Rapper and actor Akwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will be joining the cast of the upcoming horror-comedy Renfield in an undisclosed role, according to Deadline.

　　The announcement comes within 24 hours after Nicolas Cage was cast in the same film as Dracula--though not a whole lot is known about the film just yet. Initial details of the Universal project first came out in 2019, but only in the loosest sense--that the studio intended to produce and release the film. Cage will star opposite Nicholas Hoult (The Great) as the titular henchman. According to The Hollywood Reporter, filming is expected to begin in New Orleans in early 2022.

　　Renfield will be directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War), and comes from a script by Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty)--which in turn is based on an original story outline from Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead). While no solid plot details have been released, the movie sounds like it might be a "modern-day adventure" and also satire on toxic workplaces and unhealthy work relationships. In the original 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the character Renfield--a patient in an asylum--works as the vampire's assistant and is gaslit into believing he will gain immortal life while subsisting on a diet of rats and insects.

　　Shang-Chi hit Disney+ in mid-November for Disney+ Day, along with "special looks" at upcoming Star Wars and Marvel content, a new short from The Simpsons, and Season 2 of The World According to Jeff Goldblum. Shang-Chi recently became the fastest film to make $100 million in the US this year, and also became the biggest grossest movie ever released on Labor Day Weekend.

　　David Wolinsky on Google+