This production blog was started as a way for all Castlevania fans to get a behind-the-scenes, inside look, at the production of the movie and to provide a forum for discussion about it. It is a place where you can have a dialogue amongst yourselves and also with the producers, writer, artists, director, etc. of the movie. We understand that you are passionate about Castlevania and want to hear your thoughts and opinions. If you have something that you want to say, want the production team to take your opinion seriously, and want to see your posts here, make your point in an intelligent, respectful, manner. Otherwise, the only ones to who will get to see and hear what you have to say are you, and well…you.
Kevin
53 responses so far ↓
Arikado // May 6, 2007 at 2:00 pm
A movie trilogy and some serious forum moderation all about Castlevania. Nice!
Arikado // May 6, 2007 at 2:19 pm
“want the production team to take your opinion seriously”; Would you please try to mention Hector and/or Issac in one of the movies. If you do not mention them it would still be cool if you had Hector’s (or Issac’s) portrait hanging in the background of a scene or something of that nature.
jay d smith // May 6, 2007 at 2:49 pm
wow! a castlevania animated movie! i love the castlevania games and have spent many hours playing them.
i will certainly be keeping my eye on this blog!
j.
Pedro // May 6, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I agree with Arikado. A Hector/Isaac cameo would be neat.
Ralph // May 6, 2007 at 5:01 pm
If Hector and Isaac do appear in it, the only way it’d work with the story is to hear them referenced to, or you see them years before the initial “war” in 1476 happened.
It’d be too awkward to flash in and out of the battle they have during the entire storming of the castle by Trevor and friends.
Jerkofwonder // May 6, 2007 at 5:38 pm
No Ralph, because I doubt Hector and Isaac were off as soon as the war started. I also doubt that the war is already going on in the beggining of the movie. It would be much cooler if Hector slowly moves away, like at first he tries to deal with things, then realizes he can’t and runs off.
Doom Saber // May 6, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I wonder how they would add them. I mean would they add them as mere comeos or would they a more important role if they are ever inserted in the movies.
Otaku-Man // May 7, 2007 at 7:50 am
I almost forgot about Hector and Isaac, the two forgemasters for the Count. They would make a good fit and addition to the Dracula backstory. (Perhaps, before becoming forgemasters, they were regular servants of the Count)
However, I am concerned about this Bishop that Warren keeps mentioning. It has me VERY curious.
Also, another character that is very prominent in Castlevania and one no one here has really mentioned yet:
DEATH!
What will the relation between Dracula and Death be like?
That I want to find out.
Ooh, the suspense!
~Otaku-Man
Thomas Belmont // May 7, 2007 at 9:48 am
Please have Trevor defeat Alucard on a fair, one on one fight.
Arikado // May 7, 2007 at 10:47 am
This bishop…. The dark priest Shant (he possesed Richter in SotN) perhaps? Maybe Saint Germain (Curse of Darkness)?
Death will probally be more like a person for the film. Kind of like in Circle of the Moon (God, I loved that game) and Symphony of the Night.
My big question is how and what boss battles will depicted in the film. I would love some feedback from Warren on this one.
Arikado // May 7, 2007 at 10:53 am
Darn! I meant to put this in my last post; Death will probably appear in the Clock Tower and at Dracula’s side, advising his course of action in the war.
Ralph // May 7, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I think the Bishop he’s talking about is the pope-like figure that hired Sypha to take out Dracula originally, but after she disappeared, had no choice but to ask help from the Belmont Clan.
Arikado // May 7, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Yeah, you’re probally right.
Douglas Cartland // May 7, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I only recently found out about the film(s) and this blog. I am overly-excited, not only because it’s Castlevania, but because it’s an adaptation of my favourite Castlevania game.
I have a few thoughts that I’m not expecting any reply on, but would still like to share them:
- Any reference to Sonia Belmont would be greatly appreciated.
- Romantic chemistry between Sypha and Trevor? There is the hint that Juste Belmont (200 year later) has inherited powers from both Trevor and Sypha.
