Nicolas Cage recently told audiences he was a goth and owned a pet crow. It follows naturally that he would thereafter be portraying Dracula in Renfield, a new horror/dark comedy film about the Transylvanian’s castle of terror. The film, however, rather than focusing on the blood-sucking nightmare that is the archetypal Dracula and his slaughter of those who visit his towering gothic fortress, will focus on the drama within the walls. The story will follow Dracula’s own circle; the who’s who, the what’s what of his henchmen and court. More specifically, it will pose the question of whether Renfield, Dracula’s most pathetically loyal, sniveling right-hand man, will betray his beloved, imposing master once he finds himself in love with a beautiful young woman.
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Dracula will be a spring release, coming out on April 14, 2023. In addition to Nicolas Cage as Dracula, will star Nicholas Hoult, who can be seen sizzling in two seasons of Hulu’s The Great, as the titular Renfield, through whose eyes we can expect to behold Dracula. Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will star as the leading female, and the film will co-star Ben Schwartz of Parks and Rec and Sonic the Hedgehog, Adrian Martinez, Bess Rouss, Shohreh Agdashloo, and James Moses.
The movie will be directed by Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie) and was initially conceived by horror-extraordinaire producer The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman. It was ultimately written by the immensely talented and Emmy-winning comedy writer Ryan Ridley, who penned Community and Rick and Morty. Surely his sense of humanity and quark will enrich this movie beyond full comprehension.
We expect Renfield to be a clever, funny, and stylish movie that we will be talking about for many years after its release. Here is why we are excited to see this upcoming film!
A Modern-Day Vampire Tale With a Great Cast
Universal Pictures
Firstly, this movie is going to be hilarious. What henchman of one of the most terrifying, supernatural villains in known history decides to quit his job, move on, settle down, and have a family? This is a hysterical twist on an age-old, dead serious concept of a kind of undead bat-man who scales the walls of his crumbling, ancient kingdom, sucking the blood from the necks of beautiful virgins in the night to sustain his treacherous nocturnal lifestyle. Rather than see Dracula’s antics be the focus of the film, it’s more about a pupil’s separation from his master. Having an immortal, undead boss must make the whole two-weeks-notice thing much more difficult.
It is presumed that Awkwafina is portraying the character named Rebecca, who becomes the object of Renfield’s affections unless she is indeed playing another henchman. Perhaps, either way, there will be some complications to Renfield’s plans to separate from his demanding boss if Dracula decides to target Rebecca himself.
Renfield takes place in the modern-day, unlike the original Bram Stoker’s Dracula and all its most noteworthy film and TV adaptations. Imagine Nicolas Cage as Dracula trying to send someone a text? Or better yet, posting some tweets about his latest struggles? There has been a total shakeup of this classic story in Renfield. That, coupled with the brilliant casting, is precisely what we want to see. Old takes on originals are very much en vogue right now. Nicolas Cage in a red valor suit as the world’s most famous archetype of the ever-popular vampire trope is what we have been waiting for but never could have realized we wanted. Maybe there will even be some Twilight references!
Nicolas Cage as Dracula
Just look at the above photo. This is not going to be your average Dracula film. This is going to be a Nicolas Cage Dracula film. The eccentricity, the unique humor, the emotional and arresting presence, it’s all here, this time in its most bloodthirsty, angsty goth form. Apparently, Cage was channeling his own father during his performance, August Coppola, who closely resembled Christopher Lee and spoke with a Midatlantic accent. In addition, Cage brought his love for the source material, the many cinematic portrayals of the character, and of course, of German expressionist cinema that followed the role. Ben Schwartz stated that he was “in awe” of Cage’s performance and full, no-holds-barred commitment to the role.
Hopefully, we will see a trailer for the film around the holiday months this year, since it wrapped filming just a couple of weeks ago! We can’t wait to see this brilliant gothic horror-comedy, and we solidly predict that it will be one of the best, most original, and enjoyable movies next year. That is unless Keanu Reeves decides to play the lead in a 1980s romance-disco version of Frankenstein or something.
