‘The Last American Vampire’ Drama Based On Book From Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg & Terry Matalas Set At NBC
NBC has given a script commitment plus penalty to The Last American Vampire, a drama based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel of the same name, from Grahame-Smith, his producing partner David Katzenberg and former 12 Monkeys showrunner Terry Matalas. 20th Century Fox TV, where Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith’s KatzSmith Productions has a pod deal, is the studio.
Written by Matalas, The Last American Vampire is supernatural thriller that follows a 500-year-old bloodsucker and bon vivant named Henry Sturges, who’s been held under lock and key for the last forty years, and who’s believed to be the last of his kind. When a series of grizzly murders reveal a resurgence of vampires in the U.S., the FBI teams this affable monster up with Abby, a young FBI analyst, to solve a conspiracy centuries in the making.
The character of Henry Sturges first appeared in Grahame-Smith’s worldwide bestselling novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. In the 2012 feature adaptation directed by Timur Bekmambetov and produced by Tim Burton, he was portrayed by Preacher star Dominick Cooper opposite Benjamin Walker as Lincoln. Henry Sturgesthen headlined the Vampire Hunter sequel novel, The Last American Vampire.
Matalas executive produces The Last American Vampire with Grahame-Smith and Katzenberg.
Matalas co-developed and executive produced/ran time-traveling mystery drama 12 Monkeys, which aired for four seasons on Syfy. He also was a writer on Nikita and Terra Nova. He is repped by ICM Partners, Anonymous Content and attorney AJ Brandenstein.
Katzenberg, who started in reality TV, and Grahame-Smith created and executive produced MTV’s cult 2012 comedy The Hard Times Of RJ Berger. After that, the duo largely followed different career paths, with Katzenberg focusing on TV directing (he served as executive producer/director on ABC’s The Goldbergs and also helmed multiple episodes of HBO’s Ballers) and Grahame-Smith writing features such as Dark Shadows, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and The LEGO Batman Movie. Recently, the pair teamed on blockbuster It based on Stephen King’s novel for Warner Bros. Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith are repped by WME.
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