Nicolas Cage Plays Dracula in the Glorious First Trailer for Horror-Comedy 'Renfield'
More than three decades after screaming “I’m a vampire! I’m a vampire! I’m a vampire!” in 'Vampire's Kiss', Cage plays the most famous bloodsucker there is.
When a sentence starts with the words "Nicolas Cage plays", there's no bad way to end it; however, one option is better than all the rest. Cage has given the world quite the range of different characters, including ex cons, con men, heartbroken lumberjacks, a version of Spider-Man, lonely paramedics, kooky dads milking alpacas, John Travolta, Elvis obsessives, himself — the list goes on and on, gloriously — but Cage playing Dracula is a next-level idea.
Fans of 1988's Vampire's Kiss, rejoice: this is the part Cage has clearly been working towards for 35 years. All those decades ago, the actor played a man who thought he was a member of the undead, so much so that he ran around the streets shouting "I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire!" (as you do). Now, Cage is playing the most famous bloodsucker of them all — although Renfield, which has just dropped its first trailer and hits cinemas in April, actually focuses on Dracula's minion and his toxic relationship with his boss.
Giving audiences two Nicks for the price of one, Renfield boasts The Great's Nicholas Hoult as titular character, who is getting unsurprisingly tired of doing his master's bidding. Catering to a vampire's every whim for centuries, even when you're given considerable powers in return, is losing its bite for the literary offsider — who, like the Count himself, does indeed hail from Bram Stoker's iconic horror novel. But ending that relationship isn't going to be easy in Renfield, as this sneak peek makes plain.
The film's namesake is already doubting his allegiances to the Dark One and the Lord of Death when he crosses paths with traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and sparks fly — just as his employer does. Accordingly, in a first glimpse that goes big on camp, Renfield mixes up its horror-comedy by giving its lead a love interest. And, if you're feeling shades of Hugh Grant in Hoult's performance, you're not alone.
Filmmaker Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie) sits in the director's chair for Renfield, working with a script by Rick and Morty writer Ryan Ridley based on an idea by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman (an idea straight from everyone's dreams, too).
And, joining Cage, Hoult and Awkwafina on-screen is a cast that also spans Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty) and Adrian Martinez (The Guilty).
Check out the trailer for Renfield below:
Renfield releases in cinemas Down Under on April 13.
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