Nicolas Cage Nearly Played Dracula In A Castlevania Movie Directed By James Wan

Much can be said of "Renfield," which was released by Universal Pictures earlier this year and attempted to do something different with the vampire genre. But the big selling point was that Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage plays Dracula in the film, offering the actor a chance to take on a legendary role while chewing the scenery. As it turns out, this was not Cage's first brush with playing Dracula, and he nearly did so in a high-profile adaptation from one of horror's modern masters. Namely, James Wan's scrapped "Castlevania" movie.

The filmmaker recently had the chance to see "Renfield" and decided to share his thoughts on Instagram. He praised director Chris McKay's film, as well as the two central performances in it, with Nicholas Hoult playing the titular character. Wan, the filmmaker behind "Saw," "Insidious," "Malignant," and "The Conjuring," then revealed that he actually spoke with Cage about playing the vampire years ago.

"'Renfield' is terrific, so much fun!! The 2 Nics are fantastic! Cage and I spoke many years ago about playing Dracula in my (defunct) 'Castlevania,' so it's great to see he finally got a chance to play the Prince of Darkness."

As Wan mentioned, the project never came to pass but he was tapped to direct a "Castlevania" movie way back in 2009. Ultimately, it was one of those things that got stuck in development hell while Wan moved into other things, including directing two absolutely monster hits in the form of "Furious 7" and "Aquaman." Knowing this, it's hard not to wonder what might have been.

Konami's "Castlevania" series is enduring, beloved, and very popular. The games have been around for decades, with devoted fans enjoying that take on the Dracula mythos the world over. Back in 2009, Wan was becoming a trusted name in Hollywood, boasting a few hits under his belt. Meanwhile, Cage was getting to the end of a prolific period of studio filmmaking before several flops like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Drive Angry" would see him turn to direct-to-video titles for the better part of a decade. It was an interesting time for both filmmakers.

So, the idea of Cage taking on Dracula before his current revival, which has included acclaimed films such as "Mandy" and "Pig," is fascinating to consider. Wan explained to Bloody-Disgusting when the project was announced that he hoped to bring the East-meets-West tone of the games to the screen. He said:

"The thing I love about what Konami did with 'Castlevania,' was taking the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting, and retelling it with a Japanese pop-cultural sensibility. That's the East-meets-West tone I want to visually expand on for the film."

What ultimately happened is that Konami partnered with Netflix for a "Castlevania" anime series that ran for four seasons. It was met with widespread acclaim, with a spin-off series on the way. So it's hard to say that the property was done a disservice. That said, seeing Cage's bonkers Dracula in that universe would certainly have been something, particularly with Wan behind the camera.