‘The Tudors’ star will play the iconic vampire, who was created by Irish novelist Bram Stoker, in a show which bypassed the pilot stage and is going straight to series.
The series, entitled ‘Dracula’, sees the vampire arrive in 1890s London where he poses as an American businessman to disguise his real plan of taking revenge on those responsible for his vampire lifestyle.
Producers Tony Krantz of Flame Ventures and Tony Callender of Playground Entertainment, and writer Cole Haddon are developing the series, which will be produced for NBC and Sky Living in the UK and Ireland.
Gareth Neame (Downton Abbey) and Anne Mensah (Sinbad) are also on board to produce, with Reece Pearson (The Big Bang) executive producing.
The series reunites Meyers with NBC chief Bon Greenblatt, who gave the Cork actor his first starring role as Elvis Presley in TV movie ‘Elvis’. Meyers won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Presley.
Meyers shot to international fame in 2007 when he was cast as the lead role of Henry VIII in Michael Hirst creation ‘The Tudors’. The role earned him an IFTA Award and a Golden Nymph Award.
The series, which was shot at Ardmore Studios in Co Wicklow, ran for a successful four seasons and paved the way for Meyers’ Hollywood career, which saw him land a lead role alongside John Travolta in ‘From Paris With Love’.
Additional casting details on ‘Dracula’ are expected to be announced shortly by NBC. The Dracula story is the latest supernatural subject to be explored by the US network, having announced at Comic Con last week it will air a reworked series of ‘The Munsters’ called ‘Mockingbird Lane’ with UK actor Eddie Izzard in a lead role.
