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Saw creator whipping up Castlevania film - Report

James Wan named new director, cowriter of Paul W.S. Anderson-produced adaptation of Konami's vampire hunter franchise.

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Konami's Castlevania film has been staked enough times to give the Impaler himself pause. First revealed in 2005 under the direction of Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat), the production has since hit myriad hang-ups and direction changes. In May, horror-enthused film site Bloody-Disgusting reported that the film had entered purgatory after a collaboration between director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) and writer Ian Jeffers (Death Sentence) fell through.

A villa with wonderful vistas.
A villa with wonderful vistas.

Like a good vampire, though, Hollywood can't keep Castlevania down. As part of Comic-Con 2009 today, James Wan, who cowrote and directed Lionsgate's horror film Saw, told Bloody-Disgusting that he would be cowriting and directing Castlevania, with Anderson producing.

"I'm very fresh on this project, so it's early stages, and I'm still trying to work things out, but the producers love my vision for it," Wan told Bloody-Disgusting. "I'll be working on the script with a writer to give it a new spin, different to the previous versions. This will have my stamp on it, which Konami is very excited about."

"The thing I love about what Konami did with Castlevania was taking the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting and retelling it with a Japanese pop-cultural sensibility," Wan said of his vision for the film. "That's the East-meets-West tone I want to visually expand on for the film. I'm thrilled by the opportunity to make a highly stylized, fantasy, action film that focuses on the gothic storyline and the cool, anime-like characters."

Wan did not indicate when the project would begin filming, nor any other talent associated with the production.

As announced during its press conference during the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Konami has tapped Spanish studio Mercury Steam, along with Hideo Kojima's Kojima Productions, to give its venerable Castlevania franchise a reboot in 2010 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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ZaKarn69

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I would love to see Tim Burton do HIS version of Castlevania. Then, maybe, it will be dark enough.

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naraku2099

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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NightStalkerBX

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Could be good...if you get that retard W.S. Anderson off the project. And sign a halfway decent director to replace him.

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VisceriousZERO

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Awesoooooome... @ Deathrebellion, Dude I think that's "transitions" coz transactions are like, buying and selling. xD

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Deathrebellion

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O_O wow that wuz awesome the game looks damn fast paced and the transcations from the 2D pics to the 3D videos r sweet !!!

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MuShuuzzz

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I cant tell if that trailer was for a game or movie......

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airc333

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I'm still trying to shut my jaw :O

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animemaster0x70

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THAT...TRAILER LOOKS..............AMAZING!!!

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jeffv541

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God of war is a devil may cry CLONE, and not a good one may I add...

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breathnac

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Castlevanias been around since before the creators of God of War were babies Vojkan80001 what the hell are you talking about

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Broly103091

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James Wan, after doing the first 2 saw's, dead silence, and death sentence, might be able to make this work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. definitely a director to keep an eye out for. I can't recall a well known director working on a game adaptation so I'm willing to give James Wan a chance.

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Lay5354

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@spoonybard-hahs << LINK REMOVED >>

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farrett

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are you serious? castlevania has been around long before god of war. and you act like god of war was the first action platformer. i could call god of war influenced by devil may cry.

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Vojkan80001

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just another game influenced by God of War, but that's fine with me

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XXforbiddenXX

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I wonder who's going to be killed.

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cockneyscouse

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With the proud and great history of video games making sublime films and excellent games being created around Hollywood films, I can't see this going wrong. .... ... .. Oh hang on :(

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joeInspace

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Noooo, this cant be happening, they will ruin any film adaptation no matter what it is.

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faatui06

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wow and wow again this game look really good like you don't won't to let it go

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Silk_Wood

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the game looks solid.... but man, i sure hope they dont mess up the movie...

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Jmorphman

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But what about the one that will be good? The animated one written by Warren Ellis? The one that won't suck?

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lil_luz_10

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Im sorry, but WTF!!!!!??????????? Theres "collaboration" involving a director from STOMP THE YARD????????????????????? Are you kidding me? Stomp the Yard!? As in the movie about dancing? OMG did anyone have like a couple hundred visions of a corny fight scene that results in a dancing dragula, because Stomp the Yard or any dancing movie director has fail written all over it!

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Bioshockraptor

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I sure hope this is good...

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Smokescreened84

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Whenever I hear of a video game getting the big screen treatment, my first thought is "Oh no, they're going to do another messed up film by throwing away the potential and turning it into a dumbed down mess, like Marios Bros and Street Fighter". Usually end up being right, I hope I won't be proved right again.

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zaku101

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I'm hoping this movie will tap into castlevanias rich lore and not be a 1 dimensional jpop anime. Is this going to be a epic film or is this going to be something Uwe Boll produces? I believe it is going to be something in the middle and overall a dissapointment =( If I see skeletons on roller blades shooting their Uzis at the protagonist while some catchy engrish jpop song is playing in the background I think I'll scream.

