Eight years after we first heard that The Witch writer/director Robert Eggers was going to be taking the helm of a remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it HERE), Eggers’ take on the concept has finally made it through production. Prague Reporter has shared the news that filming on Nosferatu took place for three months in Prague and wrapped on May 19th.
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.
Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.
When Eggers’ Nosferatu was first announced in 2015, the expectation was that his The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy would be playing the Ellen role. But Taylor-Joy had trouble fitting the project into her busy schedule, and on two different occasions when Taylor-Joy was available to work on Nosferatu the project ended up falling apart. (Most recently because Harry Styles has been cast as Hutter, then had to drop out.) So Eggers ended up taking the next opportunity to get Nosferatu made, even if it would be without Taylor-Joy. Her role went to Lily-Rose Depp (Yoga Hosers).
Depp is joined in the Nosferatu cast by Nicholas Hoult (Renfield), Emma Corrin (The Crown), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train), Ralph Ineson (The Witch), Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2), and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home), with Bill Skarsgard (It) taking on the role of the title character.
According to Prague Reporter, “Local crew wrote that they considered the production a complex and unconventional shoot, but one that they were proud to be part of. Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, who lives in Prague, confirmed that the film had been shot in color, with a look reminiscent of 19th century Romanticism. Nosferatu filmed at Prague’s Barrandov Studio alongside locations in the Czech capital and around the country. Production briefly took place at Prague’s historic Invalidovna complex, a Baroque 18th century complex that served as a military hospital for two centuries. The castle in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem was also utilized for filming.“
Nosferatu was previously remade by Werner Herzog in 1979, with Klaus Kinski playing the title character. The 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire was a fictional account of the making of Nosferatu, with Willem Dafoe playing Max Schreck as an actual vampire.
Eggers is producing this remake with Jeff Robinson, John Graham, Chris Columbus, and Eleanor Columbus.
Are you glad to hear that Eggers’ remake of Nosferatu has finally made it into production and wrapped filming? Let us know by leaving a comment below.