Early life
Robert Houston Eggers was born in New York City on July 7, 1983. [2] [3] He does not know his biological father. [1] He and his mother Kelly Houston moved to Laramie, Wyoming, where she met and married Walter Eggers, an English literature professor at the University of Wyoming. [1] [4] The couple had twin sons named Max and Sam, who also became filmmakers. [5] In 1990, the family relocated to Lee, New Hampshire, after Walter became a provost at the University of New Hampshire. [1] [6]
Eggers returned to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in 2001. [1] He gained an interest in designing, directing, and theatre while there, and would additionally show an interest in filmmaking by directing and designing short films. [7] His childhood in New England often inspires his work; while writing his first feature film, he frequently visited the Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts. [8]
Career
Eggers began his career as a designer and director of theatre productions in New York before transitioning to working in film. [9] He wrote and directed the horror film The Witch (2015) in his feature film directorial debut, and it premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival before A24 acquired it. It was released theatrically on February 19, 2016. [1] Critical reception was largely positive, and the film earned over $40 million against a budget of $4 million. [1]
Eggers's next film, The Lighthouse (2019), was also a period piece and received critical acclaim. He directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother, Max, and it stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. [10] In 2022, the Amleth-inspired Viking epic film The Northman was released, starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe. [11] Critical reception was largely positive, but the film underperformed at the box office and did not make a profit until it was released on VOD.
In July 2015, it was reported that Eggers would write and direct a remake of the silent film Nosferatu (1922). The film was set to be produced by Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen for Studio 8. [12] In November 2016, Eggers expressed surprise that the Nosferatu remake was going to be his second film, saying, "It feels ugly and blasphemous and egomaniacal and disgusting for a filmmaker in my place to do Nosferatu next. I was really planning on waiting a while, but that's how fate shook out." Eggers had previously directed his high school's performance of the Nosferatu play, and was hired to direct a professional version of the play due to his work. Eggers credited this as the event that inspired him to pursue a career in filmmaking. [13] Eggers eventually opted to delay his version of the film, going on to direct The Lighthouse and The Northman first. The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy was attached to the cast alongside Harry Styles, but both dropped out in 2022. [1] [14] In September 2022, it was reported that the film would star Bill Skarsgård in the title role alongside Lily-Rose Depp. [15] Thus, Nosferatu became his fourth film. [1]
Prospective projects
Eggers was at one point developing a miniseries based on the life of Grigori Rasputin. [16] However, he stated in 2024 that development has stalled as he would be unable to film in Russia. [17] He has also developed a medieval film called The Knight, which has yet to be produced. [1]
In January 2025, it was reported Eggers would direct Werwulf, a werewolf horror film set in 13th-century England. The film's North American release is currently set for Christmas, 2026. [18] It was also reported that he will write and direct a sequel to the 1986 film Labyrinth . [19]
Filmmaking style
One of the major traits of films directed by Eggers is the "strict attention to detail". [20] All of his films were period dramas, he has used historical accuracy in his films, especially with the use of specific language and period-appropriate dialogue. [21] [22]
Eggers has stated in a Rotten Tomatoes interview that he is never interested in making films set in the contemporary era, claiming that the idea of him photographing modern technology disgusts him. When asked what is the soonest he is willing to film, he answers that he will go as far as the 1950s. [23]
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