Universal Pictures' Renfield will focus not on the count however, but on his henchman, played by Nicholas Hoult. The movie will be directed by Chris McKay, who previously helmed The Tomorrow War and The LEGO Batman Movie.
In Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, Renfield appears as an asylum inmate obsessed with drinking blood, believing it will grant him powers of immortality. He falls under the spell of Dracula, who feeds him a diet of rats and insects.
Details of McKay's film have yet to be released but it is believed to be comedic in tone.
Renfield is the latest in Universal's ongoing mission to make a movie based on each of the famous monsters that the studio has long been associated with. From the 1930s to 1950s, Universal was synonymous with horror, producing movies featuring the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Universal has attempted to revive their monsters at several points this century, beginning with 2010's The Wolfman, a $150 million production which turned out to be a critical and commercial flop.
Inspired by the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Universal planned a "Dark Universe" franchise revolving around its iconic monsters. 2014's Dracula Untold was a modest hit, leading to 2017's The Mummy. Despite starring Tom Cruise, The Mummy failed to make as much at the box office as Universal hoped, and so the Dark Universe was shelved.
In a change of pace, Universal enlisted producer Jason Blum to oversee a revival of the Universal monsters that would tell more intimate stories with lower budgets, bringing the monsters back to their horror roots. Released just before the pandemic wreaked havoc with the movie biz, last year's The Invisible Man proved a surprise hit, making over $140 million from a budget of just $7 million. Since then further instalments have been announced, including a Wolfman movie starring Ryan Gosling, a take on Frankenstein from Conjuring director James Wan and a "faithful adaptation" of Dracula from director Karyn Kusama.
Dracula won’t be the first bloodsucker Cage has played. In 1989 he starred in the satirical thriller Vampire's Kiss as a New York literary agent who becomes increasingly deranged when he believes he's been bitten by a female vampire played by Flashdance's Jennifer Beals.
Vampire's Kiss was a flop on release but has developed a cult following in the decades since. Cinemagoers of 1989 probably weren't ready for Cage's demented antics, but in the years since he's become celebrated for his over the top acting style. Vampire's Kiss still arguably holds the title of Cage's craziest performance, and that's saying something.
After being something of a Hollywood in-joke for two decades, Cage is currently experiencing something of a career revival. Due to overwhelming debts and a lack of offers from mainstream Hollywood, Cage spent much of this century churning out straight to video dross that he clearly took on solely for a pay cheque. Over the last couple of years however he's become more selective, working with acclaimed cult filmmakers like Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), Richard Stanley (Color Out of Space) and Sion Sono (Prisoners of the Ghostland). This year he won plaudits for his role in indie drama Pig, in which he plays a reclusive former chef who embarks on a quest to find his stolen truffle hunting pig. The movie sees Cage give an uncharacteristically subdued performance, which many critics have gone so far as to deem awards worthy.
Renfield will mark Cage's first role in a major studio production since 2011's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
We can't wait to see him sink his teeth into the role of Dracula.
