The vampire craze is showing no signs of slowing down with Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the Twilight film franchise, helping to keep the craze alive by pushing forward on Vlad. Summit's going back to the roots of Dracula, bringing the story of a young Vlad the Impaler to the screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Machinist screenwriter Scott Kosar has been tapped to work on the script actor Charlie Hunnam wrote for the action drama.

Music video director Anthony Mandler is set to make his feature film directorial debut with Vlad. Brad Pitt (no stranger to vampire films having starred in Interview with the Vampire) is producing through his Plan B Shingle. There's no word yet on when production's expected to start or who will play the title role.

Screenwriter Kosar's other credits include 2003's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the remake of The Amityville Horror, and the remake of The Crazies (hitting theaters February 26th).

Summit's Vlad isn't the only project in the works to center on Vlad the Impaler. Sam Worthington, hot off his action hero turn in Avatar and with Clash of the Titans hitting theaters in April, is rumored to be starring in Dracula Year Zero for Universal Pictures. If Worthington's deal goes through he'll be taking on the lead role in what's described by The Hollywood Reporter as "a tragic love story stet in a dark age of magic and war." Alex Proyas, director of Knowing, I, Robot, Garage Days, and Dark City, is helming the film. No start date has been set.