Nicolas Cage is an actor who has made some very good movies and some very bad ones, but right now the star is having a renaissance that looks set to continue with his starring role as Dracula in Universal’s horror-comedy, Renfield. As a character that has been portrayed by dozens of actors on screen, Cage will be bringing his own unique style to the iconic Count, and he recently teased how he developed his voice for the role.
Based on the classic character from Bram Stoker’s novel, Renfield is the latest movie to come from Universal’s reworking of their old monster movies that were originally meant to be brought back to life as part of the Dark Universe. However, when the original plan failed with its first release, the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy, Universal has taken a different route to bring their old properties to a new audience. While there is little known about the plot of the movie, Cage has been seen in full Dracula costume and make-up in some set photos, and while speaking to Variety to promote his new movie, Butcher’s Crossing, he explained how he drew inspiration from Christopher Lee and his own father for the role. He said:
“[It’s] kind of an amalgamation of a sort mid-Atlantic August Coppola accent combined with some Christopher Lee, with some Anne Bancroft thrown in for good measure.”
You can check out the video, which saw Cage go on to show off his voice here.
Renfield Will Premiere In April 2023.
With filming complete on Renfield, the movie will not be too long in hitting theaters, with its current release date set for April 14, 2023. Along with Cage in the role of Dracula, something that is probably one of the biggest attractions of the movie, Nicholas Hoult will be playing the titular role of the Count’s love-stuck servant, and other stars include Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Bess Rouss, Shohreh Agdashloo and James Moses.
The movie has gone through some changes since first being conceived by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, and the script was subsequently penned by Community and Rick and Morty scribe Ryan Ridley. The combination of Kirkman’s horror and Ridley’s comedy credentials will no doubt give a good idea of how the movie will tread a line between the two genres, and that could help the movie be another hit for Universal on their new path to revive their old movie monsters in a modern and unique way.
While many versions of Dracula, and other movies based on the characters created by Bram Stoker, are usually set in a long ago era, Renfield will be set in the present day, which could shake up the archaic aspects of the original novel and provide a comedic aspect to Dracula’s presence if the Count has been awakened after a number of years and finds himself presented with some modern aspects of life that he has no real knowledge of. Naturally, it will be easier to get a better idea of what the movie is all about when a first trailer for Renfield appears sometime later this year.