It was revealed yesterday that an official sequel to Bram Stoker's novel Dracula will be released in October. What makes this an official sequel as opposed to the many other novelizations of Dracula's escapades is that it has been penned by Stoker's great grandnephew Dacre Stoker along with screenwriter Ian Holt. What further makes this official is that it has the backing of Stoker estate, something they haven't done since the first film adaptation starring Bela Lugosi. The book is entitled Dracula: The Un-Dead and will include characters and plot threads culled from Bram Stoker's original notes. The novel is already being fished around to studios in Hollywood. Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt will be appearing at a panel at next weekend's San Diego Comic-Con to build buzz about the impending release, happening between July 23 and 26 Visit the Dracula the Un-Deadwebsite.
Greek rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family to Harlenic Hellas S.A. by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International.
Audio rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family Hungarian rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family to Recorded Books, for high five figures, by Baror International and Atchity Entertainment International.
kja (at) aeionline (dot) com. Will be published by Dutton in U.S. October ’09.
Serbian rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family Hungarian rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family to Carobna Knjiga by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International.
kja (at) aeionline (dot) com. Will be published by Dutton in U.S. October ’09.
Rumanian rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family to Humanitas Fiction SRL by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International. kja (at) aeionline (dot) com
Greek rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family, to be published by Dutton U.S. October 2009—Harlenic Hellas S.A.. by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International.
Slovakian rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family to IKAR a.s. by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International. kja (at) aeionline (dot) com
Hungarian rights to Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt’s Dracula: The Un-Dead, sequel to Dracula authorized by the Bram Stoker family to Atheaeum by Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International. kja (at) aeionline (dot) com
Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt’s supernatural thriller and Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, known as Dracula: The Un-Dead, was a major center of activity at Frankfurt, with six figure sales made to Michel Lafon (France), Lizengeber (Germany), Edizione Piemme (Italy), Roca Editorial (Spain), and five figures to Znak Publishing (Poland), AST Publishing (Russia), De Boekerij (Holland). By Baror International for Atchity Entertainment International. AEI and Blue Tulip are developing the motion picture. Ken Atchity kja (at) aeionline (dot) com
Arts, Briefly Dracula Lives Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Count Dracula, the great-granddaddy of vampires, is poised for a comeback (not counting any previous incarnations in which he was portrayed by Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, George Hamilton or Udo Kier). That Transylvanian bloodsucker will return in a new novel whose authors include the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, the author of the original “Dracula,” the novel’s publisher announced. The new book, “Dracula: The Un-Dead,” by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt, a Dracula historian, was acquired for United States publication by Dutton Books. It is scheduled for an October 2009 release and will be the first Dracula project authorized by the Stoker estate since the 1931 film that starred Lugosi. Film rights for “Dracula: The Un-Dead” were also acquired by a group of producers that includes Jan de Bont, the director of “Speed” and “Twister.”
Abraham van Helsing and his intrepid band of vampire hunters may have disposed of Bram Stoker's creation Dracula more than a century ago, but a sequel to the novel co-authored by Stoker's great-grand-nephew will see them under attack from the undead once again, it was announced yesterday.
Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931)
Dacre Stoker, who formerly coached the Canadian Olympic pentathlon team and now lives in the US, delved into his ancestor's handwritten notes on the original Dracula novel to pen his sequel, Dracula: The Un-Dead - the original name of Dracula before an editor changed the title.
Dacre Stoker wrote the novel with the screenwriter Ian Holt, and a movie is also planned.
The new novel, which is due to be published next October, draws on excised characters and plot lines that were cut from Stoker's original, first published 111 years ago.
In the new book, set in London in 1912, Quincey, the son of Stoker's hero, Jonathan Harker, has become involved in a troubled theatre production of Dracula, directed and produced by Bram Stoker himself. The play plunges Quincey into the world of his parents' terrible secrets.
Stoker said that he had not got around to reading his great-grand-uncle's novel until he went to college. "Word got out about my family connection to the old vamp and I grew tired of being unable to answer people's questions. So I chose to finally break down and read the novel for a research paper on Bram and his possible motivations to write the story," he said.
"I had seen so many film versions of Dracula and was terribly surprised that very few of the films had any resemblance to Bram's original novel. Because the novel was so good and had stood up so well over the years, I found it exceedingly sad that all of the trash Hollywood had put out monumentally sullied Bram's and my family's literary legacy."
