AceShowbiz -

Putting the fate of "Castlevania" into new hands, Rogue Pictures has appointed "Stomp the Yard" helmer Sylvain White to handle directing matters on the project once entrusted to Paul W.S. Anderson.

The latter initially was intended for the task as he got assigned to pen the script, but finally decided to step aside to direct "Death Race" instead. However, the man will still stick to the flick to work on a rewrite on the screenplay alongside White.

A live-action adaptation of the Konami videogame, "Castlevania" focuses on a generational clash between Vlad the Impaler and the Belmont family, a clan that unleashed the original vampire and battles to defeat him. Story begins when a Transylvanian knight leads his men into a gothic castle to seek refuge from the Turkish army only to find out that the castle is controlled by the blood-sucking creatures.

Shooting is scheduled to start late fall this year in South Africa and Romania with Crystal Sky's Steven Paul and Benedict Carver producing alongside Anderson and Jeremy Bolt. Rogue, the genre arm of Universal-based Focus Features, is co-financing and will distribute the movie in late 2008.