Making Dracula’s Home: Why ‘Renfield’ Chose New Orleans’ Abandoned and Eerie Charity Hospital

A year of bliss! Less than one month after Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey welcomed their first child, they are celebrating their first anniversary.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A key hearing in the “Rust” manslaughter case has been postponed until August, as New Mexico prosecutors say they need more time to complete a fuller investigation. Prosecutors announced on Thursday that they would drop charges against Alec Baldwin, after new evidence came to light. But the state is still pursuing involuntary manslaughter charges against Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer who loaded Baldwin’s gun. Baldwin was preparing for a scene at a film ranch near Santa Fe in 2021 when his gun fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The gun was supposed to be loaded only with inert “dummy” rounds, but instead included a live bullet that bore similar brand markings.

Pamela Anderson shined like a shooting star at the New York City launch of H&M and Mugler’s brand collaboration.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rakuten TV has announced the launch of two new owned and operated FAST channels, bolstering its role as a curated channel programmer in the free ad-supported streaming TV services space. The channels, announced during MipTV’s FAST Summit, will see the growing pan-European video-on-demand streaming service enter the TV series landscape by launching a reality/factual entertainment channel in the U.K. and crime series channels across German speaking territories and in France, Italy and Spain. Rakuten’s Real channel which was launched in the U.K. on April 12, will feature shows such as culinary bootcamp series “Worst Cooks in America”; reality show “My New BFF”, with Paris Hilton; and “Undercover Boss.”

Dracula, where he’s been memorably portrayed by greats like Alexander Granach (in 1922’s silent Nosferatu), Dwight Frye (as a wide-eyed madman in 1931’s Dracula), and Tom Waits (chewing the scenery, and bugs, in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Renfield is perpetually overshadowed by the blood-sucking count.Universal’s new Renfield (★★☆☆☆), a big-budget spinoff of the Dracula story, set in present-day New Orleans, promises to give the character his overdue shine. Unfortunately, the film is an overcooked clash of genre and tepid grasps at modernization, whose greatest asset is — you guessed it — Dracula himself, played by a glammed-up, fang-gnashing Nicolas Cage.

The acting life isn’t always glamorous. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice for the part. Submitted for your approval is one Nicolas Cage, who has revealed a major regret captured on film while out promoting his current horror comedy, Renfield, which features Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as the title servant, R.M. Renfield.

Brad Pitt’s foundation – benefitting victims of Hurricane Katrina – still hasn’t paid.The story was broken by The Hollywood Reporter, which described how homeowners in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward are still left struggling, after the homes that were rebuilt for them after the hurricane have been compromised by rot, mould and structural defects.The homes were built by Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation, and in some cases, had to be rebuilt three times over between the period of 2005 (when the hurricane hit) and 2014. Following the poor living conditions of the newly-built properties, the residents launched a 2018 class-action lawsuit, which sought damages against the non-profit organisation and Pitt himself.In 2022, however, another charity, Global Green USA – which also has famous connections and a history of helping rebuild infrastructure in the area – offered to step in and pay a $20.5million (£16.3million) settlement.

Stuck in a movie theater seat watching “Renfield” plod along, the answer is a resounding meh.As the Count from “Sesame Street” would say, “‘Renfield’ gets TWO stars! Ah, ah, ah.”Cage — whose career has become so goofy he recently played a parody version of himself who gets kidnapped by a Spanish drug lord — is as funny and self-aware as the evil old vampire. Crazy, it would seem, has become Cage’s new normal. But don’t come looking for a wacky sendup of the story in the vein of Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” It’s actually not even as hilarious as that director’s much-worse 1995 movie “Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” and outside of a few basic details the film has little to do with Bram Stoker’s book.“Renfield,” directed by Chris McKay, has more in common with the (far better) “Zombieland” series, with high-body-count action sequences, quick-cut comedy and an unlikely, socially awkward hero. That would be Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), Count Dracula’s beleaguered “familiar,” who has been gifted an unnaturally long life in exchange for bringing the vamp fresh victims.

