Nosferatu: Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgard to star in Robert Eggers remake

Two years ago, it was announced that The Witch (watch it HERE) writer/director Robert Eggers and star Anya Taylor-Joy would be teaming up again on a remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch that HERE) as soon as a window of opportunity opened up in Taylor-Joy’s busy schedule. They found that window of opportunity last fall, but then the project crumbled when Harry Styles, who had been cast as the Thomas Hutter character, dropped out. Now Nosferatu is back on, but Deadline reports that Taylor-Joy is too busy to fit the movie back into her schedule. So Lily-Rose Depp (Yoga Hosers) will now be the female lead Ellen, and Bill Skarsgard (It) is set to play the title character.

Earlier this year, Eggers said he feared that the ghost of F.W. Murnau was trying to block him from making Nosferatu, since the project had crumbled twice. So it’s good to hear that he hasn’t abandoned it… but now we’ll have to wait and see if it’s going to fall apart for a third time.

An unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the original Nosferatu has the following synopsis:

In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.

According to Deadline, Skarsgard has been Eggers’ top choice to play the vampire in Nosferatu for years. The actor currently has room in his own busy schedule to work on this movie, so Eggers is pushing it ahead. They were previously supposed to work together on The Northman, which starred Skarsgard’s brother Alexander Skarsgard, but then the younger Skarsgard ran into those dreaded scheduling issues.

Nosferatu is now set up at Focus Features. Eggers is producing the film alongside Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Chris Columbus, and Eleanor Columbus.

Are you looking forward to seeing Eggers’ take on Nosferatu? What do you think of the cast of Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.