- I’m curious/excited see to how you will take on the three sub characters, as in the game (for practical reasons) you could only allow one with you at any time.
- Story is main focus as you said. How much of this will be back story? :O
- I picture this project including either:
1) Tons of fighting, moderate amount of story.
2) Tons of backstory, moderate amount of fighting.
3) Tons of travelling, therefore focus on scenery than story. Ala 300 or Lord of the Rings.
Getting all those aspects crammed into 80 minutes… not gonna happen.
- I agree on the Hector and Isaac comments that people have been mentioning. Would be sweet to see them in the films.
A reply to what someone said earlier:
Otaku-Man: “What will the relation between Dracula and Death be like?”
I’ve always thought the logic behind why Death is one of Dracula’s “minions” and not the other way around was because Dracula is the only being (ever) to able to postpone his own demise indefinitely. Therefore, Death must be inferior to Dracula. But then again, that’s just my take on it.
Would be cool to see Death in the films though.
Jerkofwonder // May 7, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Sonia was a terrible character from a terrible game. Thank god she and the game were retconned. PLEASE do not reference her in any way.
Eli // May 7, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Sonia’s game was actually a breath of fresh air compared to the other ones for the original Gameboy.
I like Sonia because I think there should be some female protagonists in the serries. Just as long as they dont make them like Buffy I would like to see more.
Not to mention Castlevania: Resurection on the Dreamcast looked awesome before it got canceled.
Soleyu // May 7, 2007 at 7:38 pm
First of all to all you Castlevania uber-freaks I know the name is spelled Solieyu, I kinda like it this way better, and besides its my screen name for anything webrelated. (if you dont understand then dont worry)
To he comment about Sonia, probably not going to happen since IGA is checking the scripts and it was Iga who retconned Sonia out of the history of the games.
Anywaym awesome blog and best of luck with the movies, I’m really looking forward to seeing the movies.
Jerkofwonder // May 7, 2007 at 9:35 pm
NO. Sonia’s game was a dumbed-down version of Belmont’s revenge. Ask any gamer, or check any review. Female characters are cool, but having them in the 1400’s is retarded.
MAX_LE_FOU // May 8, 2007 at 4:56 am
*warning spoiler of CV: LOI below*
Actually a Sonia reference would be very well received by any well rounded Castlevania Fan. I agree with Douglas on many points on his previous comment. There should be a reference to Sonia Belmont.
Personally, Leon Belmont and his love transformed into the ’soul of the whip’ was a little off key in Lament of Innocence. It was like watching a very bad early 90’s anime. And (to my eyes) Sonia is the true first Belmont to grace the family’s storyline ‘appropriately’.
For a movie reference, check out ‘Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust’. The General Mood, voice acting, sound and music of the film is top notch and just the intro of the film with the fly-by camera over the town made me think of “this is how a CV movie should be like”. But I’m not the one making the movie and I certainly can’t wait to see the results of the team working on it. After all, movie making and game design is like art; it’s just a matter of perception.
Whiplash4ever // May 8, 2007 at 5:02 am
I wish they include classic Castlevania game soundtracks in the project.
MAX_LE_FOU // May 8, 2007 at 6:25 am
Good point Whiplash4ever, that would be intence!
Pedro // May 8, 2007 at 8:01 am
“Tragic Prince” would fit nicely as Alucard’s theme.
Jerkofwonder // May 8, 2007 at 10:07 am
Actually, a good 90% of the Cv fans out there are very happy about Sonia being booted out of the continuity. She had no story at all. It was like a paragraph of story, with no real explanation about anything. It was just like “she’s the first Belmont”.
First off, women in the 1400’s were barely allowed to speak.
Secondly her game ruined the continuity from Cv3 (which stated Trevor was the first to fight Dracula) and SOTN (where ALucard always reffered to Trevor when a Belmont was mentioned.)
