Date: May 14, 2004
Source: IESB.NET
Author: Robert Sanchez
Photography: Richard Chavez (click on picture below for complete gallery)
All Pictures are © and property of IESB.NET 2004 unless otherwise stated
Our Friends at Universal were kind enough to invite the IESB to the Van Helsing Fortress Dracula switch flipping ceremony.
So how does Stephen Sommers celebrate the amazing take of $107 million dollars worldwide opening weekend? By flipping an electrical switch that shot 1.6 gigawatts through The Frankenstein Monster bringing him to life. Stephen was accompanied by the two very beautiful Josie Maran and Elena Anaya (Dracula's Brides)
Universal has replaced the very popular Revenge of the Mummy attraction that was housed in the same building for 2 years with Van Helsing Fortress Dracula. The great thing about this attraction is gives movie fans a chance to see actual movie props and set pieces. Stephen Sommers handed over tons of weaponry and parts of Dr. Frankenstein's lab that are on display.
"I helped design and plan this from the ground up," Stephen told the crowds of journalists. "Luckily, we kept track of more of the props this time around. Our past props from `The Mummy' movies vanished. This time, I was fascinated with a few props myself, and I kept some of the weaponry."
The IESB asked Stephen a few questions regarding the Transylvania spin off TV series, a Van Helsing sequel and The Mummy 3. Regarding the proposed TV series he mentioned that the studio is paying $35,000 per year to keep the set at Prague untouched including security. The village set is the size of a football stadium and they didn't want to demolish it after the movie wrapped. That was when they started pondering the idea of a TV series based in Transylvania but without any of the Van Helsing characters.
A Van Helsing sequel and another Mummy movie, making it a trilogy, is definitely in his plans but he says that for now he wants to relax somewhere and write a story about a couple of girls laying in a beach.
How often can you say that a blockbuster movie gets it's own attraction? Not often, with the exception of Star Tours and few other ones there hasn't been a whole lot of succesful crossover. Van Helsing Fortress Dracula is a is a must see for all movie fans.
© Universal Theme Parks 2004 Image used with permission
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Special Thanks to Universal Theme Parks for the opportunity to cover this event
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