In Renfield, Dracula’s henchman is tired of serving the vampire who created him. When he unexpectedly comes across a traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy in modern-day New Orleans,everything changes. Renfield is spurred on by this chance encounter to build a life for himself outside of his creator. Dracula doesn’t accept this insubordination lightly, and Renfield’s search for independence and redemption will lead to deadly consequences.
Renfield continues the epic legacy of the Universal Monster movies, but from the perspective of the henchman instead of the infamous Dracula. Renfield features a star-studded cast led by Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Renfield is directed by Chris McKay from a script written by Ryan Ridley based on a story by Robert Kirkman.
Screen Rant spoke with Robert Kirkman about his new film, Renfield. He explained how integral Cage was in crafting Dracula and how the characters evolved over the course of development, as well as the possibility of a Renfield sequel and other Universal Monster movies.
Robert Kirkman on Renfield
Screen Rant: What was it about the original Renfield and Dracula characters that spoke to you the most?
Robert Kirkman: I thought that it’s a good human way into a Dracula story to be focusing on Renfield and it has a natural codependent relationship. That is a fun thing to explore and gives the audience something to latch on to, to take this fantastical, this guy works for Dracula, his boss is Dracula, that’s completely unrealistic, alien environment for anyone to be in. But there’s all these human elements to it that we can relate to. And it just seemed endlessly fascinating to be able to take a Dracula story, and add all these elements that are relatable that brings it into our world.
How did the characters in the story develop from the initial idea to the final script? Did the characters always look the same to you, for the most part?
Robert Kirkman: They didn’t necessarily look the same. They’re just blobs in my head when I’m writing a treatment, but as they came together, I think it was an enhancement. That’s the process where I’ve got a vague notion of how I want Renfield to look or how I want Renfield to be or behave or speak or all that kind of stuff and then when my treatment goes to Ryan Ridley. I’m working with Ryan Ridley, talking to him about the script, and watching him kind of run with the ball and expand on everything that I had set up.
Then when we cast Nick Hoult and Renfield takes another shape, when the dialogue is actually coming through the actors mouths. You kind of see everything that they’re adding to it. It’s just a really remarkable experience to see vague notions and my treatment blossom and turn into something that’s way beyond anything I could have ever thought of.
That’s honestly one of the coolest things I like about Skybound. I feel like it’s so collaborative, and David Alpert was talking about how it’s a creative pool that builds off of each other’s ideas. Can you talk to me a little bit about the collaboration process with Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult who is amazing as Renfield, yourself, Chris McKay, and everybody bringing these characters to life?
Robert Kirkman: This is a very unique movie. It’s got all kinds of action, it’s got comedy, it’s got drama, and it’s got horror. It’s got all of these elements that can be pulling themselves apart. That can be not necessarily gelling. It’s hard to make that work. And so as a creative team, between myself, Ryan, Chris, our great producing team with David Alpert, Samantha Nisenboim, and the pool of actors that we’re working with, everyone has to make this story believable.
It has to have real stakes. It has to have a real emotional core. If that’s not present, all of these different elements aren’t going to come together. So it’s a huge collaboration. Nicolas Cage has to make the exact right facial expressions that really sell the thing that Ryan was going for, that Chris is trying to direct and bring to life on set. All the different teams and production heads, and people are trying to make everything work. And it’s a really tough mix to try and bring it all together. But somehow it all works.
I think Chris McKay is the perfect director for this. He does a tremendous job of blending practical and visual effects. I just think that he’s a fantastic director. How did you know that Renfield was gonna be in good hands with him helming to ship?
Robert Kirkman: When you look at his body of work between The Tomorrow War and The Lego Batman Movie, he’s done everything that we need separately. He has a tremendous knowledge of horror movies. He’s bringing up references and I’m nodding too like, “Oh, yeah, I know that movie. I like that, too.” And I don’t. So there’s a pedigree there. You’re able to look at what he’s done and then you have the conversations with him. All the way back to his Robot Chicken days, this is a guy that can roll his sleeves up and do all kinds of crazy nutty stuff that you need to be able to do for a movie like this.
Absolutely! Now, I love how Redfield explores the power dynamic between Renfield and Dracula in such a relatable way. Why did you want to get into that dynamic using these classic horror characters as a jumping-off point?
Robert Kirkman: I think the humanity is really the core of all of these Universal Monsters. Frankenstein is a child. The Creature from the Black Lagoon is this alien force. But there’s a sympathetic core to them. Even Cage’s Dracula has it. I think finding that and bringing the humanity to it is really what you need to get out of these characters. Having that dynamic between Renfield and Dracula really accentuating it really brings out what’s special about the Universal Monsters.
You said earlier that Chris has such a vast knowledge of horror. Was there any other movies that you looked at as inspiration for Renfield?
Robert Kirkman: I think Shaun of the Dead is the true north when it comes to horror comedies. That’s a movie where the stakes are real. The emotion is real. That movie is extremely sad in places but very funny and very scary. Evil Dead 2, Kyle Raimi, one of the detectives and in the movie is named after Sam Raimi. You can’t do a movie like this without some kind of reference to Evil Dead 2 and all the other works of Sam Raimi. Tod Browning’s Dracula, obviously, but there’s just a lot of influences to pull from in this in this world.
Did you map out the whole backstory with Renfield and Dracula that covers their full relationship when you were making this?
