Nicholas Hoult to Star In ‘Renfield’

Hollywoodreporter.com: Nicholas Hoult is set to star in Renfield, Universal’s monster movie focused on Dracula’s infamous unhinged acolyte.

Chris McKay, who helmed Amazon’s The Tomorrow War, is directing the feature which has a story from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Ryan Ridley, known for Fox’s Ghosted and Adult Swim’s Rick & Morty, penned the script.

McKay and Kirkman are producing along with David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst. McKay’s producing partner, Samantha Nisenboim, is exec producing.

The character of Renfield originated in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula as a patient in an asylum with an obsession for drinking blood, deluded into thinking he will find immortality. He bows at the feet of the vampire king, who feeds him insects and rats and dangles everlasting life in front of him.

The loyal follower of Dracula has appeared numerous times onscreen, including being played by Dwight Frye in 1931’s Dracula and by Tom Waits in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation.

Hoult, who was last seen chasing down Angelina Jolie in HBO Max’s Those Who Wish Me Dead, received strong notices for starring with Elle Fanning in the recent Hulu series The Great.  Repped by UTA and UK’s 42, Hoult is also known for playing Hank McCoy, aka The Beast, in the X-Men movies. McKay is represented by UTA, 42 and Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich & Gellman.