Everything to Know About Robert Eggers' Nosferatu Reimagining

Focus Features' Nosferatu, the new gothic horror film from director Robert Eggers, is one of the most hotly anticipated movies of the year. The film, which stars Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, and Lily-Rose Depp, is a longtime passion project for Eggers, as it sees the acclaimed filmmaker putting his own spin on a horror classic from over a century ago, 1922's Nosferatu, directed by F.W. Murnau.

The original film, which was actually an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, has a rich legacy in the horror genre, and was remade once before, by legendary director Werner Herzog in 1979 (catch it now on Peacock). Before Eggers' reimagining of Nosferatu hits theaters on December 25, let's take a look behind the scenes to learn how he crafted such a bold new take on this classic vampire story. 

Eggers was first announced to be working on a remake of Nosferatu in 2015, shortly after the release of his first film, The Witch. In an interview, Eggers told IndieWire that Nosferatu was a longtime favorite of his, ever since he directed a high school play version of the story at age 17. At the time, Eggers seemed shocked that he would get to make something as iconic as Nosferatu as only the second film of his career. 

“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," Eggers told IndieWire.

However, fate shook out differently, and Eggers eventually did have to wait a while to make his version of Nosferatu. The film had a long development process over the following decade, and Eggers made two more films, The Lighthouse (2019) and The Northman (2022) in the interim. Through these films, Eggers continued to cement his reputation as a filmmaker who pays painstaking attention to historic realism, truly immersing viewers in the time period of the film, something he looks to be carrying over to the 19th Century setting of Nosferatu. 

Anya Taylor-Joy and Harry Styles were initially attached to the film, with Taylor-Joy attached to play Ellen Hutter and Styles in an undisclosed role, but both later dropped out due to scheduling issues (Taylor-Joy had previously collaborated with Eggers on The Witch and The Northman). Pivoting, the cast for Nosferatu was finalized in late 2022 through early 2023, and filming took place in Czechia, Romania, and Germany in the spring of 2023. Nosferatu is Eggers' second film with Focus Features, after The Northman.

Like the original film, Nosferatu follows real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Hoult), who encounters the mysterious and ghastly Count Orlok (Skarsgård) when he travels to the Count's castle to aid him in purchasing a home. Hutter's unnerving experiences lead him to believe Orlok is something other than human. Hutter finds that the vampire has followed him back to his hometown in Germany and enlists help in understanding and defeating the vampire. Orlok also has an obsessive supernatural connection with Hutter's wife, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp).

If that set up sounds reminiscent of Dracula, it's because the 1922 Nosferatu was actually an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker's famed vampire novel, with the names of characters changed in an attempt to get around copyright. However the original Nosferatu has become an icon of the horror genre with a legacy all its own. 

While previous versions of Nosferatu have centered on Thomas Hutter, Eggers has teased that Depp's Ellen and her intense and unusual bond with Orlok will take center stage in his film. Early reactions and reviews from advance screenings of Nosferatu have given high praise to Depp, and to the film as a whole. 

Nosferatu stars Bill Skarsgård as the vampiric Count Orlok. Known for his terrifying physical transformation as Pennywise in the It films, Skarsgård has apparently undergone a similarly intense makeover as Orlok. He reportedly spent six hours a day in the makeup chair, and the marketing for Nosferatu is cleverly concealing Orlok’s look, ensuring viewers will have to head to the theater to see the vampire’s ghastly visage. 

"He’s so transformed in every aspect that I don’t know if people will give him the credit," Eggers told Total Film, teasing Skarsgård's vampiric makeover. "You can see Bill [as Pennywise] in the It make-up; you can’t detect any Bill here. He worked with an opera coach to lower his voice an octave. I think people are going to think we treated it digitally, but that’s his performance."

Skarsgård was originally offered the part of Thomas Hutter, which eventually went to Nicholas Hoult (The Menu, The Favourite). This isn’t Hoult’s first brush with the undead, as he also starred as a lovable zombie in Warm Bodies, and as Dracula’s beleaguered assistant in Renfield (now streaming on Peacock). Lily-Rose Depp, known for her roles in The King and The Idol, plays Ellen Hutter, who is married to Thomas and shares a mysterious link with Orlok. 

Bullet Train and Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson takes on the role of merchant Friedrich Harding, while The Crown and Deadpool & Wolverine’s Emma Corrin plays Harding’s wife Anna. After previously playing original Nosferatu star Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire, Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, The Lighthouse) returns to the world of vampires as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, a maniacal vampire hunter. Von Franz is an original character, but is based on Bulwer from the original Nosferatu and Van Helsing from Dracula. 

Ralph Ineson, known for playing the titular role in The Green Knight and his past collaboration with Eggers in The Witch, plays hospital director Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, an ally of Von Franz. Simon McBurney, an actor who has appeared in films including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation plays Knock, Hutter’s employer who hides a dark secret.