Nicolas Cage has been cast to portray Dracula in Universal Pictures‘ upcoming film Renfield, starring Nicholas Hault as the titular character. The film will be centered on the loyal henchman of the vampire Count Dracula who goes by the name of R.M. Renfield.
It is unclear how closely the film will stick to the original iteration of Dracula, which came in the form of Bram Stroker’s 1897 novel Dracula. In the novel, Renfield is an asylum inmate who consumes live creatures in the hopes of gaining immortality. What Renfield believes to be instincts driven by delusion are apparently the work of being under the control of Dracula.
Cage has had an illustrious career that has seen its highs and lows but his latest performances have made him an arthouse name. His 2021 film Pig features a performance that subverts the mainstream over-the-top Cage that most commercial audiences are familiar with. However, that isn’t to say he isn’t able to lean into his own unique acting prowess in the indie film world at all. Prisoners of the Ghostland essentially allowed Cage to be his Cagiest, and it bodes well for the extreme atmosphere featured in that film.
This will also be the second upcoming Universal film involving Count Dracula. Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao has her own upcoming Dracula on the horizon, set as a futuristic western.
Monster Revival
Renfield and Zhao’s Dracula are only the beginning to Universal’s revamping of its monsters after the failed launch of its cinematic universe starting and ending with 2017’s The Mummy. Invisble Woman, directed by Elizabeth Banks, and Wolfman with Ryan Gosling are also on the docket. Universal will not be going with a shared universe approach and will opt to make their features stand alone.
Chris McKay, director of The Tomorrow War and The Lego Batman Movie, is directing and producing Renfield from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty).
