''Renfield'' is an upcoming American

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film directed by

Chris McKay Christopher McKay, also known as Chris Taylor (born November 11, 1973), is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing and editing three seasons of ''Robot Chicken'' and two seasons of ''Moral Orel''. He made his feature directorial ...

from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley, based on an original idea by

Robert Kirkman Robert Kirkman (; born November 30, 1978)Löchel, Ingo"The Walking Dead: Die Comic-Serie – Robert Kirkman" Zauberspiegel. Retrieved February 17, 2013. is an American comic book writer, screenwriter and television producer. He is best known ...

featuring characters from

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's 1897 novel ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

''. It is a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

' ''Dracula'' series. The film stars

Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His List of roles and awards of Nicholas Hoult, body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in Independent film, independent p ...

as the title character, alongside

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

, with

Awkwafina Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress, rapper, and comedian who rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...

Ben Schwartz Benjamin Schwartz (born September 15, 1981) is an American actor and comedian. He has guest starred as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' and Clyde Oberholt on the Showtime series ''House of Lies''; voiced Randy C ...

, and Adrian Martinez in supporting roles. ''Renfield'' will premiere at the

Overlook Film Festival The Overlook Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place each May, showcasing horror films and live performances. The inaugural event took place at the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, Oregon in 2017. Since 2018, the festival has been ...

on March 30, 2023, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on April 14, 2023, by Universal Pictures.

Premise

's lackey

Renfield R. M. Renfield is a fictional character who appears in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. ...

finds a new lease on life in modern-day

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

when he falls in love with Rebecca Quincy, a traffic cop.

Cast

as R. M. Renfield, the long-suffering servant of Dracula. *

, a legendary vampire and Renfield's ill-tempered and narcissistic boss. *

as Rebecca Quincy, an aggressive traffic cop and Renfield's love-interest. *

as Teddy Lobo, a mob enforcer. * Adrian Martinez as Chris Marcos, a traffic cop, and Quincy's co-worker. *

Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in ''Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two film ...

as Ella, a mob boss. *

Bess Rous Bess Rous is an American actress. On television, she was featured as a series regular on the first season of the TNT crime drama '' Murder in the First'' (2014) and the Yahoo! Screen science fiction comedy '' Other Space'' (2015). She also appea ...

as Caitlyn, a support group member. * James Moses Black as Captain J. Browning. *

Caroline Williams Caroline Williams is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her role as Stretch in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' film series. Her other film roles include ''Alamo Bay'' (1985), ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985), ''Stepfa ...

as Vanessa *

Brandon Scott Jones Brandon Scott Jones (born June 6, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Captain Isaac Higgintoot in the CBS series '' Ghosts'' and as Donny in the Warner Bros./Netflix film '' Isn't It Romantic''. Lif ...

as Mark, a support group leader *

Miles Doleac Miles Christopher Doleac (born November 26, 1975) is an American actor, director, writer and producer. He has had acting roles in several films and television shows since 2011 including ''Watchmen, Lovecraft Country, Treme, Sleepy Hollow, Ameri ...

Production

Development

In July 2014,

announced classic horror film properties, including the character of

, as part of a unified

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

with

Alex Kurtzman Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Star Trek'' franchise since 2009, co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers (film), Transformers'' (2007), ''Transformers: Revenge ...

and Chris Morgan attached to oversee its development. After the negative reception of ''

Dracula Untold ''Dracula Untold'' is a 2014 American dark fantasy action-horror film directed by Gary Shore in his feature film debut and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. A reboot of the ''Dracula'' film series, the plot creates an origin story fo ...

'' (2014), its connections to a unified series were downplayed, and ''

The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places *Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States *Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Par ...

