Castlevania (2011) based on Castlevania 1 or 3?

[Julius Seeker]

There seems to be a lot of debate about this. Some sources are saying Castlevania 1 will be what it is based off of (such as an anonymous reporter on IMDB, who essentially wrote the plot of Castlevania 1 in the summary field), a leaked script suggests that the title character will be Trevor Belmont rather than Simon. From what I understand as well, this is to be a fairly big budget film.

[Zeus]

They should go back to the beginning and do an origin story IMO

[Kupek]

They should go back to the beginning and do an origin story IMO

Except they've done that with the games, what, three times? CV3 was a prequel, and Trevor was the predecessor to Simon. Then there was the terrible Castlevania Legends for GB starring a woman that was eventually retconned out, and more recently, Lament of Innocence was intended as the first time a Belmont encounters Dracula.

The story in Castlevania games is not good. It's the mood and atmosphere that's good. I have low expectations for this movie - and not because I think they're going to sully the Castlevania experience, but because the source material has the narrative depth of a Saturday morning cartoon. Even if the movie is accurate to the games, it'll still be ridiculous.

[Zeus]

They should go back to the beginning and do an origin story IMO

Except they've done that with the games, what, three times? CV3 was a prequel, and Trevor was the predecessor to Simon. Then there was the terrible Castlevania Legends for GB starring a woman that was eventually retconned out, and more recently, Lament of Innocence was intended as the first time a Belmont encounters Dracula.

The story in Castlevania games is not good. It's the mood and atmosphere that's good. I have low expectations for this movie - and not because I think they're going to sully the Castlevania experience, but because the source material has the narrative depth of a Saturday morning cartoon. Even if the movie is accurate to the games, it'll still be ridiculous.

No, it never was that good. There's gonna be a ton of backfilling of story to make it fit within the little canon that they have. That's what Anderson does with all his movies and he has done the best of the games-to-film adaptations.

I have very reserved hopes for it. And I would prefer they do an origin story in the vein of Trevor and Castlevania 3. The PS2 and GB ones shouldn't really be used for storyline, they ain't good enough. Stick with the premises that work. They can move on to Richter in later ones

[Flip]

The games simply have little story and a lot of two hit kill monster fighting... how can that ever make a good movie? Will they show the lead actor flinging his whip at bats while trying to figure out how to get past the grates that only mist form will allow? Worst game to movie idea ever.

[RentCavalier]

On the flip side, it's a totally easy concept for a movie--Dracula lives in a big spooky castle full of all manner of hell demons, one brave man has to go in and kill him.

Throw in a few supporting characters and a sub plot and you could have a pretty decent action movie.

OR

Alternatively, they could have the star be Alucard as opposed to a Belmont. His story--I mean, he commits patricide--has a lot more room for emotional depth, and could fit even BETTER in an action role because he's a vampire too. The problem here is that Twilight is and will still be fresh in people's minds, and there's a limit to how many pretty boy vampire movies can survive.

OR

They ditch an action perspective, eliminate Trevor or Simon as the main character (but include them as an important supporting character) and do a straight up horror movie. Some innocent bloke gets lured/kidnapped/lost in the woods and stumbles upon Castlevania. Inside he is chased and pursued by all manner of terrible beasties, and he observes the battle between Simon and Dracula from a supporting role. This allows the MOST literary freedom for the story, as this guy can be embellished to all hell, and a horror angle may actually warrant a better film.

Unless they made it a slasher, of course.

[Zeus]

It's not overly difficult to use the games as a basis of a storyline. I mean, you have a family, the Belmonts, who's historical duty it is to eliminate Dracula when he arises every 100 years. That right there allows for more depth than 80% of the new-age action/horror/suspense flicks out there (I'm lookin' at you, Twilight)

[Flip]

It's not overly difficult to use the games as a basis of a storyline. I mean, you have a family, the Belmonts, who's historical duty it is to eliminate Dracula when he arises every 100 years. That right there allows for more depth than 80% of the new-age action/horror/suspense flicks out there (I'm lookin' at you, Twilight)

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen crappiness is what this movie will become.

[Kupek]

It's not overly difficult to use the games as a basis of a storyline. I mean, you have a family, the Belmonts, who's historical duty it is to eliminate Dracula when he arises every 100 years. That right there allows for more depth than 80% of the new-age action/horror/suspense flicks out there (I'm lookin' at you, Twilight)

That's a premise, not a story.

[Zeus]

It's not overly difficult to use the games as a basis of a storyline. I mean, you have a family, the Belmonts, who's historical duty it is to eliminate Dracula when he arises every 100 years. That right there allows for more depth than 80% of the new-age action/horror/suspense flicks out there (I'm lookin' at you, Twilight)

That's a premise, not a story.

I agree. That's why I refer to it as a basis for a storyline.