Third LoI kept with the oldest continuity, the original manual text for Vampire Killer stated that Dracula had existed as an evil sorcerer since the 11th century.
Legends was nothing more than a cash in on ALucard due to the success of SoTN.
Arikado // May 8, 2007 at 11:26 am
Sonia and her terrible game were gone. Thank goodness. That is all that needs to be said.
As for classic tunes I’m hoping for “Bloody Tears”. This famous song actually debuted in Dracula’s Curse. It has to be in the movie.
Pedro // May 8, 2007 at 11:27 am
No, Bloody Tears was first in Simon’s Quest.
Arikado // May 8, 2007 at 11:34 am
My bad.
Kyle // May 8, 2007 at 11:48 am
Well, I just expect to see alucard as well, to be honest, SOTN is my favorite and if I can suggest, try concentrate on music, it is so important to compose good picture with good music
Douglas Cartland // May 8, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I didn’t mean to start a whole flame war by mentioning Sonia. I just liked Legends and thought it would have been neat with a small reference somewhere. She’s probably dead by the time Trevor gets some action. Have we ever seen any old Belmonts in Castlevania anyway?
Anyway, my comment, music:
Personally I’d even get excited if they added the NES soundtrack to the anime. Although realistically speaking, film critics and most sane people would want to strangle me if they’d have to listen to 80 minutes of SID-like music.
CV3 had lots of great original music though. I’d love to see these “retold” like the animation retells the story.
What I do want to suggest, is that as the developers of this animation seem to have hired animators through this blog; why not the same thing for the music and SFX? There are excellent remix dedicated sites on the web already so the people do exist, like for instance; http://www.ocremix.org/game/castlevania3/
and, I’m sure most of you have seen this already:
http://www.powergoat.com/page2.html
Again, merely a suggestion, as some of these artists have proven to make quite high quality music/remixes.
Castlevania metal is great, though probably not what I would assume would fit these movies. I keep picturing either a fully orchestrated music or experimental orchestrated music, like this piece:
http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00122/#
(but for a CV3 song, not CV1)
Enough on my part. I promise I’ll shut up and comment more post related comments in the future.
Ralph // May 8, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Yeehep, I knew it. All the Sonia fanboys/girls would start to pour in here and try to convince them to make Sonia canonical.
I believe Warren said he worked with IGA on the script? Which means they’re using his timeline… and that means no Sonia.
Steven // May 8, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I’m really happy that they’re sticking with the true Castlevania logo. It’s just not Castlevania without that C and that V
Arikado // May 8, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Alrighty then…. Enough abought Sonia already… Jeesh! Speaking of sound however would’nt it be great if the voice actors from Curse of Darkness returned?
Ralph // May 8, 2007 at 3:09 pm
That’s really odd Arikado, when I made my post, the one you made before it wasn’t there at all.
o_O
Don’t think it was referring to it or anything.
Ralph // May 8, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Whoops, that wasn’t you at all, yegh, disregard that. *goes back into his hole*
Anenome // May 8, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Why does it have to be a trilogy? Go watch Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,864,khbolp,vampire_hunter_.html), honestly it can’t be done better than that, and that was one movie. Most of us are so sick of Hollywood bastardizing and rendering unrecognizeable these IP’s that I’m really not looking forward to this movie either. So, unfortunately, you guys have got a lot of work to do in your pre-press to convince the fans of this IP that this will not be another butchered property.
But, if you were deadset on your idea of a trilogy, I would vastly suggest basing it on a mix of the towns and people of Castlevania I for NES and the characters and branching of Castlevania III for the NES. The combination of 4 individuals going after Dracula, including his own son(!) would give ample time for setups and the rest.
I suppose the thing I’d most like to see is the conflict with Death, and the Werewolf, which are staples of the story - as well as the weapons which must make their appearance, such as the cross-boomerang, and holy-water of course.
MAX_LE_FOU // May 9, 2007 at 3:42 am
Jerkofwonder wrote:
“Third LoI kept with the oldest continuity, the original manual text for Vampire Killer stated that Dracula had existed as an evil sorcerer since the 11th century.”
