Dracula (Tv series)

Dracula is an upcoming show on NBC, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. It will star Dracula as he travels to London in the 1890s, under the guise of an American entrepreneur seeking to introduce Victorian society to modern technology. His true goal is to seek revenge on those who have wronged him. It is a "re-imagining" that has very little to do with the work of Bram Stoker.

Premise
The series introduces Dracula as he arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier. There's only one circumstance that can potentially thwart his plan: Dracula falls hopelessly in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

Story
Centuries ago, Vlad Tepes (Lord of Transylvania) was captured along with his beloved wife, Ilona, by the Order of Dragons. Vlad was a senior member himself, but committed an act considered unforgivable and the couple suffered a terrible fate; Ilona was burned to death to a stake and Vlad was turned into Dracula (Lord of Vampires) by the Order of Dragons to punish and torture him. Unfortunately, Dracula escaped and launched his own campaign against the order with his own sired legion of vampires, but he was ultimately captured and his army scattered; he was imprisoned and buried in a special-made coffin to prevent him from ever returning. However, Dracula wasn’t the only person that the order had scorned.

Around the 1800’s, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, another victim that lost his entire family to the Order of Dragons was desperate for revenge. In order to exact his vengeance, he needed a person of great power and charisma to help him bring down the order; he would need Dracula. Learning of Dracula’s buried coffin, Van Helsing excavated and resurrected Dracula; he proposed an alliance and Dracula agreed to the deadly partnership.

Several years has passed now. Van Helsing and Dracula maintained their secret partnership, but temporarily parted ways to reach their goals. Van Helsing has established himself as a medical educator in London’s School of Medicine. Dracula, after getting acclimated in modern times, traveled to the frontiers of America to re-establish his wealth, resources, and created a new identity; he eventually returned to London with his newly established persona, Alexander Grayson (of Grayson Industries), a charming wealthy American inventor who wants to invest in London. With his trusted lawyer and confidant, R.M. Renfield, to help him carry out his tasks during the daylight, the stage was building to the men’s mutual goal of exacting vengeance upon the Order of Dragons.

Making a grandiose appearance upon London’s high society in a lavish party, Alexander Grayson (Dracula) displayed a brand new invention: wireless power. Wi-Fi power was still in its prototype stages, but Grayson believed if the technology can be perfected, along with acquiring resources into the order’s financial dependencies, they can financially break the Order of the Dragons and exact vengeance upon its powerless members. However, things would become complicated when Ilona walks back into his life during that very party.

Believing Ilona was dead, Dracula never imagined that his wife would be reborn into this century as Mina Murry (one of Van Helsing’s medical students). Against Van Helsing’s warnings, Grayson began drawing in Mina and her fiancé, Jonathan Harker (a lowly reporter, whom Grayson hired as his investigative agent), into his life. Although Grayson originally intended to watch over Mina and help Harker become successful, both Grayson and Mina are drawn towards each other and others can see it as well. Now determined to bring down the order and to be with Mina, Dracula had Van Helsing develop a serum to help him walk into the sunlight once more as a man. However, the serum only gave him merely four hours before suffering severe sun burn.

Meanwhile, the Order of Dragons are aware of Grayson’s threat to their financial stability; they have both considered recruiting Grayson as well as destroying him. With vampires gathering to London (due to Dracula's calling), the order correctly suspected he was a vampire (due to his nightly habits) and had their agent, Lady Jayne Wetherby (Vampire Hunter), investigate him; Dracula discovered Wetherby's true occupation during one of his nightly feedings and manipulated her to help him fool the order. Dracula played a dangerous romantic game with Wetherby by courting her and having a long term affair with her. Because he was able to prove he can walk in the sunlight (which no vampire should naturally do), the order dismissed their vampire suspicions, but still moved to contain Grayson’s threat to their financial holdings; the stakes were raised when the order discovered Grayson's affection for Mina.

In between events, Mina begins to experience dreams of her past life as Ilona with Vlad, as well as inappropriate fantasies about Grayson while being engaged to Harker; it only makes herself draw closer to Grayson and drive a wedge against Harker. Although Harker’s social and financial status dramatically improved under Grayson’s care, he senses there's something between Mina and Grayson, making him uncomfortable. After Grayson used Harker to bring down a “pawn” in the secret battles between the order and Grayson (which Harker was upset about), the order introduced themselves before Harker in attempt to convince him that Grayson is an extraordinary threat to the country; Browning (leader of the order) wants Harker to help ruin Grayson, but his allegiances remain confused. In addition, Lady Jayne Wetherby, senses Lucy Westenra (best friend to Mina) carries a deep romantic desire for Mina and manipulates and teaches her to seduce and destroy Harker so she could be with Mina; through Lucy's manipulation (Wetherby's influence), Harker believed that Mina and Grayson are secretly romantically involved. It caused Harker to see Grayson as his enemy and drove him resort to underhanded measures; the declaration of war would begin with Mina's assault.

Eager to gain leverage against Grayson, Davenport (member of the Order of Dragons) had secretly stolen a prized painting that Grayson longed for: a portrait of Ilona. When Davenport realized Grayson loved Mina, he dispatched his men to assault and disfigure her face with acid; Dracula appeared and ruthlessly killed her attackers. While visiting Mina at the local hospital, Harker wrongly thought that this was retaliation against him (due to him whistle-blowing against an agent of the order) and thought about reporting this to the authorities; Grayson manipulated Harker's rage by telling him that Davenport is too powerful to be so easily arrested under circumstantial evidence; Harker shot-dead Davenport and he later slept with Lucy to ease his troubles.

Cast

 * Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Dracula
 * Jessica De Gouw as Mina Murray/Ilona
 * Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Jonathan Harker
 * Nonso Anozie as R.M. Renfield
 * Victoria Smurfit as Lady Jayne Wetherby
 * Thomas Kretschmann as Abraham Van Helsing
 * Katie McGrath as Lucy Westenra
 * Ben Miles as Browning
 * Robert Bathurst as Lord Thomas Davenport

Production
The series is written by Cole Haddon and produced by Colin Callendar, Tony Krantz, Gareth Neame, Anne Mensah and Reece Pearson. It is directed by Eli Roth.