‘Nosferatu’ Director Robert Eggers Is Reportedly Trading Gothic Horror for Shakespeare, and Fans Have Thoughts

Robert Eggers has built his reputation on transporting audiences into meticulously researched, historically grounded worlds, whether that means a 17th-century New England farm, a lonely lighthouse, or a Norse revenge saga. His films tend to share one signature trait: dialogue rooted so deeply in period-accurate language that it becomes almost its own character. That commitment to linguistic authenticity is apparently about to collide with one of the most famous love stories ever written.

According to a new report, Eggers is moving on from his upcoming folk horror film ‘Werwulf’ straight into a fresh adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ The director will both helm and produce the project, marking his fourth collaboration with the studio that has backed nearly every film of his career.

Focus Features has landed the project after reportedly winning a competitive bidding war against A24, Sony, and Warner Bros. Pictures, continuing a partnership that already includes ‘Nosferatu,’ ‘The Northman,’ and the upcoming ‘Werwulf.’ Most notably, the adaptation is said to feature its actors speaking in Olde English rather than Shakespeare’s original verse, a stylistic choice consistent with Eggers’ longstanding obsession with period-accurate dialects.

Details on Robert Eggers’ upcoming ‘ROMEO & JULIET’ film adaptation:

• The actors will speak in Olde English

• Focus Features has acquired the project

• Will be his next film after ‘Werwulf’ pic.twitter.com/S4Yr0gAhSF

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 22, 2026

‘Romeo and Juliet,’ written in the 1590s, tells the tragic story of two young lovers from the warring Capulet and Montague families in Verona, Italy. The nearly 430-year-old play has been adapted for the screen countless times, most famously in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version, which earned a Best Picture nomination, and Baz Luhrmann’s contemporary-set 1996 take starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Its influence has also rippled through countless loose adaptations, from the musical ‘West Side Story’ to the vampire-and-werewolf franchise ‘Underworld.’

No cast members for Eggers’ version have been announced yet, and details remain otherwise scarce beyond the project’s language approach. Still, the choice to move away from Shakespeare’s original Early Modern English text and toward Olde English dialogue has already sparked plenty of conversation online, with some fans pointing out that the play itself was never actually written in Old English to begin with, since Shakespeare’s original text falls squarely within early modern English rather than the language spoken centuries earlier.

That kind of pushback tracks with the reaction Eggers tends to generate whenever he leans into unconventional linguistic choices, as seen with ‘Werwulf,’ which is entirely spoken in Middle English and set in 14th-century England. Whether fans end up debating semantics or simply enjoying the novelty, the willingness to court that conversation has become something of a signature for the filmmaker.

This new project keeps Eggers firmly within the Focus Features fold, a studio relationship that has become one of the most productive director-distributor pairings working today. His most recent film with the studio, ‘Nosferatu,’ pulled in nearly $182 million worldwide against a $50 million budget and picked up four Oscar nominations, making it Eggers’ highest-grossing film to date. Focus is reportedly hoping ‘Werwulf,’ arriving in theaters on Christmas Day, can replicate that same success before Eggers moves on to reimagining the Bard.

The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news of the acquisition, and Focus Features has so far declined to comment further on the project. Eggers, who is repped by WME and Frankfurt Kurnit, already has a packed slate ahead of him, with reports also linking him to a potential ‘A Christmas Carol’ adaptation and a long-rumored ‘Labyrinth’ sequel, though neither project’s status is currently clear.

Given how thoroughly Eggers has redefined horror and period drama over the past decade, a Shakespearean tragedy filtered through his signature obsession with historical authenticity feels like an intriguing, if unexpected, next step.

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