Ten Things You Need to Know about “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night”

Supernatural thriller Dylan Dog: Dead of Night will premiere in American theaters on April 29. While the name Dylan Dog might not mean much to American audiences, the character is a comic book icon in his native Italy. Here’s ten things you need to know about Dylan Dog: Dead of Night.

1. The comic series is set in London, the movie in New Orleans. Director Kevin Munroe originally planned to set the film in New York, but while scouting out locations that could double for the city he was inspired to move the film to New Orleans instead. Committed to the change, he told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he wants the movie to “say New Orleans” as much as possible.

2. The comic book Dylan is a brooding eccentric, an alcoholic with mommy issues and an obsessive-compulsive streak. The movie Dylan appears to be a bit more upbeat. Yes. “Dog” is his real surname in both versions.

3. Dylan Dog director Kevin Munroe is a comic book guy. Not only did he direct 2007’s TMNT, he also wrote a very well received comic series of his own for Dylan Dog’s American publisher Dark Horse. That comic, Zombo Fantasmo, is currently being developed for the big screen.

4. Dylan Dog producers Platinum Studios have specialize in comic book properties. You may have heard of another one of their projects: Cowboys and Aliens.

5. Dylan Dog has a sort of spiritual brother of sorts in the form of cemetery caretaker Francesco Dellamorte, the protagonist of the 1994 Italian cult horror-comedy Cemetery Man, or “Dellamorte, Dellamore” as it’s known in Italy. Francesco, loosely inspired by Dylan Dog, was played by Rupert Everett. In a strange twist of fate,  Dylan Dog’s character design was originally based on Rupert Everett. Even stranger? Francesco Dellamorte actually made a guest appearance in the Dylan Dog comic.

6. In the original Italian, Dylan has a sidekick named Groucho, a one-time Groucho Marx impersonator whose own personality has been subsumed by the comedian’s. When American publishers Dark Horse got the rights to print an English translation of Dylan Dog, Groucho was cut due to threats of legal action from the comedian’s heirs. Dark Horse’s Dylan Dog instead features a sidekick named Felix, who looks suspiciously like a clean-shaven Groucho Marx. The movie replaces both Groucho and Felix with an undead sidekick named Marcus, played by Sam Huntington.

7. Actor Brandon Routh portrays Dylan Dog in the movie. This is the second time he’ll take the lead in a movie inspired by a movie, the first of course being 2006’s Superman Returns (which also starred Sam Huntington) and the third time he will have been in one overall counting his role in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. While this will be Routh’s first brush with the undead, it might not have been had rumors of his casting in Frank Darabont’s The Walking Dead proved correct.

8. The Dylan Dog franchise expanded beyond the comic book years ago. The supernatural investigator has been the star of more than a dozen video games and one tabletop role-playing game: Il Gioco Di Ruolo Di Dylan Dog.

9. The American release of Dylan Dog: Dead of Night was delayed several times until finally settling on April 29. Dark Horse released The Dylan Dog Case Files omnibus in 2009 to promote the film.

10. The film premiered in Italy on March 16 to mixed reviews. Italian reviewers expressed disappointment that the film wasn’t faithful to the source material. The film has not been screened for American critics.