In what might be one of his most entertaining roles yet, Nicolas Cage will play Count Dracula in the upcoming movie Renfield. Primarily following Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road) as the titular henchman, the film also stars Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog). The film is based on an original outline by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and is directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The LEGO Batman Movie).
Full plot details haven’t been revealed, but we know that this will be a comedic take on the classic Dracula story. In a new interview with Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, Cage shed some new light on the project by speaking about his inspirations. As a longtime fan of the Dracula character, he went back to looking at classic performances of the character up to Gary Oldman’s take in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
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While Cage is studying various Dracula performances, it’s not to emulate them. In fact, it’s the opposite. What Cage is really trying to do is deliver a Dracula performance that has never been seen by any other actor. He mentions that he wants to give a particular focus to the way Dracula moves, inspired heavily by something he saw in the recent horror film Malignant.
Make no mistake, Renfield is a horror comedy, and this is good news for Cage. The humor allows him to take the Dracula character to places he otherwise not be able to in a straightforward gothic horror film, as has been the case with most Dracula adaptations. As Cage explains, he is especially fond of the comedy aspects of the film, though he is still trying to find the right balance between comedy and horror.
If there’s one person who can pull this off, it’s Nicolas Cage. Renfield does not yet have a set release date, but it sure sounds like a movie not to miss for any Cage fan.
