Nicholas Hoult can be seen on the big screen in this weekend’s Dracula horror comedy Renfield (read our review HERE), where he plays the title character – and since making that film, he has also been hard at work on another vampire movie: writer/director Robert Eggers‘ remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it HERE). Speaking with Total Film, Hoult said he was convinced to take a role in Eggers’ Nosferatu because he believes the film will be “really special”.
Hoult told Total Film, “Rob has wanted to make Nosferatu since he was eight years old and he did a play of it as well when he was in high school, so it’s been a passion project of his for a long time. Honestly, I wasn’t looking to go back into the vampire world again, but his style and tone are just so completely the opposite of (Renfield), and I’m such a fan of his work that I’m excited to be in his world and watching him and learning from him. I think the film could be really special, so I’m excited for people to see it.“
An unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the original Nosferatu has the following synopsis: In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.
Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.
When Eggers’ Nosferatu was first announced in 2015, the expectation was that his The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy would be playing the Ellen role. But Taylor-Joy had trouble fitting the project into her busy schedule, and on two different occasions when Taylor-Joy was available to work on Nosferatu the project ended up falling apart. (Most recently because Harry Styles has been cast as Hutter, then had to drop out.) So Eggers ended up taking the next opportunity to get Nosferatu made, even if it would be without Taylor-Joy. Her role went to Lily-Rose Depp (Yoga Hosers).
Depp and Hoult are joined in the Nosferatu cast by Emma Corrin (The Crown), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train), Ralph Ineson (The Witch), Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2), and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home), with Bill Skarsgard (It) taking on the role of the title character.
Nosferatu was previously remade by Werner Herzog in 1979, with Klaus Kinski playing the title character. The 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire was a fictional account of the making of Nosferatu, with Willem Dafoe playing Max Schreck as an actual vampire.
Eggers is producing this remake with Jeff Robinson, John Graham, Chris Columbus, and Eleanor Columbus.
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