Well, there’s a plot twist we didn’t see coming, but that’s Robert Eggers for you. The man has directed four feature films so far, with a fifth due this year. The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, Nosferatu, and the upcoming Werwulf. With that track record, you might predict his next film to be something offbeat. Maybe horror, but not necessarily in that genre. After all, The Lighthouse and The Northman weren’t horror and were just unique. Still, we didn’t think the works of William Shakespeare were in the cards. Yet here we are with Romeo & Juliet being the next Eggers project.
Fresh Off the Presses
Just so you know right away, there’s not a lot that’s known about the project right now. There was a bidding war that took place for it. Focus Features, a division of Universal, ended up winning. It’s the same studio that worked with Eggers on Nosferatu, and that worked out pretty damn well. They’ll also be doing Werwulf, which is set to release on Christmas of this year. Does that mean we’ll be seeing Romeo & Juliet in Christmas of 2028? Seems more apt for Valentine’s Day. Or Halloween. Considering that, you know, spoiler alert on this one, the title characters both die.
Romeo & Juliet & Various Incarnations
It’s being reported that Eggers intends to stick to Olde English dialogue. There’s no indication that this means he’s going to go strictly with the script of the play or retool it. The story has been told many times in many ways over the centuries. West Side Story, for example, is effectively Romeo & Juliet but with gangs in New York City. Then there’s The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. What the first film did with Hamlet, the second basically did with Romeo & Juliet. Turns out all Shakespeare needed to break the family market was big cats.
The Usual Suspects
The other question is who of Eggers recurring ensemble of actors he is going to pick from, if any? The man knows who he likes to work with. Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson have shown up in four out of his five movies. He also has a thing for actors with hyphenated names: Anya Taylor-Joy, Lily-Rose Depp, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson all have been in two of his movies. Which does set up the possibility for Romeo to be Ineson, and Juliet to be Dafoe. Which, yes, we will gladly pay a lot of good money to see unfold.
We will continue to keep you updated as this project continues forward and more news comes to light.
