Following this afternoon’s announcement, both Mike Aiello, Creative Director for HHN Orlando, and John Murdy, Creative Director for HHN Hollywood, took to their respective Twitter accounts to give us a little more background information on what to expect from “Dracula Untold” in their respective events. We’ve condensed their tweets below:
ORLANDO (via the official Universal Orlando HHN Twitter feed):
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Hey gang, we now have officially revealed the 4th maze – Dracula Untold. This is in collaboration with Universal Pictures.
Like we did with The Wolfman, several years ago, you will be able to get a “living preview” of the film when our event opens in sept. “Dracula Untold” is a unique perspective on the origin of the legendary character created by Bram Stoker. Frankly, in a pop culture world inundated with glittering, soap opera vamps, seeing a version of Dracula wreaking some havoc is refreshing! This will be a soundstage maze and the environments are just massive!
We have four more mazes to reveal with the majority being original content. 🙂
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HOLLYWOOD (via the official Universal Studios Hollywood HHN feed):
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Background:
Dracula! Everyone knows the story of the Transylvanian count who feeds on human blood but few people know it was based on a real man! His name was Vlad Tepes, he ruled the area we know today as Transylvania in the 13th century. Vlad was a blood-thirsty tyrant! Vlad was known for taking sadistic pleasure in watching his victims suffer. So much so history gave him a second name, Vlad the Impaler!
It is said that over 100,000 people perished during his reign, most by his preferred method of punishment…being impaled alive! But Vlad was something else to his subjects, a hero who bravely faced the Turkish hordes in order to protect his homeland.
It was during this fateful time that Vlad was forced to make a terrible choice; to embrace the dark side of vampirism and gain unholy power. But there is a price for such a power…eternal damnation. Once a vampire feeds, the thirst for blood never ends…Now the horrific story of Vlad can be told. Welcome to “Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood,” a terrifying new maze based on the upcoming film…
On Codenames:
Okay time to reveal how the codename “Empire” and the hints connected to today’s announcement of Dracula Untold. The code name “Empire” referred to The Ottoman Empire (AKA The Turks) who invaded the area known as Transylvania (a famous horror setting). I also gave a hint about a famous musician I gave a VIP tour to, specifically the title of one of his albums…That musician was Michael Jackson, I was his VIP guide in the 80s at Universal. The album was HIStory (since the film is Dracula’s story). Another hint was the title of a song by one of the X-Men. That song is “everything old is new again” by Hugh Jackman…
Maze Info:
Dracula Untold is going to be located in the area of the park known as Parisian Courtyard. I can’t tell you too much more for good reason. I can tell you what is obvious, this is a period maze set in the 13th century. Some very cool environments, characters, etc.
Universal released the original Dracula in 1931, Dracula Untold is a new twist on an old film. We decided on this film when it was just a script, film doesn’t open till October 17th so don’t want to give away too many spoilers…
So there you have it. You think you know the story of Dracula? Think again! “Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood” is coming to HHN.
The Next Announcement:
I promised I’d tell you about the next announcement. It’s going to be live on stage @ScareLosAngeles this Sunday 1 o’clock. My art director/production designer Chris Williams and I will be hosting an HHN presentation with a very special surprise guest…And if you’re good little boils and ghouls we’ll show you a few sneak peak/behind the scenes images of the maze we’re announcing…Oh and by the way, there will be ANOTHER announcement after Scare LA… announcement season isn’t over yet, stay tuned… Still more to come.
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