In his most celebrated novel Dracula, Bram Stoker chose the name Demeter as the name of the hearse which Count Dracula and his family used to travel to England. Demeter was the name of the Greek Olympian goddess of harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. What a wicked choice for a name to spread the vampiristic desolation the Count was aiming for.
Of course, Hollywood couldn’t miss the chance to exploit this juicy piece source for a story and after decades of uncertainty this summer the horror movie Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) is finally seeing the light.
In 2002, Bragi F. Schut (Season of the Witch (2011), Escape Room (2019), and Samaritan (2022)) wrote the initial screenplay for Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), based on the singular chapter “The Captain’s Log” from the Dracula novel. First, German filmmaker Robert Schwentke, familiar with Holywood productions after being behind RED (2010), R.I.P.D. (2013), The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), Allegiant (2016), and Snake Eyes (2021), was set to direct, being finally dismissed. Other directors that were attached to the project were Stefan Ruzowitzky (Cold Hell (2017)), Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)), David Slade (30 Days of Night (2007)), and Neil Marshall (The Descent (2005)), with Noomi Rapace, Ben Kingsley, and Viggo Mortensen rumored to star.
In October 2019, it was announced André Øvredal, known for Troll Hunter (2010), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019), and Mortal (2020), was the final decision to direct the film with a final screenplay written by Zak Olkewicz, also the screenwriter of Fear Street: Part Two – 1978 (2021), Bullet Train (2022).
The movie is set aboard the Russian schooner Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo – twenty-four unmarked wooden crates – from Carpathia to London. The film will detail the strange events that befell the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a terrifying presence on board the ship. When it finally arrived near Whitby Harbour, it was a derelict. There was no trace of the crew.
The main cast in Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) is formed by David Dastmalchian, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, Corey Hawkins, Stefan Kapicic, Nikolai Nikolaeff, and Javier Botet as Dracula.
DreamWorks Pictures and Amblin Entertainment are producing with Universal Pictures distributing. The international release date for Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) is set on August 11, 2023.
The first trailer has been released now and you can watch it here.
