Dracula (2025 French film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dracula (2025 French film) |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Luc Besson |
| Produced by | Virginie Besson-Silla |
| Screenplay by | Luc Besson |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Colin Wandersman |
| Editing by | Lucas "Kub" Fabiani |
| Studio |
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| Distributed by | SND |
| Release date(s) | 30 July 2025 (France) |
| Running time | 129 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | English |
| Budget | €45 million ($52 million) |
| Money made | $42.4 million |
Dracula (also known as Dracula: A Love Tale in some countries) is a French Gothic romantic fantasy movie from 2025. It was written and directed by Luc Besson. The film is based on the famous 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
The movie stars Caleb Landry Jones as Dracula, with Christoph Waltz and Zoë Bleu also in key roles. It first premiered in France on July 30, 2025, distributed by SND. Later, it had a wider release in North America on February 6, 2026. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was generally liked by audiences. It earned $42.4 million worldwide.
Contents
Meet the Cast
- Caleb Landry Jones played Dracula.
- Christoph Waltz played the priest.
- Zoë Bleu played Elisabeta and Mina Murray.
- Guillaume de Tonquédec played Dumont.
- Matilda De Angelis played Maria.
- Ewens Abid played Jonathan Harker.
- Bertrand-Xavier Corbi played Captain Targol.
- Raphael Luce played Simon.
- David Shields played Henry Spencer.
- Thalia Besson played Isabelle de Touraine.
Making the Movie: Production Details
In February 2024, it was announced that a new movie based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was being made. Luc Besson was set to direct and write the story. Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz were chosen for the main roles.
Director Luc Besson was inspired to make this film not just by the Dracula story, but by the actor Caleb Landry Jones. Besson had worked with Jones before and wanted to create another special role for him. Besson described his film as a very romantic take on the story. He felt that the original book by Bram Stoker had a strong love story that hadn't been fully shown in other movies. He saw it as a tale of a man who waits 400 years for his lost love to return. It's important to know that this deep love and reincarnation story is mostly Besson's idea, as the original novel had different reasons for Dracula's actions.
Besson believed the original novel was truly a love story. He thought that because movies and special effects didn't exist when the book came out, people focused more on the scary and mysterious parts. This made Dracula seem like a horror character. Besson wanted to show the story of a man who loses his wife, becomes immortal, and searches for her for centuries.
Luc Besson shared that he wasn't a big fan of horror movies or even Dracula stories himself. His main goal was to create a sad but romantic love story, rather than a scary one, though he did include some spooky elements. He was most interested in telling the tale of a man who spent 400 years trying to find his true love.
Visual Style and Art
For the film's look, Besson and cinematographer Colin Wandersman decided to get ideas from old European paintings. They especially focused on a technique called chiaroscuro, which uses strong contrasts of light and shadow.
Amazing Costumes
Corinne Bruand designed the costumes, working from ideas by Patrice Garcia and Luc Besson. A total of 550 costumes were made for the movie. Dracula's armor was crafted by artisan Terry English, who had also worked with Besson on The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). The soldiers' armor in the film's first part was made in London by the team who worked on Game of Thrones.
Elisabeth's beautiful gown was made by Manufacture Royale Bonvallet in Amiens, France. The long veil for her headdress, which was almost eight meters long, was made from a very light silk organza from Japan. Most of the fabrics used were produced by the French workshop BBC Jacquard, based on old drawings.
Sets and Props
Hugues Tissandier, who has worked on many of Luc Besson's films, designed the sets. Many of the sets, like the inside rooms of the castle, were built entirely in the studio. The outside of the castle was mostly created using special visual effects. The music box, which is shown at the very beginning of the film and is important to the story, was made of brass. The Baghdad market scene was created using 1,500,000 flower petals, carefully prepared by the film crew. Paintings of Dracula in the grand dining hall were a tribute to actors who had played Dracula in earlier movies.
Special Make-up Effects
The film's make-up was overseen by Julia Floch, Jean-Christophe Spadaccini, and Denis Gastou, who often work on Luc Besson’s films. The make-up team had 28 people. To make Dracula look 400 years old in some scenes, they used prosthetic makeup. Nearly 200 prosthetic pieces were created for the film, including for Dracula's head, body, and aged hands. Making Caleb Landry Jones look like a 400-year-old Dracula took six to seven hours of preparation. The make-up for Guillaume de Tonquédec, who played the scientist, took up to three hours.
Filming Locations
Principal photography (the main filming) began on March 27, 2024, in Kainuu, Finland. This location was chosen for its beautiful snowy landscapes. Filming continued from March to July 2024 in several places, including the Paris region at the Dark Matters studios in Tigery (Essonne). For outdoor scenes, Besson filmed in Kuhmo, Finland, and later returned to Paris for a scene at the Palais-Royal. The production in Paris, which started in June 2024, had to be completed quickly because of filming restrictions put in place for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Post-production Magic
The amazing visual effects were created by MPC Paris. This studio delivered 656 visual effects shots out of more than 1,500 shots in the film, with 162 artists and technicians working on them. For adjusting the colors of the film, Luc Besson worked with Yvans Lucas. Lucas is famous for his work on films like Amélie and The Big Blue, which Besson also directed. He has also worked on many American films by directors like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino.
The Music of Dracula
Danny Elfman composed the music for Dracula: A Love Tale. He created three main themes. The first was a romantic theme, showing Dracula's love for his lost wife. It was often played on a music box but also had different versions with other instruments. The second theme was for a large dance scene. The third theme aimed to show Dracula's warrior and vampire nature. Once these main themes were decided, Danny Elfman and Luc Besson worked together on other musical ideas to express strangeness, mystery, and tension throughout the story.
Film Release
The film was released in France on July 30, 2025, by SND. It was then released in about 40 other countries from August 2025 to February 2026 by various companies. The movie was shown in the 'Grand public' section of the 20th Rome Film Festival and was released in Italy on October 29, 2025, by Lucky Red. It was also chosen for the official competition at Sitges 2025 in Spain.
Signature Entertainment acquired the rights for the UK and Ireland. They released the film straight to digital on December 1, 2025. For its UK release, it was re-titled Bram Stoker's Dracula. The film had a wide theatrical release in the United States and Canada on February 6, 2026, by Vertical.
