Luke Evans stars in dramatic first trailer for 'Dracula Untold'

LOS ANGELES, June 27 (UPI) -- Dracula Untold released a dramatic first trailer Friday.

The film is based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, and explores the origin story of the infamous character. Fast & Furious 6 and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug actor Luke Evans stars as Vlad III Tepes, a nobleman who turns to darkness to defend his family from an invading sultan.

Vlad III was a real-life prince more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler. He was born in 1431 in Transylvania, and gained a reputation for cruelty and sadistic torture. He is estimated to have killed at least 40,000 people before he died in battle against the Ottoman empire. Stoker is said to have based the name Dracula on Vlad's patronymic Dracul.

"We're back in the 1400s when you meet this man who was the king of his land who reigned peacefully for 10 years," Evans shared in an interview with First Showing in December. "It's sort of an origin story, but it's really the story of Vlad the Impaler and what he does and the things that happen in his life that show you how Dracula is born."

Dracula Untold also stars Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), and is scheduled for release October 17.