Stoker later met Holt and the pair decided to work together to resurrect Bram Stoker's original themes and characters. "Our intent is to give both Bram and Dracula back their dignity," Stoker said.
Bram Stoker's original Dracula has never been out of print since it was published in 1897.
"The Un-Dead", the official sequel to Bram Stoker's classic novel "Dracula", has sold English publishing rights to an alliance of Dutton U.S., Harper U.K. and Penguin-Canada.
Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, along with award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt accessed Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel. The story this time around is set in 1912 London and has someone stalking the heroes who defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.
The book, due for release in October 2009, also includes "characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago." It is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi.
Jan de Bont, Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak will produce the film adaptation which Holt co-writing the script with Alexander Galant. The pair have apparently finished the script and shooting is slated to begin next June.
Dracula: Undead Oct. 4, 2008 [Source] by: Jared Pacheco
You know that book with that story about that vampire guy? His name is Dracula and supposedly he's some big deal... Alright, I'm talking about the vampire grandaddy himself, Bram Stoker's legendary novel DRACULA. Apparently we've got a sequel heading our way!
I'm not kidding you. We got a press release today from AEI announcing the purchase of DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD. Why is this a big deal? Well this novel comes from award winning Dracula documentarian Ian Holt and Dacre Stoker, who just so happens to be the great-grandnephew of one Bram Stoker.
I'm sorry, but I found that a bit mindblowing. We're talking about a book that's over a century old! You know how long a century is? A pretty long time! Laura Shin, who's the senior editor of one of the buyees, had the following to say:
"I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those greatcharacters --Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal."
Dutton U.S., Harper U.K., and Shin's Penguin-Canada are the groups that were part of the deal. The author's even used Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for THE-UNDEAD. That's pretty intriguing right? The book is set to hit shelves October 2009. Stoker had the following to say: "Our story includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago."
So is that it? Hell no! With something this big you know we're not done yet! There will also be a DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD film in the works, of course! Holt penned the script alongside Alexander Grant. AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, Michael T. Kuciak and Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont are all producing. They're hoping to get cameras rolling around June 2009.
Obviously this is some pretty huge news so we'll be keeping a close eye on this one and fill you in on any updates along the way.
LONDON, 1912: Someone is stalking the brave band of heroes who had defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.
Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel "Dracula" to an alliance of Dutton U.S. (Brian Tart), Harper U.K. (Jane Johnson) and Penguin-Canada (Laura Shin).
The novel will appear in October 2009.
Laura Shin, senior editor of Penguin-Canada, who signed up for two additional sequels, said, "I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters-Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal."
Dutton and Harper signed a single novel deal. Although other precedent-setting foreign deals are already closed from preempts, Baror is planning to sign the bulk of world territories at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.
Using Stoker family connections, the writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel - which, before an editor changed the title, was to have been called "The Un-Dead."
"Our story," Stoker said, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago."
"The Un-Dead" is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's appearance in Hamilton Deane's and John Balderston's stage production of the story on Broadway in New York, fifteen years after Bram Stoker's death in 1927, sparked the original novel's bestselling popularity. It has never been out of print since.
AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak (Life or Something Like It, Joe Somebody) will produce the film adaptation with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont (Speed), and are expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09.
The script has been completed by Ian Holt with the story co-written by Alexander Galant, who are both managed by AEI and agented by Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner at Abrams Artists.
LONDON, 1912: Someone is stalking the brave band of heroes who had defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.
Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel for well over mid - seven figures U.S. to an alliance of Dutton U.S. (Brian Tart), Harper U.K. (Jane Johnson), and Penguin-Canada (Laura Shin) brokered by Danny Baror of Baror International and Ken Atchity, of Atchity Entertainment International, the literary manager representing Stoker and Holt. The novel will appear in October 2009.
Laura Shin, senior editor of Penguin-Canada, who signed up for two additional sequels, said,
"I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters-Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal."
Dutton and Harper signed a single novel deal. Although other precedent-setting foreign deals are already closed from preempts, Baror is planning to sign the bulk of world territories at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.
Using Stoker family connections, the writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel - which, before an editor changed the title, was to have been called "The Un-Dead."
