Cruise was originally courted for the Van Helsing role back in 2012 under writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and director Rupert Sanders.
Over the past century, the Van Helsing character has been reimagined time and again, portrayed first by Edward Van Sloan in Universal’s original 1931 classic.
The arch enemy of the undead count, Van Helsing was both a fount of occult knowledge and a fearless vampire slayer.