Carnivale’s creator takes on NBC’s Dracula

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

My theory about television horror overshadowing theatrical projects continues to prove itself. Dan Knauf, the creator of the bizarro cult HBO show CARNIVALE, has signed on as showrunner for NBC’s upcoming DRACULA.

He will be collaborating with series creator Cole Haddon and working from an idea by producer Tony Krantz. The pitch is being summed up as “DANGEROUS LIASONS meets THE TUDORS” but, you know, with Dracula. In fact, TUDORS star Jonathan Rhys Meyers (see above) is attached to play the titular character, which seems like downright perfect casting. 

You can check out the full synopsis below. Said adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel seems to promise a bit more vengeful/romantic intrigue and a nice clashing of science and the supernatural. These themes should be no stranger to Knauf, who steered CARNIVALE into similarly dark territories. Though the vampire genre has been thoroughly wussified as of late, perhaps Knauf and his DRACULA team can turn things around.

Dracula (Meyers) arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier but falls hopelessly in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.