Director Karyn Kusama Explains Why She Thinks Her Dracula Film ‘Mina Harker’ Fell Apart So Suddenly

JB Augustine |

May 17, 2024

Gary Oldman keeps Count as the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Columbia Pictures

A consequence of Universal rebooting its Monster IP the last few years to redeem the failure of the Dark Universe was a beefing up of their Dracula catalog. Within the span of mid-2023 to now alone, three films reimagined the lore of the vampire count – Renfield, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and Abigail.

Renfield04 — Nicolas Cage as Dracula in Chris McKay’s Renfield (2023), Universal Pictures

Around the same period, a fourth movie was in development that also would have broken away from tradition to focus on a character aside from the main antagonist, his servant, and his daughter.

That movie was Mina Harker which was a co-production between Miramax and Blumhouse.

It was going to be directed by Jennifer’s Body helmer Karyn Kusama who was set to film until the production was unexpectedly canceled at the 11th hour. The reason Deadline was given for the abrupt axing was creative differences between the studio and the filmmaker.

(from left) Nosferatu (Javier Botet) and Clemens (Corey Hawkins) in The Last Voyage of the Demeter, directed by André Øvredal.

That was in 2022; two years hence, Kusama is giving her take on why the film was canceled. As the title suggests, the story would have focused on Mina as the main antagonist. Given her status as the object of the eternal bloodsucker’s affections, you can probably predict how that would unfold.

In an interview with Polygon, Kusama said her movie was not your typical monster movie. She also indicated it was going to take digs at men by way of Dracula standing in as the stock toxic male boogeyman.

“I would say that the Dracula movie I was making wasn’t a straightforward monster movie,” Kusama began.

Melissa Barrera and Alisha Weir in the horror comedy Abigail. Image property of Universal Pictures.

“And so perhaps that was its problem. It was very much rooted in the monsters that start at home in humans. That’s what was going to make it distinctive was that Dracula was more than a force of evil. He was a man. And that is, in some ways, both its reason for being and its obstacle,” she continued.

“It was really hard to get the movie made. And even though we got so close, three weeks from shooting, people lost their nerve. So what are you going to do?” she added, giving a hint of the untold behind-the-scenes drama.

Gary of the Knight — Gary Oldman as Vlad The Impaler in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Columbia Pictures

It could be people – at Miramax – lost their nerve, but the fly in the ointment could also be Kusama’s vision and her aptitude for the material. Remember, Dracula is one of the oldest literary properties still being adapted, meaning it’s part of a larger legacy – or “entity.”

Commenting on her film Girlfight, and the career trajectory of its star, Fast & Furious’s own Michelle Rodriguez, as opposed to hers, Kusama suggested she isn’t cut out for big studio franchises.

Chris Pine plays Edgin and Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

“It’s not really my vibe. And a lot of that just has to do with the idea that you need to be making something that is of a piece of a large entity with a lot of history and a lot of relationships that people are already bringing to the characters into the worlds,” she said.

“For that reason, I’m not sure I’d be the best candidate for that kind of work. But never say never, I guess!” she added.