Production is moving forward on a Nosferatu remake at Focus Features, and the latest word on the project is that Willem Dafoe is close to joining the cast. Per Deadline, the actor is reportedly in talks to join the cast of the film, which would reunite him with director Robert Eggers. Dafoe previously appeared alongside Robert Pattinson in Eggers’ acclaimed film The Lighthouse in 2019 and later reteamed with the director for last year’s The Northman.
Other cast members who’ve already joined the Nosferatu film include Bill Skarsgard (It, Castle Rock), Lily-Rose Depp (Silent Night, Wolf), and Nicholas Hoult (The Menu, Renfield). Along with writing and directing, Eggers is also producing the film with Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Chris Columbus, and Eleanor Columbus.
Dafoe has been in the spotlight a lot lately, as he also made his recently made his return to the superhero movie realm, reprising his Spider-Man role in the hit film Spider-Man: No Way Home. His other recent film credits include Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, and Walter Hill’s Dead for a Dollar. He is attached to various upcoming films and will soon be starring in Vasilis Katsoupis’ Inside, coming to theaters in March.
Nosferatu Gets Remade Over a Century Later
Prana Film
Released in 1922, the original Nosferatu was inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, written by Henrik Galeen and directed by F.W. Murnau. The vampire in the film, named count Orlock, was played by Max Schreck with the film also starring Greta Schroder and Gustav von Wangenheim. The movie remains one of the most famous vampire films of all time, credited as inspiration for many other vampire stories in the decades since.
Oddly enough, Dafoe has experience with Nosferatu-based films. In 2000, he appeared in the Nic Cage-produced horror comedy Shadow of the Vampire, which was a fictionalized take of the making of Nosferatu. Dafoe played Shreck in that film and drew acclaim for that performance.
There is no word yet on who Dafoe may be playing in the new film, though he won’t be playing Schreck’s character, Count Orlock. Skarsgard will be in the role of the movie’s vampire with Depp serving as his co-star. The upcoming remake has been described as a “gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman (Depp) in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire (Skarsgard) who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.”
A release date hasn’t yet been set for the Nosferatu remake.
