After Nosferatu and Werwulf, Robert Eggers will adapt Romeo and Juliet
The director is tackling a new classic, with an adaptation of Shakespeare for which he aims to preserve the original dialogues.
After witches, vampires and werewolves, Robert Eggers tackles a mountain: William Shakespeare’s ultimate masterpiece.
The American director is preparing an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet for Focus Features, which won a battle between several studios – including A24, Sony and Warner Bros. – to regain the rights of the two star-crossed lovers.
Eggers will direct and produce the film, which is expected to become his next project. After Werwulf.
And he already has a very specific idea in mind for his version: the actors will speak in 16th century Elizabethan English, the one spoken during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, with lines taken directly from Shakespeare’s play. A way for the filmmaker to remain faithful to his obsession with historical reconstruction and period dialogue.
The budget should be around $70 million, notes the Hollywood Reporter, which specifies that the casting of this new version is not yet known.
Written in the 1590s, Romeo and Juliet tells of the impossible love between two young people from rival families in Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets. A story already adapted numerous times for cinema, notably by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968 and Baz Luhrmann in 1996, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. The last version to hit the big screen, in 2025, was called Juliet & Romeowith Clara Rugaard and Jamie Ward. It was a musical film, not released in France.
Waiting for, Werwulfa new werewolf film starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Lily-Rose Depp, will be released in cinemas this Christmas.
