Get your affairs in order and pick out your coffin, Renfield has officially wrapped principal photography! Universal Pictures took to their Twitter account today to announce the big news adding that fans now only have to wait “365 days 'til it hits the big screen!” Holding up the film’s colorful yellow and red logo stars Awkwafina and Nicholas Hoult pose alongside the film’s director, Chris McKay, celebrating their hard work and dedication.
The cameras began to roll on Renfield in early February, marking a speedy two-month process from start to finish. Of course, now all the behind-the-scenes action needs to take place in order for the movie to make its way to theaters by April 2023. And although we’ve seen very little from the set, we can now look forward to first look images, teasers, and trailers popping up over the next few months.
Renfield will see Nicolas Cage’s Dracula stepping out of his coffin and into a present-day timeline. Hilarity is bound to ensue when the king of the undead tries to make sense of what the world surrounding him has become. But, as the film’s title would suggest, this movie may be more about Dracula’s trusty servant than the vampire himself. Playing the titular character will be Nicholas Hoult, who currently stars in The Great. In the timeless novel, Dracula, by Bram Stoker, Renfield is a mortal man who answers to Drac’s every beck and call but is never rewarded with the ultimate gift of eternal life. Judging by what we already know about the film, we’re thinking they’re going to follow this storyline closely to play up the comedy in the relationship between Dracula and Renfield.
Helping to bring the tale of the undead back to life alongside Cage, Hoult, and Awkwafina will be a stellar cast made up of Ben Schwartz, James Moses, Shohreh Agdashloo, and Bess Rouss.
Over the years, there have been countless adaptations of Stoker’s beloved novel ranging from the classic Nosferatu to the horrifying 1931 Dracula starring Bela Lugosi to a fun and animated version of the prince of darkness voiced by Adam Sandler in Hotel Transylvania. And while 1995’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It brought the laughs with Leslie Nielsen and Peter MacNicol playing the buddy duo of Dracula and Renfield, respectively, we have even higher hopes for Renfield. Whatever the case may be, with principal photography now wrapped, the final stages of McKay’s vampire comedy can go into the works, and boy oh boy, we can hardly wait.
Check out the photo of Hoult and Awkwafina below.