Nicolas Cage has has been cast as Dracula in Universal Pictures’ upcoming monster movie, Renfield. The Academy Award-winning actor will star alongside Nicholas Holt, who will be portraying the titular character, the vampire count’s infamous acolyte and henchman, in the film, Variety is reporting.
Renfield will be directed by Chris McKay, who’s known for helming The Tomorrow War and The Lego Batman Movie. He’ll also be serving as a producer on the upcoming screen adaptation of the classic Dracula story, along with David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst. McKay’s producing partner, Samantha Nisenboim, is serving as an executive producer on the movie.
The character of R.M. Renfield was introduced in Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula novel as a patient in an asylum who’s thought to be suffering from delusions but is actually a servant of the eponymous anti-hero. He also has an obsession for drinking blood and was deluded into thinking he will find immortality. He bows at the feet of Dracula, who feeds him insects and rats, and dangles everlasting life in front of him.
It’s not currently known how Renfield will be interwoven into the Dracula story in the upcoming film, as plot details haven’t been released. But Reinfield will reportedly be a modern-day adventure story that’s comedic in tone.
Ryan Ridley, who’s known for Fox’s Ghosted and Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, wrote the script for Reinfield. The screenplay was based on an original story outline from Robert Kirkman, who’s also serving as a producer on the movie.
