Universal Pictures has set a release date for Nicolas Cage's horror-comedy, Renfield.

As reported by Deadline, Renfield is set for release on April 14, 2023. The film stars Cage as the iconic vampire, Count Dracula, and Nicholas Hoult as his eponymous henchman, Renfield.

RELATED: Nicolas Cage Has a Pet Crow That Calls Him an 'Ass'

Hoult's casting as Renfield was announced in August 2021. Along with Hoult and Cage, Renfield's cast includes Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz and Adrian Martinez. Announced in November 2019, the upcoming horror-comedy is directed by The Tomorrow War's Chris McKay with a script from Ryan Ridley and will be produced by Skybound Entertainment and The Walking Dead and Invincible creator Robert Kirkman.

In a previous interview, Kirkman explained that the film will explore the downsides of being a servant to the world's worst, blood-sucking boss. "We're doing this cool movie for Universal [that has] a focus on Renfield. It's a story about him being Dracula's henchman and how shitty a job that is," Kirkman said in May 2021. "It's a fun, extremely violent comedy, because I've got a crutch and it's violence." Originally, the film was going to be directed by Rocketman filmmaker Dexter Fletcher, described as a horror/comedy similar to FX's What We Do in the Shadows, and would follow Renfield after realizing he's trapped in "a bad, co-dependent relationship" with Count Dracula.

The character Renfield first appeared in Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel, Dracula, as the henchman of the titular vampire, who is forced to procure human prey for his master. The character has been portrayed on screen many times since his creation, including by Tony Haygarth in 1979's Dracula and by Tom Waits in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 adaptation, Bram Stoker's Dracula. 2023's Renfield is a modern retelling of the original novel, told from the perspective of the loyal, but tormented, assistant to the Transylvanian count. After centuries, Hoult's Renfield is ready to set out on his own to see if there is a life outside of being Dracula's servant.

Along with portraying Dracula in Renfield, Cage will appear as a hyper-stylized version of himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. "At my age, the job that I have is to stay interested, because if I'm not interested, you're not going to be interested," Cage recently explained. "It gets more difficult the older we get," said Cage. "So I have to find new ways of expressing myself, new challenges. But I do think, God willing, that once I finish the next two movies, I'm going to take some time off, because I think it's time to recharge."

RELATED: Nic Cage's Uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, Shot Down His Pitch To Act In Godfather III

Renfield hits theaters April 14, 2023.

Source: Deadline