Dracula star Jonathan Rhys Meyers is back in vampire territory — but there’s a twist

It seems Jonathan Rhys Meyers just can’t quit the vampires. If you remember him chewing scenery as Dracula on NBC, he’s about to sink his teeth back into the bloodsucker business – this time, with a film called Pretty Kill Machine.

Matthew has built a genuinely sensuous, dangerous world, and with Jonathan anchoring it at the center, we think buyers are going to respond in a big way. We can’t wait to introduce Vee to the market at AFM.

That’s Yariv Lerner, who’s not only producing this one, but also runs Nu Boyana Studios. He’s obviously keen, and if you’re flogging this project at the American Film Market, you rather need the pitch to land.

What We Know So Far

The project is directed by Matthew Wilder, and alongside Lerner, David Hillary is on board as a producer. It’s going out to buyers courtesy of Quantify – which, for those counting, is a relatively new player made up of Nu Boyana Studios, Dark Matter Studios, Government Island, and Film Forge Media all thrown together.

• No role yet for Meyers as a vampire – he’s not playing the bloodthirsty lead this time.
• The main character in Pretty Kill Machine is a vampire called Vee, who’s been wandering the Earth since before anyone bothered keeping records. She divides her time between a hotel bar (very civilised) and a lair covered in mirrors somewhere in the Joshua Tree desert. Atmospheric, if you like that sort of thing.
• Meyers will play Vee’s love interest – not Vee, just to be clear – and apparently his arrival is what blows her immortal life to bits. Well, metaphorically. Suddenly, true love is making her question if she wants immortality at all.
• Here’s the odd bit: Vee is the star, but nobody’s announced who’s actually playing her. It’s 2026, and they’re still keeping that under wraps.
• There’s no word yet on a release date, so if you’re genuinely eager for romantic vampire angst from Meyers, you’ll have to wait.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been confirmed as the only cast member so far for Pretty Kill Machine.

So that’s where we’re at: one confirmed cast member, a vampire romance in the desert, and yet another excuse for Meyers to get dramatic about blood and forbidden love. If nothing else, it sounds less silly than most of the vampire fare we’ve been getting lately.