NICOLAS CAGE: "I AM A GOTH"

Quirky actor Nicolas Cage has stated that "I am a Goth" as he prepares for his role as Count Dracula in the upcoming Universal film, RENFIELD. Newcomer, Nicholas Hoult is set to play the titular character. Mr. Hould will have to pull out all the stops and them some to equal the character played by Dwight Frye in the original film, DRACULA (1931).

These two news feeds from Variety.com cover Nicolas Cage's apparent enthusiasm for Goth culture and an original announcement regarding the film from 2019.

Nicolas Cage Proclaims ‘I Am a Goth’ Ahead of Playing Dracula, Says His Pet Crow Insults Him

By Zack Sharf | January 27, 2022 | Variety.com

Nicolas Cage once played a man who is convinced he is a vampire (1989’s “Vampire’s Kiss”), but he’s about to go full bloodsucker as Dracula in Universal’s upcoming horror movie “Renfield.” Most moviegoers probably don’t need convincing that he has what it takes to transform into the most iconic vampire in film history, but rest assured that Cage lives a goth lifestyle off camera. The actor said as much in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, revealing he even owns a black crow as a pet.

Cage’s pet crow is named Hoogan and lives in the actor’s Las Vegas home inside a geodesic dome. According to Cage, “He has taken to calling me names…it’s comical, at least, it is to me. When I leave the room, he’ll say, ‘Bye,’ and then go, ‘Ass.’ Crows are very intelligent. And I like their appearance, the Edgar Allan Poe aspect. I like the goth element. I am a goth.”

This side of Cage’s personality can partly explain why the role of Dracula in “Renfield” might’ve attracted the Oscar winner. Cage also said that watching James Wan’s horror movie “Malignant” last year made playing a vampire and starring in a horror movie all the more appealing.

“The key, I think, is movement,” Cage said, “I saw a movie called ‘Malignant’ and the director James Wan and the actress [Annabelle Wallis] created this choreography that was terrifying. So I’m hoping to do something like that where Dracula can either glide or move like Sadako in ‘Ringu.’”

Cage is set to star in “Renfield” opposite Nicholas Hoult in the title role. Chris McKay, the filmmaker behind “The Tomorrow War” and “The Lego Batman Movie,” is directing and producing “Renfield” from a screenplay by “Rick and Morty” scribe Ryan Ridley. The upcoming film is expected to take place in the present day. It’s not clear how much it will stick to the source material, Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror novel “Dracula.”

Dexter Fletcher to Direct a Movie About Dracula’s Henchman for Universal

By Justin Kroll | November 20, 2019 | Variety.com

“Rocketman” director Dexter Fletcher is attached to direct Universal’s “Renfield,” a monster movie centered on Dracula’s henchman and based on an original pitch from Robert Kirkman.

“Rick and Morty” scribe Ryan Ridley penned the script. The film will be produced by Skybound Entertainment’s film team, including Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst.

In the original “Dracula” novel, R.M. Renfield was an inmate at a lunatic asylum who was thought to be suffering from delusions, but is actually a servant of Dracula. Plot details are currently unknown, though it’s believed to take place during the present day and is not a period piece.

Universal had originally planned on creating an interconnected universe with its vast catalog of monster IP. However, the studio reassessed, and decided to move forward with filmmaker-driven projects based on the monsters’ legacies, focusing on what made the characters endure over time. Instead of prescribing a mandate that the films be part of a larger scheme, Universal loosened those restrictions and open-sourced to filmmakers to create their own unique stories.

That strategy is on display in Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man,” which debuts in 2020 and dropped its first trailer this month. Besides this and “Invisible Man,” Paul Feig is also currently developing a secret monster movie.

The film will mark Fletcher’s first genre film following two musical biopics, starting with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” on which he was brought on after Bryan Singer was fired midway through the shoot. He followed that up with the Elton John pic “Rocketman,” which is in the awards conversation this year and grossed $96 million domestically.

Best known as the creator of “The Walking Dead” comics, Kirkman has been sought out on the producing front for more horror IP that includes a reboot for “An American Werewolf in London.”

Fletcher is repped by CAA and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern. Kirkman is represented by CAA, Circle of Confusion and Katz Golden Rosenman, and Ridley is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.