Robert Eggers on Why Nosferatu Is a Great Twisted Christmas Movie

This Christmas, determination are galore options astatine your section cineplex. There are lions, hedgehogs, witches, demigods, and more. But the coolest choice, the sexiest choice, is the vampire. This week, filmmaker Robert Eggers unleashes Nosferatu, a long-awaited, highly anticipated movie inspired by the iconic 1922 movie by F. W. Murnau. Bill Skarsgård stars arsenic the sinister Count Orlok, who creeps his mode into the lives of newlyweds Thomas and Ellen (Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp).

It’s a dark, atmospheric, but entertaining movie from a filmmaker who has, adjacent with conscionable 3 films nether his belt, developed a precise well-earned reputation. With The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman, Eggers has cemented himself arsenic a meticulous, ocular filmmaker with a flair for the historical and gothic. Nosferatu is possibly his astir “Eggers” movie yet, but it’s besides coming retired astatine Christmas, a precise commercialized time.

io9 spoke to Eggers via video chat a fewer weeks backmost and that conflict betwixt creation and merchandise is wherever our speech began.

This interrogation was edited for magnitude and clarity.

Nosferatu manager Robert Eggers. – Focus Features

Germain Lussier, io9: I emotion your films due to the fact that not lone are they entertaining, they’re truthful meticulous, beautiful, and often conscionable weird. I’m wondering, astatine immoderate constituent successful the process bash you wrestle betwixt creator impulses and commercialized viability?

Robert Eggers: Well, this movie from the get-go was intended to beryllium my astir “approachable movie.” Maybe you cognize this and possibly you don’t but the main originative shaper connected this is Chris Columbus of Home Alone and Harry Potter fame. And Chris has been a mentor to maine since we met during post-production of The Witch. But helium knows that we are precise antithetic filmmakers and that’s portion of wherefore we get on creatively, and I deliberation it’s specified a bully match. And Jarin Blaschke, my DP and I, we meticulously storyboard the movies. Well, we enactment with a storyboard artist, but we meticulously program each the shots. And Chris was combing done the storyboards, looking astatine them each precise carefully, and would occasionally say, “Where’s this communicative bushed that’s successful your script? You request this here.” And Chris, being a maestro of orthodox Hollywood storytelling, was often similar an antidote to maine and Jarin’s arty-farty inclinations to archer this communicative arsenic good arsenic I wanted to, due to the fact that helium was determination to marque this the champion Robert Eggers movie it could be, not to Chris Columbus-ify it. But also, with this film, I had unthinkable enactment from Focus Features, who gave maine tons of originative control.

io9: And I deliberation we get a hint that this was expected to beryllium much commercialized due to the fact that a twelvemonth agone erstwhile the movie was announced, Focus was similar “Robert Eggers, Nosferatu, coming retired Christmas Day.” And that’s ever benignant of a large deal, a Christmas release. Were you portion of that conversation, and does a premier merchandise day similar that alteration your reasoning astatine all?

Eggers: Yeah, I mean, I was portion of the conversation, but yet that was the day that they pitched to me, and I embraced it with a batch of excitement. Obviously the movie takes place, by the midpoint, astir Christmas time, and there’s a Christmas tree, and there’s conversations astir Christmas, and there’s a country wherever there’s a euphony container that plays “O Tannenbaum” and it primitively was playing similar a Mozart piece, and erstwhile we got the Christmas merchandise date, I was like, “Let’s enactment ‘O Tannenbaum’ successful there.”

Willem Dafoe successful Nosferatu. – Focus Features

io9: That’s awesome. Now, Willem Dafoe is successful the movie whom you’ve worked before. Clearly he’s unthinkable but helium besides has immoderate past with this satellite being successful Shadow of the Vampire. Did you guys sermon that earlier and however overmuch did those conversations travel into this movie astatine all?

