The coach and horses has pulled up outside the inn, and James Wan has ignored the advice of the villagers to stay away from the castle. Seems we missed this a week or so ago with all the Comic Con excitement, but Variety has just brought to our attention Bloody Disgusting's news that Wan is all set for the live action movieisation of Konami's Castlevania game franchise.
Castlevania has taken on various incarnations and embraced several generations of gaming platform since its debut on the NES in the 1980s. But its fundamentals as a frenetic gothic running jumping shooter have remained the same. The series' main protagonist is Simon Belmont, a silver-haired vampire slayer carrying on his family's generation-spanning feud with Dracula.
Wan directed the original Saw, and the Kevin Bacon starring psycho revenge quickie Death Sentence. So we can expect something nicely visceral at least, especially since Wan was apparently especially attracted to the project by Belmont's weapon of choice: the "vampire killer whip".
"The thing I love about Castlevania is the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting, and the Japanese sensibility," Wan further explained to BD. "I’m thrilled by the opportunity to make a highly stylized, fantasy, action film that focuses on the gothic storyline and the cool, anime-like characters."
Ian Jeffers, who adapted Death Sentence from Brian Garfield's novel, is currently banging out a script. If they're allowed to use Kinuto Yamashita's awesome theme music, we're at least guaranteed a modicum of happy.