Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: nicholas hoult, renfield, robert kirkman

Renfield: Nicholas Hoult Signs On To Star In Universal Film

Published Tue, 03 Aug 2021 16:47:36 -0500

Renfield is a new film from Robert Kirkman and his company Skybound Productions set in the Universal Monsters universe. Renfield is Dracula's assistant, and the film is based on a pitch made by Kirkman. Chris McKay will helm the project, Rick and Morty writer Ryan Ridley will spin the tale of Renfield, and it will be produced by Skybound Entertainment's Robert Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst, and Sean Furst. Today, Nicholas Hoult has signed on to star as the main character. The news was reported on by The Hollywood Reporter.

Nicholas Hoult Joins the "Mission: Impossible" Franchise — Editorial credit: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com

Renfield Is One Of Many Universal Monsters Films Coming

"The character of Renfield originated in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula as a patient in an asylum with an obsession for drinking blood, deluded into thinking he will find immortality. He bows at the feet of the vampire king, who feeds him insects and rats and dangles everlasting life in front of him."

"We're doing this cool movie for Universal that's a focus on Renfield," Kirkman said on Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman Podcast. "It's a story about him being Dracula's henchman and how shitty a job that is. It's a fun, extremely violent comedy because I've got a crutch, and it's violence." Well, at least he knows what his brand is. All of a sudden, we have ourselves a little mini-Universal Monsters universe of sorts forming. Dracula himself is coming from Karyn Kusama, Ryan Gosling is signed on to play The Wolf Man, and two comedy powerhouses in Elizabeth Banks and Paul Feig also have films set in this world as well, the former doing The Invisible Woman and the latter doing Dark Army, a comedy that features some Universal Monsters. It sounds like this Robert Kirkman film will be more in that vein.

Bring it all on, I say. As a huge fan my entire life of the Universal Monsters, I have been waiting a long time for these characters to get their due again. Kirkman is riding high after the extremely successful debut of the Invincible series on Amazon, and it is cool to see him trying to get this film to production. Hopefully, we get more news on production start times and casting soon.

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