Chris McKay is in negotiations to direct and produce Renfield.

The film about Dracula’s acolyte falls into Universal Studios’ classic monster movie remakes plan.

The character of Renfield comes from Bram Stoker’s original 1897 novel Dracula. In the book, Renfield is a patient in an asylum. He has an obsession with drinking blood, which he believes will make him immortal. Dracula feeds him rats and insects while dangling the prospect of immortality in front of him.

Renfield appeared on screen a few times before. Dwight Frye played the character in 1931’s Dracula, and Tom Waits in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 version.

McKay joins Skybound Entertainment’s Robert Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst, and Sean Furst as a producer on the film. His producing partner Samantha Nisenboim also joins the project as executive producer. 

Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, wrote the original story outline for Renfield. The script comes from Ryan Ridley (Ghosted, Rick and Morty). 

McKay made his directorial debut with The Lego Batman Movie. His next project, The Tomorrow War starring Chris Pratt, arrives on Amazon July 2.

Renfield will join Universal’s new lineup of monster movies. So far, these have been a mixed bag. Tom Cruise’s The Mummy flopped, but Elizabeth Moss’s The Invisible Man did quite well.

So, do you see Renfield going the way of The Mummy or The Invisible Man? Are you looking forward to this Dracula spinoff? Let us know in the comments.

Meanwhile, check back to THS for more updates.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter