Biopic of Hungarian Actor Béla Lugosi in the Works?
zita kisgergely
It’s recently been reported that a biopic of Béla Lugosi–the Hungarian actor who made a name for himself playing Dracula on the stage and in the classic film of 1931– is in the works at Universal.
Béla Lugosi as Dracula, 1931. Picture via Wikipedia.
The news first broke the week before Halloween in an exclusive story for Deadline by Matt Grobar. Although the project is apparently still in the early planning stage, Leonardo Di Caprio’s production company has teamed up with producers Alex Cutler and Darryl Marshak to develop the film. It sounds like a bit of a passion project for Cutler and Darryl, who have been keen to get a movie about Lugosi off the ground ever since they were both teens.
It’s also been reported that there’s a script already in place from celebrated screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, known for Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Dolemite Is My Name and American Crime Story. The film would revolve around Lugosi’s younger years, following his immigration from Hungary to his eventual success starring in Dracula on Broadway and the 1931 Hollywood horror film classic of the same name.
Who was Bela Lugosi?
Born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in 1882, the man we would all come to recognize the original on-screen Dracula took the name of the town he was born in–Lugos, in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania). Lugosi found acting at a young age and appeared in more than 170 productions in Hungary before serving in World War I as an infantry officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After a failed Hungarian Communist Revolution in 1919, Lugosi was forced to flee the country due to his Socialist activities.
He ended up in New Orleans in 1920 and, after appearing in various Hungarian language productions staged for the Hungarian diaspora, landed his first part in a Broadway play, The Red Poppy, in 1922. What followed were various stage and film parts where he usually played villains and various “foreign” types.
Lugosi’s big break came in 1927 when he starred as Count Dracula in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel. This eventually led to the starring role in the 1931 film version of Dracula. But despite the critically acclaimed reception Lugosi had received for his performance on the stage, several other more prominent actors of the time were originally considered for the title role. Lugosi had to campaign hard to win over a team of studio executives who were against giving him the part. One of the key reasons they eventually relented was Lugosi’s willingness to accept the lowly sum of $3,500 for the entirety of the seven-week shoot.
Béla Lugasi at 18 year old, clearly born for the part of Dracula. Picture via Wikipedia.
In return, Lugosi’s name has ever since been synonymous with the role of Dracula. His fame endures to this day, nearly hundred years later. The downside for the actor, of course, with his thick Hungarian accent, was that he was forever battling being typecast as the villain in horror films after the success of that film.
Fingers crossed that the stars align to bring this great Hungarian actor’s life behind the scenes to the big screen.
Sources & further information
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