Eggers: I emotion that film, and it’s a large movie, but they’re benignant of unrelated. But obviously, we some admit it’s chill for assemblage members who are successful the cognize to cognize that helium is benignant of hunting himself successful this movie.

io9: Is determination thing successful this movie you’re capable to execute that you’re peculiarly arrogant of, oregon that was peculiarly difficult, either technically successful presumption of communicative and tone?

Eggers: I mean, there’s a batch of things. One thing, for maine personally, I don’t cognize however audiences volition acquisition it, but I consciousness similar the agelong unbroken takes, the “owners” successful this film, are a small little heavy-handed and a small spot much invisible. That’s my impression, possibly I’m wrong. I’m precise arrogant of the ambiance of the cemetery. That was thing I really, really, truly wanted. One of the precise fewer things that Focus was wringing their hands astir was my insistence to ne'er sprout successful thing but gloomy upwind due to the fact that we’re lasting astir waiting for a unreality screen and that tin beryllium precise tense. But the graveyard was an illustration of the necessity of that mode of working. And the Transylvanian colony country was incredibly analyzable to formed and to costume and to block. There are immoderate actors, mostly non-actors, immoderate nonrecreational dancers, and everyone speaking a antithetic connection from a antithetic country. It was precise complicated, but I similar however that turned out.

Lily-Rose Depp successful Nosferatu. – Focus

io9: That’s truthful cool. I besides cognize you emotion to probe and that plays a large portion successful each your films. How heavy did you dive into the Count’s backstory, some for yourself and for Bill? Do you guys cognize however and erstwhile helium changed, however helium developed his powers, oregon is that worldly benignant of superfluous?

Eggers: No, no. In trying to marque this communicative my own—this communicative that’s been told truthful galore times—I wrote a novella erstwhile trying to interruption the publication and the novella had tons of backstories to larn astir antithetic characters. And the epilogue was a agelong backstory of Orlok that I gave to Bill arsenic portion of his preparation. That volition ne'er beryllium shared due to the fact that the enigma of the enigma is amended for an audience, but it was important for Bill to person that history.

io9: So ne'er a thought to enactment that successful astatine all?

Eggers: No, I mean, arsenic overmuch arsenic this fleshes things retired that aren’t fleshed retired successful the Murnau film, a definite grade of enigma is important.

io9: This is simply a communicative you’ve been wanting to archer for a agelong clip and adjacent got adjacent astatine immoderate point. What astir this mentation present is antithetic from a mentation you whitethorn person made aft The Witch oregon earlier successful your career?

Eggers: You know, my intentions person not truly changed erstwhile I wrote that novella and erstwhile I broke that script. The publication has gotten tighter and conscionable much honed, but my “vision” for what the movie would beryllium has not changed. But I’m gladsome it took a agelong time. I’ve grown a batch arsenic a person, surely arsenic a filmmaker. My collaborations with my originative caput of departments person go adjacent much fluid and we’re much extensions of each other. And besides I ended up with this wholly fantastic cast.

The filming of Nosferatu. – Focus

io9: Oh a fantastic cast, which is thing that makes each the vampire movies unique. It’s besides 1 of those genres that, you know, we person vampire comedies, we person vampire horror, vampire drama, we person everything. What is it astir the genre that makes it truthful malleable and what bash you emotion astir it? 

Eggers: Yeah, I mean, it is brainsick however malleable the vampire is and however there’s country for Anne Rice and country for Blade and country for Count Chocula and country for each this stuff. But I’ve been asked this question a lot, but the champion that I tin travel up with is enactment and death. It’s a operation of enactment and death.

io9: Last thing, precocious Focus, revealed a $20,000 Nosferatu coffin bed, which I’m definite you know. Do you person one? Do you privation one? What bash you accidental to idiosyncratic who buys one? What are your thoughts?

Eggers: Um. [Laughs, thinks, pauses]. “Congratulations.”

io9: [Laughs] Exactly. Well, congratulations to you, sir, connected a fantastic, beauteous movie.

Nosferatu is successful theaters December 25.

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