According to a new report over on Deadline, Willem Dafoe is not-yet-officially-signed-but-is-in-talks-and-since-this-story-has-hit-the-trades-we-all-know-what-that-means to join the cast of Nosferatu, the next film from director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse). It will be the pair’s third collaboration, following The Northman and The Lighthouse, though it is likely to feature far less farting than the latter.
Says Deadline:
“Robert Eggers and his Lighthouse star Willem Dafoe have found their next project to collaborate on as Dafoe is in talks to join Eggers’ Nosferatu movie at Focus Features. Lily Rose-Depp, Bill Skarsgard and Nicholas Hoult are already on board with Eggers writing and directing.”
Deadline points out that there’s no word on who Dafoe will be playing here, but we know that Bill Skarsgard (It, It: Chapter Two) will be playing the titular vampire, which A) sounds like great casting to us and B) sadly robs us of the opportunity of seeing Dafoe return to the role, in a sideways sort of way, after playing Max Schreck in 2001’s Shadow of the Vampire (if you have not already seen that E. Elias Merhige film, do yourself a favor and get caught up).
Eggers’ Nosferatu will tell a “gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman (Depp) in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire (Skarsgard) who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him,” a story which is very much within Eggers’ wheelhouse. This project has been in the works for quite some time, and reportedly almost went forward several years back before Eggers switched gears to tackle The Northman. We’re expecting it to be just as meticulously designed and visceral as each of Eggers’ previous films, and cannot wait to see what he does with it (Here’s a question: will he go black-and-white for this one?).
Nothing further to report at this time, but we will of course be keeping you up to date on everything – and we do mean everything – going on with Nosferatu as it works its way through production. Please stay tuned for further updates as they pop up on our radar.
