THE VAMPYRE: BLOOD AND INK Feature Adaptation Starring Malcolm McDowell & Derek Jacobi In Development

THE VAMPYRE: BLOOD AND INK Feature Adaptation Starring Malcolm McDowell & Derek Jacobi In Development

A movie adaptation of what is believed to be the first ever English-language vampire story is in the works, with legendary British actors Malcolm McDowell and Derek Jacobi on board to play the leads.

By MarkCassidy - Jun 17, 2023 07:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Dracula
Source: Via FearHQ

Big news for bloodsucker fans here, as a feature adaptation of what is believed to be the first English-language novel to focus on vampires (it predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by almost a century) is in the works at Milky Way Media.

According to Deadline, production on a film based on John William Polidori’s classic 19th-century gothic novel The Vampyre is set to begin later this year across the UK and Northern Italy, with two legendary British actors, Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and Derek Jacobi (Murder on the Orient Express), on board to play the lead roles.

The director has not been disclosed, but the screenplay was penned by Rosanna Hamlin and Trisha Ward (Nightshriek/The Two Wolves), who will work alongside producers John Ward (The Two Wolves, Children’s Past Lives), John Dodds (Merchant of Venice, The Man Who Married Himself), and associate producer Jamie Bulman (The Two Wolves).

“Polidori’s novel was the source material for many for of the vampire stories that we now know and love and that are so pivotal to centuries of gothic storytelling,” said Ward, Producer, and Co-Founder of Milky Way Media. “This is the origin story that preceded Bram Stoker’s iconic Dracula – and it is time this original version was brought to the big screen. We’re eager to breathe new life into this iconic tale, with an incredible cast and the extraordinary writing talents of Rosie and Trisha.”

Hamlin added: “John Polidori is the father of vampiric literature as we know it and we have him to thank, for everything from Dracula to The Vampire Diaries. To date, he has been an overlooked pioneer of Gothic fiction, so it has been a pleasure to revisit this unparalleled novel and rediscover the timeless allure of the vampire mythos. This story is based around the balance of desire and darkness, love and horror, and the complexity of the mind.”

Have you read The Vampyre? Let us know in the comments section.

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bobevanz
bobevanz - 6/17/2023, 8:02 AM
Star Trek Strange New Worlds premiered on Thursday, where's my [frick]ing article?
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 6/17/2023, 8:13 AM
@bobevanz - thanks for the reminder!
MaxPaint
MaxPaint - 6/17/2023, 9:12 AM
@bobevanz - We need our 5 articles per day about the flash. No room for other news.

dragon316
dragon316 - 6/17/2023, 11:24 AM
@MaxPaint - have f it’s not flash it’s Spider-Man I prefer something new
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 6/17/2023, 8:15 AM
Fun fact, The Vampyre was the first story to make vampires aristocrats, and that was because Polidori was aristocrat Lord Byron’s doctor and [frick]ing hated his boss.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 6/17/2023, 8:20 AM
@noahthegrand - I know this says its the first English language vampire story. Are you aware of any other popular, non-English language vampire stories? I'm sure there are a lot considering where the idea of Vampires originated from, but if I'm being honest I always though Dracula was the OG Vampire story.
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 6/17/2023, 8:24 AM
@CorndogBurglar - im not actually sure about what came before this in other languages. Vampires were a part of folklore and were recorded about in collections of myths and legends from their region.
I know Carmilla came after The Vampyre but predates Dracula and is pretty good. It has the first female vampire.

There’s a Russian short story about vampires called The Family Of The Vourdalak. It comes after The Vampyre but still predates Dracula.
Odin
Odin - 6/17/2023, 10:19 AM
@CorndogBurglar - Carmilla predates Dracula, so does the serialized vampire novel Varney the Vampire. Both characters appeared recently as supporting characters in Netflix's Castlevania. Varney was even played by, funny enough, by Malcolm McDowell.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 6/17/2023, 8:18 AM
I've never heard of this novel or this writer. I was always under the impression that Dracula was the first vampire novel and Nosferatu was the first vampire movie.

Hopefully this is good. I love a good, gothic vampire story but they seem to he so few and far between. Bram Stoker's Dracula is obviously a classic. Interview with the Vampire might just be the best vampire movie ever made. Are there any others that live up to those?

30 Days of Night is a great movie, but I'm not the biggest fan of monster-like vampires. Or sissy vampires like Twilight.
Odin
Odin - 6/17/2023, 10:23 AM
@CorndogBurglar - If I remember correctly, the author wrote this story for a friendly competetion among authors, on who could write the scariest horror story. He lost, however, to a certain Mary Shelly, who won by her story titled: Frankenstein: a new prometheus.
marvel72
marvel72 - 6/17/2023, 9:21 AM
Never read or heard of this but it might be good.
Demigods
Demigods - 6/17/2023, 9:22 AM
Is anyone else confused about this?

Is this an adaptation of the book, or a movie about the author writing the book?

If this was an adaptation, then why the subtitle "blood and ink"? I read somewhere that this is actually a movie about the author writing the story, Ala Shadow of the Vampire?
ChrisRed
ChrisRed - 6/17/2023, 9:26 AM
Always preferred Polidori's story to Dracula - unpopular opinion, but I don't care.
Polidori basically invented vampires as we know them today. The back story of how/why he wrote it is also very interesting and is tied directly Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein.
Origame
Origame - 6/17/2023, 9:29 AM
We should make a movie out of vampire survivor. That'd be a clusterf@#$!
Godzilla2000Zer
Godzilla2000Zer - 6/17/2023, 10:50 AM
Is this about Varney of London
The1st
The1st - 6/17/2023, 11:00 AM
Malcolm McDowell. I'm in.


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