Gerard Butler and Wes Craven’s forgotten horror flop, which sits at 19% on Rotten Tomatoes, is getting a new streaming home. With roles in 300, the Has Fallen franchise, and the Den of Thieves series, Butler has become an action icon. But there’s an alternate universe where the actor became a legend in a completely different movie genre.
When he was a young actor just getting a foothold in Hollywood, Butler took a secondary role in Tale of the Mummy, an adventure-leaning horror excursion directed by Highlander’s Russell Mulcahy. Just two years later, the future action hero was one of the leads in a relatively big-budget horror film produced by Nightmare on Elm Street mastermind Craven.
Unfortunately, Butler’s first movie as a main actor went on to bomb at the box office, which perhaps explains why the star made action movies his focus from then on, leaving behind the macabre in favor of kicking ʙuтт (as he will do again in the upcoming Den of Thieves 3).
Butler And Craven’s Flop Dracula 2000 Is Getting A New Streaming Home
Action icon Butler played the most iconic of horror characters in producer Craven’s Dracula 2000, and now 25 years later, the 19% RT flop is getting a new streaming home. Perhaps if Craven’s film had grossed more than $47 million on a budget of $54 million, it would have launched Butler on a career as a legendary horror star.
The movie that may have put Butler off horror forever has largely been forgotten, but it will nonetheless soon be available on a new streaming home, as Dracula 2000 goes to Paramount+ beginning on September 1, 2025.
Why You Should Watch Dracula 2000 On Paramount+
Fans of Butler the action icon may not even know that he once played a long-haired, Sєxy vampire in a movie called Dracula 2000. There’s novelty value to the film now, because Butler has become so famous for playing characters that are nothing like his Jim Morrison-looking Dracula.
This take on Dracula happens to be a unique one in other ways. Set in 21st Century New Orleans (a nod perhaps to Anne Rice), the movie not only shows how the vampire returns to action after being vanquished by Van Helsing, it also introduces one of the crazier Dracula origin stories.
In this take on Bram Stoker’s legend, the vampire reveals that he is actually Judas Escariot, the betrayer of Jesus, and that he became an immortal bloodsucker after the crucifixion. Now Dracula wants revenge on Jesus and all of humanity, which he hopes to gain by unleashing a vampire plague on the Earth.
This bizarre twist on the Dracula myth makes Dracula 2000 stand out from the many other vampire films released around the same time. The movie is visually impressive too, and features a strong supporting cast including Christopher Plummer, Jeri Ryan, Omar Epps, and Jennifer Esposito.
Butler as Dracula should arguably be enough of a reason to see Dracula 2000 when it hits Paramount+ on September 1, but the film indeed has plenty of other attractions for fans of mold-breaking vampire movies, especially of the 2000-era variety.