Just yesterday, it finally came to light that the long rumoured film adaptation of Castlevania would be making its appearance as a Netflix series, due to make its season 1 debut later on this year. Not much else was revealed, aside from who would be producing and writing for the show, but now a few more details have been revealed as to what we can expect out of season one.
For one thing, the first season will have four parts, with each episode clocking in at about thirty minutes in length. It's not altogether clear whether it'll be animated or live action, but the story is going to be an adaptation of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and will follow the last surviving member of the Belmont clan. Apparently, it will also be firmly aimed at adult audiences; here's what producer Adi Shankar had to say when IGN reached out for comment:
This is very much Castlevania done in the vein of Game of Thrones. (Producer and writer) Warren Ellis added so much depth to the material. [The series is] going to be R-rated as f***. … this is going to be the best f*****g video game adaptation we've had to date.
What do you think? Will this turn out to be a proper adaptation? What are you most looking forward to? Drop us a comment in the section below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 75
Hm...could be interesting...I just done want them to make it R rated for the sake of making it R rated. Personally I think it sounds stupid when I hear the F word thrown around 500 times in a show just for the sake of doing so for example.
His comment comes off as immature, and unprofessional to me...
I'm very worried about the show now...
@Neon_Blues With Warren Ellis writing it, you have literally nothing to be worried about.
Rated R, so it's going to be the best VG adaptation to date.... how old is this guy? 13? 14?
Why does a toon based on a kid's game, based on various Hollywood monster books and movies need an r rating again?
@Retron
Step into the shadows of the Pachinko House, you have returned to Transylvania on business to end the curse of the Evil Dracula's rigged machines forever...
I wonder who will play Alucard?
@Tempestryke
The Castlevania series is certainly not a kids franchise, even back in the NES days. Games with grim reapers, demons, and holy water don't scream E for Everyone to me.
Anyway, the show is already looking to be a mess. The message Adi Shaknar gave to IGN is so unprofessional. Its pathetic. Saying the F-word in every sentence will probably give you an R-rating, but that shouldn't be why it gets one.
But it's not Game of Thrones. It's like how the Shannara adaptation didn't work because they tried to make it like something that's not Shannara.
Making a Castlevania series in a GoT style is the literal definition of jumping the shark - throwing out all artistic integrity to go with what's "modern" and "popular".
@Tasuki Someone with abs and pecs and no personality.
@Whopper744
This is why I hate comedy movies, a lot of them try to push the R rating where they don't need to. Then you have horror and action movies having to be toned down to get a PG13 rating. It's mostly marking and not just content.
I wonder how violent this is going to be anyway the New Samurai Jack on Adult Swim is going to be rated PG 13 and that's finally going to have living limbs get sliced off.
@JarusPokemon
Oh no Grim Reapers! Nevermind they are easily found being sold as costumes and spooky props for kids and adults around Halloween.
Demons? Okay so? There were kids cartoons and movies with demons and other scary creatures. Ever seen Fantasia or Never-ending Story, or The Black Cauldron?
Holy water, something kids being raised in Catholic families also see often.
Castlevania is not like letting a little kid play No More Heroes.
Old timey monster movies aren't like letting a little kid watch Deadpool.
I actually played Castlevania as a kid, you'd be surprised.
I think I'd prefer it being PG or TV-14 personally, (seeing as Castlevania 3 wasn't very violent, nor had anything sexual/vulgar at all.) if it's R- rated I hope that content is at least in moderation, (fantasy violence wouldn't bug me as much, seeing how violent some of the games are) or it could mess up the adaptation. I don't care to see "love scenes," or South Park levels of swearing in Castlevania.
The only good R-rated adaptation I've seen of anything is the "Deadpool" movie. Some like the adult "Ren & Stimpy" cartoon just go overboard.
@ReifuTD Reminds me of Deadpool. The comedy was weak, the R rated content was weak and the best parts for me were how the drama actually came across as quite real.
Uggh "as r-rated as f***". It sounds like it's being made by a couple 16 year olds.
I hope it's not getting the R-rating due to sex scenes like Game of Thrones. Not speaking for everyone, but I personally dislike injecting long drawn out sex/nudity scenes when my primary interest is the story. Good violence, not overly gory, and bad language only if totally necessary then I'm good. Hopefully they don't ruin this.
