If you need hard evidence that everything about the way Hollywood approaches movie-making today is wrong, you'd be wise to start with the new trailer for Dracula Untold.
In just two minutes, you can count off virtually every modern blockbuster cliché in this soulless cash-grab. Shameless exploitation of a popular character that happens to be in the public domain? Check. Needlessly convoluted origin story? Check. Transparent attempt to turn a mid-range actor into an A-list action star? Check. Grim cover of an '80s new-wave hit by a modern pop star? Check. Fake-looking CGI army in a fake-looking CGI battle? Check. Vampire love story? Check and mate.
What about Dracula Untold makes it a story that needs to be told? What is this movie's target audience? Was anyone clamoring for yet another story about Dracula, who has literally appeared in dozens of other movies?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dracula Untold arrives in theaters in November — but if you're really eager for a Dracula movie, wander into a video store and throw a rock. You'll probably hit one. --Scott Meslow
-
How Tesla has put Elon Musk on track to be the world’s first trillionaireIn The Spotlight The package agreed by the Tesla board outlines several key milestones over a 10-year period
-
Cop30: is the UN climate summit over before it begins?Today’s Big Question Trump administration will not send any high-level representatives, while most nations failed to submit updated plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
-
‘The Big Crunch’: why science is divided over the future of the universeThe Explainer New study upends the prevailing theory about dark matter and says it is weakening
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
