Last Sunday, Chloe Zhao won the Best Director Oscar for her third feature film, Nomadland, which was also named Best Picture, while star Frances McDormand earned the Best Actress award. After making three small dramas (her previous films were Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider), Zhao is branching out into blockbuster filmmaking with the Marvel film Eternals, which is set to reach theatres later this year. Beyond that, she's also working on a sci-fi Western take on Bram Stoker's Dracula for Universal.
Speaking with Zhao after her Oscar win, Variety asked for some further information on Dracula. Zhao said the approach she's taking to that project is much like the way she approached bringing Jessica Bruder's novel Nomadland to the screen:
It’s just like looking at Jessica Bruder’s book, and to really see behind the pages, to discover the meanings behind each page and the essence of it. I’m a huge fan of the book. And I wanted to see what essence I can find (in Dracula), and then be able to reimagine this really beloved character I love so much. … I like complicated characters."
Zhao said that Dracula is a very important book for her, and
immortality is something that I started exploring on Eternals, but is something I want to question and understand."
The filmmaker is currently focused on putting the finishing touches on Eternals, and isn't sure if Dracula will be her next project once Eternals is out in the world. I hope it is, because I want to see her sci-fi Western vision of Dracula.