@remlapgamer Same here, man. It's really not necessary, and is the primary reason why I don't watch GoT. I would really enjoy watching it, but nudity for the sake of nudity doesn't make a better story or characters. It wouldn't kill them to have a bit less revealing camera angles, at least.
@Retron I remember a guy making a fan movie years and years ago. I wonder if it's the same guy
Anybody want to explain to me why we need a Castlevania TV show or movie when we already have had so many Dracula TV shows and movies?
I know nothing at all about Castlevania but I already feel like there we be zero difference between this TV show and a TV show based on Underworld. Or the bad Van Helsing movie from a few years back. Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale and it was still terrible. I didn't even know there's a TV show.
So what makes Castlevania 3 so special?
It could turn out rather f****** well. Only time will f****** tell.
*Nintendolife staff grab Audio by the ear...
Off topic but I called it. I told some gamers guys I work with that some dumby was gonna spend over a $1000 on FEH. And sure enough it happened.
http://kotaku.com/man-spends-1-000-in-fire-emblem-heroes-still-doesnt-h-1792134459
I'm late to the game, but if anyone wants a taste of what we might be getting, read Warren Ellis' Moon Knight comic book run. It's violent, it's gothic, which makes Ellis the best writer for a Castlevania series.
All they have do is be better than Belmont in Captain N. Low bar.
Sounds like one of those "adult cartoons" that tries to be obnoxiously edgy all the time to justify its branding.
F*** this.
Not a Castlevania fan, but I personally interpret this as him meaning monsters that are graphically grotesque(ex: bloody skeletons, dangling body-parts like eyes, or whatever), topics discussed in an unnecessary, & edgy manner. Also, in various dracula lore, which I'm not versed in, since I'm not interested in the topic, isn't drac supposed to have seductive/hypnotizing vampire women? I would wager(figuratively) sex with vampire women might also be what he means.
I can't really say much, since like I said, I'm no Castlevania fan, so I don't know the source material. I'm interested in this from a perspective of, "If a video-game adaptation works, however it works, other adaptations from other series will likely follow from this, or other studios, seeing the success of this". This project will spawn others in the same vein as this, if it is profitable.
W/out knowing the source material, if I had to guess, I would say, if this sticks to its source, the r rating probably will come from primarily the graphically grotesque monsters bit I mentioned above, & nothing else.
Like I said, I see other game adaptions, in whatever style this will be, if its successful. Edgy for the sake of, is not a good formula.
The most I know is licensing is supposedly the reason Simon Belmont doesn't look like what he should in Captain N, the origin of my name, although it can double as simply saying, "CaptN"(of a ship/etc.). & also that the Cross/Crucifix was switched for a boomerang here in America.
I don't f****** like GoT, because it is a f****** mess, and if this game is as f****** bad as that, then I'm not gonna watch it.
Do I deserve to be R-rated too?
Edit: Oh yeah, let's hope this is not in the style of Lords of shadow even if it is based of dracula's curse...
I wasn't aware that the Castlevania series was famed for its gratuitous profanity and nudity. :/
@Lizuka But how can you say that?! It's only a vastly overrated series!
Well, my expectations are low when it comes to video game adaptations, especially with Castlevania, a series I have very little experience with. I'm interested in seeing how this will play out, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up too much, least of all when the producer is touching himself over how "this is going to be the best f*****g video game adaptation we've had to date." He certainly doesn't strike me as a Kirby fan; at the very least, I doubt he's seen Kirby: Right Back At Ya!
I hope to see at least ONE scene where freshly cooked meat is found within a breakable wall.
@Tasuki If it's animated, I'm hoping for Curtis Arnott, aka takahata101.
...Though, that's probably not the case.
@Beau_Skunk I'm a little bit worried about what Sypha Belnades's character is gonna be here; if her sole purpose in the show is so that it can have a sex scene, I lose all interest. Not trying to sound like an overbearing feminist, but Sypha wore modest clothing, a role like that isn't just disrespectful to women, it's disrespectful to the source material.
Good! An R rated project.
