A number of reboots for classic horror movies have been released over the years. This includes such properties as Halloween and Evil Dead. Now in 2024, the reboot treatment will be given to one particularly influential horror movie from 1972.
As shared by Variety, the 1972 classic film Blacula is being rebooted by MGM, Bron, and Hidden Empire Film Group. This will be the first film featuring the Blacula name since 1973’s Scream Blacula Scream. Excitingly enough, the reboot is also “slated for release next Halloween.”
They continued to share:
“The new film is a modern reimagining of the 1972 movie, directed by William Crain and starring William Marshall as Blacula.
“The reboot picks up where the original saga left off, after the 1973 sequel Scream Blacula Scream, and will be set in a metropolitan city post-coronavirus pandemic.”
Additionally, a logline has been released for the upcoming reboot, which does appear to be quite faithful to its original predecessors:
“Blacula is an ancient African prince who is cursed by Dracula after he fails to agree to end the slave trade. Blacula is entombed and awakens 200 years later ready to avenge the death of his ancestors and of those responsible for robbing his people of their work, culture and heritage as they appropriated it for profit.”
Deon Taylor is set to direct the 2024 horror reboot from a screenplay he’s co-writing with Micah Ranum. Taylor added the following statement to the publication:
“Blacula is arguably one of the most prestigious Black franchises and so important to the culture as it birthed a groundswell of Blaxploitation-horror films, which changed the game for how our people were seen on the big screen,” Taylor shared.
William Marshall played the titular character in both Blacula and its only sequel, Scream Blacula Scream. The two films were notable for both the Blaxploitation genre and horror genre at the time, and the brand is certainly overdue for a revisit. Hopefully this new reboot will capture some of the magic that’s kept Blacula a fan-favorite cult classic throughout all these years.