| Dracula: A Love Tale | |
|---|---|
 French theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Luc Besson |
| Screenplay by | Luc Besson |
| Based on | Dracula byBram Stoker |
| Produced by | Virginie Besson-Silla |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Colin Wandersman |
| Edited by | Lucas "Kub" Fabiani |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | SND |
Release date |
|
Running time | 129 minutes[2] |
| Country | France |
| Language | English |
| Budget | €45 million ($52 million)[3] |
| Box office | $26 million[4] |
Dracula: A Love Tale (or simplyDracula) is a 2025 English-language Frenchgothic romance[5] andromantic fantasy film,[6] written and directed byLuc Besson, based on the 1897 novelDracula byBram Stoker. It starsCaleb Landry Jones as theeponymous character, alongsideChristoph Waltz andZoë Bleu. It was theatrically released in France on July 30, 2025, bySND and is scheduled for a wide theatrical release in North America on February 6, 2026.[7][8]
PrinceVladimir ofWallachia renounces God and becomesDracula after the death of his wife Elisabeta during a battle with theOttomans. Over the centuries, Dracula attempts to track down the reincarnation of his wife, creating vampiric agents to assist in his search and developing aperfume designed to lure women to him.
Four hundred years later, while negotiating a real estate transaction with the Parisian solicitorJonathan Harker, Dracula discovers that Harker's fiancéeMina is the reincarnation he seeks. After imprisoning Harker in hiscastle, Dracula reinvigorates himself with the blood of nuns and heads toParis in time for thecentenary of the French Revolution. With the help of Maria, one of his vampiric followers, Dracula tracks Mina down and, destroying the perfume, reminds her of her past life as Elisabeta and takes her back to Wallachia, where she begs him to turn her into a vampire in order to live eternally by his side.
An expeditionary force led by anunnamed priest and Harker lays siege to Dracula's castle. During the battle, Dracula is confronted by the priest, who urges him to repent of his ways lest he condemn Mina to eternal damnation. Dracula allows himself to be staked by the priest and disintegrates in Mina's arms after declaring his love for her.
In February 2024, it was announced that an adaptation of the 1897 novelDracula byBram Stoker was in development, withLuc Besson directing and writing the screenplay.Caleb Landry Jones andChristoph Waltz joined the cast in lead roles.[9]
Besson said his fascination with the project was not sparked by the story of Dracula, but by actor Jones, with whom he worked in his 2023 filmDogman. Wanting to work with him again, Besson began thinking of other roles that would be suitable for him, and settled on Dracula.[10][11]"It's a totally romantic approach," Besson says of his adaptation. "There's a romantic side in Bram Stoker's book that hasn't been explored that much. It's a love story about a man who waits for 400 years for thereincarnation of his wife. That's the true heart of the story, waiting an eternity for the return of love".[12]
In another interview Besson claimed that: "When you take the original novel, it's a real love story. But because at the time [of the novel's release] there wasn't cinema and special effects and all that, people were more pulled in by the fantasy and sanguine aspects [of Dracula]. So he [Dracula] became a horror movie myth when actually, if we dig into the original novel, it's a big love story. So I wanted to go back to this man who loses his wife and who sadly is eternal because God stops him from dying, and he looks for his wife for 400 years."[13]
Luc Besson also admitted: "I'm not a fan of horror films, nor of Dracula". He also stated that he wanted to make a tragic-romantic love story rather than a horror film, even though he kept some horror aspects. What interested him most was to tell the story of Dracula as that of a man who tries for 400 years to find the love of his life.[14][15]
In terms of the film’s visual aesthetics, Luc Besson and cinematographer Colin Wandersman decided as early as pre-production to draw inspiration fromFlemish painting and the pictorial technique ofchiaroscuro[16].
The costumes were designed by Corine Bruand, based on concept art by Patrice Garcia and Luc Besson. In total, 550 costumes were created for the film.
After being designed by Luc Besson, Corine Bruand, and Patrice Garcia, Dracula’s armor was crafted by artisanTerry English, known for his work on Luc Besson’sThe Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and especially for having built the creature suits forRidley Scott’sAlien.
Elizabeth’s gown was made by the Manufacture Royale Bonvallet, nearAmiens, inFrance. The veil of the headdress, which is nearly eight meters long, is a silk organza (the lightest in the world) sourced from Japan.
The soldiers’ armor seen in the first part of the film was crafted inLondon by the team who worked onGame of Thrones.
Most of the fabrics were produced by theFrench workshop BBC Jacquard, based on period drawings[17].
The sets were designed by Hugues Tissandier, who has worked on numerous Luc Besson films. Many of the sets were fully built in the studio, including the interior rooms of the castle (unlike the exterior of the castle, which was primarily created using visual effects). The music box, which appears in the film’s opening shot and is a significant element in the story, is made ofbrass. The Baghdad souk was created using 1,500,000 petals meticulously prepared by the film crew. The paintings of Dracula in the grand dining hall serve as a subtle homage, depicting the main actors who have portrayed Dracula in previous adaptations[18].
The film’s make-up was supervised by Julia Floch, Jean-Christophe Spadaccini, and Denis Gastou, who work on most of Luc Besson’s films. A total of 28 people were involved in the make-up department[19]. Making Dracula appear 400 years old in certain scenes, as Luc Besson intended, was particularly complex. The team notably usedprosthetic makeup, which could not be reused. In total, nearly 200 prosthetics makeup were created for the film, including for Dracula’s head, torso, and aged hands. The make-up for scenes in whichCaleb Landry Jones portrayed a 400-year-old Dracula required six to seven hours of preparation[20], while the make-up forGuillaume de Tonquédec, who played the scientist, took up to three hours. The make-up team also created, among other things, 35 fake severed heads of Ottoman soldiers[16].
According toCollider,principal photography began on 27 March 2024, inKainuu,Finland. The reason for this new shooting location has been reported to be the area's snowy landscapes.[21] Filming lasted from March to July 2024 and took place across several locations, including theParis region at the Dark Matters studios inTigery (Essonne).[22] For the exterior sequences, Besson set up his camera inKuhmo, Finland, and later returned to Paris to film a scene at thePalais-Royal.[22]Production, which began in June 2024 in Paris, had to be rushed ahead of filming restrictions imposed in preparation for the2024 Olympic Games.[22]
Danny Elfman began composing the Dracula A Love Tale’s music by creating three main themes. The first, highly romantic, represents Dracula’s love for his lost wife; it is often played on a music box but also has variations with different instruments and rhythms depending on the scene. The second theme is specific to the large dance sequence, while the third aims to convey Dracula’s warrior and vampire nature. Once these three main themes were agreed upon, Danny Elfman and Luc Besson collaborated on various musical motifs to express strangeness, mystery, and tension, accompanying the different scenes throughout the story.[23]
Dracula: A Love Tale was released in France on 30 July 2025 bySND[24] and is scheduled to be released in 40 countries or so from August 2025 to February 2026 by various distribution companies.[25]
The film was screened in non-competitive section 'Grand public' of the20th Rome Film Festival and released inItaly on 29 October 2025 by Lucky Red.[26][27]
It is also selected for official competition atSitges 2025 in Spain.[28]
It is currently scheduled to have a wide theatrical release in theUnited States andCanada on 6 February 2026 byVertical.[8][29]
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