In the grand tradition of Igor and Victor Frankenstein, two films nobody has ever thought about, The Tomorrow War and The Lego Batman Movie director Chris McKay has signed on to direct Renfield, a movie about Count Dracula’s varyingly loyal bug-eating buddy. This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which doesn’t have many details beyond that, but much like 2020's The Invisible Man, this is being put out by Universal and could therefore be considered part of the Dark Universe—not that anyone’s saying that, certainly.
What we can say is that the most recent draft of the Renfield script (based on a story outline by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman) was written by Ryan Ridley, who is a Rick And Morty writer and voice actor, which seems to suggest some tonal implications about this project. Then again, THR guesses that the script will get another pass now that McKay has signed on, so there might be some changes coming anyway.
For those who never read Dracula, in the original Bram Stoker book Renfield is a patient in an asylum who is essentially being groomed to worship Count Dracula. He eats bugs and rats and birds, working his way up to drinking blood because Dracula tells him that it will help him live forever (but really Dracula’s just being a dick). Whether this is a more lighthearted take on the character, centering the Dracula story on Renfield would be a pretty good way to reframe the vampire’s monstrousness in a relatively new way.
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Is Dracula going to be played by Anthony Hopkins? Because the original manipulation of Renfield sounds like a Hopkins character trope?
“What’s the deal with vampires? Could someone…explain this…to me?” ~ Renfeld
*Dracula busts into room, slaps down some cash and an empty blood bag*“I’m out!”
“Hello Van Hellman.”
Dracula’s just being a Dick.And there you have it, an almost perfect precis of the book.
So, a less campy Dracula: Dead and Loving It?
Peter MacNicol will always be the greatest Renfield.
Fouschta!
Very well
Renfield’s desire to consume other beings and work his way up the food chain as he goes is either him misunderstanding what Dracula does or, at some level, understanding it very deeply.
There’s some interesting ways they could approach a Renfield-centric piece. What if he’s psychically sensitive, which has made him seem insane to 19th century London, and that’s how he picks up so much information about Dracula once he moves into his London estate?
I think that was actually implied by the book. While he was already in an asylum before Dracula came to Britain, he somehow sensed his presence when he did. Renfield was more than just a Dracula fanboy; he had some powers of his own.
Renfield was Dracula’s original solicitor – he travelled to Transylvania to assist with the English property purchases and came back a madman. That’s why Harker was sent, to take over for him.
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If they don’t get any Rick and Morty or Lego Movie DNA on it, it’s at least an interesting premise, much more than most other tertiary-character-made-the-star ideas.
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I’m still confused that Universal is making a shared universe featuring all public domain characters.
Well, trying to make one, anyway, bless their hearts.
If they sign Harvey Guillen to star and Jermaine Clement to direct, and change Dracula to a 750 year old vampire from South Central Asia, I’m all in.
This script has been in development since at least the 80s, or this concept anyway. No one cares!!!
He should still be played by Tom Waits.
I’d argue for Tom Hanks. He is, after all, American Everyhenchman!