This Christmas, there are many options at your local cineplex.
There are lions,hedgehogs, witches,demigods, and more.
But the coolest choice, the sexiest choice, is the vampire.
Robert Eggers' eerie new film opens Christmas Day.Image: Focus Features
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Im wondering, at any point in the process do you wrestle between artistic impulses and commercial viability?
Robert Eggers: Well, this film from the get-go was intended to be my most approachable movie.
Nosferatudirector Robert Eggers. – Focus Features
And Chris has been a mentor to me since we met during post-production ofThe Witch.
And Jarin Blaschke, my DP and I, we meticulously storyboard the movies.
Well, we work with a storyboard artist, but we meticulously plan all the shots.
Willem Dafoe inNosferatu.– Focus Features
You need this here.
And thats always kind of a big deal, a Christmas release.
io9: Thats awesome.
Lily-Rose Depp inNosferatu. – Focus
Now, Willem Dafoe is in the film whom youve worked before.
Clearly hes incredible but he also has some history with this world being inShadow of the Vampire.
Did you guys discuss that before and how much did those conversations come into this movie at all?
The filming ofNosferatu.– Focus
Eggers: I love that film, and its a great movie, but theyre sort of unrelated.
Eggers:I mean, theres a lot of things.
Thats my impression, maybe Im wrong.
Im very proud of the atmosphere of the cemetery.
That was something I really, really, really wanted.
But the graveyard was an example of the necessity of that way of working.
And the Transylvanian village scene was incredibly complicated to cast and to costume and to block.
It was very complicated, but I like how that turned out.
io9: Thats so cool.
I also know you love to research and that plays a big part in all your films.
How deep did you dive into the Counts backstory, both for yourself and for Bill?
Eggers: No, no.
And the epilogue was a long backstory of Orlok that I gave to Bill as part of his preparation.
io9: So never a thought to put that in at all?
But Im glad it took a long time.
Ive grown a lot as a person, certainly as a filmmaker.
And also I ended up with this completely fantastic cast.
io9: Oh a fantastic cast, which is something that makes all the vampire movies unique.
What is it about the genre that makes it so malleable and what do you love about it?
Its a combination of sex and death.
Do you have one?
Do you want one?
What do you say to someone who buys one?
What are your thoughts?
[Laughs, thinks, pauses].
io9: [Laughs] Exactly.
Well, congratulations to you, sir, on a fantastic, beautiful movie.
Nosferatuis in theaters December 25.
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