Robert Eggers Is Following Up ‘Nosferatu’ With A Period Piece About Werewolves Titled ‘Werwulf’

JB Augustine |

Jan 24, 2025

The Northman — Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth in director Robert Eggers’ Viking epic THE NORTHMAN, a Focus Features release.

Nosferatu director Robert Eggers’s next movie has been announced, and rather appropriately, it’s called “Werwulf,” which means (what else?) he is turning his attention from vampires to werewolves.

Perty Lil bird — Knock (Simon McBurney) likes the pretty little things in Nosferatu (2024), Focus Features

With the continuing backing of Focus Features, a division of Universal Pictures (who know a thing or two about monsters), Eggers will direct a tale set in 13th-century England, and slated for a Christmas release, just like its vampiric antecedent. Per The Hollywood Reporter, both the director and studio hope lightning strikes twice over the 2026 holiday.

“The company [Focus] has dated the thriller for a North American release on Christmas Day, 2026. The parties are hoping for more holiday greetings as Nosferatu was also released on Christmas Day and went on to become an improbable hit,” THR says.

The trade outlet adds Eggers co-wrote the script with Icelandic poet and author Sjón, who helped him write The Northman, and that the dialogue will be authentic to Medieval times. The Middle English spoken back then was very different from the modern language (i.e., what you are reading right now).

“The script also features dialogue that was true to the time period and has translations and annotations for those uninitiated in Old English,” THR reports.

Night 21 Review — Count Orlok (Max Schreck) is already creeping out his new neighbors in Nosferatu (1922), Film Arts Guild

“Initially, Eggers was planning on shooting the feature in black and white, but that is no longer the case,” they add. “Suffice to say that considering the setting and the dialect, Eggers is promising another deep dive into a muddy, costumed, and violent time period consistent with his oeuvre, which has earned him a loyal film following.”

Like Nosferatu, Werwulf is being executive produced by Home Alone director Chris Columbus and his daughter Eleanor. Eggers – who co-writes, directs, and produces alongside writing partner Sjón – is also developing an update of the Jim Henson classic Labyrinth.

Joy-ful-Witch — Young Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch (2015), A24

Given the success he’s had with his bleak interpretations of witches, Vikings, and one of the most infamous vampires in cinema, it will be interesting to see what Eggers does with lycanthropes. (Surely, he’ll stay closer to superstition than Wolf Man or Werewolves did.)