Defiantly fed up with horror that's pg-13
I like Game of Thrones, but I don't have high hopes for a show that's trying to be Game of Thrones.
I assume by the Game of Thrones reference he means that it is going to take a fantasy subject and make a well produced and serious show out of it, rather than a goofy and campy one.
As for swearing, while this guy does sound about 15, I would probably use some pretty profane language if I found myself in a castle full of the undead. My response probably wouldn't be "Oh bother, demons are trying to tear my head off.".
The producer did great work with Dredd and Punisher so I have hopes for this
I think that the producer shouldn't have lent his phone to his son without signing out of Twitter, first...
I like how everyone is turning rated R in the comment section, I mean just because the show is turning rated R doesn't mean we had to. Now my interest in this really depends on the quality of the show and how they'll interpret the story. Since the show is going to be dark and animated though I think it's going the route of a Batman style animated series where the setting takes place at night more than daylight and hopefully some cool action scenes to go along with it.
In all honesty, I actually like this guy's confidence in reading. But obviously my expectations will be tempered. To be fair, the story in the early Castlevania games (and most games of the 80s) is quite thin, so it's possible to go in a lot of different directions.
As for mature content, as long as it makes sense in the world and the story it's trying to tell then that's what matters. I think Game of Thrones does it well, as do the original books. Of course, comparing it to that does create some sort of expectation, which could backfire, but we'll see how it goes. I think with someone like Warren Ellis involved we could be in for a good time though!
We surely R excited about an R-rated Castlevania series by Warren Ellis.
We live in an age of good adaptations with good choices, people, from writing staff choices to casting choice. Remember back in 2008 when it was announced the live action Tony Stark would be Robert Downey Jr.?
Who wasn't nodding when that was announced?
@DiscoGentleman I seriously doubt this show will clobba dat der Kirbeh!
I am absolutely hyped. Hoping this brings Castlevania to the limelight. With Warren Ellis involved we can finally get a proper comic book series too.
Cant wait.
If it will get even close to being as good as GoT (I did read the books first) I'm definitely subscribing to Netflix, because Castlevania is such an epic (and classic) game. It's such a classic that it's a wonder why the adaption is only coming out now heh.
GoT? Sounds more like HBO's True Blood in a different setting. That show was firmly a hard R for all the blood and booty.
It will almost certainly be live action. The odds of it being an R-rated cartoon are extremely slim I'd say.
@remlapgamer While the director swearing is just him being enthusiastic about the project, I'd imagine the R Rating would be for the gore. The core content of GoT has a lot of sex in it so I doubt they would wedge that sort of thing in unnecessarily. If they're going for proper scary monsters getting hacked to bits then that's what will make it R.
The show is already confirmed to be animated.
Source: https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/122622
I don't know why people think that "Rated R" only means saying f*ck over and over. Have any of you played Castlevania? Every single game past Super Nintendo has been pretty gory and dark, all without swearing.
Also, as an absolute diehard Castlevania fan, I am super hyped for this.
I see the R rating as a good thing as it lets the writer make the show he wants without many restrictions. Whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen.
Regardless, I'm quite optimistic and I don't think people should be judging the show as a whole because of a producer's idiotic comments.
Aaaand that quote made me lose hope for this series. Imo, professionals shouldn't cuss in statements like that.
@PotatoTheG The same way you can be reassured by a producers comments, you can be scared straight by them as well.
I was interested in this till I read the quote. Now I've lost all interest. It sounds trashy
@BionicDodo Of course, if he was in a castle full of undead and not just talking up his own TV show, no one would bat an eye about a few F-bombs.
Pointing to rating as evidence that "this is going to be the best f*****g video game adaptation we've had to date" doesn't exactly instill confidence.
And.... I'm out.
Castlevania III is my favorite of the series. You fight a vampire and kill a ton of monsters but the game was amazing without a single swear or nude scene. So what makes them think "hard R!!!!!!1" is what pumps people up? This sounds like it's turning trashy.
@Whopper744 This was my thoughts exactly. Sometimes people think that by forcing "R" content when it's not necessary will make people happy, or guarantee success.
