'The Witch' Director resurrecting F.W. Murnau's NOSFERATU with Anya Taylor-Joy
After what seemed like a slow start, Jeff Robinov's - former head of WB Studios - Studio 8 (Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Alpha) will be resurrecting F.W. Murnau's silent horror classic Nosferatu, helmed by The Witch writer and director Robert Eggers.
Variety reports The Witch breakout actor Anya Taylor-Joy is currently in negotiations to star in Eggers adaptation of Murnau's 1922 and Herzog's 1979 Nosferatu. While details about Eggers adaptation or Taylor-Joy's role have yet to be revealed, it's fair to speculate Taylor-Joy's role will portray "Ellen Hutter" - the film's heroine and object of Count Orlok's blood-sucking obsession.
Murnau's 1922 classic follows the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) who moves to Wisburg bringing the plague, which reveals his connection to the realtor Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim), and the Count’s obsession with Hutter’s wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder) – the only one with the power to end the evil.
Nosferatu works as an ethereal horror that plays on our emotions through its artistic expression and chilling atmosphere. No doubt if you're a fan of either version, this news will most likely be met with a bit of ambivalence. But at the very least, perhaps Eggers involvement will lend some credibility to the remake of Murnau's silent classic.
Robert Eggers next project is titled "The Knight" and Anya Taylor-Joy is currently shooting Josh Boone's X-Men: New Mutants and has plans to reprise her role along with Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and James McAvoy in M. Night Shyamalan's sequel Glass scheduled for January 18, 2019. It's reasonable to believe Nosferatu will not start production until late 2018, early 2019.
For now, Nosferatu purists might enjoy Cultjer's piece - Max Schreck: The Perfect Vampire! by Steve Amos.
What do you think? Are you curious to see Eggers spin on Nosferatu?
