Though Nicolas Cage has played a man who thought he was a vampire, he’s yet to really flex the German expressionism he brought to Vampire’s Kiss as a true-blue blood-sucker worthy of Nosferatu. But that’s all about to change, because we’re all about to see what Cage’s Dracula does in the shadows.
News comes via The Hollywood Reporter that the Oscar-winner and star of this year’s excellent Pig will join Universal’s upcoming Renfield as the titular henchman’s boss: Dracula. He’ll be opposite Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield, which sounds like a romp and a half considering the current wave of vampire comedy, Hoult’s recent string of comic turns, and the direction of The LEGO Batman Movie’s Chris McKay.
Plus, Nicolas Cage is freakin’ Dracula.
This marks a relatively big return to form for Cage, who’s been hanging in the indie and direct-to-VOD market for a good few years. He’s had a couple excellent performances here and there, though this was likely just too good a match of role and actor to pass up. I can’t wait to see how he’ll abuse that vermin-munching Renfield.
The film has yet to set a timeline, but screenwriter Ryan Ridley made his bones in TV comedy, so look for plenty of self-aware humor in this oddball movie once it finally gets underway. Dark Universe? Keep it. This is the Cageverse now.