Nicolas Cage is set to star as Dracula in Universal’s “Renfield,” a monster movie centered around Dracula’s sidekick and based on an original story outline from Robert Kirkman, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

Cage will star opposite Nicholas Hoult (“Those Who Wish Me Dead,” “X-Men” Franchise), who is set to play Renfield.

Chris McKay (“The Tomorrow War,” “The Lego Batman Movie”) is directing and producing.

Ryan Ridley (Fox’s “Ghosted,” Cartoon Network’s “Rick & Morty”) wrote the script. Plot details are being kept deep inside Dracula’s crypt (which is to say, they’re under wraps).

In Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula,” Renfield was a patient in an insane asylum who ate vermin to absorb their life force — and whom Count Dracula used to enter the asylum and attack Jonathan Harker’s school mistress fiancée Mina.

The film will be produced by Skybound Entertainment’s film team, including Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst. McKay’s producing partner Samantha Nisenboim will be joining the project as executive producer.

Universal remains committed to creating compelling, filmmaker-driven projects based on characters from the studio’s vast monsters legacy. Instead of prescribing a mandated updating of these monster stories and making them all part of a larger scheme, the studio loosened these restrictions and open-sourced to filmmakers who were inspired to create their own unique stories; similar to what was done with the “Invisible Man” film inspired by Universal’s classic Monster character.

Cage is experiencing a career resurgence as of late coming off strong reviews for his performance in “Pig.” Next up, he will play a meta version of himself in Lionsgate’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”

Cage is represented by WME, Stride Management, and attorney Patrick Knapp at GGSSC; Hoult is represented by UTA, 42 and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson LLP; McKay is represented by UTA, Rise Management and Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich & Gellman. 

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.