John Wickcreator and franchise writer Derek Kolstad has just lined up his next movie project. The filmmaker has just teamed up with Amazon Studios to develop a live-action movie based on the Japanese action-horror mangaHellsing. Speaking with Deadline, Kolstad confirmed his involvement with the movie, revealing that the project is a dream come true as someone who’s been obsessed with the manga for many years.
“Ever since my brother introduced me to theHellsingmanga and anime some years ago, I’ve been obsessed with adapting it,“Derek Kolstadexplained. “And when Mike Callaghan and his team managed to secure the rights to then partner us up with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Amazon, I mean -damn, dude- this is a dream.”
TheHellsingmanga was written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano and published by Shōnen Gahōsha. It reimagines Dracula as Alucard, the original and most powerful vampire, who swore his allegiance to Van Hellsing many years prior when he was defeated by thelegendary vampire hunter. Now serving as an agent of The Hellsing Organization under Abraham Van Hellsing’s great-granddaughter, Alucard works to protect England from vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural threats.
Producing theHellsingmovie are Kolstad, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger of Automatik, Mike Callaghan and Reuben Liber of Ranger 7 Films, and Jason Lust of Soluble Fish Productions. Gemma Levinson is the executive serving for Automatik while executive producers include Tetsu Fujimura of Filosophia, India Osborne, Pierre Buffin, and Jason Speer.
“I’ve always loved thevampire genre, especially when a creator is able to put their own unique spin on it, so when Derek introduced me to Alucard and the Hellsing Organization, I knew we had something special in that tradition,” Callaghan said in a statement. “Kouta Hirano’s gonzo reimagining of the Dracula-Van Helsing mythology is an exhilarating, quirky mashup of action and horror that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before. We are incredibly excited to partner with Brian and Fred at Automatik and thatAmazonis on board to help us bring the wit and madness of ‘Hellsing’ to life on screen.”
Kavanaugh-Jones also said, “Derek is an exceptional writer and we are so excited to partner with him on what he does very best - buildingrich mythology filled with iconic characters.”
Lust added: “I’m truly excited to work with this stellar team together with Amazon to realize a post-modern reinterpretation of the Dracula character that flips him on his head in an inventive and compelling way.”
Kolstad is best known for creating the highly-successfulJohn Wickmovie franchise. Starring Keanu Reeves as one of pop culture’s most badass action heroes, Kolstad has served as a screenwriter for all three installments. He also penned the script for the upcoming Bob Odenkirk movieNobody, which is due to be released by Universal Pictures later this month on March 26. Featuring theBetter Call Saulstar at his most violent, the movie seems to have a lot in common with theJohn Wickseries.
No director or cast members have yet been attached to Kolstad’sHellsingproject. This news comes to us fromDeadline.