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NuKkU

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im already signing this up for fail after the 2nd Saw movie it went DOWNHILL

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Donkeljohn

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What happened to the script Warren Ellis did?

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Regisland

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lords of shadow looks sooo awesome even tho i never played a castelvania game

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PabloEscobar20

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Well its gonna suck but at least it will be violent and bloody lol.

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Glade_Gnarr

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I'm not really sure about this, I don't think it's possible to capture the Castlevania feel on a movie.

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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I have no confidence in this project.Even if Wan manages to write a fantastic script, the director has every right, and frequently do, tear up the script and change everything the writer was trying to convey for the director's own "vision". Combine that with the other ways a movie can go wrong-acting, cinematography, special effects...If you ever wondered why some great novels or ideas end up as terrible movies, you now know why.

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spoonybard-hahs

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@Lay5354 Actually, no. The entire movie was animated from the ground up. There were no real actors in it at all.

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damodar_thade

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please no more paul anderson game to movies especially not an eastern euopean japanese style vampire movie... it sounds worse than twlight and thats not an easy feat to achieve.

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razorfett147

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I suddenly have alot of bad feelings about this. I understand what Wan is saying, but trying to do what he's talking about in a live action movie will just end in horror (not the good kind). This film will lose all credibility if they try to do a bunch of anime styled action. As it is I already have alot of reservations about a Castlevania movie, but the writer's comments scare the hell out of me. I fear for my beloved Castlevania. Why can't someone with real film pedigree ever take on video game source material and do something amazing with it? Why do only the hacks take interest?

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razorfett147

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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Get_Shorty

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Japanese pop? Anime? I don't like the way this sounds. Castlevania is a classic tale of a lineage of vampire hunters hunting down Dracula. That's the direction it should take, not turn it into a Devil May Cry kinda movie, save that for... the Devil May Cry movie.

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deactivated-59b85d12a53d4

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That's a shame. The majority of Paul W.S. Anderson films are garrrrrrrrrrbage.

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kvan33

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A Castlevania movie? Great, more childhood memories crapped on.

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Lay5354

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@spoonybard-hahs Do you not know the movie Beowulf? They computerized the actors and actresses much like Benjamin Button to a certain extent and made an awesome movie out of it.

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WR_Platinum

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They better not mess up with the movie version of this great franchise.

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TripSe7en

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This is one franchise that was in desparate need of a reboot! Hopefully the movie and the new console game will hold true to the original with Simon Belmont, not all those other posers! This game was one of the first NES games I had and it brings back so many great memories!!!

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geomyr

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that would be cool an anime style of castlevania hope it would be like the final fantasy advent children style.

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jasonharris48

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@ knoetgen yea because all animes have bad anomation and are developed for kids. Not all animes are like Naruto and DBZ. As for the movie it will most likely fail.

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knoetgen

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Game looks great but a anime style movie please, that stuff is just terrible its like an excuse for poor animation and people just say "oh its the style you just dont understand." I just cannot believe grown men and women actually watch that crap.

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CTBradums

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I'm skeptical. Castlevania is such a great series, with surprisingly well-done stories and settings to each despite it being based around a side-scrolling action premise. This new game looks amazing, and they've really tried to make it an epic story with the voice actors and detailed settings. However, the choice for directors is questionable. Resident Evil was...good-ish, but the whole time, you knew you were watching a horror/action movie. There was no sense of getting sucked into the story. And Saw was just a "let's show you some brutality" movie that boosted itself with shock value. Neither seem promising, but we'll have to wait and see, I guess.

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larsblank

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Castlevania has a huge potential for an excellent movie, let's just hope they don't screw up the history

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VanGriffin

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Looks majorly awesome. Grand Kudos to Konami! Did i just see the names Patrick Stewart and Natasha Mcelhone? With top actors like that Paul. Anderson can possible scew up. Well have to wait and see... for both the movie (once castlevania 2008, now christened 2011), and the game. Wolfenstein video looks awesome too, but until actual gameplay we wait.. sigh

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Katzenbalger

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No! Why!?

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Kashmiro

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Alrighty, well could be good could be horrible... one day a great video game movie will come out and everyone will look at this completely different. If you don't remember comic book movies haven't always been good.

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kroos5

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IF they mess it up, I wasn't aware that there was any question when it comes to video game movie. Oh well, hopefully they'll at least make the castle look what the games automatically make you expect, then it'll be easier to justify spending money to see this crap. And anybody who doesn't like Alucard has no idea what they're talking about.

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shootingrobot98

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Saw got lame after Saw III. Therefore, I'm skeptical about a Castlevania film, especially if it is live-action.

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