Update 3/9/20: TV Line reports that Goran Visnjic will play Dracula in The Brides.
Update 3/2/20: According to Deadline, Gina Torres will lead the cast. She’s set to play a character named Cleo Phillips, one of the three brides of Dracula and the leader of the trio. “Cleo is an imperious woman with a queenly manner —understandably, as she was a queen in her former life who was turned by Dracula after the death of her husband,” the report reads. “Now a maven of New York City real estate, Cleo is challenged professionally by a mysterious newcomer — even as her ties to her sisters are dangerously fraying.”
Dracula is so hot right now. The blood-sucking vampire is currently the subject of a Steven Moffat series for BBC, and it seems his universal appeal will never quite go away. Created by writer Bram Stoker back in 1897, Dracula has seen hundreds of adaptations for the screen and stage. He’s been a contemporary character and a classic one. He’s been horrifying and he’s been hot as hell. But now, the ladies in his orbit are getting some attention, thanks to Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
ABC has ordered a pilot called The Brides from Aguirre-Sacasa and producer Greg Berlanti, which is focused on Dracula’s three brides from the original source material. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series is a “ sexy contemporary reimagining” of Dracula, about a non-traditional family that revolves around a trio of powerful female leads. Like Riverdale—a contemporary reimagining of the Archie Comics universe—The Brides is described as a soap opera that will contain “strong horror elements.”
If any of this sounds familiar, that’s because the pilot was originally developed for NBC back in 2015. It made news rounds then, but never made it to screen. The success of Riverdale and Aguirre-Sacasa’s Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina—another Archie Comics series—clearly caught ABC’s attention. The pilot order doesn’t guarantee the show will be picked up for a full series, but it does mean a pilot will be written, directed, casted, and filmed.
Aguirre-Sacasa is set to pen the pilot and will executive produce along with Berlanti, a veteran television producer who has worked on everything from Dawson’s Creek to Brothers & Sisters, and is currently best known for his contributions to the CW’s Arrowverse. This is Berlanti’s fourth collaboration with Aguirre-Sacasa; he’s also a producer for Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, as well as the upcoming CW series Katy Keene, a Riverdale spinoff. Maggie Kiley, another Riverdale and Katy Keene collaborator, will direct the pilot for The Brides.
The brides of Dracula have appeared in other adaptations and are also known as the “Weird Sisters.” They are three siren-like vampire women who were sired by Dracula and service him in their undead state. Together, all four live in Dracula’s Transylvanian castle, and the women mostly feed on children victims. They’re known for their beauty and eternal youth—perfect fodder for an ABC soap opera. The “sisters” got their own Hammer Horror treatment in 1960, with The Brides of Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, but this will be the first time a TV series focuses mainly on them.
We have no idea what to expect from The Brides. Aguirre-Sacasa’s style is typically horror-tinged and campy, and usually teen-oriented. Will this be a more grown-up take? Probably, if it’s about brides. Will it take place in America, or is he sticking to the eerie Transylvanian setting from the novel? There are so many possibilities and we truly cannot wait to see what we comes up with. Here’s to hoping the pilot is picked up so we get to see The Brides in action.
Featured Image: USA Network