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On December 17, 2025, Vertical Entertainment unveiled the first trailer for Dracula: A Love Tale (or simply Dracula), Luc Besson’s sweeping new take on Bram Stoker’s immortal vampire, set to arrive in theaters February 6, 2026. Starring Caleb Landry Jones as Dracula, Christoph Waltz as a mysterious priest, and Zoë Bleu in the dual role of Elisabeta and Mina Murray, the film positions itself less as a creature feature and more as a centuries-spanning romance steeped in blood, longing, and obsession.
With its origins set against the brutal backdrop of 15th-century Wallachia, Prince Vladimir returns from battle to find his wife Elisabeta dead. In his anguish, he renounces God — a defiance that seals his fate. For more than 400 years, he searches for the reincarnation of the woman he lost, drifting through eras and cities while quietly shaping the world around him to bring her back to him. An ancient order follows in his wake, intent on ending his curse and shielding Mina once they recognize her connection to him. But the heart of the story remains Dracula himself; not as a conqueror or predator, but as a man sustained by love, driven by devotion so profound it refuses to die, no matter how many centuries pass.
Luc Besson has been clear that this approach is intentional. In an interview earlier this year, the director described Dracula as, at its core, a love story that history, and cinema, have long reframed as horror. According to Besson, the novel’s emphasis on blood and monstrosity overshadowed what he sees as its romantic tragedy. The trailer fully embraces that philosophy, favoring lowlit interiors, lingering glances, and mournful narration over outright scares.
Visually, Dracula: A Love Tale bears Besson’s unmistakable signature. Lavish costumes, stylized violence, and operatic compositions recall the heightened worlds of Léon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), and Lucy (2014). The imagery leans into theatricality in a way that feels deliberately romantic, using light, shadow, and religious iconography to amplify longing, devotion, and emotional excess.
Casting Caleb Landry Jones as Dracula may be the film’s boldest and most intriguing choice. Known for his intense, often unsettling performances in Get Out (2017), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), The Florida Project (2017), and his Cannes-winning turn in Nitram (2021), Jones brings a volatile emotionality that feels well suited to Besson’s vision of a romantic antihero. This marks the second collaboration between Besson and Jones following Dogman (2023).
Christoph Waltz adds immediate gravitas to the film. With two Academy Awards and a career defined by morally complex authority figures — from Inglourious Basterds (2009) to Django Unchained (2012) — his presence looms large over the trailer. His casting feels especially notable given his recent appearance in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025), placing him at the center of a renewed wave of prestige gothic book-to-film adaptations.
Zoë Bleu, portraying both Elisabeta and Mina Murray, serves as the emotional axis of the story. While her previous work has largely flown under the mainstream radar, the dual role positions her as both memory and destiny — the past Dracula cannot let go of and the future that may damn or redeem him.
What may surprise longtime Dracula and vampire fans is just how confidently the film leans into romance. There are flashes of blood and violence, but the emphasis is unmistakably emotional rather than horrific. This is not a story about heroes hunting a monster; it’s about a monster who refuses to stop loving, even when love itself becomes the curse.
And honestly, that feels perfectly timed. In an era where AMC’s Interview with the Vampire (2022) has proven just how powerful — and devastating — romantic vampire storytelling can be, Dracula feels less like a departure from the genre and more like a continuation of its evolution. Audiences are ready for vampires who ache, yearn, and love fiercely, and Besson’s film appears eager to meet that hunger head-on.
One thing is certain: this is not the Dracula we’ve seen before — and if the trailer is any indication, Luc Besson seems determined to make us fall in love with him.
Watch the trailer below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries
