Unlike previous Universal monster movies, Dracula's appearance in the upcoming film Renfield isn't meant to kick off a new Dark Universe. Starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as the vampire's servant Renfield, Renfield is a comedy-horror film that offers a new take on Bram Stoker's classic vampire tale. The film is directed by The Lego Batman Movie alumni Chris McKay, and is set to be released on April 14.
In an interview with SFX Magazine, McKay says that unlike other reboots of Universal monster movies, Renfield isn't setting up a larger horror franchise. McKay firmly states that Renfield is designed to be a stand-alone film and that there are no intentions of creating a vampire franchise around it. He says that while Dracula is an interesting character, the film's focus is much more on Dracula's relationship with Renfield, and on Renfield's relationship with his love interest Rebecca. Read McKay's full comment below:
"We haven't had any conversations about it. From the studio's perspective, this is a one-off thing. I figure they don't look at this as some kind of franchise-starter. The thing for me, personally, is I loved the relationship between Renfield and Dracula. I loved the relationship between Renfield and Rebecca. I love the idea that if Dracula is out there, are there other monsters out there, in a world where Renfield is now empowered to fight off people's monsters? That's not necessarily where the movie goes. I see more stories in Renfield and his relationship with Rebecca, Dracula and possibly other monsters out there."
Why The Dark Universe Failed
Beginning in 1931 with Bela Lugosi's Dracula, Universal Studios created the Universal Classic Monsters series over the span of two decades. The films introduced now-iconic horror characters like Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, Gill-Man, and more. Although both Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula had appeared in earlier adaptations, the interconnected film franchise began at Universal Studios, and the Classic Monsters are considered to be one of Universal's most enduring and popular franchises.
With the Classic Monsters series ending in 1956, Universal saw an opportunity to reboot the franchise, and the Dark Universe franchise officially began with a re-make of The Mummy in 2017 starring Tom Cruise. Subsequently, The Invisible Man was released in 2020, with several other reboots in the works. However, The Mummy was a box-office bomb, ultimately losing Universal around $100 million. This failure caused Universal to shelve a slew of potential monster movies, including The Bride of Frankenstein with Angelina Jolie eyed for the title role and Channing Tatum-led Van Helsing.
Though the Dark Universe was ultimately canceled due to the poor performance of The Mummy, that doesn't mean Universal isn't still leaning into its monstrous roots with films like Renfield. Unlike the Dark Universe, which was based on more serious horror films, Renfield will be a unique horror-comedy combination, offering monster movie lovers something different. While the future Universal's connected monster franchise looks to be dead in the water, Renfield may be exactly what the studio needs to put Universal back on the monster movie map.
Source: SFX Magazine
