Filmmaker Robert Eggers is preparing to bring William Shakespeare's most celebrated tragic romance to cinemas in an unconventional new interpretation. While his historical Norse feature The Northman previously drew from the identical Scandinavian lore that inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet, this marks the first time Eggers is tackling the Bard's dramatic writing in a direct project. Production company Focus Features secured the rights to the adaptation, beating competitive bids from A24, Sony, and Warner Bros.
An Old English Dialect and an 80 Million Dollar Budget
Best known for atmosphere-heavy, psychological horror titles like The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu, Eggers is taking a distinct historical approach to the story of the star-crossed lovers. The project has secured a deal valued near 80 million dollars at Focus Features. Meticulous about linguistic and period authenticity, Eggers plans to have the cast speak entirely in Old English. Because Shakespeare's original play was set in fourteenth-century Italy, shifting the spoken tongue to Old English strongly points toward a narrative relocated to a different era and setting. The director previously explored doomed, deadly romantic fixations in Nosferatu, making the dark trajectory of this narrative familiar thematic ground.
Production Timeline Following Werwulf
This dramatic adaptation is slated to serve as the director's subsequent cinematic venture following his werewolf feature titled Werwulf, which is scheduled for theatrical release on New Year's Day, 2027. Eggers has also been attached to development on a sequel to Labyrinth as well as an adaptation of A Christmas Carol intended to star Willem Dafoe. How this massive Shakespeare production reorganizes his future schedule remains open, but the venture establishes an intensely raw and linguistically unique vision for the classic tragedy.
