Dracula, with Luke Evans in the titular role, has been moved from August 8, 2014 to October 3 of the same year. Fifty Shades Of Grey, Universal’s adaptation of E.L. James’ novel of the same name, is still expected for August 1, 2014.
The announcement comes on the heels of a new partnership inked between Universal and Legendary Entertainment , in which the latter will contribute up to $350 million to finance Universal’s films.
The first film that will benefit from this partnership is said to be Gary Shore’s Dracula, starring Luke Evans as the most famous vampire of all time.
Moving Dracula to early October could mean the movie will benefit from the pre-Halloween festivities and moviegoers will have a vampire fix just in time to celebrate the day of the dead.
Another reason behind the move could be that fact that the studio are targeting both Dracula and Fifty Shades Of Grey to women.
Luke Evans is very popular with the ladies and his fans are very excited for Dracula, his first lead role.
Fifty Shades Of Grey is, of course, one of the most successful romantic novels in recent memory. The explicit nature of the novels lead them to be referred to as “mommy porn”.
Universal also announced that it will release Search Party about a couple of friends on a mission to find another friend’s old flame. The film is directed by Scott Armstrong, writer of The Hangover and marks his directorial debut.
Search Party stars stars T.J. Miller, Adam Pally, and Thomas Middleditch.
The re-shuffling of Dracula’s opening day is an effort on Universal’s part, to avoid taking away from Fifty Shades Of Grey’s anticipated success. The adaptation has been expected with great interest from fans of the novels.
There are no plans, at present, to adapt the remaining books in the series, but for now Dracula and Fifty Shades Of Grey will have their own time to shine.