Quickly becoming the go-to director for all things vampire, David Slade (30 Days of Night, Twilight Saga: Eclipse) is in talks to board The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The period horror film is based on a segment of Bram Stoker’s Dracula which recounts the legend of the ship which transported the famous vampire from Transylvania to England. Demeter is said to be in the vein of Alien, wherein a ship’s crew becomes tormented by a mysterious being who picks them off one-by-one.

Ben Kingsley and Noomi Rapace are already attached to star in the film as supporting characters. Producers (and, presumably, now Slade) are currently still looking for their lead actor. Heat Vision reports that Bragi Schut (Season of the Witch) wrote the script, which Phoenix Pictures is producing. The film is currently securing financing, but the addition of Slade, with his expertise in the genre and that blockbuster-level money Eclipse raked in, should make things easier. Hit the jump for a synopsis of The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

Phoenix Pictures looks to have found a director for its upcoming horror flick The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Per THR, Stefan Ruzowitzky, the man behind the 2007 Oscar-winning Austrian film The Counterfeiters, is in talks to take the helm of the period pic, which is based on a segment of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In the novel, the Demeter is the ship that unknowingly takes the villainous vampire from Transylvania to England, and along the way…well, an undead guy’s gotta eat, right?

As someone who likes the genre and loves this book, I’m looking forward to this one. Over the years, I’ve learned not to get too excited about horror films slated for wide release, but the director’s resume checks out, and this is the studio that just recently brought us Shutter Island. What’s more, the story of the Demeter really intrigues me. As THR points out, the concept is essentially Alien on a 19^th century schooner. And while this film would be hard-pressed to measure up to the masterpiece that is Alien, I think we could have the makings of a solid claustrophobic shocker here.

While MGM clearly searches for solid ground, Darren Aronofsky’s RoboCop reboot has stalled, according to MovieHole. The essential crux of the delay is that Mary Parent, Chairperson of MGM, seems to want the film in 3-D.

We have James Cameron’s massive success with Avatar to thank for that, though it isn’t entirely his fault that he successfully launched a franchise on the back of an extra dimension. Bringing an alien world to life in 3-D makes sense, but a film like RoboCop might not.

In fact, it is Aronofsky that appears to be against the change. To find out why and the possible future of the re-imagining, hit the jump.