Yep, it's one of those projects. You know, the kind of that spend years in development with a variety of filmmakers (in this case Robert Schewentke and Marcus Nispel) coming and going, but with no actual movement happening. Such is the case of "The Last Voyage Of Demeter" that most recently had David Slade set to direct with Noomi Rapace and Ben Kingsley in the lead roles. Not bad right? But even as far back as a year ago, Rapace was casting doubt on whether or not she would be in it and word pretty much went quiet. Alas, it's back to the drawing board.
"The Descent" and "Centurion" helmer Neil Marshall is the latest to come on board to direct, but casting is going to start all over again (bummer because a Rapace/Kingsley pairing would have been ace). Anyway, penned 10 years ago by Bragi Schut (awesome name), the "Aliens"-style film tells the tale of a crew of passengers that gets picked off one by one as the Demeter ship transports Dracula from Transylvania to London. In Bram Stoker's classic tale, the ravaged ship was found washed ashore with one lone, gone-mad survivor.
So, actually, pretty cool right? We'll see if Marshall has the touch to make it happen. The project is currently being set up at Millenium Films, but it's unclear if it will be next for the director. He's got a handful of projects brewing including the horror flick "Hellfest," which was gearing up to shoot this summer, though not much as been heard on that for a while. But let's see if Marshall is the guy who makes this pic happen. [THR]
Very interesting project … I've been following that for quite some time too.
Kinda tricky though, I mean nothing really happens in the 'Log of the Demeter' except for the fact that people are disappearing (hence the Alien namedropping).
Which basically means that the script was done, adding stuff would be risky. On the other hand what it needs is an amazing director with a great sense of mise-en-scene … something you just don't find much these days. And I not sure Marshall is the man for the job.
On a side note: IIRC there are no survivors on the Demeter in the novel, the captain is dead, strapped to the wheel.