Van Helsing (2004)
- During the filming of Van Helsing, Hugh Jackman improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- The incredible score for Van Helsing was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Stephen Sommers's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
Van Helsing is a 2004 American gothic action horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. Hugh Jackman stars as Gabriel Van Helsing, a legendary monster hunter working for the Vatican's secret order, who is sent to Transylvania to help Anna Valerious, played by Kate Beckinsale, destroy Count Dracula, played by Richard Roxburgh, before the Valerious family's souls are consigned to purgatory. Van Helsing must battle not only Dracula but also Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man, and Dracula's vampire brides in a maximalist gothic adventure.
Stephen Sommers, fresh off The Mummy franchise, applied the same popcorn-entertainment approach to Universal's classic monster properties, creating a film that was relentlessly action-packed at the expense of subtlety. Hugh Jackman brought physical credibility and brooding charisma to the title role, and the production design โ all crumbling castles, lightning-struck laboratories, and windswept Transylvanian villages โ was impressively atmospheric. Van Helsing earned $300 million worldwide on a $160 million budget.
