Renfield Star Nicolas Cage Confirms His Dracula Doesn't Have Much Screen Time

Fans are looking forward to checking out the horror-comedy Renfield for many reasons, one of which being the opportunity to see iconic actor Nicolas Cage bringing the legendary Dracula to life, though the actor himself has warned audiences that they shouldn't expect his villain to be the focal point of the experience. As the first trailer for the film teased, and as implied by the title, the film focuses more on how the right-hand man of Dracula aims to cope with the unsavory duties he's been tasked with carrying out for his nefarious overlord and how he might be able to escape his clutches. Renfield is set to hit theaters on April 14th.

"Well, first of all, I don't know how you say no to Dracula, but two things come to mind," Cage shared with Collider of what audiences can expect from the film. "One, he's a character that's been done well many times and then been done poorly many times. So you want to be on the side of doing something well. And also you want to be on the side of doing something fresh and something that pops." 

He continued, "To me, because the movie's really not about me, Dracula rather, I don't have a lot of screen time. It's really Nick Hoult's movie, and it's about Renfield. I didn't have the time, like the two-hour narrative to really dig deep into Dracula's pathos per se. It's not that. But I did have enough screen time to be able to try to develop a pop-art style to the character that hopefully will be a nice contribution to the other performers that have done it, that have had their take on this legendary character in both literature and cinema."

In this modern monster tale of Dracula's loyal servant, Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men franchise) stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to history's most narcissistic boss, Dracula (Oscar winner Nicolas Cage). Renfield is forced to procure his master's prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there's a life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency.

Renfield is directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The LEGO Batman Movie) from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley (Ghosted series, Rick & Morty series), based on an original idea by The Walking Dead and Invincible creator Robert Kirkman.

The film co-stars Awkwafina (The Farewell, Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings), Ben Schwartz (Sonic, The Afterparty), and Adrian Martinez (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Focus).

Renfield is produced by Skybound Entertainment partners Robert Kirkman and David Alpert (The Walking Dead, Invincible), co-presidents Bryan Furst (Daybreakers) and Sean Furst (Daybreakers), and by Chris McKay. McKay's producing partner Samantha Nisenboim (co-producer, The Tomorrow War) will executive produce.

Renfield is set to hit theaters on April 14th.  

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!