What can we expect from the new Robert Eggers movie ‘Nosferatu’?
American filmmaker Robert Eggers impressed critics with his debut feature, The Witch, in 2015, a sublime piece of folk horror starring Anya Taylor-Joy. With its gorgeous score and frightening performances, Eggers’ film marked the start of a strong career as one of modern horror’s most vital names.
He followed the movie with The Lighthouse, which was received just as positively. The Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe movie takes inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe’s story of the same name, maintaining a gothic atmosphere through its rich black-and-white cinematography and incorporation of mythology and folklore. Drawing on Freudian and Jungian ideas, The Lighthouse has been prominently analysed and celebrated for its complex themes.
Eggers’ third feature, The Northman, saw him work on a much bigger scale, with a cast of stars such as Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Alexander Skarsgård and even Björk featuring in the film. Yet again, Eggers was highly praised for his work, and it cemented him as an incredibly talented cinematic voice.
However, since the beginning of his career, Eggers has been attempting to create an adaptation of Nosferatu, calling it his “passion project.” Only now, with three movies under his belt, has the director felt ready to take the vampire-themed film on.
Here, we answer your most Google-searched questions…
Everything we know about Robert Eggers movie Nosferatu:
How did Robert Eggers get his start?
Born in 1983, Eggers moved from New Hampshire to New York in 2001 to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Before becoming involved with cinema, Eggers cut his teeth in other creative mediums. According to his website, he “worked extensively as a designer for film, television, print, theatre, and dance” before releasing The Witch. He made his first short film, Hansel and Gretel, in 2007.
What is Robert Eggers working on?
Eggers is currently working on Nosferatu, which he has been interested in making for years. The director has also penned the screenplay, which is based on Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens by German screenwriter Henrik Galeen.
The movie is set to star Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Ralph Ineson.
Is Robert Eggers making Nosferatu?
Yes, Robert Eggers is directing Nosferatu. The movie was initially meant to be Eggers’ second feature, but he chose to direct The Lighthouse and The Northman first until he felt ready to tackle Nosferatu.
In 2015, he expressed his doubts about helming such a significant project so soon into his career. Talking to IndieWire, he explained, “It feels ugly and blasphemous and egomaniacal and disgusting for a filmmaker in my place to do Nosferatu next. I was really planning on waiting a while, but that’s how fate shook out.” Evidently, these thoughts led Eggers to delay Nosferatu until now. Filming began in early 2023.
What does Nosferatu mean?
The word ‘Nosferatu’ is another term for vampire. F.W. Murnau’s 1922 German Expressionist film Nosferatu was an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Due to the fact that permission was not given for Stoker’s work to be translated for the big screen, the film crew changed several names to avoid copyright.
Who is Nosferatu?
Eggers’ movie is an adaptation of Murnau’s movie, which follows a man named Thomas Hutter who comes into contact with a mysterious man named Count Orlok (Count Dracula in Stoker’s novel) who he suspects to be a vampire. Orlok becomes obsessed with Hutter’s wife, Ellen, particularly her neck.
When is Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu coming out?
There is no official release date as of yet, although Nosferatu is scheduled to hit our screens at some point in 2024. Filming began in February and wrapped in May 2023, with shooting locations including Prague and Romania.
