Another player has been selected to tickle our funny bone in the upcoming Renfield movie. Variety revealed today that Ben Schwartz has been cast in Universal's new Dracula movie… or rather, Dracula’s henchman movie. The studio hasn’t confirmed if Renfield will be a full-blown comedy yet, but the cast, writing, and directing selections suggest that at least some comedic elements might be featured in the story.
Schwartz joins previously announced cast members Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road), who is set to play the title character, Nicolas Cage (Pig), who will be the biggest vampire that ever existed, and Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings), who was announced in an undisclosed role.
This is just one of Schwartz’s many projects for 2022, one of which being his reprisal of iconic character Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. He will lend his voice once again to the title character. Aside from that, he has also done voice work for the upcoming DC League of Super-Pets. On top of that, he will also reprise his voice work with another iconic character: once again, he will be Leonardo in the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, based on the Nickelodeon animated series.
Renfield will be directed by Chris McKay, who is best known for his work on The LEGO Batman Movie and most recently, on Prime Video’s blockbuster The Tomorrow War. So, knowing that McKay can deliver both funny and large-scale action projects, it’s interesting to keep an eye out and see what he will be able to do with one of Universal's most famous monsters.
The screenplay is written by Ryan Ridley, who makes his feature film debut and has time and again proven his talent for comedy: he has written for TV shows like Blue Mountain State and Community, and most recently for Rick and Morty and FOX’s supernatural comedy series Ghosted. So Dracula might be a natural next step for Ridley. He adapted Renfield from an original outline written by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead).
Renfield has yet to get a release date, so stay tuned to Collider for more on this project, including additional casting and trailers.