Robert Kirkman: I don’t know about the full relationship. There’s definitely some aspects to Renfield’s life, his wife and his child, and some various things that were worked out that didn’t necessarily make it into the movie. The entire like span of time where they were working together we didn’t really dig into that. There’s a lot of vague notions of oh, maybe they were doing this, and you definitely get a sense that they were traveling around.
Dracula was causing messes, and Renfield was having to clean up messes. There was a little bit more to that opening sequence in various stages of the script. That explained how cumbersome and tiresome it was for Renfield to constantly fold up shop and moving to different areas because of Dracula shenanigans. There’s still some stuff to discover there.
You mentioned the Universal Monster Movies. And I know that there was a dark universe they tried starting. But I feel like if they wanted to explore these characters more Renfield is a really good starting off point. Are there any other henchmen from other classic monster or horror stories, like Igor, that you want to explore?
Robert Kirkamn: Igor is a great character. I think that this could have been a movie called Igor. And it could have been the Frankenstein thing. There’s definitely a potential because there is a dynamic there that has some similarities. I think Renfield is cooler. The Universal Monsters is [an] untapped well of tremendous potential. There’s so many different angles into all of those characters and there are characters that you forget about that you could do a whole movie about them. It’s kind of an amazing thing that they have in their back pocket. And I’m hoping that they start to activate this stuff more and more as the years go on.
Have you started thinking about exploring any of the other characters or anybody from those pocket of characters?
Robert Kirkman: Yeah. Nothing that I could talk about publicly or anything. There’s not anything 100% in the works, but with working with Universal and having the relationship with them that I do, it’s something that’s always constantly being talked about. It’s something that I’d definitely love to do.
You created so many amazing, subversive stories with The Walking Dead, Invincible, and Renfield. What sparks these ideas and how to approach them?
Robert Kirkman: Boredom. A lot of ideas come from me watching something and not liking it. And going, “Let’s try it this way. This would have been better if it had done this.” Also watching something and loving it and being like, “I want to be a part of that. What’s going on?” So I don’t know it comes from all kinds of different places.
How is it different developing Renfield as a film versus The Walking Dead and Invincible taking the comic and then adapting it into a series?
Robert Kirkman: I find series easier because the endings are not as definitive. So I prefer spinning wheels, keeping plates spinning, and maintaining a vibe and a story. Films require a sicint arc that has to be very finely tuned to make sure that it works, has a satisfying ending, and that you’re entertained every minute along the way. Weaving all those things together, I find extremely difficult. Which is one of the reasons I was like, Ryan Ridley please do this work for me because I find this daunting.
What was the most surprising aspect about making Renfield that maybe caught you off guard?
Robert Kirkamn: Ben Schwartz ended up doing significantly more excellent than I thought he would be and I knew he would be great. So that was really exciting. Awkwafina, this is a different role for her. There’s a lot more action involved. Ahe’s always kind of a tough character, but I haven’t seen this level of physical strength or power that she has in this movie. And I think that’s been really cool. Seeing her rise to that challenge that was really awesome. I was impressed with everybody’s work.
Hoult is remarkable. He’s just one of the greatest young actors and he’s able to pull sympathy for almost any character. If you watch The Menu, The Great, Mad Max Fury Road, Warm Bodies, he’s able to make you care about his characters, no matter what they’re doing. Which is crazy. That guy’s an action star in the making. He really trained with Chris Brewster, our stunt coordinator. Did all kinds of amazing stuff. I’m so amazed with everything he was able to accomplish with the world.
I can’t imagine anybody else playing this version of Dracula besides Nicolas Cage. What did he bring to the role that either surprised you or just wasn’t on the page?
Robert Kirkman: McKay working with the team to try and come up with a look of Dracula. McKay had ideas for how he wanted the teeth to go and what elements from various different Dracula movies he wanted to pull in. And so there was a vision that was already taking shape as to what we wanted our Dracula to be. And then Cage came in, and had this rockstar element that he wanted to pull in. So that’s where we got the rings, the cane, some of the mannerisms, the way moves, and walks.
I think it really took shape into something wholly unique and exciting in a way that we couldn’t have expected. He really brought a tremendous amount to the role not just through his performance, but his opinions on Dracula through the years and his take. He’s a huge movie buff and is way more knowledge than me or McKay. He was very invested in making this Dracula as cool as it could be, and you can really see it in the movie.
I certainly hope this isn’t the last time we see you and McKay working on this project. Have you already started thinking about sequel ideas where this can go next?
Robert Kirkman: I’m a comic book writer, so my brain works that way. When I was writing the treatment, I was like, “Oh, I can do this and this and this.” Because my brain is all about what’s the next issue? What’s the next month? How’s the cliffhanger payoff? What’s going on here? What’s going on there? So I definitely have various different ideas for options on how the story could move forward, just because I can’t help but do that. But it doesn’t mean that a sequel is in the works.
About Renfield
Renfield has been Dracula’s loyal henchman, but he longs for a life separate from the narcissistic vampire. He finds a new lease on life in modern-day New Orleans when he meets traffic cop Rebecca Quincy and decides to stand up to his creator. However, his rebellion does not go unpunished, and Renfield will be forced to face off against Dracula in the hopes of breaking free from the endless cycle of death and bloodshed.
Check out our other Renfield interviews here:
Renfield is in theaters now.
