After seemingly toiling around in development at Universal, it appears the studio’s “Dracula” spinoff/reimagining, “Renfield,” is picking up some momentum. With a new director, and now a big star, we might just see “Renfield” on the big screen soon enough.
According to THR, it appears that Nicholas Hoult has signed on to star in the film, “Renfield.” The feature, which is based on a story by “Walking Dead”/“Invincible” creator Robert Kirkman, is apparently set to follow the classic sidekick of Dracula. In the original stories, Renfield is the name of a patient at a mental asylum who believes drinking blood will be his ticket to immortality and vows to serve Dracula. Though the story is from Kirkman, the script is written by Ryan Ridley.
Originally, the film was set to be directed by Dexter Fletcher. However, after the film didn’t see much progress and Fletcher stepped away, it was recently announced “The Tomorrow War” director Chris McKay is taking over the filmmaking duties on the feature.
Hoult is no stranger to high-profile acting gigs. Most people will recognize him from his scene-stealing performance in “Mad Max: Fury Road” or his multiple-film role as Hank McCoy, aka Beast, in the recent ‘X-Men’ film series over at Fox. However, Hoult has also turned in incredible performances with roles in films such as “The Favourite,” “Tolkien,” and the Hulu series, “The Great.” His most recent role was in the HBO Max film, “Those Who Wish Me Dead.”
It’s unclear when production might begin on “Renfield.” This film is one of many Universal projects that aim to tell stories featuring the famous horror icons, the Universal Monsters. In addition to “Renfield,” there’s also a Karyn Kusama “Dracula” reimagining, as well as Chloe Zhao’s “Dracula” feature that is supposedly a Western-influenced story. So, yeah, if all of these move ahead, it looks like there are quite a few vampire features coming over the next several years.