Robert Eggers gathers Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, and a couple of Skarsgårds for a Viking revenge drama

By Britt Hayes | October 16, 2019 | 7:46pm

Aux Features Film

Robert Eggers gathers Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, and a couple of Skarsgårds for a Viking revenge drama

Photo: Francois Durand

As The Lighthouse heads into theaters this weekend, director Robert Eggers has begun plotting his third feature. Deadline reports that Eggers, who made his debut with the effectively terrifying The Witch, will next direct The Northman. Lars Knudsen (Midsommar) is producing the film, which is being described as a Viking revenge drama (say no more) set in Iceland (okay, go on) at the turn of the 10th century. In other words, this could not possibly get any more black metal. But wait! There’s more: Eggers co-wrote the screenplay with Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón, a frequent collaborator of fellow Icelandic art royalty, Björk.

Eggers is assembling a cast that so far includes Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Skarsgård, and Alexander Skarsgård (we hope he took advantage of that two-for-one deal)—all of whom are in talks to join The Northman. That fairly impressive roster includes a pair of names who’ve previously worked with Eggers: Taylor-Joy, who appeared in The Witch, and Dafoe, who stars in The Lighthouse. Would it be too optimistic and presumptuous to assume that Eggers is fashioning his very own company of actors and effectively becoming the folk horror genre’s Christopher Guest? Not that it matters, but that would extremely rule.