In the wake of failing to recoup its budget with just $15 million worldwide at the box office, Universal’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter has now been surprise-released at home.
On Digital, you can rent the film for $19.99 or purchase it for $24.99.
Directed by André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), this latest Dracula movie leaves the comedy of Renfield behind for a classic, Hammer-style horror movie at sea. The film is an adaptation of a single chapter from Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel, known as “The Captain’s Log,” which has never been adapted like this before.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is unfortunately another financial misfire for the Universal Monsters, which have been largely unable to find box office success in recent years.
Universal has been having a hell of a time reintroducing audiences to the classic titans of the genre, with films including The Wolfman (2010), Dracula Untold (2014), The Mummy (2017), and now Renfield and The Last Voyage of the Demeter failing to breathe new box office life into these silver screen icons of terror. Where do these classic monsters go from here?
The Universal Monsters brand isn’t looking all that strong, but the key to their future may be found in Leigh Whannell’s 2020 box office hit The Invisible Man. Made for just $7 million, the forward-thinking remake of a classic horror tale was set up for success in a way these other Universal Monsters reboots were not, and perhaps Universal should be learning some important lessons from their own success story just three years ago. Smaller movies have a better chance at turning a profit, and that seems particularly true with these Monsters.
Up next, Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream) will be directing an untitled monster thriller for Universal, which is reportedly a take on Dracula’s Daughter. Stay tuned for more.
Writer Bragi Schut’s script The Last Voyage of the Demeter has been floating around for many years now, with several different directors attached at various points. The director who eventually ended up board the ship was André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), announced back in 2021 as the director for the Amblin Partners film.
Corey Hawkins (Kong: Skull Island, “The Walking Dead”) stars in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The latest version of the script was written by Zak Olkewicz (Bullet Train).
The film is “based on a single chapter, the Captain’s Log, from Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel Dracula. The chapter tells the story of the Russian schooner, Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo – twenty four unmarked wooden crates – from Carpathia to London. The film will detail the strange events that befell the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a terrifying presence onboard the ship. When it finally arrived near Whitby Harbour, it was a derelict. There was no trace of the crew.”
The cast also includes Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Jon Jon Briones, Stefan Kapicic, and Nikolai Nikolaeff, with Javier Botet as Dracula.
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