In a recent episode of 'Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast' by IndieWire, filmmaker Robert Eggers confirmed he has plans to do a remake of the 1922 silent German expressionist Film 'Nosferatu'.
"It’s shocking to me," Eggers said. "It feels ugly and blasphemous and egomaniacal and disgusting for a filmmaker in my place to do ‘Nosferatu’ next. I was really planning on waiting a while, but that’s how fate shook out."
A sleeper hit
Eggers' first feature film 'The Witch', released in 2015, was a hit with audiences across the world. The film portrayed a family living in 17th century New England at the mercy of a cruel witch.
It was well received by critics, most of whom praised the appropriate dialogue and costume design for the period it was set in.
'Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror' holds a legacy amongst film fans today as one of the most influential and significant works of horror of the early 20th century. It was originally based on Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' novel, but legal issues meant that most of the names and details had to be altered to avoid copyright infringement. Max Schreck starred as the grotesque Count Orlok, a character based on Dracula, and the setting was altered from England in the 1890s to Germany in 1838.
Werner Herzog remade it in 1979 under the title 'Nosferatu the Vampyre', which took the story from Stoker's novel but paid homage to the 1922 film.
It received a limited release but ended up winning a Silver Bear award for outstanding single achievement.
Will it live up to the original?
With already one remake down and another on the way, 'Nosferatu' will become known as the film that refused to be forgotten. After the film was sued by members of Stoker's family for infringing on the property, it was ordered by a court ruling to be destroyed.
Several copies survived and have since become a classic piece of cinematic history.
There's a lot of pressure on Robert Eggers to succeed with this film due to the legacy 'Nosferatu' holds, but if the popularity of 'The Witch' is indicative of how well his remake will be received, then it's looking good for the young filmmaker.
