Leonardo DiCaprio is turning his attention to one of cinema’s most haunting legends. Through his Appian Way banner, DiCaprio is producing a biopic about Béla Lugosi, the Hungarian actor best known for portraying Dracula on stage and screen. The film is in early development at Universal Pictures.
Rather than revisiting the well-worn image of Lugosi in his twilight years, the story will focus on his early life—the journey from Hungary to America, his struggles as an immigrant actor, and the rise that led him to become the face of Gothic horror in Hollywood. It will also delve into his fateful choice to decline the role of Frankenstein’s monster, a decision that shifted the course of both his career and film history.
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the team behind films such as Ed Wood and Big Eyes, as well as other character-rich biopics, are writing the screenplay. The film will aim beyond myth, offering a grounded and complex portrait of a man whose talent often clashed with the limitations of his era.
DiCaprio is producing alongside Jennifer Davisson, Alex Cutler, and Darryl Marshak. No casting has been announced, and the project is still in the early stages, with no timeline yet for production or release. For Universal, long the home of classic monsters, this marks another step in honouring its cinematic roots. For DiCaprio, it’s a chance to bring depth and dignity to a figure too often reduced to a cape and accent.
If done right, the film could remind audiences that before Lugosi became an icon, he was a man chasing a dream far from home.
