Development on the film began in 2015 when Eggers planned to make it his second film, describing it as a passion project, but eventually opted to delay production. Skarsgård and Depp were cast as leads in September 2022. Hoult joined the cast the following month, with the remaining cast confirmed at the start of production. Filming took place primarily at Barrandov Studios in Prague between February and May 2023.
Nosferatu had its world premiere in Berlin, Germany, on December 2, 2024. The film is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2024, by Focus Features domestically and Universal Pictures internationally. It received widespread critical acclaim for its faithfulness to the source material, as well as Eggers' direction and the cinematography, score, makeup effects, production and costume design, and performances (particularly Skarsgård and Depp).
Premise
Set in 1838 in Germany, Nosferatu follows the obsession between a haunted young woman, Ellen Hutter, and the ancient Transylvanian vampire stalking her, Count Orlok, leading to untold horror.
In July 2015, a remake of Nosferatu (1922) was announced with Robert Eggers writing and directing. Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen were slated to produce the film for Studio 8.[3] In November 2016, Eggers expressed surprise that the Nosferatu remake was his second planned 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."[4] During an interview with Den of Geek around the release of The Lighthouse (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".[5]
Casting
In August 2017, Anya Taylor-Joy was cast.[6] Years later, in early 2022, Eggers was asked if he and Taylor-Joy 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."[7] It was revealed in March 2022 that English singer Harry Styles was briefly attached to an undisclosed role in the film, but eventually dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.[8]
In September 2022, it was announced that Bill Skarsgård was set to star as the eponymous Nosferatu, Count Orlok, with Lily-Rose Depp cast to replace Taylor-Joy.[9] Skarsgård had originally been offered the lead role of Thomas Hutter while Taylor-Joy was still attached to star before the project was stalled for a few years.[10] In October 2022, Nicholas Hoult joined the cast.[11] In January 2023, Willem Dafoe, who had previously portrayed Max Schreck/Count Orlok in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), joined the cast after having co-starred in The Lighthouse.[12]Emma Corrin would join the cast the following month.[13]Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Simon McBurney, and Ralph Ineson were announced as joining cast at the start of production in late February 2023.[14][15]
Filming
Corvin Castle, located in Transylvania, is used as Orlok Castle in the film.
To prepare for playing the eponymous character, Skarsgård lost a significant amount of weight and worked with the Icelandic opera singer Ásgerður Júníusdóttir to lower his vocal range and character, and spent up to six hours a day having prosthetic makeup applied. Speaking on his experience, Skarsgård said: "It was like conjuring pure evil. It took a while for me to shake off the demon that had been conjured inside of me."[10]
Soundtrack
The score is provided by British-Irish film composer and music producer Robin Carolan. Carolan made his film scoring debut in 2022, working with Robert Eggers on The Northman, and on Nosferatu he has intentionally moved away from the typical horror score, focusing on capturing the story's melancholic and tragic elements.[25]
With Goodbye and Increase thy Thunders, the first two pieces of music from the film were released by Back Lot Music in late September 2024. The full soundtrack album with a total of 43 pieces of music is scheduled to be released on vinyl and two CDs by Bones Records & Waxwork Records.[25] At the helm as conductor is British-born Daniel Pioro.[25] Carolan and Eggers struggled to perfect their sound, a process marked by their meticulous attention to detail, which Carolan describes as "almost telepathic".[25]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 86 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The website's consensus reads: "Marvelously orchestrated by director Robert Eggers, Nosferatu is a behemoth of a horror film that is equal parts repulsive and seductive."[32]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[33]
The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney praised the direction, screenplay, and performances, calling the film "exciting, repulsive and beautiful," and added that "It's thrilling to experience a movie so assured in the way it builds and sustains fear, so hypnotically scary as it grabs you by the throat and never lets go."[34]Indiewire's David Ehrlich similarly praised the direction and singled out Depp's performance before stating that "like all of Eggers' films, of which Nosferatu is the richest and most fully realized, it draws a spellbinding power from the friction it finds between historical social mores and the eternal human thirsts they exist to keep in check."[35]
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