#Last Voyage of the Demeter Cast Finds Its Dracula – /Film

Last Voyage of the Demeter, one of several new Dracula-themed movies on the way, has added some new cast members. One exciting addition is David Dastmalchian, an actor who has been working for a while but who now seems to be on the cusp of really blowing up what with his upcoming role in The Suicide Squad. And even more exciting than that is the fact that Javier Botet, an actor who specializes in playing tall, skinny, creepy monsters, will play Dracula. More on the new latest Last Voyage of the Demeter casting below.

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on some new Last Voyage of the Demeter casting. The horror film comes from The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director André Øvredal, and is inspired by the chapter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula where the vampire count sails from Transylvania to England. In Stoker’s book, Dracula sleeps in a box of dirt below deck of the ship Demeter, and stalks out to feast on the hapless sailors. By the time the ship arrives in England, the entire crew is missing save for the captain, who is dead and lashed to the ship’s wheel. I guess the info that everyone dies in this story counts as a spoiler, but c’mon, Dracula is almost 125 years old and there have been countless movies. Bragi Schut (Escape Room) wrote an early draft of the script, while the current screenplay is credited to Zak Olkewicz. The film began production this week in Berlin and will eventually move to Malta.
Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham will play the “ship’s stately captain,” while future Polka-Dot Man David Dastmalchian is playing Wojchek, the Demeter’s first mate. Aisling Franciosi is playing Anna, a stowaway character invented for the film. Jon Jon Briones is playing the ship’s cook, and Stefan Kapicic and Nikolai Nikolaeff are playing other crew members. Martin Furulund and Chris Walley have also joined the cast. These new cast members join the previously-announced Corey Hawkins. But wait, there’s one more cast addition.

Javier Botet

The most exciting tidbit from this casting news is that Javier Botet will be playing Dracula. You may not know Botet’s name, but if you watch horror movies, you’ve no doubt seen his work. Botet is a tall, skinny actor who often gets drafted to play tall, skinny monsters. He’s appeared in REC, Mama, Crimson Peak, The Conjuring 2, It, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and more. Basically, if your movie has a tall, skinny monster/ghost/etc., you either hire Doug Jones or Javier Botet.

Draculas: Dead and Loving It

Last Voyage of the Demeter joins a growing list of upcoming Dracula movies. There’s Karyn Kusama’s take on Dracula, and there’s also a version coming from Chloé Zhao that’s described as a “futuristic, sci-fi Western.” Then there’s Renfield, an “extremely violent comedy” about Dracula’s bug-eating henchman. There’s also something called The Bride, which is not a straight adaptation of Dracula, but is partially inspired by Stoker’s classic novel. That’s a lot of Dracula stuff, and folks, I’m not complaining. If we can have an endless supply of superhero movies, there’s no reason we can’t have an endless supply of Dracula movies, too. Announce more, I say!

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