Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is officially happening, and a start date for production in the Czech Republic has been announced. Nosferatu will film from February 23 through May 18 in both Prague and Toronto, according to the latest issue of Production Weekly.
Stillking Films will coordinate the local production of Nosferatu in Prague and surrounding areas of the Czech Republic. Locations that might be utilized in the film are yet to be known, but a historic Bohemian castle or two are good bets to feature in Nosferatu.
Bill Skarsgård has been cast as the lead vampire Count Orlok in Eggers’ new adaptation, which has previously been filmed in 1922 by director F. W. Murnau, with Max Schreck as Orlok, and 1979 by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski as the vampire.
Murnau’s Nosferatu was originally conceived as an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula; Stoker’s heirs successfully sued the producers, and courts ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed. But Nosferatu would survive to become one of the most influential horror movies ever made, and a direct influence on future official adaptations of the Dracula story.
Director Robert Eggers had previously conceived of a version of Nosferatu following his breakout debut film The Witch, but put it on the backburner while turning his attention to The Lighthouse and The Northman.
Nosferatu will star Skarsgård as the vampire Count Orlok, who (in earlier versions of the film) dwells in a mysterious castle in the Carpathian Mountains and menaces his real estate agent and his wife ahead of a move to town.
Earlier last year, Eggers revealed that Harry Styles and Anya Taylor-Joy had been attached to star in the project; as it slowly came to fruition, both dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. They would have presumably played the real estate agent and his wife.
Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp, will now play the object of Count Orlok’s affections, with Nicholas Hoult, recently seen in the eat-the-rich satire The Menu, starring as her husband and Orlok’s real estate agent.
Nosferatu will mark the second straight film where Hoult will play a put-upon aide to a vampire. He also stars in Renfield, set to release worldwide this April, in which he plays the harried assistant to Nicolas Cage’s Dracula.
Hoult spoke to Collider about his casting in Nosferatu recently while doing press for The Menu:
“I am a fan of the original, but I think knowing Robert’s work and knowing that he’s wanted to make this film and tell this story — I think he’s been obsessed with it since he was about eight years old, he told me,” Hoult stated.
“So when it means that much to him personally and knowing what he’s created with The Northman, The Lighthouse, and The Witch, I’m like, his version of that story is something that I, as a fan, would be excited to see, so to get to go make it with him is something I’m really looking forward to.”
Nosferatu star Bill Skarsgård is making a habit of shooting in Prague: he filmed the new reboot of The Crow in the Czech capital and surrounding areas last summer from June through September.
Skarsgård also stars in John Wick: Chapter 4, due out in March, but he hasn’t been confirmed for the John Wick spinoff Ballerina, which is currently shooting in Prague.
Eggers’ Nosferatu will mark the third version with ties to Czech lands. The original 1922 film was partially shot in the Vrátna Valley, Dolný Kubín, and Orava Castle in the former Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), while portions of Werner Herzog’s 1979 version Nosferatu the Vampyre were shot at Pernštejn Castle in South Moravia.
Lead photo: Bill Skarsgård in Castle Rock / Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu the Vampyre