Coolness. Thanks for the info! I’ll go check it out.
Ralph // May 9, 2007 at 12:07 pm
The Vampire Killer manual just has a backstory about Germanic tribes in the 11th century if I remember correctly.
Actually just look in Rondo and SOTN’s manual, it says Dracula is 800 years old in 1792.
Now do the math, and look at LoI’s year.
Ralph // May 9, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Oh right, the 800 had an estimation tag, by the way.
Otaku-Man // May 9, 2007 at 1:14 pm
@ Pedro and Arikado.
First off, you’re both wrong. Bloody Tears actually was first premiered in the only Castlevania arcade game to ever be released: Haunted Castle.
The game was bullocks hard, but had a GREAT soundtrack to it (especially given the music production technology for the time).
It was in Stage 3 that Bloody Tears made it’s premiere, at least 2 to 3 years before Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest was released. (If memory serves me right, Simon’s Quest was released in 1988, and the arcade game here came out in 1986)
For proof, look here on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYO9t6CRg6Q
(and yes, that guy IS cheating his ass off!)
Hopefully that will help settle the music debate.
And NO rock music please. There are too many shows, movies, anime, etc. that have the wrong music for the wrong situation. The music for the trilogy should be more classical and gothic, like the music in the PS2 games.
If Michiru Yamane could do covers of songs such as:
“Vampire Killer”
“Bloody Tears”
“Beginning”
“Reincarnation of Souls”
“Bloodlines”
“Wicked Child”
“Silence of Daylight”
“Cross Your Heart”
“Heart of Fire”
Those would be songs I’d love to hear Michiru cover.
And finally, on the Sonia Belmont issue…
…never cared for her, saw her romance with Alucard as conflicting with the rest of the Castlevania timeline, and felt that her removal helped make everything else fit together.
Now Hector and Isaac… I would like to see those two in the movies, at least in the scenes focusing on Alucard, Lisa, and Dracula.
That would be nice.
~Otaku-Man
Arikado // May 9, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Wow! I didn’t even know that… Thanks Otaku-Man. Totally with you on the “no rock music”.
Maybe Warren and team could find a talented vocalist to write a song specifically for this movie (with singing of course). My dream pick for this vocalist would be Utada Hikari (like that’ll ever happen though…).
Pedro // May 9, 2007 at 5:33 pm
“Bloody Tears actually was first premiered in the only Castlevania arcade game to ever be released: Haunted Castle.”
You are officially the nerdiest Castlevania fan ever, Otaku-Man.
Jerkofwonder // May 9, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Guess what fools. Simon’s Quest came out in japan as Accursed Seal before Haunted Castle did. =P
Simon’s quest had bloody tears first.
Jerkofwonder // May 9, 2007 at 11:32 pm
No rock music? Because you don’t like it? I love rock in CV. Yamane always uses rock in her soundtracks.
MAX_LE_FOU // May 10, 2007 at 4:58 am
I love some solid guitar riffs in movies. Take as example Kull the Conqueror, yes the movie wasn’t very appetising, but the musical score really was (and still is) very nice to listen to.
But since (with what I read here on the blog) Dracula’s Curse seems to be a more serious storytelling Action/Adventure epic. I think a rock ST would not fit here…
Imagine 92’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” action scenes with some guitar riffs in the background.
Otaku-Man // May 10, 2007 at 8:36 am
@Arikado
Thank you.
@Pedro
Thank you too.
@Jerkofwonder
Okay, looked this up on Wiki and here’s what I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Castle_%28arcade_game%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania_II:_Simon%27s_Quest
Turns out that Simon’s Quest WAS released before the arcade game IN JAPAN! In the USA, the arcade game came here first as that was released in September whereas Simon’s Quest came out in December.
So in essence, you could say that we are both right. You for Japan, me for the USA.
So there.
