The Dracula-themed The Last Voyage of the Demeter has been lingering in development for nearly a decade, but it finally looks like things are picking up.  The film is based on a portion of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula in which the titular vampire was transported on a ship from Transylvania to London.  The film takes place during the voyage and centers on its affect on the ship’s crew (ie. Dracula goes a-hunting at sea). David Slade was originally going to direct with Noomi Rapace and Ben Kingsley set to star, but that iteration of the project never moved forward.

New life was breathed into the film when The Descent helmer Neil Marshall signed on to direct this past May, and now producers are zeroing in on the film’s lead.  Hit the jump for more, including an update on the status of Rapace and Kingsley’s involvement.

The Descent director, Neil Marshall, may finally launch The Last Voyage of the Demeter, a Dracula-themed feature that has been land-locked for the past decade.  The story of Demeter goes back more than a century; it was the name of the ship that transported Dracula from Transylvania to London in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel.  The tale tells of the Demeter washing ashore in London as a near wreck with only one stark raving mad survivor on board.  The now ten-year-old Bragi Schut (Season of the Witch) script centers on the voyage and the crew that was mysteriously slaughtered one-by-one.  With Marshall’s recent attachment, it looks like The Last Voyage of the Demeter will set sail at last.  Hit the jump for more.

Having learned to speak English only three years ago, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace is making quite a splash in Hollywood. After well-earned global acclaim for her riveting portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the original film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s best-selling Millennium Trilogy (which includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), her first English-speaking role is as a mysterious Gypsy named Sim, in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

At the press junket for Sherlock 2, Collider got the opportunity to chat with the actress who is clearly very passionate about her craft and, while we will run the portion of the interview about that film, closer to its December 16^th release, we did want to share what she had to say about her transition to American movies. She talked about working with Ridley Scott, who is one of her heroes, on the 2012 summer blockbuster Prometheus, which she recently gotten to see some of while doing ADR in London a couple weeks ago, re-teaming with her Dragon Tattoo director, Niels Arden Oplev, for Dead Man Down, starring Colin Farrell, possibly working with Brian DePalma, and that it’s looking like The Last Voyage of Demeter is not going to work out. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Jude Law may be setting sail with a vampire.  Bleeding Cool reports that the actor is in talks to play the lead role in David Slade’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter.  The story is a kind of spin-off from Dracula and focuses solely on the events of the vampire’s travel on the doomed cargo ship, The Demeter.  If Law signs on, he would join Ben Kingsley and Noomi Rapace (who starred in the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy).

Hit the jump for a synopsis of The Last Voyage of the Demeter and a refresher on Law’s other projects.

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.

And she’s off!  Swedish actress Noomi Rapace paved the buzz surrounding her performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo into a direct route to Hollywood: she’ll make her English-language debut in Sherlock Holmes 2, and she’s in talks for such fellow franchise tentpoles as Mission: Impossible reboot, the Alien prequels.  Rapace is ready to sign on for her next project, The Last Voyage of Demeter, which will connect her to two iconic figures in film history: Dracula and Ben Kingsley.

Hit the jump for more information on Demeter and the role set aside for Rapace.

Noomi Rapace, who played Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, may be about to break out stateside in a big way.  While Rapace isn’t a household name in America yet, Stieg Larsson’s “Millenium Trilogy” (of which Dragon Tattoo is the first part) novels are still tearing up the bestseller list and the movie is one of the hottest titles on Netflix “Watch Instantly”.  Rapace also won the Swedish equivalent of an Oscar for her performance as Salander and now Magnolia Pictures wants to get her an Oscar nomination for that performance.  Deadline reports that Rapace is basically being set up to be the next Marion Cotillard.  Hit the jump to find out about the ridiculous amount of high-profile roles she’s been meeting for.

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.