Monster hunter Van Helsing is returning to the small screen, with Deadline reporting today that a new series is in development at CBS.
Described as a contemporary take on the character (who originally appeared in Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel all the way back in 1897), Van Helsing‘s short but sweet logline reads as follows:
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing uses his uniquely inquisitive mind working alongside his ex, relentless FBI special agent Mina Harker, to solve New York City’s most harrowing cases
No word yet on who will play the eponymous supernatural hunter or Mina Harker.
Novelist Jonathan Lee (Netflix and BBC’s Lockerbie) is writing the series, with Elementary creator Rob Doherty exec producing the project alongside Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman under their deal with Lionsgate Television.
Of course, this won’t be the first television adaptation of Van Helsing, with Syfy’s fantasy horror series running for five seasons from 2016 to 2021.
There’s also, of course, Stephen Sommers’ 2004 film adaptation starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale as Van Helsing and Anna Valerious respectively.
In Francis Ford Coppola’s masterful Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1992, Van Helsing is played by the legendary Anthony Hopkins.
This is the second piece of good Bram Stoker’s Dracula related news this week, following the first trailer drop for Robert Eggers’ long-awaited Nosferatu.
In Stoker’s original novel, Van Helsing is a professor called to aid in discovering more about Lucy Westenra’s mysterious illness – which, of course, we all know to be vampirism. It is Van Helsing who first suggests the notion that Lucy has been attacked by a vampire, thus securing his fictional reputation as number one vampire hater.
No further news such as casting or release date has yet been revealed for Van Helsing, but we’ll update you as soon as we know more.
