Renfield: Dexter Fletcher to Direct Movie About Dracula's Henchman

Renfield: Dexter Fletcher to Direct Movie About Dracula’s Henchman

Variety is reporting that Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody) will be directing Universal’s monster movie Renfield, centering around Dracula’s henchman. The project is based on an original pitch from The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman.

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Plot details for the movie are being kept under wraps, though the outlet notes that the project could take place during the present day.

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. The role was originated memorably in the 1931 movie by Dwight Frye, then by by Tom Waits in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Peter MacNicol in the Mel Brooks parody Dracula: Dead and Loving It, and most recently by Samuel Barnett on the TV series Penny Dreadful.

The script for Renfield was written by Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty) and will be produced by Skybound Entertainment’s Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst, and Sean Furst.

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.

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Next up on the slate is Universal and Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Elisabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, the horror adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel is set to hit theaters on February 28, 2020.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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