"He is coming."
Of all the titles that have kept attendees at this year’s CinemaCon on the edge of their seats, nearly none made as big of a gasp as that of the first teaser for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. Billed by the presenter as “not your father’s Nosferatu,” we can back up that claim as the filmmaker, who’s been behind other titles including The Witch and The Northman, left his obvious stamp of darkness on the reimagining. Showcasing the incredible lineup of leading stars, the Focus Features film’s first look was pure mayhem covered in a sinister gloom and plenty of blood.
The teaser opens with Lily-Rose Depp, dutifully praying and being vigilant while asking something - or someone - to come to her. A voiceover can be heard of Depp’s character, Ellen Hutter, asking Willem Dafoe’s Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz if evil comes from within someone or if it works its way in from the outside. From here, the pace picked up, with horrific imagery filled with hoards of rats and a man biting a pigeon’s head off while we watched Nicholas Hoult’s Thomas Hutter take his first look at the castle of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Finally, off in the shadows, with the figure of a dog by his side, stood the towering titular vampire. Although we didn’t get to see Skarsgård’s face, the imagery was haunting enough, causing the audience to break out in thunderous applause.
From what we’ve seen so far from a smattering of images that have made their way into the public eye, Eggers will stick close to the subject of the story that was first started by Bram Stoker in his classic horror novel, Dracula. The film will transport audiences to Germany during the 19th century and will follow Count Orlok’s infatuation with the married Ellen Hutter. Vampire hunters will rise to the occasion to jam a stake into the bloodsucker’s heart, while Ellen’s beloved (a very ripped Hoult from what we saw in the trailer) will do anything in his power to hold onto his beloved and keep her from the spell of the undead.
Skarsgård has long been a face that casting directors associate with villainy. The extremely talented actor has already haunted our nightmares in Andrés Muschietti’s It adaptations and ensured that we slept with the lights on during the run of the TV series, Hemlock Grove. Not only will he be appearing as one of the most legendary monsters of all time in Nosferatu, but Skarsgård will also soon be seen in Lionsgate’s reimagining of The Crow. On a quest for vengeance after his fiancé is murdered, Skarsgård’s role in The Crow is the polar opposite of that of his part in Nosferatu - save for the fact that both characters prefer to perch in the darkness. The Crow will fly into theaters on June 7, a full six months before Nosferatu rises from the dead on December 25.
Learn everything there is to know about Eggers’ latest feature here and stay tuned for more information from CinemaCon.