See The First Image From Nicolas Cage’s New Dracula Movie
With the Nicolas Cage Dracula movie starting to get underway with filming, we got our first look at the beginning of production
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The first set image from Renfield starring Nicolas Cage has been released. While the shot doesn’t feature any of the actors, it’s still pretty cool. The photo, shared via the official Instagram account for Universal Monsters, showcases the clapboard from the set. The film’s title is scrawled across the board in retro-style red and yellow font reminiscent of the text used in the posters for Bela Legosi’s 1931 Dracula. It also includes the names of the director and cinematographer. And a fanged graphic can be seen behind the text. Check it out:
Now that day one of principal photography is officially in the books, anticipation around the project will continue to gain momentum. Billed as a dark horror-comedy, the story focuses on Dracula’s main henchman R.M. Renfield who first appeared in Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic horror novel. The film stars Nicholas Hoult as Renfield and Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula. Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Bess Rous also appear in supporting roles.
The film is directed by Chris McKay from a script by Ryan Ridley and Robert Kirkman. It’s been described as a modern-day adventure with a comedic tone and is expected to be extremely violent. The story begins when Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) grows tired of working as Count Dracula’s (Nicolas Cage) sidekick and finds a new lease on life when he falls in love with Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), a feisty traffic officer. The movie will also examine the toxic and often-codependent relationship between Dracula and Renfield.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with the character, in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Renfield was one of the inmates at the asylum overseen by Dr. John Seward. He suffered from delusions that convinced him to compulsively eat living creatures, including insects, birds, and spiders. Although Renfield is best known as Dracula’s loyal sidekick, he’s never had a story arc of his own. This means the upcoming Nicolas Cage horror-comedy will have lots of opportunities to explore the character’s origins and personality in creative ways.
Since Renfield is still in the very early stages of production, there is no word on when the film will be released. But if everything goes well, it could be sometime in late 2022. Meanwhile, fans can catch Nicolas Cage in his latest offering – The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which is getting a lot of attention for its premise. Directed by Tom Gormican, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Kevin Etten, the film stars Cage as a fictionalized version of himself.
The story begins when (fictional) Nicolas Cage begrudgingly accepts a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a billionaire super fan. When things take a wild turn, he is forced to become a version of some of his most iconic characters to extricate his wife and daughter from the fan who is a notorious drug lord.
Starring alongside Nicolas Cage is a talented supporting cast that includes Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Jacob Scipio, Lily Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent hits theaters on April 22, 2022.
