Robert Eggers eyes Romeo and Juliet after Werwulf
Robert Eggers is swapping monsters for Montagues.
The director of Nosferatu is lining up Romeo and Juliet as his next project, even as his werewolf film Werwulf heads for a Christmas Day premiere. Deadline reported on 26 September that Eggers is eyeing a return to Focus Features for the Shakespeare adaptation.
Eggers laid out the thinking during a post-screening Q&A for Werwulf, in conversation with an audience after the film had played. He said he had started writing another horror film after Werwulf, but it turned so dark again that he felt he needed a break. Then came the punchline, as quoted by Deadline: "I'll do something about two teenagers killing themselves."
The Shakespeare deal is not done yet. Details are under wraps, but Eggers is expected to direct and produce if talks conclude, Deadline reported. That language matters. Nothing is signed.
It would keep him with familiar backers. Eggers previously worked with Focus Features on The Lighthouse in 2019, Nosferatu in 2024 and now Werwulf. A return would make Romeo and Juliet his fourth film in a row with the company.
Werwulf remains the immediate focus. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a man in 14th century England whose family is threatened by a ravenous beast haunting the town. Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson also star. The film is billed as "a harrowing tale of devotion, damnation, and the devil within," according to Deadline.
The rollout is already widening beyond the screen. Werwulf has released a second trailer alongside an interactive game, as reported by IndieWire. An online scavenger hunt tied to the phases of the moon is planned for this autumn, connecting the marketing to the lunar cycle long linked in folklore to werewolf stories.
What makes this stand out is the sideways step rather than a clean break. Eggers is not leaving darkness behind. He is trading one kind of doom for another, from a beast in medieval England to the most famous pair of doomed teenage lovers in theatre history. For anyone new to the story, no homework is needed. It is boy meets girl, families at war, and a tragic end.
