©Courtesy of Universal Pictures, “Dracula.”

Bela Lugosi will be rising from the crypt thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio, who is planning a biopic about the legendary Hungarian actor who originated the role of Dracula in the classic 1931 film. The upcoming biopic is being developed by DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions in tandem with Universal Pictures, according to Deadline, which broke the story this week.

DiCaprio’s film will focus on the youthful Lugosi, who was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in 1882 and died in 1956. Another theme in the film will examine his later decline due to alcoholism and morphine addiction. Lugosi began his acting career in 1902 and played the role of Count Dracula in a Broadway production in 1927, four years before the Universal Film that both immortalized and stereotyped him as a leading figure in the horror genre. During the 1930s, Lugosi also appeared in several films with Boris Karloff, including The Black Cat, The Raven, and Son of Frankenstein.

The script for DiCaprio’s biopic will be written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who penned the screenplay for Tim Burton’s 1994 film Ed Wood, in which Martin Landau won an Oscar for his role as the Lugosi character. Alexander and Karaszewski also wrote the scripts for other biopics that have included Big Eyes, Dolemite Is My Name, Man on the Moon, and The People vs. Larry Flynt. The duo most recently wrote the script for a biopic about The Grateful Dead, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Jonah Hill as Jerry Garcia. The film is under development by Apple Studios, with no release date yet announced.

Still in the very early development process, DiCaprio’s biopic is being produced by Jennifer Davisson, Alex Cutler and Darryl Marshak. As of press time, representatives from Universal Pictures have declined to comment on the project, which was pitched to them two years ago.

Check out other articles by Edward.