@Gorlokk I think some of us are coming to that conclusion from reading the producer's comments. I think most of us are hoping you're right and that the Gothic horror style/setting that we all love is what we get in the cartoon. We've all got excited about stuff in the past whether it be a movie, show, game, book, comic, ex. where the creative behind the project forced mature content into something because they thought that's what people wanted...and then it turned out to be garbage.
@speedracer216 Everything is trashy these days. Quite a sad world we live in.
Warrn Ellis teased this so long ago I thought I dreamt it. He did an excellent little B&W comic featuring the Templars in France (the name escapes me), and Castlevania is a favorite franchise, so "I'm in*".
*why even bother? It's happening. Nobody's asking you to vote! It costs nothing but however long it takes to see if you like it on not.
https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/news/unauthorized_castlevania_animated_series_announced#reply-01
I like the enthusiasm of making it the best game adaptation. I'm not so keen on the enthusiasm of making it very R rated. I'm not against R-rated stuff, but it's easy to fall into the traps of just adding "stuff" to it because they can and not because it suits the material. I'll hope for the best and wait for reviews.
@allav866 I agree actually. I know some CV games had some fan-servicey characters before, but it would kinda disrespect her character, if she's just there for cleavage... (Like in "Castlevania Judgement.")
@rjejr I actually liked that movie "Van Helsing." Sure it was a li'l strange, but I liked it. It basically was "Castlevania the movie."
OMG another Game of Thrones? Count me out, then. I hate these medieval settings! Why are people so obsessed with one of the ugliest, most boring ages of human history?
And since there has never been a live-action show based on a video game before, it's pretty easy to become 'the best f*****g video game adaptation we've had to date'. That doesn't mean it will be good.
I'll have to watch an episode or two of the show before I pass my CastleVania Judgement.
Castlevania should be isolationist adventure stories, akin to Indiana Jones or Van Helsing just in a Romanian style setting. If it's just a Belmont in name only who goes around shagging village wenches, then it'll turn out utter garbage.
Warren Ellis' track record for good writing is the only thing keeping me interested.
His swearing doesn't sound very promising, but we'll see!
@sillygostly Unfortunately no one told these people that.
@samuelvictor ^^
Netflix has never struck me as must see. Daredevil and Luke Cage bored the hell out of me, even after everyone said it was good.
Probably because it took a whole season for them to do anything with Daredevil as a character. The action was there just bathed in a lot of fluff that could fill one episode.
So do i have high hopes for this? Nope. You cant hype something up like Netflix has been hyped and expect me to think its good.
However, I will give this a shot. One episode. Howver they say rated R and the best video game adaptation and then I look at Ratchet and Clank and sigh. R does not equal good by default. Now for gore id argue sure ok, but then i get into the gore isnt as effective horror as other forms of horror, which is why most movies bore me. It isnt scary its just blood.
But I will hold Judgement. My one concern is they say rated R and I fear its based on the pachinko machine. Remember Castlevania wasnt oversexualised before that either.
@Beau_Skunk I also would prefer it was rated PG13. Rating it an R is going to really throw off the mix which made the original games so great. Rating it an R is the beginning to really screwing up a live action or animated series. Blood, Guts, Gore and sex. Hmph! It will need some Blood, Guts and Gore but it doesnt need to be put over the top. Some people will be bummed but it doesnt really need sex. They are so going to ruin this just like conversions of the past
Personally they should look at underworld and go with that kind of formula.
I trust Warren Ellis.
@3MonthBeef Granted some later Castlevania games have some pretty gory & gruesome enemies. (Like the "Beezlebub" boss) Though, yeah I agree it was more of an action/adventure series, then "horror," I hope they keep that in mind. If it's too gross, and scary, that'll ruin it.
@Windy Yeah, ironically that's the problem with most adult cartoons. The more "mature" they try to be, the more immature they get. (Though, of course I enjoy some like "Rick & Morty.")
I hate to say it, but they also sounded a li'l egotistical, calling it the "first good game adaptation." I actually enjoyed some of the old corny video game cartoons, and such as a kid.
Even the strange Super Mario Bros. & Street Fighter movies were enjoyable guilty pleasures for me.
The 3d Remake of Castlevania 2 - Castlevania Horror Quest - https://youtu.be/Q0IzNPwCNCA
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...