You know how all your coolest friends are still talking about vampires and…Oh, they aren’t? Then I guess you aren’t best buds with anyone over at NBC, where they’re still trying to bleed that horror subgenre dry by going into development on another immortal bloodsucker tale. But this time, instead of just focusing on one fanged creature, they’re bringing in all three of Dracula’s famed brides for a dark new gothic soap they’re simply calling Brides. Get your sexy vamp costumes ready for next Halloween, kids.
Set in modern-day New York City – because why wouldn’t it be? – Brides is being called a “sexy reimagining” of the Dracula mythos centering on three strong, centuries-old women who will obviously do anything to retain their wealth, power and prestige, securing a legacy most unlike any other in history. Sound like Charmed with a little more bite, but I do like the fact that it’ll be female-fronted, and that the leads will actually be vampires, as opposed to, say, the fairy Sookie Stackhouse living amongst other undead creatures.
And though I joke about the premise, Brides has a pretty solid creative duo behind it. According to Deadline, the pilot will be written by comic scribe and screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who penned the scripts for the 2013 Carrie remake and the meta-remake of The Town That Dreaded Sundown, as well as episodes of Glee and Big Love. For a producer, Brides has the always-working Greg Berlanti, who currently has The Mysteries of Laura, Arrow and The Flash on the air, with series Supergirl, Blindspot and Legends of Tomorrow coming later. The duo also worked together on the Archie comics-based drama Riverdale, which is currently being set up at The CW.
NBC doesn’t have too many stakes in Brides just yet, as it’s only been granted a pilot production commitment, but Berlanti’s presence here is a good sign that it’ll get picked up at some point. (Unless it’s terrible, of course.) The network didn’t have a very good run the last time they brought a vampire to the small screen, as Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ Dracula only lasted a single season, not bringing in much of an audience to its Friday night timeslot. But maybe they’ll have a different plan for Brides if they decide to move forward with it.
The Brides of Dracula were originally conceived by Bram Stoker for Dracula, and they enchanted male visitors inside the castle and then fed on them. The weird sisters were killed by Van Helsing in the novel, but he obviously messed up somewhere if they’re still alive in New York. They were memorably brought to the screen in the 1960 Hammer Films feature The Brides of Dracula, and you might remember Monica Bellucci, Michaela Bercu and Florina Kendrick from Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Whatever my feelings on vampire fiction specifically, I generally champion all horror television, so here’s hoping Brides is good enough to go to series.
