Nicolas Cage Says James Wan's MALIGNANT Inspired His Version of Dracula in RENFIELD

That fact that Nicolas Cage is playing Dracula in Universal Pictures’ upcoming film Renfield is pretty damn awesome. I’ve been super curious about how he will envision the legendary vampire, and now he’s offering some insight on that, saying he’s been inspired by James Wan’s Malignant. While talking to Variety, he said:

"I want it to pop in a unique way from how we've seen it played. So I'm thinking to really focus on the movement of the character. You know, I saw Malignant and I thought what she did with those moves — and even Ringu with Sadako [Yamamura] … I want to look at what we can explore with this movement and voice."

I’ve gotta say, I didn’t expect Cage’s inspiration to come from Malignant or Ringu, but it seems like at least the movement of Dracula is going to be unique and different.

Renfield is being developed by director Chris McKay and writer Robert Kirkman, and Cage confirms that the film will be a horror comedy:

"What makes it super fun is that it's a comedy, and when you get that tone right — comedy and horror — like American Werewolf in London, it's a blast. It's got to be a bulls-eye. But that's what I'm looking for, something new to bring to the character, and also that perfect tone of comedy and horror."

When previously talking about the film, Kirman shared, "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."

In the original Dracula novel, Renfield was an inmate at a lunatic asylum who was thought to be suffering from delusions but actually is a servant of Dracula.

The movie also stars Nicholas Hoult, who plays Dracula’s unhinged henchman R.M. Renfield, Ben Schwartz (Sonic The Hedgehog, Parks and Rec), and Awkwafina.

What do you think about what Cage is looking to do with his version of Dracula?