And also, rock music is NOT gothic! I don’t really think listening to Him while watching Castlevania really suits the mood, no matter how good a song “Vampire Hearts” is.
Castlevania had original music, so should the movies (even if the music originally debuted on the games).
@Max_Le_Fou
You’re kidding right?
~Otaku-Man
Jerkofwonder // May 10, 2007 at 1:57 pm
No, I was right. The song debuted in Cv2. Both came out first in japan. And as I said. Yamane always uses rock. And HIM is not what I’m talking about by rock.
MAX_LE_FOU // May 11, 2007 at 5:10 am
“Otaku-man wrote: You’re kidding right?”
No, I’m not actually. If the movie takes itself seriously, there should not be any reference to rock. It would just seem strange to me if the movie takes on a serious tone and put Rock in it.
Example: A L.O.T.R. soundtrack with electric guitars? I don’t think so.
Otaku-Man // May 11, 2007 at 5:50 am
@Max_Le_Fou
Okay. I apparently misunderstood that you were AGAINST adding the rock and guitar riffs and all that.
I just say “Bram Stoker’s Dracula with guitar riffs” and went @_@?!?!?!
The visions it gave me were horrible! HORRIBLE I say!
Anyway…
…my bad.
~Otaku-Man
MAX_LE_FOU // May 11, 2007 at 7:51 am
LOL! No prob Otaku-Man. my english is a little rusty after all.
Jerkofwonder // May 11, 2007 at 1:14 pm
300 had rock. And it took itself very seriously.
Arikado // May 12, 2007 at 5:55 am
Rock probally wouldn’t work in this movie at all. But then again… Wasn’t Dawn of Sorrow’s “Scarlet Battle Soul” kind of rock. If you have the game check it out in the sound room.
I think “Scarlet Battle Soul” would work great when recreating some of the boss battles.
Jerkofwonder // May 13, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Castlevania is FULL of rock music. Michiru Yamana heart’s electric guitar.
TheUnbeholden // Dec 8, 2007 at 10:39 am
Heres the story on Hector….
A devil forgemaster, he formerly worked under Count Dracula, but ended up betraying him sometime during the events of Castlevania III. Eventually, he put Dracula behind him to live a peaceful life among humans.
All is well for a time, until his wife, Rosaly, is accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Soon after, he learns that his fellow Forgemaster, Isaac, orchestrated the events which lead to her death. Vowing revenge, Hector follows Issac back to his old home.
There, Isaac challenged him to follow if he wished to regain his devil forgemaster powers.
Hector follows Isaac into the castle and shortly finds a strange tomb. it is revealed that this tomb is a site for forging Innocent Devils (I.D’s). Against his better judgment, Hector gives in and regains his old powers in devil forgery.
As he chases Isaac through the castle and surrounding realm, Hector comes across two other characters; Zead, and St. Germain. While Zead seeks to help Hector in his quest, St. Germain requests that he pursues Issac no further.
The contrast between Isaac and Hector is interesting to see. Isaac seems to be younger than Hector, so it is easy to see how he used to respect him, as is discovered in the course of the game. Their dress style is also very different, as is the color of their hair. Isaac’s fiery red hair may be taken as a symbol of hatred and anger, while Hector’s white hair may be thought of as a symbol of purity, wisdom and nobility. In short, the opposite of everything Isaac has become.
TheUnbeholden // Dec 8, 2007 at 10:40 am
This is the gibs on Isaac…
A seemingly bondage and self-mortification obsessed Devil Forger, Isaac lures Hector back to Castlevania in order to make him the new host body of Dracula. He does this by arranging for Hector’s wife to be burned at the stake as a witch. Isaac’s sister Julia attempts to prevent Hector from killing him right up until the end.
The Devil Forger successfully prevents Trevor Belmont from interfering in Dracula’s resurrection by cowardly attacking him from behind. Isaac is forced to become the new host of Dracula when he fails to trap Hector in his plots. He dies in the resulting battle between Hector and Dracula.
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