Luke Evans is quickly moving from rising star to, well… star. He’s been a Greek god in The Immortals, and again in Clash of The Titans. He’s been a heroic police man and one of the Three Musketeers.

Now he’s set to play the legendary character of Dracula in Universal’s upcoming reboot. Originally titled Dracula Year Zero, the project has been in doubt for some time; sometimes it’s going ahead, other times it’s been canned. But the announcement of the casting of the film’s lead should be the confirmation fans were looking for. Michael De Luca is producing the project, which quietly has been greenlighted and hopes to start shooting later this year. Gary Shore is making his directorial debut on the picture. Universal is already the home of the most prominent cinematic visions of Dracula. And in Evans, Universal are in familiar territory. The welsh star plays the villain in their Fast & Furious 6 movie. Familiar, too, are big budget films for Evans. He’s also due to play Bard the Bowman in the upcoming installments of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies.

The next Hobbit film, again helmed by Jackson and again starring Martin Freeman, is called The Desolation of Smaug and is heading for a Christmas release this year. The first film, An Unexpected Journey, received a mixed reaction from the critics, but performed well financially.

Luke EvansEvans sporting a sweet red tux