'' (2017) was re-positioned as the first film in the series. ''The Mummy'', a critical and commercial failure, resulted in Universal's decision to shift its focus on individual storytelling and move away from the shared universe concept. Robert Kirkman (36105694336) (cropped)

''Renfield'' is based on an original pitch by

and uses a screenplay by Ryan Ridley. In November 2019,

Dexter Fletcher Dexter Fletcher (born 31 January 1966) is an English film director and actor. He has appeared in Guy Ritchie's ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'', as well as in television shows such as the comedy drama '' Hotel Babylon'' and the HBO series ...

was hired to direct the film for Universal and

Skybound Entertainment Skybound Entertainment is an American multiplatform entertainment company founded by Robert Kirkman and David Alpert. History Skybound Entertainment is the company behind the long-running comic, '' The Walking Dead'', created by Robert Kirkman ...

. The film was described as a comedic approach to the story of Count Dracula, in the vein of

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...

's vampire mockumentary ''

What We Do in the Shadows ''What We Do in the Shadows'' is a 2014 New Zealand mockumentary horror comedy film written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and the first installment in the ''What We Do in the Shadows'' franchise. The film also stars Clem ...

'' (2014), that focused on the character of

Renfield R. M. Renfield is a fictional character who appears in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. ...

. In 2020,

Leigh Whannell Leigh Whannell (; is an Australian screenwriter, actor, film producer, and film director. He is best known for writing films directed by his friend James Wan, including ''Saw'' (2004), ''Dead Silence'' (2007), ''Insidious'' (2010), and '' Insid ...

's ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in ''Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devote ...

'' became a commercial and critical success for Universal and served as a relaunch to its monster universe. In April 2021,

entered negotiations to direct after Fletcher left to work on a reboot of ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'' for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. McKay was hired because he reportedly gave a successful pitch combining the story's mix of humor and action, "something the studio was looking to have more of".

Casting

was cast as Renfield in August 2021.

was cast to play Count Dracula in November,

and

were added to the cast in December, and Adrian Martinez,

, James Moses Black,

, and

were confirmed to star the following year. An "enormous" fan of Dracula and the

source material A source text is a text (sometimes oral) from which information or ideas are derived. In translation, a source text is the original text that is to be translated into another language. Description In historiography, distinctions are commonly m ...

, Cage prepared for his role by observing the distinctive ways Dracula was portrayed on screen by

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Flori ...

, and

Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...

. "What can I bring that will be different?", he said, "I want it to pop in a unique way. We've seen it played well, we've seen it play not so well, so what can we do? So I'm thinking to really focus on the movement of the character ... ndthat perfect tone of comedy and horror". Cage mentioned '' An American Werewolf in London'' (1981), ''

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

'' (1998), and ''

Malignant Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse. Malignancy is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous ''benign'' tumor in that a malignancy is not s ...

'' (2021) as inspirations for the role. The film will mark Cage's first live-action film by a major studio since '' Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'' (2011).

Filming

Filming began in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

on February 3, 2022, with

Mitchell Amundsen Mitchell Amundsen (born May 31, 1958) is an American cinematographer. Filmography References External links * *Variety - Mitch Amundsen 1958 births Living people American cinematographers American film directors {{US-cinematogra ...

serving as cinematographer. On February 8, more than twenty vehicles belonging to the production crew were burglarized. One security guard was present at the time of the incident, which occurred late at night in a secured parking lot. Crew member Elmo Peoples said the vandals had stolen his insurance papers, two bank cards, and a laptop. He added, "I'm supposed to be here all week and I don't even want to come back because I feel like they don't really care about us as much as the main characters or actors." Love Bugs Film LLC reassured the production crew that they would hire additional security. Filming wrapped on April 14, 2022, exactly one year prior to the film's scheduled release.

Release

''Renfield'' will premiere at the

on March 30, 2023. It is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 14, 2023, by Universal Pictures.

References

External links

Official Website
* {{Portal bar, Film, United States, Speculative fiction, Comedy, Horror Upcoming films 2023 comedy films 2023 horror films 2023 films 2020s comedy horror films 2020s English-language films 2020s monster movies 2020s supernatural horror films American comedy horror films American supernatural horror films American vampire films Films based on multiple works Films based on works by Bram Stoker Films set in castles Films set in Transylvania Films shot in New Orleans Reboot films Universal Pictures films Upcoming English-language films Upcoming IMAX films Vampire comedy films Films directed by Chris McKay Films scored by Marco Beltrami 2020s American films IMAX films