ended 2024 with a bang with his remake of the classic silent horror film Nosferatu. The movie, which Eggers wrote and directed, was a long-time passion project for the creative. The development of the film went all the way back to 2015, shortly after the release of the director’s debut film, The Witch, at the Sundance Film Festival that year. Now, nearly a decade later, Eggers has finally completed the project, with Nosferatu receiving critical acclaim and even an Academy Award nomination. Now, the director has already begun the early stages of development for his next project, tentatively titled Werewulf.
While taking questions at a panel, Eggers briefly touched upon his next film, which was given a December 2026 release date in keeping with the holiday horror tradition that started with Nosferatu. All the director had to say about the movie was, “It’s a medieval werewolf movie. It’s also the darkest thing I’ve ever written by far.” Just this tiny detail alone is enough to get fans excited, especially those deeply familiar with his work.
Eggers has a small but impressive filmography, having directed The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, and Nosferatu, each receiving rave reviews, praised for their historical accuracy and extreme attention to detail in the production design and various dialects. Moreover, these films have had incredibly dark moments, making Eggers’ comments about Werewulf being his darkest work yet feel like an exciting and terrifying promise.
‘Werewulf’ Has the Potential to be Robert Eggers’ Best Work Yet
The Medieval setting mentioned in Eggers brief comment also gives fans of the filmmaker a new period and setting to look forward to. Whether it was the 1630s New England setting of The Witch, or the 1890s backdrop of The Lighthouse, each new Eggers film has felt like a time capsule that perfectly encapsulates bygone eras and traditions while somehow still making them thematically relevant to modern-day audiences. The 13th-century setting of Werewulf will be entirely new territory for the horror director; placing the iconic horror creature in a medieval setting will undoubtedly lead to some intense bloodshed.
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Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett and Noah Jupe join the production from A24.
The upcoming horror movie will be released only two years after Leigh Whannell’s take on the classic Universal Monster, which recently hit digital retailers following a somewhat disappointing (and still ongoing) box-office run. Whannell’s modern sensibilities resulted in a film that had mixed reviews, which makes one curious as to how Eggers take on the lycanthrope will be received by audiences come holiday 2026.
Whatever the case, it’s exciting to see so many horror icons reimagined by talented modern-day filmmakers. Besides Whannell’s Wolf Man and Eggers’ upcoming Werewulf, James Wan was announced early last year to tackle a remake of Universal’s Creature From the Black Lagoon. Although there have been no announcements since then, there is still hope that the project will move forward. For now, we can look forward to Eggers’ interpretation of the werewolf, which will more likely than not be scarily accurate to the myths of the creature that originated from that period while also being his darkest film yet.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
