''Nosferatu'' is an upcoming American

gothic horror Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

film written and directed by

Robert Eggers Robert Houston Eggers (born July 7, 1983) is an American filmmaker, director, and production designer. He is best known for writing and directing the historical horror films ''The Witch (2015 film), The Witch'' (2015) and ''The Lighthouse (2019 f ...

, and starring

Bill Skarsgård Bill Istvan Günther Skarsgård (; born 9 August 1990) is a Swedish actor, producer, director, writer, voice actor, and model. He is best known for portraying Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the supernatural horror films '' It'' (2017) and ''It C ...

as the titular vampire. Following ''

Nosferatu the Vampyre ''Nosferatu the Vampyre'' (german: Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, lit=Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night) is a 1979 horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is set primarily in 19th-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, and was conce ...

'' (1979), it is the second

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the 1922

German Expressionist German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

film of the same name written by

Henrik Galeen Henrik Galeen (7 January 1881 – 30 July 1949) was an Austrian-born actor, screenwriter and film director considered an influential figure in the development of German Expressionism, German Expressionist cinema during the silent era. Early years ...

, which in turn is an "unauthorized and unofficial" adaptation of

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's 1897 novel ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

''. Development on the film began in 2015, following the release of ''

The Witch A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to: Animals * Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish * Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...

''. Eggers planned to make it his second film, describing it as a passion project, but eventually opted to delay production and go on to direct '' The Lighthouse'' and ''

The Northman ''The Northman'' is a 2022 American Epic film, epic Historical fiction, historical action thriller film directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón. Based on the legend of Amleth, the film stars Alexander Skarsgård (who ...

'' instead. Frequent collaborator

Anya Taylor-Joy Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy ( ; born 16 April 1996) is an actress. She has won several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2021, she was featu ...

and

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

were attached to the project earlier, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Skarsgård and

Lily-Rose Depp Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 27 May 1999) is a French-American actress and model. Depp began her acting career with a small role in ''Tusk'' (2014), and went on to star in the period drama '' The Dancer'' (2016), in which she played Isadora Dunc ...

were cast as leads in September 2022.

Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His List of roles and awards of Nicholas Hoult, body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in Independent film, independent p ...

joined the cast the following month, with the remaining cast confirmed in early 2023. Filming primarily took place in and around

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

between February and May 2023. ''Nosferatu'' is a co-production of

Regency Enterprises Regency Enterprises (commonly referred to as Regency onscreen and copyrighting as Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. in the U.S. and Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. overseas) is an American entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was foun ...

, Studio 8, and

1492 Pictures 1492 Pictures is an American film production company founded by Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe and Michael Barnathan in 1994. The name is a play on Columbus's more famous namesake, Christopher Columbus, and his 1492 landing in the Americas. In a ...

, and is set to be released theatrically by

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

Premise

''Nosferatu'' tells a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient

Transylvanian Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.

Cast

Count Orlok Count Orlok (german: Graf Orlok), commonly but erroneously known as Nosferatu, is the main antagonist and title character portrayed by German actor Max Schreck (1879–1936) in the silent film ''Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens'' (1922). He ...

as Thomas Hutter *

as Ellen Hutter *

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Aaron Perry Taylor-Johnson (né Johnson; born 13 June 1990) is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in '' Kick-Ass'' (2010) and its 2013 sequel, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) character Pietro Ma ...

as Friedrich Harding *

Emma Corrin Emma-Louise Corrin (born 13 December 1995) is an English actor. They portrayed Diana, Princess of Wales in the fourth season of the Netflix historical drama ''The Crown'' (2020), for which they won a Golden Globe, a Critics' Choice Award, ...

as Anna Harding *

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Willem Dafoe, various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for ...

as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz *

Simon McBurney Simon Montagu McBurney (born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, playwright, and theatrical director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films ''The Manchurian Candidate'', ...

as Herr Knock *

Ralph Ineson Ralph Michael Ineson (; born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Known for his deep, rumbling, Yorkshire-accented voice, his most notable roles include William in ''The Witch'', Dagmer Cleftjaw in '' Game of Thrones'', Amycus Ca ...

as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers

Production

Development

In July 2015, a remake of ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

'' was announced with

writing and directing. The film was intended to be produced by Jay Van Hoy and

Lars Knudsen Lars Ramkilde Knudsen (born 21 February 1962) is a Danish researcher in cryptography, particularly interested in the design and analysis of block ciphers, hash functions and message authentication codes (MACs). Academic After some early work in ...

for Studio 8. In November 2016, Eggers expressed surprise that the ''Nosferatu'' remake was going to be his second film, saying, "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." During an interview with ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gan ...

'' around the release of '' The Lighthouse'' in 2019, Robert Eggers revealed that although he had dedicated a lot of time to bringing the iconic horror film into the 21st century, he didn't know when or if it would happen. Despite that, Eggers said, "Look, I spent so many years and so much time, just so much blood on it, yeah, it would be a real shame if it never happened".

Casting

In an interview with ''Den of Geek'' around the release of ''

'', Eggers was asked if he and

still communicated about the project, saying, "We definitely talk about it, and I don't know why it's been so hard to make happen." It was revealed in March 2022 that English singer

was briefly attached to an undisclosed role in the film, but eventually dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. In September 2022, it was announced that

was set to star in the titular role of Nosferatu (Count Orlok), with

also attached to co-star.

entered negotiations the following month to join the cast, with all three confirmed to star by January 2023 alongside the addition of

, who had previously portrayed

Max Schreck Friedrich Gustav Maximilian Schreck Eickhoff, Stefan. 2007 (6 September 1879 – 20 February 1936), Walk, Ines. 2006. known professionally as Max Schreck, was a German actor, best known for his lead role as the vampire Count Orlok in the film ' ...

/Count Orlok in the 2000 film ''

Shadow of the Vampire ''Shadow of the Vampire'' is a 2000 Independent film, independent metacinema, meta historical fiction, period horror comedy film directed by E. Elias Merhige, written by Steven A. Katz, Steven Katz, and starring John Malkovich and Willem Daf ...

''.

would join the cast the following month.

, and

were revealed to be in the cast at the start of production in late February 2023.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in the

Barrandov Studios Barrandov Studios is a set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe. Several major Hollywood productions have been made here, including ''Mission Impossible'', '' ...

at the end of February 2023. Some exterior shots were also captured in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Among the noteworthy filming locations was the 14th century Rožmitál Castle in Rožmitál pod Tremšínem and Prague's Invalidovna complex, a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

building registered as a national landmark. Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke revealed that the film was shot in color and was reminiscent of 19th century Romanticism. Filming wrapped on May 19, 2023.

References

External links

* * {{Dracula 2020s supernatural horror films 1492 Pictures films American supernatural horror films Dracula films Films based on horror novels Films directed by Robert Eggers Films produced by Chris Columbus Films set in Germany Films set in the 1830s Films set in Transylvania Films shot in Prague Focus Features films Gothic horror films Works based on Nosferatu American remakes of German films Regency Enterprises films Nosferatu films Upcoming films Upcoming English-language films