The German vampire classic Nosferatu turned 100 years old earlier this month, and a new adaptation of the horror film is currently in pre-production, to be directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch) and starring frequent collaborator Anya Taylor-Joy.
And the new Nosferatu might be filmed in the Czech Republic later this year, despite a recent suspension of film incentives by the Czech Film Fund.
While looking into whether the new Masters of the Universe film, slated to go into production this summer, had managed to register with the Czech Film Fund last year before the suspension of film incentives (it hadn’t), we discovered some interesting new projects that had registered to film in the Czech Republic by the end of 2021.
One of those projects is Nosferatu, which was submitted by local production agency Stillking Films. Stillking has handled the local production for many high-profile shoots in the Czech Republic, including the recent Netflix blockbusters The Gray Man and Extraction 2.
The Czech Republic, of course, is a prime location for a gothic vampire tale. While Nosferatu is unlikely to be (primarily) set in Prague, the country features a high density of well-preserved centuries-old castles, many of which would make a great location for vampire haunts.
F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, released in 1922, was primarily shot in Germany but the film also made use of locations in Slovakia including the Vrátna Valley and Dolný Kubín. Orava Castle was used as Count Orlok’s Transylvanian home.
Werner Herzog’s 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre, starring Klaus Kinski as the titular vampire, was filmed across locations in Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, with Pernštejn Castle in South Moravia filling in for Castle Dracula.
Pernštejn Castle. Photo: Wikimedia / Jerrye & Roy Klotz MD
Director Eggers has drawn widespread acclaim for his unsettling horror films The Witch and The Lighthouse, which starred Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. Eggers’ latest is The Northman, a Viking epic starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, and Ethan Hawke, as well as Dafoe and Taylor-Joy, and is slated to release worldwide this April.
Anya Taylor-Joy shot to instant fame following her striking lead performance in The Witch. She would go on to win an Emmy nomination for her turn in The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, and is next lined up to star alongside Chris Hemsworth in the Mad Max prequel Furiosa.
Nosferatu has long been in pre-production, with Eggers originally planning to make it after The Witch before instead turning The Lighthouse and The Northman. The lead role of Count Orlok has not been cast, but it’s impossible to not imagine Eggers re-teaming with his Lighthouse star Dafoe for the part.
Dafoe played 1922 Nosferatu star Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire, a faux-biopic about the filming of Nosferatu that also starred John Malkovich as director F. W. Murnau. Nicolas Cage, who produced Shadow of the Vampire, had originally wanted to play Schreck before Dafoe was cast, and would certainly make for an interesting Nosferatu in 2022. Eggers’ Northman star Bang also played Dracula in the recent Netflix miniseries.
While no guarantee that filming is imminent, that Nosferatu managed to register with the Czech Film Fund at the end of 2021 is a great sign that production is moving forward and will not be affected by the recent suspension in Czech film incentives.
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