"Avatar" star Sam Worthington has inked a deal to star in Universal Pictures' "Dracula Year Zero," a film which Alex Proyas ("Dark City," "I, Robot") is directing.

"Dracula Year Zero" is based on a spec script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless and will be a big budget retelling of the origins of Dracula. The story reportedly weaves vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad the Impaler. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it seeks to "depict Dracula as a flawed hero in a tragic love story set in a dark age of magic and war."