bad movie in 2021.

The problem with “Dracula Untold” was that it was made to bear the name of something that it is not. It is supposed to be a dark, horror, and vampire movie. It failed in all these aspects. A dark movie must be able to invoke shock in the viewer. Yes, a cobra is a cobra; without its venom, it is not a cobra. It is not the way it looks that makes a snake a snake – it could as well be a robe – it is the poison.

There was nothing shocking about Dracula Untold. I expected to see eyes been gorged out, intestines removed from their very roots and teeth tearing into hearts and biting right into the soul.

None of this happened. No horror, no vampire on fire. Luke Evans as Dracula was way too un-vampirish. It must be the way he carried the role, letting the viewers sense certain reluctance in him. It may be the director trying to create a reluctant vampire, but he ended up creating a weak vampire that couldn’t frighten anyone.

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There is no second chance to make a first impression. Luke Evans and Gary Shore had one job, one chance, and they blew it into the sky. Now a sweet economist may talk them into rebooting Dracula and they may listen and go ahead and make it. Their business. I don’t care, I am not going to see Dracula Untold 2 or whatever they will call it.

Amos JC, head movie/TV: I won’t bet on Dracula Untold 2 happening

As the writer of this post, I have the privilege of reading everyone’s opinion before writing mine. It was lazy of me not to have written my opinion while awaiting theirs.

I think Kingsley’s mention of Hollywood greed and penchant for old ideas as the reason that Dracula Untold 2 will be made is something I agree with. Victor and KC pointing at the weaknesses of “Dracula Untold” as a reason it should (not would) not be made, is a valiant point. I think I am caught in the middle. I think Dracula sequel will happen, I fear it won’t.

There is one thing I think the producers or would-be producers of “Dracula Untold” sequel think of, the numbers. How many people actually want Dracula to return. If you look at the total number of people searching for Dracula Untold 2 and all the words related to its sequel on Google, they are less than 15 thousand. About 10 thousand people on earth are interested in Dracula returning. This is a worrying fact.

To make Dracula Untold 2, you will spend more than 100 million dollars which is an average of 10 thousand dollars for every one person interested in Dracula Untold coming back. This is not to say that interest won’t be seen when an announcement is made and cast memebers named, but it will help the cause of Dracula Untold 2 if hundreds of thousands of people are already salivating on the thoughts of Dracula returning to the big screen.

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We can talk about the greed of Hollywood and the slowness of Hollywood to go with fresh ideas so much, but we will be making a mistake if we fail to see that Hollywood employs some of the smartest bookkeepers in the West Coast. Before Dracula Untold two is given the green light, questions will be asked, researches will be made, and the risk measured to the last cent.

These will be the beginning or end of Dracula Untold sequel. For all you may know, they have already made these calculations and found Dracula Untold II returning as a project that won’t be able to pay its expensive bills.

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