The Big Bang Theory signed off on CBS as , it appears to be back in the form of an upcoming new series set in the same world. (What world that is…well, we're not sure yet). The news also comes on the heels of Warner Bros.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In one of the many jacked-up, bodies-leaping-and-flying, vampire-meets-action-film sequences that punctuate “Renfield,” Dracula (Nicolas Cage), jutting into the movie well before we expect him to, does all the throat-ripping damage he can in a montage that culminates in drapes being thrown open, the sunlight flooding in, and the vampire, in his red bathrobe, bursting into flame. It looks like the climax of many a vampire film, and it leaves Dracula a charred husk. But has he been killed? No way! As Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), Dracula’s self-described slave and disciple, explains to us in voice-over, when something like this happens it takes a lot of work to return Dracula to his previous state; it takes many victims for him to feed upon. But with enough blood and enough time, he can claw his way back to his old robust undead form.

In 2017 Universal debuted their ambitious plans for a series of reboots of their popular 1930s and 1940s horror films. Dubbed the Universal “Dark Universe,” it yielded only two features — 2017’s “The Mummy” with Tom Cruise and 2020’s “The Invisible Man” starring Elisabeth Moss — before being scrapped.

BreAnna Bell Big Freedia is redefining royalty with some New Orleans bounce. The proclaimed “Queen of Bounce” has partnered with Netflix’s Strong Black Lead to create a “Hey Queen” bounce remix tied to the streamer’s forthcoming project, “Queen Charlotte.” The music video debuted on Monday. Shot in Freedia’s home town of New Orleans, the video features appearances from the HBCU royal court at Xavier University and was also directed by the artist’s longtime friend and collaborator Edward Buckle. “I love that the whole idea of the show isn’t based on race and it has a lot of different characters in it, every different walk of life and the way that everyone sees different royalties,” said Freedia of the concept.

Martha Stewart has officially dubbed Pete Davidson and his girlfriend, Chase Sui Wonders, a «very cute couple!» The unlikely trio was together at Stewart’s farm in New York over Easter weekend. Taking to Instagram to share a photo with Davidson and Wonders, Stewart wrote, «They were out looking at our beautiful town of Bedford. I showed them around the farm and inside the winter house where the Easter Bunnies were getting ready for Sunday. Very cute couple !!!!» A post shared by Martha Stewart (@marthastewart48)Davidson and Stewart have been friends since they both teamed up to roast Justin Bieber in a Comedy Central special in 2015.

Hong Chau and Casey Affleck hung out together on the stoop of a Brooklyn home while filming their new movie The Instigators together on Friday (April 7) in New York City.

Variety Thursday.“Nic wanted to emote and annunciate properly, so it was important the veneers were thin,” he said, explaining that the technology allowed him to make quick adjustments to the sharp dentures when needed.In order to put the 3-D printing to good use, Tinsley had to scan Cage’s teeth and then digitally sculpt them so they could fit in his mouth perfectly.The “National Treasure” actor also spent over three hours daily in the hair and makeup chair.“It was a full head of prosthetics, dentures, full body, torso, arms, hands and nails,” Tinsley noted. “Those take time.”Cage also stayed in character for the whole time they were shooting the flick, even when the camera wasn’t on him.

So many stars were in attendance to help GQ celebrate at the magazine’s inaugural Global Creativity Awards!

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor For Chris McKay’s “Renfield,” Nicolas Cage spent up to three hours each day transforming into the role of iconic vampire Dracula. But the biggest hurdle was developing Dracula’s razor-sharp teeth, makeup artist Christien Tinsely tells Variety. With the teeth design, it was important to consider how Dracula’s teeth would extract from the gums. Tinsley says McKay also wanted all of Dracula’s teeth to be sharp — not just the canines. Tinsley, whose credits include “The Passion of the Christ” and “Emancipation,” says he wanted to be able to make swift adjustments once Cage was on set, meaning he wouldn’t have much time to prep dentures and teeth casting using traditional denture methods. The eventual solution was to use 3D printing.

Olivia Wilde‘s new legal documents are going viral after she stated that her ex partner Jason Sudeikis is not currently paying any child support.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and 13-Time Grammy winner Pharrell Williams will be honored by the Recording Academy at its annual Grammys on the Hill Awards, taking place on April 26. The event is intended to bring together congressional leaders and music makers to recognize those who have led the fight for creators’ rights, and the three will be honored for their contributions to support music creators. Special guests and attendees will be announced in the coming weeks.  “Grammys on the Hill is a celebration like no other, spotlighting music’s unifying power as we bring together our nation’s leaders with some of the most renowned artists in the world,” said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “It’s a privilege to honor Pharrell alongside Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Senator Cassidy, all of whom have fought tirelessly for pro-music policy that protects the creatives that make up our community.”

Tom Holland is coming to TV.