"Our story," Stoker said, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago."
Dracula is one of the most recognized fictitious characters in the world, having spawned dozens of books and movies; the original novel, according to historians’ best estimates, has sold millions of copies-second only to the Bible, available in over fifty languages--and generated hundreds of millions of dollars. “The Un-Dead” is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's appearance in Hamilton Deane’s and John Balderston's stage production of the story on Broadway in New York, fifteen years after Bram Stoker's death in 1927, sparked the original novel's bestselling popularity. It has never been out of print since.
AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak (Life or Something Like It, Joe Somebody, Ripley's Believe It or Not) will produce the film with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont (Twister, Speed, Minority Report), and are expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09. The script has been completed by Ian Holt with the story co-written by Alexander Galant, who are both managed by AEI and agented by Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner at Abrams Artists.
Both Stoker and Galant are Canadian, though Stoker now lives in the U.S. He was the Canadian Modern Pentathlon Coach from 1983-1987 and then Canadian Olympic Modern Pentathlon Coach at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Holt, who has visited Dracula's Castle in Transylvania and is a member of The Transylvanian Society of Dracula, lives in Long Island, New York.
Doing Bram proud? Sure, we've seen many Dracula films and books over the years, but not many of them got the Stoker seal of approval ... until now.
According to STYD and AEI, Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram, has teamed with historian Ian Holt to bring to fruition the first family-backed use of Bram's classic vampire tale since Bela Lugosi donned the cape and fangs in the 1931 film and the stage production years later. This new venture will be appearing in both book and movie form starting next year!
Titled The Un-Dead, the story picks in up 1912, 25 years after Dracula's death. Someone or something is tracking down those who put an end to the bloodsucker's life. According to Dacre, this new work was crafted thanks to Bram's handwritten notes and "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago.
Production of the adaptation is set to roll in June of 2009 with the book itself creeping into stores months afterwards in October.
This morning we received a pretty damn confusing press release that sounds exciting. Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD for well over mid - seven figures. According to the release, new novels are on the way, along with a feature film. Read on and see if you can decipher what's going on with the film.
LONDON, 1912: Someone is stalking the brave band of heroes who had defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.
Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel for well over mid - seven figures U.S. to an alliance of Dutton U.S. (Brian Tart), Harper U.K. (Jane Johnson), and Penguin-Canada (Laura Shin) brokered by Danny Baror of Baror International and Ken Atchity, of Atchity Entertainment International, the literary manager representing Stoker and Holt. The novel will appear in October 2009.
Laura Shin, senior editor of Penguin-Canada, who signed up for two additional sequels, said, "I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters-Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal." Dutton and Harper signed a single novel deal. Although other precedent-setting foreign deals are already closed from preempts, Baror is planning to sign the bulk of world territories at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.
Using Stoker family connections, the writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel - which, before an editor changed the title, was to have been called "The Un-Dead."
"Our story," Stoker said, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago." Dracula is one of the most recognized fictitious characters in the world, having spawned dozens of books and movies; the original novel, according to historians’ best estimates, has sold millions of copies-second only to the Bible, available in over fifty languages--and generated hundreds of millions of dollars. “The Un-Dead” is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's appearance in Hamilton Deane’s and John Balderston's stage production of the story on Broadway in New York, fifteen years after Bram Stoker's death in 1927, sparked the original novel's bestselling popularity. It has never been out of print since.
AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak ("Life or Something Like It," "Joe Somebody," "Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not!") will produce the film with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont ("Twister," "Speed," "Minority Report"), and are expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09. The script has been completed by Ian Holt with the story co-written by Alexander Galant, who are both managed by AEI and agented by Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner at Abrams Artists.
Both Stoker and Galant are Canadian, though Stoker now lives in the U.S. He was the Canadian Modern Pentathlon Coach from 1983-1987 and then Canadian Olympic Modern Pentathlon Coach at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Holt, who has visited Dracula's Castle in Transylvania and is a member of The Transylvanian Society of Dracula, lives in Long Island, New York.
