Still no sign of that trailer (though we have it on good authority that it will be released before Christmas), but thanks to EW, we do have another official image from Robert Eggers' highly-anticipated Nosferatu remake.
This latest still gives us a first look at Willem Dafoe's (Spider-Man: No Way Home) character, Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, who is described as a "crazy vampire hunter."
Dafoe may look alone - not to mention surprisingly joyous - in the image, but he's actually surrounded by a multitude of furry little co-stars!
"That sequence, aside from having real flames, had 2,000 real rats," says Eggers, who has previously worked with Dafoe on two other projects: 2019's The Lighthouse and 2022's The Northman. "Which was challenging but also fun."
Coincidentally, Dafoe actually played Max Schreck as a real-life vampire playing Count Orlok in the original Nosferatu in E. Elias Merhige's masterful 2000 black comedy, Shadow of the Vampire.
Check out the new still at the link below.
Though rights issues forced the filmmakers to make a few significant changes to the story, Nosferatu was loosely based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Von Franz is basically the tale's version of Abraham Van Helsing. Earlier interpretations of the character appeared in F.W. Murnau's 1922 classic (as Professor Bulwer), and in Werner Herzog's 1979 remake, Nosferatu the Vampyre.
We have yet to get a proper look at Bill Skarsgård as the sinister count himself, but Eggers promises it'll be worth the wait.
"Aside from his eyes, it’s hard to find Bill," the director says. "I’m trying to not give too much away, but Bill totally transforms into something that is very unique." Eggers does reveal that the actor worked with an opera coach to lower his voice an octave. "People are going to think it’s all digital tampering, but he put in the work," the filmmaker continues. "I’m super excited to see what audiences make of Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok."
“He felt like honouring who had come before him. It’s all very subtle. But I think the main thing is that he’s even more a folk vampire. In my opinion he looks like a dead Transylvanian nobleman, and in a way that we’ve never actually seen what an actual dead Transylvanian nobleman would look like and be dressed like,” Eggers said in a previous interview.
"Nosferatu tells a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him."
The movie also stars Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin, and is set to hit theaters on the 25th of December 2024.