Robert Eggers’ planned reimagining of the classic vampire film Nosferatu is finally gaining some steam, as Deadline is reporting that Bill Skarsgård is attached to play the Count Orlok, with Lily-Rose Depp also in talks to co-star.
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Skarsgård had always been loosely attached to the film, as had Anya Taylor-Joy, who starred in Eggers’ feature debut The Witch. However, due to Taylor-Joy’s blossoming career in Hollywood, her schedule became too busy, with Deadline noting that she could not fit the film into her plans. That led to Eggers meeting with other stars, eventually landing on Depp as the top choice for the role according to the report.
Eggers will also be writing and directing the film, which has been rumored to be in development ever since he completed work on 2015’s The Witch. Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Robert Eggers, Chris Columbus, and Eleanor Columbus are producing. No official word on the project has been mentioned by Focus Features as of yet.
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Similar to the original film, the story of Nosferatu will be a “gothic tale of obsession” that focuses on a haunted young woman being stalked by a Transylvanian vampire. The original film was released 100 years ago in 1922, and has since been regarded as one of the most influential films of all time, a horror masterpiece, and high up on the short list of SpongeBob SquarePants‘ weirdest references.