Spoilers of the genre aside (ahem, Twilight) I love just about anything having to do with vampires. Alan Ball's "True Blood" on HBO, for instance, is shaping up to be a wonderful modern take on the fanged nightcrawlers. And I can even enjoy the likes of 30 Days of Night. So you can imagine my delight that news from STYD that a sequel and film adaptation to the iconic "Dracula" story by Bram Stoker is in the works, titled The Un-Dead. I know we all think sequels can usually be the death of a story, but this doesn't sound bad at all. Apparently Stoker's great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker and "award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian," Ian Holt, have sold the North American rights to the follow-up novel. The book is scheduled for an October 2009 release, while the film is expected to start production in June.
Dacre (since it's confusing just to call him Stoker) worked with Holt on the novel, combing through Bram's actual hand-written notes that intended to continue his iconic story. Dacre is quoted as saying, "Our story includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago." What's most noteworthy about this project is that it's the first, since the original 1931 film, to receive any sort "official" approval from the Stoker family. It seems fitting, since Dacre is an actual blood-relative of the man who authored the original horror tale in 1897, which, incidentally, has never gone out of print. Hell, you might as well pick up a copy if you haven't ever read it - it's worth it.
As for the actual story, it's anyone's guess. One of the publishers said of the book, "I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters. Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal." All of that sounds like self-serving spin, but it's all we have to go on at this point in time. As for the film, no director or any other important role has been announced yet; although, we do know that Dacre and Holt did pen the screenplay. There's certainly a lot to be excited and worried about here.
Given Dacre and Holt's proximity to the subject matter, can they actually pull it off?
As a child, it was easy for Dacre Stoker to pick a Halloween costume.
Mr. Stoker said he knew he was a blood descendant of Bram Stoker, author of the iconic Dracula, as a boy growing up in Montreal.
"When Halloween time came, it was like, 'you're a Stoker!'" remembers Mr. Stoker, 50, who now lives in South Carolina.
"But that's the one thing about being Canadian. We're a little more humble than our American neighbours. You may be related to one of the greatest writers in history, but you don't make a big deal about it."
He later confirmed that he was, precisely, the great-grandnephew of Abraham (Bram), and left it at that.
So, it came as a surprise when he got an e-mail from Ian Holt about five years ago. Mr. Holt, a New-York-based Dracula historian, wanted to "resurrect" the classic tale - which has been the subject of dozens of subsequent novels and films, none of which appeared to bear the Stoker name.
So Mr. Holt, 39, recruited the living Mr. Stoker to take part. Today, they have finished The Un-Dead, a 568-page manuscript set to see daylight next fall.
"I got in touch with Dacre and he thought I was this nut job. But after listening to me and discussing my vision of what I had in mind, he got very interested," said Mr. Holt, an actor who originally pitched the idea as a film.
"He came up with the idea that if we really want to honour Bram, we should do it like a novel first. And it took off like a rocket."
The novel is set 25 years after its famous predecessor, and follows the story of Quincey Harker, the son of original characters Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray. It ills in the back stories of the original characters while advancing the story of young Quincey, Mr. Holt said. He refused to go into specifics, saying only that a slew of characters reappear. Mr. Holt and Mr. Stoker have sold the Canadian, British and American publishing rights for several million dollars, their publishers say, and shooting is scheduled to begin on a film adaptation next year.
The Un-Dead has since swept up the lives of Mr. Holt and Mr. Stoker, a former teacher and Canadian Olympic pentathlon coach. He now works as a seminar instructor of, among other things, blood-borne pathogens.
"I've got a fascination with the body, having been a coach and athlete ... the role of getting your blood in really good condition to compete. And here I am with this other side of me," he said in an interview late yesterday evening.
by Kyle McVeigh
It was revealed yesterday that an official sequel to Bram Stoker's novel Dracula will be released in October. What makes this an official sequel as opposed to the many other novelizations of Dracula's escapades is that it has been penned by Stoker's great grandnephew Dacre Stoker along with screenwriter Ian Holt. What further makes this official is that it has the backing of Stoker estate, something they haven't done since the first film adaptation starring Bela Lugosi. The book is entitled Dracula: The Un-Dead and will include characters and plot threads culled from Bram Stoker's original notes. The novel is already being fished around to studios in Hollywood. Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt will be appearing at a panel at next weekend's San Diego Comic-Con to build buzz about the impending release, happening between July 23 and 26
